• Hiking & Scrambling,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids,  Western USA

    Chain Lakes Loop: The Perfect Trip

    For years I’ve had this trail, the Chain Lakes Loop, at the back of my mind. It’s been there for so long that I don’t even remember how it got there. I’ve even recommended it to other people! This trail has so much going for it – easy access to the alpine, a well maintained trail, sweeping views of tall glaciated mountains, a bunch of lakes, great camping, it’s a loop hike, and in September – no bugs and lots of berries. In my head at least, I labelled it as the “Perfect Trip”. It doesn’t get much better than this! The only downside is that the above has been…

  • British Columbia (and nearby),  Camping,  Kayaking and Canoeing,  Okanagan

    Monck Provincial Park: Last Minute Surprise

    We were looking for a last minute camping destination. Popular wisdom here says that you must book everything months in advance. I hate it… How am I supposed to know what I’m going to want to do in a few months time?! In this case, my dad was visiting on a last minute trip, and we wanted to do a few nights of car camping within a few hours drive of Vancouver. BC Parks’ new website allows one to see vacancies in all the parks in the province easily. I checked it a few times for our dates, but there were no reservable sites available. There are actually many first…

  • Camping,  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Saturna Island: A Hilly Little Island

    The weather over the spring wasn’t ideal to say the least… We got more rainy days than sun and it just felt like the seasons forgot to change. So we were all surprised that for the weekend we had planned to go to Saturna the forecast showed nothing but sun. That was more like it.  Heading to Vancouver Island We met another friend and his two boys in Tsawwassen and we all rode together a few kilometers till the ferry terminal. Although we were there with plenty of time, the ferry crew decided to let us wait till they boarded all the cars and only then let us on. Not cool. In Victoria…

  • Camping,  Hiking & Scrambling,  Kayaking and Canoeing,  Metro Vancouver & North Shore,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Widgeon Creek: The Opening Trip of Canoe Season

    It was canoe season once again. Last year we did our first ever overnight canoe trip to Widgeon Creek and decided it would be good as a first time this year as well. The evening before the trip we decided to check some information online and we discovered that the campground was actually marked as closed. Oops. We decided to still go and hope for the best. On the way – photo by Nick M. It was a cool June morning and we met up with friends in the parking lot. Like last year they still hadn’t installed a bathroom in the parking lot which I found very odd (and disgusting).…

  • British Columbia (and nearby),  Carfree,  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids,  Vancouver Island

    Vancouver to Chemainus: The Boy Who Biked 72kms in a Day

    Neil woke up, and exclaimed, “I want to ride the whole way to Chemainus”. We tried to convince him that maybe it would be best to catch the bus part of the way, as we had planned, but he would have none of that. Finally, we decided it would be easier to go along and see what happened. The problem was that we had timed everything based on Maya and the kids catching the bus, so we had to hurry. On the Burrard Bridge We skipped breakfast (?!) and headed straight out, with Kai biking on his own till the Burrard Bridge. There I finally managed to convince him to…

  • Camping,  Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Porpoise Bay: A Rainy Weekend on the Sunshine Coast

    At the beginning of June it was time for the annual camping trip to Porpoise Bay from Kai’s outdoor preschool. Although at first there was a lot of enthusiasm around this trip among the families, closer to the weekend many started to drop out. The reason of course – the rain! I am still not sure what’s the reason for the name “The Sunshine Coast” but on that weekend the name definitely didn’t make sense. Not so sunny on “The Sunshine Coast” We left on Friday afternoon after school, rushing to the ferry terminal. It was one of those rare times that there was a glitch with our Modo booking, and the car we reserved…

  • Camping,  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Overseas,  Travel,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Portugal: Far and Away to Faro

    It was Monday morning and Gili and I were biking in the first of several atmospheric rivers to hit British Columbia. The rain was coming down hard and we were soaked. But we had to keep going, we had to make it on time to get our COVID test…  We hadn’t been overseas for almost two years and we were dreaming of a long bike trip in a far away sunny place. After much consideration we chose Portugal as our destination. At the time, the high vaccination rates in the country played a role in our decision. Also, we had heard really great things about biking in Portugal, the weather…

  • British Columbia (and nearby),  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Kayaking and Canoeing,  Overseas,  Random Thoughts,  Travel,  Trips with Kids

    2021: Looking at the Glass Half Full

    I woke up with a rare blast of optimism on the 31st. I was so focused in the last few days on saying good riddance to 2021 and I had no idea how to summarize this year. Then I thought why not focus on the glass half full. I came up with a mission to think of at least five good things that happened this year. It wasn’t actually too difficult and I asked Gili to do the same. We both wrote our list of five things before comparing notes. Neil showed some interest but only wrote two things. Our lists had some overlaps and similarities, but also differences. So here is our list of good…

  • Camping,  Duffey Lake Road,  Hiking & Scrambling,  Sea to Sky,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Joffre Lakes: Glaciers and Lakes Up Close

    British Columbia is mostly covered with beautiful mountains and lakes. But still, there are few places nearby that have easy access to the mountains, with a well maintained trail and rewarding views. Joffre Lakes is a rare example, and as a result it tends to be extremely busy. This year BC Parks introduced a day pass system for this trail. Without getting into the question of whether it’s good or bad, it does limit the number of people. Not that the trail was empty or anything. Even in early October there were still lots of people out, but since we haven’t been there since I was pregnant with Neil seven years ago…

  • Camping,  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Kayaking and Canoeing,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids,  Vancouver Island

    Alice Lake Loop: The Bear Spray Explosion

    This was one of those trips where things did not go exactly as planned… It started with total sleep deprivation and being overly occupied mostly with work prior to the trip. So only a day after we left Vancouver and already on the drive to Port McNeill we realized that Kai’s bike seat was not with us in the car. It was a major problem, because Kai is not yet old enough or mature enough to sit on the cargo bike without one. So instead of carrying on with the drive to Port McNeill and starting our ride on the Alice Lake Loop, we found ourselves on a logging road maze by Campbell River looking…