Keats Island: From Kits to Keats
It was time to try camping with Kai. The forecast looked good, we had just purchased a four person tent and we had a destination. We decided to head to Keats Island, a place we had wanted to explore for a while. After a bit of research we decided there was really no point in bringing our bikes and that decision made our life easier. We packed two backpacks, put Kai in the carrier and off we went by bus. Our timing wasn’t perfect – we left Kits a bit too late and we arrived with just a few minutes to spare before the ferry to Langdale. We had to…
Brew Lake: The Most Refreshing Lake in the World
A few months ago Gili got an email from a friend asking if we would like to join a family hike to Blowdown Pass at the end of July. Gili replied that we would love to as long as the weather cooperates. When he wrote that we thought of rain possibly ruining our plans, not of extreme heat. A few days before the planned trip emails started flying around, reconsidering the plan. Temperatures in Pemberton were around 34C and the hike to Blowdown is exposed to the sun, on a logging road, and with the long drive no one sounded too keen. So a new plan emerged – hiking to…
The Skyline Divide: Big Hike for Short Legs
The first hike of the season is always the hardest. Not only physically, but also mentally. After not doing serious hiking for almost a year the idea of carrying a heavy backpack, getting into the woods and the unknown is a bit scary. In addition, being very busy this summer with work, plus tiredness from being pregnant I guess, did not make it easier. Gili convinced me that it will be fun to get out of the city, and to spend some time in nature. Of course he was right, but a little push was definitely needed. We decided to take a risk and not bring the hiking carrier for…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Mt. Seymour: A Surprising Last Taste of Summer
October in Vancouver can go either way. Sometimes it’s more like November, with the constant rainfall and dreary dark days of the Fall. Other times it’s more like September, with blue skies, sun rays that actually feel warm, and the last taste of summer. It’s kind of like the Forrest Gump saying: “October is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get”. Our good friend Yaron was visiting from Israel, always a good excuse for a hike. Mt. Seymour, with its exquisite views that are easy to get to, is a common choice for us – it’s hard to beat such good “bang for the buck“.…
Park Butte Lookout: A Smoky Weekend in the Mountains
It was hazy and smoky in Vancouver for a few days before the BC Day long weekend, but we still decided to go ahead with our weekend plans of hiking around Mt. Baker in the US. We honestly didn’t give too much thought to the smoke and didn’t really think it was a big issue in Vancouver. Maybe we also thought that the smoke would magically disappear once we crossed the border. It turned out however that the smoke in the US was much worse, and that’s not just a a metaphor. We managed to leave reasonably early on Friday and headed east. We originally planned to cross the border…
Brandywine Meadows: Plenty of Time to Smell the Roses
The forecast was calling for another sunny weekend and we were both itching to get out of the city and do something outdoors. A good friend invited us for a picnic on Sunday afternoon on the beach and we really wanted to go, so whatever we were doing, we had to be back quite early on Sunday. At first we were thinking of doing something around Mt. Baker across the border. Luckily we came to our senses at around 10:30am on Saturday when we realized that the drive would take us about 3 hours + we’d need to cross the border and the hike wasn’t as short as we thought.…
Brew Hut: Dilemmas in the Mountains
Staying at a hut now poses us with a dilemma: is it right for us to subject other hut-goers to spending a weekend with our toddler (as great as he is)? On the one hand, surely we should not be constrained to stay away from huts just since we have a toddler. Don’t we have as much right as anyone else to share a mountain hut? then there’s the fact that there are plenty of hut-goers that are even less polite or considerate than a toddler. On the other hand, it’s perfectly understandable if other people would like to spend a quiet weekend out in the mountains, away from their kids…
Quarry Rock: The Trial Hike
Quarry Rock is a nice hike when we want to experiment with our abilities. We first went there with Gili’s dad when I was still recovering from my broken arm injury five years ago. We also went up there when I was about 37 weeks pregnant and I remembered it to be very long and challenging. Then we went there again last year with Neil in the carrier and finally we went there once again a few weeks ago to test Neil’s hiking abilities. Hiking season is upon us and Neil is getting heavier. We are not sure how far we’ll manage to hike this summer if Gili needs to carry…
Yellow Aster Butte: 24 Hours Car-to-Car
Sometimes everything goes smoothly. After a few ordeals on trips this summer, this is not something to be taken for granted. After we got our car back from the mechanic in Whistler, we both felt it was time for a weekend hike, and we decided on Yellow Aster Butte, a place we had been to a few years ago. We left Vancouver pretty late, ensuring that we all got a good night’s sleep. There was a lot of traffic, a bit of a wait at the border and then we took a long break at the ranger station in Glacier to pick up a parking permit and blue bags (to collect our poo).…
Welch Peak: Uncomfortably Numb
We had spent the last few hours scrambling along a narrow ridge. The rock was rotten, every boulder seemingly just waiting for one of us to free it, such that it could roll down the mountain side. Every now and then we came across a snowy section, where we took out our ice axes, which we hoped would allow us to arrest a fall. I was tense and nervous. Images of my friends who had been hurt or died in the mountains in the last few years were haunting me. I noticed my stress levels rising, and took a few deep breaths. Why was I here, in this place where…
