LifeStraw Review
Adventuring in the mountains, running on the trails or travelling to new countries has something in common - the need for clean pure drinking water. Hydration is often something we can take for granted in the western world where we have access to clean drinking water from practically every faucet. However, if you are someone who frequents wild places whether in the mountains, forests or travels to countries where clean water is not readily accessible, the need for clean drinking water becomes a main focus…boiling, filtering or buying bottled water is a must. This often takes considerable time and effort. What if there was a quick and easy way to filter water on the go? We have recently had the opportunity to test out the Vestergaard LifeStraw & LifeStraw Go from Eartheasy. It has changed the way we think about filtering water and significantly increased our ability to hydrate on the go no matter where we are. LifeStraw A convenient straw style filter that is easy to pack and designed for use on the go. Stats: 2 ounces. 9” long x 1” diameter. BPA free, contains no chemicals. Filters out 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, including E.coli and 99.9% of waterborne protozoa, including Giardia & Cryptosporidium. It also reduces turbidity, filtering down to 0.2 microns, which makes it great for glacial melt water. Filters up to 1000 liters. No aftertaste. Lifestraw does not use iodine. Perfect for an emergency preparedness kit. Due to it’s small compact size we have brought this with us hiking and it is always in our trail running packs. When we know we will be passing by a small stream, tarn or lake we take the opportunity to drink right then and there. It saves us having to stop and re-filter or boil water to fill our water bladders. Being able to pull out the Lifestraw at any given moment to take a few sips of water from a natural water source, safely, without a second thought, is definitely reassuring. Pros: Lightweight Compact Ability to drink from the source Cons: With water sources at ground level it can require a bit of effort to get low enough to use the straw. LifeStraw Go A refillable water bottle with a Lifestraw filter that enables you to take safe drinking water with you wherever you go. Stats: 5.9 oz (168 grams). 9.25” long x 3.14” diameter. BPA free, contains no chemicals. Flip top bite valve and carabiner for attaching to your backpack. 22 ounce volume (0.65 liters). Filters up to 1000 liters. Filters out 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria, including E.coli and 99.9% of waterborne protozoa, including Giardia &...
Hornby Island Energy Bars Review
Delicious, natural and healthy snacks for mountain adventures is something we are always on the lookout for. Long days in the mountains require a lot of calories and what you’re eating has to taste good to encourage you to keep eating. We have recently discovered the deliciousness of Hornby Island Energy Bars and need to let you know that this may just be your new favourite snack bar for adventures! They are made with simple natural ingredients that you can easily pronounce, so none of that chemical mumbo jumbo, they taste amazing and are made locally right on Hornby Island in British Columbia. Currently they have 4 scrumptious flavours. Here is a quick breakdown of the four bars and which ones are our personal favourites: Tahini This is my personal favourite! Made with ingredients like oats,dark chocolate, sesame tahini and coconut it is the highest calorie bar in their lineup with an impressive 420 calories and 11 grams of protein for an 85 gr bar. This bar will give you enough energy to keep hiking or climbing for hours! Carob Made with ingredients like oats, peanut butter, coconut and carob. Never tried carob? Then you are in for a treat. Try this bar and see if you can tell it’s chocolate free, the carob will leave you pleasantly surprised. At 375 calories and 11 grams of protein it’s a tasty choice. Sesame You don’t live and die for chocolate? I know there are a few of us out there so this bar is for you. Made with ingredients like oats, peanut butter, molasses and sesame seeds this is a delicious mix with 364 calories and 13 grams of protein. Gourmet Sesame This is Leigh’s favourite. It’s the Sesame bar with a little extra decadence added in the form of dark chocolate. Made with ingredients like oats, peanut butter, molasses, sesame seeds and dark chocolate this gourmet version is 385 calories and 13 grams of protein. A few things to note is that these bars, except for the Tahini, are not nut allergy friendly as they all contain peanut butter. They are also very calorie dense bars so are best consumed during high activity - hiking, climbing, trail running and probably not as snack bars for daily use. We now put a Hornby Island Energy bar in every backpack ready to keep us energized for every adventure. If you haven’t tried them before we highly recommend them…and when you do let us know what your favourite flavour is! We would like to say a big THANK YOU to Hornby Island Energy Bars for the opportunity to test out their product and give our...
The Smith Rock Ascent Race Report
The Smith Rock Ascent is a trail race that is organized in Smith Rock State Park, Oregon. A few months ago a friend made myself and Spring aware of this race and we got stoked to run it. Not only was it in a place that has world class rock climbing, which we love also, it was also in Oregon, a beautiful state in the US we’d been hoping to explore for quite a while. We planned a road trip from our home of Squamish, BC down to Oregon for 7 days. The race would be on the 3rd day. We awoke on the morning of the race to Semi-Trucks revving their engines at a rest stop. The previous two days had been jam-packed with exploring some beaches and waterfalls and a lot of driving. Spring exclaimed: “This is probably the worst way I’ve prepared for a race ever!”. Our legs were stiff from sitting in the car and we’d gotten no sleep that night due to vehicles passing in and out of this rest stop. It wasn’t the best place to sleep but both of us were so tired the previous night that continuing to drive would have been too dangerous. We were about a 45 minute drive from the starting line so we headed out, stopping for coffee and a pastry along the way for breakfast. Not an awesome race morning combo I know. We pulled into Smith Rock and parked. We still had plenty of time before our race started so we went about collecting our bib numbers, getting changed into our running gear, filling our running vests with Hammer Gels and water. By the time we’d joined everyone else at the starting line we both felt pretty awake and ready to go. The energy was electric. A few days prior I’d gone to a free talk on fuelling for athletes given by our friend Paul at UPrise Performance Camps. He mentioned that some people have had success with taking a gel a few minutes before a race if they haven’t had breakfast. I hadn’t had much of anything to eat so I decided to take a gel before starting. A few minutes later the starting countdown began and you could almost feel everyone revving their internal engines. Go! I started out well. I tried to stay with the front 20% of runners. The course followed the Crooked River for a while before ascending a steep road. Thankfully this was in the shade. I ended up speed walking it which worked good as I passed quite a few people doing the uphill running trot which...
“Spring Rush” Trail Race Recap
Every time I have ever driven through the Kelowna area, gazing at the dry, sagebrush covered hillsides, I have dreamt of running there. So I was pretty stoked to get the chance to run “Spring Rush” on April 25 in Kelowna. Not only is the race named after me (you may have to fact check that with the race director), but the race would wind through the very hills I have long dreamt of running. The event is located a ten minute drive from Bear Creek Provincial Park, which came in very handy for camping the night before. With such a short drive from the start line it meant I didn’t need to get up too early on race day. When I arrived at the start line the morning of, the tents were just being set up. Despite the flurry of activity I wanted to take a minute to meet Rene Unser, the race director, as I have seen so much of her through social media and have heard so many wonderful things about her. She said hello with a big warm hug and was bubbling with excitement! All I could notice was the huge smile on her face and how eager she was to share her local trails with everyone that day. This race was tough, tougher than I thought it was going to be. I am not sure what I was expecting, in fact I didn’t actually research much about the actual course before running it. There was a quick glance of the elevation profile, but apart from that I was just so stoked to run the race that I didn’t pay much attention to anything else. I had no knowledge of when the big hill was coming or of the endless switchback descents. Everything was a surprise and in the end I kind of liked it that way. If you are reading this though you probably want to know a little bit about the course, so I’ll share some of it with you. The course is flowy, runnable, dreamy singletrack. But don’t let that fool you, there is some serious climbing to be done on these trails and it is the runnable nature of the trail that makes this race tough. When you are used to technical uphill running, like I am on the west coast, you get used to slowing down a lot. This terrain, however kept you running, even when it was steep. You are convinced that since the path under your feet is not technical there is no reason to slow down, so you push harder. Then there was “the monster climb”. This is the part of...
Instameet at the Sea to Sky Gondola
I am getting very excited, in less than two weeks I’ll be hosting my first Instameet. There are already some fantastic folks from Instagram signed up ready to have fun on the trails. Everyone is welcome! Come hit the trails with us, have some laughs and take some photos along the way. If you want to join in the fun please make sure to email me at [email protected] so that I can make sure to keep in touch and update everyone on possible changes. I am also stoked to announce that the Instameet is being supported by Hammer Nutrtion Canada, Ra Energy, Arc’teryx and the Sea to Sky Gondola!! Come hang out! When: 9:00am May 2, 2026 (rain or shine) Where: Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish, BC (Basecamp). We will be hiking the Sea to Summit trail to the lodge at the top to take in the views. Don’t forget to bring your $10 download fee for the Gondola ride down. Why: To spend time on the beautiful local trails and have some fun! How: Run, Hike, Skip….it doesn’t matter, let’s all get moving together on the trails! Who: Everyone is welcome! Special Info: The Sea to Sky Gondola has offered a bag drop for our group, so bring a change of clothes and they will deliver it to the top for you! Once at the top we will be able to enjoy a complimentary beverage from the cafe in the lodge or on the balcony and take in the views over the Howe Sound. See you all out...
