A
s I made my way out of the dense rain forest and into
the alpine, I was blown away. The view behind me was
incredible: a 180-degree perspective of the Whistler Valley,
and in front of me there were more waterfalls than I could
count, with monstrous overhanging walls of ice and snow,
and peaks reaching into the clouds. This part of the trail
turned into very slow running for me, as I was overwhelmed
by my surroundings. At this moment, I realized that this
was such a common occurrence. I could not just run through
these places with my head down, I had to look up and see the
landscape around me. This is one of the fundamental reasons
why I love running, and why I feel many others love to run.
The amount of incredible places you can explore, over such a
short amount of time, all under your own power, is absolutely
astonishing.
After a short rest at Iceberg Lake, I made my way aroundRainbow Mountain with my mind still consumed by the view
I just witnessed. I decided to put my camera away and finish
the last leg of the trip with no distractions. After 36 hours
it’s moments like these that test your human spirit more
than anything else – the sore feet, sun-burnt legs, dehydra-
tion and the lack of food in order to travel fast and smooth. I
wouldn’t trade the pain for anything else. For me, it’s these
landscapes, and these moments of absolute exhaustion, that
keep me going. The more I feel, the more I want to push myself
through it. The act of physically moving myself through these
rugged landscapes, when it seems that everything is going
against you – wind, snow, mud, rain and cold temperatures on
the best of days – that’s when I feel most alive.Michael Overbeck was named one of the top 20 adventure
photographers to follow in 2016 by AdventureJunkies.com.42 Canadian Running November & December 2016, Volume 9, Issue 7