We simply had to know…Could we trail-run the 420 kilometers from Bragg Creek to Jasper in just ten days? Short version…we tried…we couldn’t. But in that very inability something quite marvelous happened for Grace and me. We started out well enough. Day one—the Powderface trailhead. Thirty-eight kilometers later we landed at the Quaite campground, just past Barrier Lake. We sat at the lake’s edge, bone-sore feet plunged in the numbing-cold water, feeling beaten beyond anything we’d expected. Our packs—simply too heavy. Food and fuel caches along the way—didn’t matter: Our packs would only get heavier. What’s more, during this one day of exceptional effort, we’d scarfed down nearly double our planned daily food allotment. Gear spread out on the meadow, we limped about, surveying, seeking anything we could drop to lighten our loads. A shared toothbrush,
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