Two years ago we attempted to snowshoe to the summit of Mt Seymour and celebrate the New Year there. Our plans went awry as we were not allowed to drive up to the parking lot after 10 pm and we got there at 11. We turned around and parked up at Third Beach in Stanley … Continue reading Dog Mountain, 31 Dec 2009
Crows don't like anything they perceive as a threat. I've been woken up by a murder of crows harassing a raccoon, seen them chasing away bald eagles and pestering seagulls (usually for food). This morning as I walked in to work, I saw a large bird swoop between a couple of trees closely followed by … Continue reading Crows and crows
The final swim of the Lake Challenge! We left Killarney Lake to last as we considered it least likely to freeze. A week of sub-zero temperatures proved us wrong and we were caught out by the sight of a totally frozen Killarney Lake. It even began to snow as we puzzled over what to do. … Continue reading Killarney Lake, 13 Dec 2009
October was a quiet month, hike-wise. I'd been in Hawaii for the first couple of weeks, working on SCUBA-2 software. Add to that the welcome chance to actually not do some hiking and time was running out for October's lake. Maria was resting so it was me, Andrew and Merewyn again. After some quick discussion, … Continue reading Hayward Lake, 31 Oct 2009
September's lake destination, and for the third time in as many weeks, we found ourselves driving up Highway 99 towards Whistler. With Maria's IT band issue needing serious rest, it was just me, Andrew and Merewyn. Although Rainbow Lake itself is in the Whistler watershed, we knew that we could go a little bit further … Continue reading Rainbow Lake, 20 Sep 2009
September is often an excellent hiking month. Cooler temperatures, no annoying insects and clear blue skies make for some of the best hiking of the year. Our friend Brenda was back in Vancouver for a short time having moved back to Ottawa a few months earlier, and was looking to get out in the mountains. … Continue reading Brandywine Meadows, 13 Sep 2009
Saturday slog up to Wedgemount Lake Looking back over the summer, we were surprised to realize that we hadn't actually done that much backpacking. Apart from our big trip to Mt Assiniboine, we'd only done one other backpacking trip and another overnighter. Remarkably little considering how much we had planned! So we were determined to … Continue reading Wedgemount Lake, 29-30 Aug 2009
Our first Wanderung callout of 2009! :-) This hike has been on our to-do list for some time so it was great to collect a group of six and see the valley up close. We began in Lynn Headwaters and ended on Grouse Mountain. Beyond Norvan Falls (where the creek was just a trickle) the … Continue reading Hanes Valley, 23 Aug 2009
This weekend was originally planned to be a leisurely slow food cycle in the Pemberton Valley but that was cancelled due to forest fires. Since we had booked a spot in the campground at Birkenhead Lake we decided to do something up that way, and we were joined by Su-Laine to tackle the Place Glacier … Continue reading Place Glacier, 15 Aug 2009
Our big backpacking trip of the year: a week exploring the Mount Assiniboine area in the Canadian Rockies with Merewyn, Victor and Jennifer. The trip began in Banff National Park, where we caught a shuttle bus up to the Sunshine Village ski area on Monday 27th July. From there we crossed the Alberta-BC border into … Continue reading Mount Assiniboine, 27 Jul – 2 Aug 2009
Being. Outdoors. 