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If you happened to be near the McCulloch Trestle Sunday morning, on the KVR Trail just northeast of Munson Mountain, you may have witnessed an unusual -- and many would say frightening -- sight.
Beginning at 11 am or so, dozens of seemingly rational people willingly stepped over the handrail and, with nothing between them and the ground some 70 feet below, took a tentative look around.
And then, suspended by a system of ropes and carabiners and assorted gear and assisted by a team of climbing and rappelling gurus, each of them would carefully descend from the top of the trestle to the bottom.
To those who didn't know what was going on, it was a heck of a Sunday surprise. But for the participants in Sunday's first-ever Bighorn Bushwhack Adventure Race, which included what was likely the first-ever trestle group rappel, it was merely one more wild and crazy element in an eight-hour smorgasbord of adventure racing delights.
Kicking off at 8:15 that morning at Okanagan Lake Park, the inaugural Bighorn Bushwhack, initially planned for 2020 but delayed by COVID 'til now, took athletes on a journey that involved paddling, peddling, hiking, climbing, running, and, most critically, navigating.
You see, to all but those but event organizer Hoodoo Adventures, the Bushwhack course was almost a total mystery. Participants would navigate to checkpoints scattered across a map that they weren't permitted to see 'til one hour prior to event launch.
The routes and non-motorized methods they'd ultimately use to reach those checkpoints was up to them. And that's the essence of adventure racing.
The first to rappel down McCulloch Trestle Sunday morning was 28-year-old Jake Dancyger, originally of Toronto but now living in Vancouver. Partnering with his girlfriend Lauren Taylor, who was the next down the trestle, Dancyger said it was the first adventure race for both.
"We're doing the 'Expedition Canada' adventure race (a hardcore four-day adventure race also run by Hoodoo) later in September, and this was kind of our pre-race," said a smiling Dancyger when he reached the bottom.
"It's been a ton of fun so far. I have experience with triathlons and marathons and half-marathons, but nothing like this. I love it."
Like Dancyger, Chris Ford of Kelowna was using the race as a kind of springboard for the substantially more intense four-day Expedition Canada.
"I participated in a team of two today. We did it as a refresher. Test out the checkpoints, test out the gear, it was a trial run."
Ford said the course was fun, adding that the rappelling was "awesome" but the climbing wasn't quite so endearing.
Mostly though, he said he enjoyed finally being able to participate in an organized event. It was a sentiment PentictonNow heard several times Sunday.
Nathalie Long is Hoodoo's race coordinator, and she too was thrilled the debut Bighorn Bushwhack was finally able to come together in a year where COVID just doesn't want to go away.
Indeed, in a month where so many important local summer events were initially rescheduled for September then ultimately canceled (Gran Fondo, Iron Man, Ribfest, etc), Bighorn and Expedition Canada are two of few to go ahead.
"We had less than a hundred people today," she said. "Actually, we had less than 50 people. So it was a small event first of all, and adventure racing is one of the best sports during COVID times if you think about it because people are never close to each other except at the start, but even there we let them spread out."
"It felt really good," she added. "It feels good for us to get the event out, but it also feels good for the racers. To see how happy everyone was today just made my day."
Long and Hoodoo are tentatively planning for another Bighorn Bushwhack in the spring, depending of course on COVID restrictions, and yet another in the fall. Each time there will be a brand new course and brand new checkpoints, and hopefully a shorter three-hour event running simultaneously.
"Next year we hope to have a three-hour event alongside the eight-hour event to try to get more families involved," said Long. "It's a great sport to do with your kids and in families. Here, you can be a slow team but have really good navigation and finish ahead of the really fast teams that aren't good navigators."
As for Expedition Canada, which for its first year will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, registration is now closed. For 2021, there'll be 17 teams of four people each, a number Hoodoo hopes to expand for future Expeditions.
For more info on the next Bighorn Bushwhack and Expedition Canada, hit up the Hoodoo Events page here.
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