Do I really have to remark on how fast time seems to be passing? I’m writing this mid-way through the month having spent the last couple of weeks thinking, oh I’ll get to this tomorrow. Or the day after. Or the day after that… And yet here we are. The last month of the year is here and we’re well into the shorter days. The transition to those shorter days always gets to me, but after a while I seem to get used to it. Seeing the snow return to the mountains always invokes mixed feelings too, signalling the end of the alpine hiking season while simultaneously heralding the start of the fun days in the snow. Let’s hope we can get out for some snowy fun in the coming weeks!
If we were being outdoors today, I’d naturally start the conversation with the hikes we did in November. We had one of those run of nice weekdays followed by rainy weekends that frustrated us for the first part of the month, though I was able to get out on the Remembrance Day holiday Monday to visit our favourite winter playground – Mount Seymour where I headed to Tim Jones Peak. While the views soon disappeared, the trip was exceptionally atmospheric and I had tremendous fun which really put me in the mood for more snow hikes. After that we had a low-key hike to Alice Lake provincial park to take in the Four Lakes trail, a favourite for those days where you just need to get out of the city for a simple, easy hike, where we encountered some amazing fungi. We ended the month with a trip to Bowen Island to hike to the summit of Mount Gardner on a very chilly day. The trail was lovely and quiet, we had perfectly clear skies to take in the amazing views, and there was just enough warmth in the sunshine to bask awhile on the helipads.
If we were being outdoors today, I’d remark on how we don’t seem to walk on the beach very much in the summer and how it seems to be more of an autumn to spring thing for us. I guess it’s because we get out on longer hikes and for whole weekends during the summer which doesn’t leave us much time for beach walks. We relish our beach time in the winter as it gives us a feeling of open space that’s otherwise missing from low-level hikes in this part of the world, though we have to time it right in order to walk in what little sunshine may show up. If it shows up… It helps that the beach is so much quieter at this time of year too!
If we were being outdoors today, I’d point out that like the beach walks, I only seem to take photos on my bike commute on the shorter days. Maybe it’s because the sun is already high in the sky by the time I start pedalling in the summer that I don’t feel inspired to take any pictures? Maybe it rarely looks atmospheric and moody in the summer? Maybe it’s because the winter feels either more calm or more dramatic (something I alluded to in a previous post)? And it’s not every time I ride in that I bother to even take the camera, but sometimes the morning (and evening) inspires me to stop off and take a picture or two as a record to try and capture the moment.
If we were being outdoors today, I’d say how much I appreciate Stanley Park. And it’s a great place to visit in the winter (aka “weird duck time“) when rafts of goldeneye and surf scoters float off the north and western seawall. Coromorants are common, and it’s not unusual to see bald eagles too. Sometimes you spot seals just hanging out, especially near the bridge when the tidal currents are strong. There are ships to look at and wonder where they’re taking their cargo, and on a clear enough day, there’s a terrific view of Mount Baker with the some of the high-rises of Burnaby now beginning to rival it for apparent height.
If we were being outdoors today, I’d sheepishly admit that two of the blog posts I published were written months (if not years!) ago and only needed photos to be added. I say “only” but I was surprised at how time-consuming it was to select suitable photos – as always, the words and photos never seem to align in terms of the story-telling – but I persevered and I’m quite pleased with the results. I hit publish on a post about a remarkable 24 hours in the upper Downton Creek alpine area back in 2016, and another about a weekend at Blowdown Pass with friends in 2018. Both posts have lots of nice photos and are well worth checking out for those alone. I also published a third blog post from my trip to Tim Jones Peak referenced above which I wrote within a day or so of the trip itself as it was so inspiring. Again, lots of (atmospheric winter) photos to check out in that post! I was hoping to finish my write-up of our Four Lakes hike but it stalled at about 80% and I didn’t make it in time. Hopefully it will be completed this month!
And so that was November. The year is drawing to a close so I’ll soon be reflecting on the year we just had and wondering what the next will have in store. We’ll be celebrating the passing of the winter solstice when the days will begin to lengthen again and spending time with friends to enjoy this midwinter festival. Until then, I hope you have a peaceful and relaxing festive season.
Our time outdoors was spent on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, St’at’imc, Lil’wat, and Stó:lō First Nations.
Being. Outdoors. 