Mt. Rainier: Another Smooth Trip
Some trips go completely smoothly. This one seemed to be off to a bad start. We met at 6am below our building, and Ariel asked Brent off handedly if he had brought his passport. After a mad dash back to UBC, and picking up Conrad, we were on our way again. At the US border we had the pleasure of meeting two nasty guards and breathed in relief an hour later when they let us go. Then at the trailhead, we were just about to start hiking when we tried to pick up Brent’s backpack and could barely lift it. After nixing a bunch of unnecessary items, and eating a…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Rockies & Kootenays, Trip Reports, Western USA
Washington-Montana-Idaho-BC Loop: A Trip to a Different America
I am not even sure why we picked Montana. Maybe because it sounded exotic, not in the way most people think of exotic, but rather exotic for cycling. Big open sky, light traffic, expansive scenery. I don’t know where we got this impression, but the reality was that many of the roads actually had a lot of traffic and narrow or nonexistent shoulders. Luckily we spent half of our time in Idaho, which we actually knew almost nothing about, and was almost everything we expected Montana to be. Not that we didn’t like Montana, we did, but the surprise of this trip was actually Montana’s neighbor to the west, Idaho.…
Ellensburg-Vantage-Yakima Loop: The US is a Funny Place
Our desire for sunshine took us far and away last weekend. We set our eyes on an area in Washington State that we visited before, but many years ago. It’s hard to believe but it’s a real desert, very dry and most importantly warm and sunny. Gili managed to dream up a three day loop that looked neat, so on Saturday morning we found ourselves again waiting in the long line-up to cross the border to the US. Finally we were on the other side but still had a few more hours to drive. The roads we took were very green with snowy peaks and it was cool and gray,…
San Juan Islands: Island Hopping & Cycle Touring
May Long Weekend is usually the opening of the cycle touring season for us. This year I was off my bike for eight weeks due to my injury. This is a long time not being able to ride, taking into account that cycling is one of my favourite activities. We were considering options of where to go, and I wanted something that is mostly paved and not too strenuous. Seeing that our Trader Joe’s supplies were running low, it seemed appropriate to go the the US and to stock up on the way back, and the Sun Juan Islands met all the criteria we were looking for. We really thought…
Urban Exploration in Seattle
As outdoor activities like skiing and cycling are out of reach for me while I am recovering from the broken arm injury, we decided to head down to Seattle for the weekend, for some urban exploration. On Friday I had another x-ray and the fracture is still there but healing well, and the doctor said I can start using my arm more, wearing the sling less and start physiotherapy. I started to feel better and got tired of sitting at home, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to head to Seattle. Lately we heard from a few people of this magnificent chocolate factory in Seattle, where they produce delicious…
Thank You Letter to Mt. Baker Ski Patrol Team
Dear Mt. Baker Ski Patrol Team, Three weeks ago, on February 23rd I was injured in the Mt. Baker Ski Area while I was skiing. A snowboarder collided into me at high speed, while I stopped briefly on the side of one of the groomed runs that lead to the area where chairlifts 4, 5 and 6 are. I wasn’t able to get up and I felt extreme pain in my right shoulder. Members of the ski patrol team were by my side within two minutes, checking on me, stabilizing my spine and making sure I’d stay awake as I started to feel very sleepy. The assumption was that I…
How to Get Your Arm Broken on Mt. Baker
Last week Maya and I went to Mt. Baker ski area for a relaxed two day vacation, just the two of us. We enjoyed the skiing, relaxing in our log cabin, and the excellent food at the local Italian Restaurant (Milano’s). All was well until the afternoon of the second day. We were skiing down and had just stopped to discuss which run we would do next. I skied down to the lift first. It took less than a minute for me to realize that Maya should probably be there already, so I moved back a bit to get a better view of the slope above me. I could see…
Bagley Lake: Soft Start to the Ski Season?
On the Remembrance Day Long Weekend we set out to get some early season turns with Anne and Marcin. The Mt. Baker area is supposed to be a good place for this, so we booked a cheap cabin and planned to do day trips from there. On the first day, as we were driving up to the ski area, I was starting to get worried. There was no sign of snow. Only when we got to the very top it started looking like there was enough snow to ski. It was chilly, and there was a strong wind that blew snow sideways into our eyes. We attempted to maximize our…
Washington Rails: Rails-to-Trails Over the Border
On the first weekend in June Gili and I headed to Washington State. We had just bought a new (used) car the previous week and it was time to start using it. It was also sunny and quite warm which is always an advantage. We headed to the border early Saturday morning and crossed with almost no waits. We drove to a town called Sedro-Woolley and started to ride from there along the Cascade Trail till another town by the name of Concrete. What we discovered is that this trail is very popular and gets a lot of use from the local community for cycling, hiking and mainly dog walking.…
Mt. Baker: Which is Harder, Climbing Mt. Baker in a Day, or Crossing the Border?
For a while I had been waiting for a midweek window of good weather to climb Mt. Baker. Finally the forecast was showing some sun, but finding partners was a scramble. I asked everyone I knew and posted online in several places. Luckily, Charlie Beard was in town, after his two-month volunteering trip to the Arctic was delayed by a week due to large amounts of snow. The only catch? We’d have to be back relatively early, since Charlie was catching a flight north the next day, early in the morning. We decided to drive to the trailhead the evening before, and get a good night’s sleep there, and then…
