Trio launch 500-mile run along Crown of the Continent
WILDERNESS -- As the Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent kicked off at the University of Montana campus in Missoula this week, a trio of runners left to begin a 500-mile, three week "high traverse" run through the Crown of the Continent.
The conference was organized to examine issues that affect the area of the Rocky Mountains that run from the southern tip of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex near Ovando north to Banff National Park in Alberta. See an interactive map.
The run was organized for people to experience a portion of the region that covers about 18 million acres, 60 percent of which is public land.
"We’ll go through the Missions, the Swan Range, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Great Bear Wilderness, Glacier National Park, into Canada and up the Canadian Rockies,” Mike Foote explained to the Missoulian. “This is our backyard. We want to spend a lot of time in it.”
Some days, they may run 40 miles. Other days, they will spend linking ridgelines and covering a mere 20 miles over 15 hours, the Missoulian reported.
The team is traveling ultra-light with support. Some days they’ll be met by a van carrying food and sleeping bags. Other days, they’ll each pack about 15 pounds of food, bivvy sacks and cold-weather gear.
The trek can be followed online through the Crown of the Continent Geotourism Council's website, as well as National Geographic's Geotourism website.