A "Dumbbell" Hike from Islet Lake Staging Area to Central Staging Area
In August 2010, I trained for and completed a public, walking half marathon in Edmonton. During the late spring of this year, I decided that starting the same kind of training regime I followed in 2010 would be great exercise and help with the weight loss goal I was working toward. But when I looked up upcoming marathons in the area, I saw I was just too late for one scheduled in August in Edmonton.
So I decided, “Heck, I’ll train for my private half marathon walk and use the same basic training schedule I’d used while walking with groups from the Running Room back in 2010.” Sundays were the “longer walk” days in that schedule, and today’s walk was one of those “longer walks”, a planned 15.5 km walk starting from the Islet Lake Staging Area in the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Recreation area, east of Edmonton.
It was fun traipsing around the Central Staging section of the Blackfoot again; it has been a long time since I’ve walked these trails. And making my way along the Cycling Connector to the intersection of the Round Up trail really brought out a feeling of solitude and being “way out there”.
And while the trails north of the Central Staging Area aren’t nearly as “way out there”, I did get the vibe they were seldom walked. That’s a feeling I love. Even though these are established, maintained trails, while walking along them one feels a sense of exploration and novelty.
Gallery#
Related
Blackfoot Loop Hike to Push Shelter
Blackfoot Figure Eight Loop Hike to Meadow Shelter
