I recently ran/hiked the
Sibbald Ole Buck Loop Trail with a dear and lovely friend. She is just getting into trail running so I thought I'd take her on an easy trail near where we live. It was a lovely 1-hour run from the Sibbald Viewpoint parking lot and a lot of fun!
It had just finished raining so I decided to wear my Inov-8 Bare Grip 200s and it was a wise choice with all the mud. The way out was overcast and dry but on the way back it started to pour. In Alberta, we have a saying, "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes." It was an apt saying for the day. :)
The beginning of the trail was wide and a little rocky through the trees. There is a lovely view from the top of the cliff to the flats below. Then we crossed the road, ran back into some woods, and over a bridge. The creek below was flowing nicely from the recent rain. Then we came upon a meadow with chin-high grass (it was chin-high on me anyway, it was over my friend's head). We both got covered in grass seed. Then we started uphill. There's quite the little climb on this trail at the beginning of the loop on the Ole Buck Trail. We walked up the hill and stopped a few times to enjoy the view (because what's trail running if you don't stop to look around at the scenery?). Then it started to rain. We thought we'd missed it but another cloud came rolling in at our farthest point out. By then we were soaked from the wet grass and muddy trail so it wasn't a big deal. We ran back down the hill over a lot of downed trees until we reached the grassy meadow again. We stopped at the creek on the way back to wash the second round of grass seed from our skin and clothes. The water was blissfully cool to stand in. Then we high-tailed it back to the car in the downpour that hit us.
After the run, I took some pics of the view and trail. It was a great day and made us both feel grateful for the laid back lifestyle we lead that allows us to go trail running in the middle of the day every once in a while. :)
There's also a section where you can book a course to Become a VIVOBAREFOOT Certified Coach yourself and details on how the course and certification works.
