• Hiking & Scrambling,  Kayaking and Canoeing,  Sea to Sky,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Echo Lake: It’s a Kind of Magic

    This hiking trip started with a canoe trip across the Squamish River. At least, for most of us – one of us chose to swim across, braving the frigid water. This was a rare weekend on which Neil and I had the opportunity of doing a more strenuous trip. I had been eyeing a hike to Echo Lake for a while, but wasn’t sure of the logistics. Going with friends who know the way made this easy. Either way, hiking trips that start with a canoe trip have always captivated me. The canoe trip adds an element of excitement and adventure, and drives the crowds away. Crossing the Squamish River…

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

    Lake Ann: Escape from the Tent City

    After our very scenic trip to Chain Lakes last year, we were easily tempted to do another trip to that area. We drove up the Mt. Baker road, parking just below Artist Point, at the Lake Ann trailhead. We had gotten a late start as usual (border delays didn’t help), so we weren’t fazed by the overfull parking lot and long line of cars parked up and down the road. Sure enough, while we had our lunch and geared up, a parking space opened up (“late bird gets the worm?!”). The views soon after we started, Mt. Shuksan This trail is a bit weird, because it starts out by going…

  • Downhill Skiing,  Sea to Sky,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Whistler: Spanky’s Ladder

    I can’t believe it’s the ski season of the year after, and I’m catching up with blog posts from last winter! Anyway, like the year before, we headed to Whistler over the Easter long weekend, this time for six days. It’s hard to beat the views there on a sunny day! The views from Seventh Heaven are some of the best Here are some highlights / observations: Our lodging this year was in the centre of Whistler Village. Since it wasn’t close enough to walk, we caught the (free!) shuttle daily. This worked out really well, except that the return shuttles were very oddly spaced out, sometimes leading to long…

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

    Ottawa-Quebec City – A Bike Trip in the “Other Canada”

    At the end of summer we set off on yet another bike trip. Our flight was very early in the morning and followed a night of very little sleep. It was a domestic flight though, to Ottawa, so there was less airport hassle than usual. As were leaving, the sky looked hazy. It turned out that the smoke from wild fires had finally rolled into Vancouver. Up until that point we had no smoke in Vancouver. Early morning flight to Ottawa Five hours later we landed in sunny Ottawa. We took a taxi to our wonderful Warm Showers hosts, one of six different hosts we stayed with during this two…

  • Carfree,  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids,  Vancouver Island

    Vancouver to Chemainus: Once Again, But More Planned

    May long weekend was sneaking up on us. It’s been a while since we’d seen our friends on the island and we thought it would be nice to visit again. Last year we had a rushed bike ride to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal. We figured we could have a much more relaxing experience if we’d actually plan to bike there and take enough time. Biking along Beach Ave., Vancouver We now knew Neil was capable of biking the entire route – 72kms, with some hills. We made one stop at Ambleside Park before connecting to Marine Drive and the narrow, windy way to the ferry terminal. Quick stop at Ambleside…

  • Overseas,  Travel,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    New York: Charmander Visits the Big Apple 

    As a child I spent many summer breaks and school holidays in New York. It is a big city and can be overwhelming for some. Last year Neil and I had a quick visit to the Big Apple and this year it was time to bring Kai too, and Gili, oh and Charmander. Charmander is a little red character Neil got as a gift from his Maker Lab instructors at Steamoji. They asked him to take photos of Charmander in the big city. Neil carried him in his pocket everywhere and through his eyes we got to enjoy this big, overwhelming, exciting and colorful city.  Charmander at the Museum of Natural History Shark exhibit Some of…

  • Backcountry Skiing,  Camping,  Metro Vancouver & North Shore,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Mount Seymour: So Close and So Far

    The kids had been asking for a while to experience camping in the snow. It was me that needed more convincing. Eventually I agreed to come along, what’s the worst that could happen? Plus I figured I could probably survive one night in the snow. I have done it before, just not recently… The kids “helped” us pack Our friends who live in Victoria were excited to join, though by foot and not on skis. In retrospect, they should have probably had snowshoes, but they managed. The original plan was to head to Red Heather and camp there by the warming hut. But original plans don’t always work out. We…

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

    Mexico: Let the Good Times Roll

    It all started with a wedding. It was sometime in the spring that Gili shared the news that his cousin was getting married in Mexico in November. Mexico, in November? Sure, that doesn’t sound too bad. We were excited for the wedding of course, but November is also our favourite time to get away from gray and rainy Vancouver. So we started thinking how we might combine the wedding with our annual fall cycling trip. YVR, late at night… We left late at night with an elaborate plan to leave our bikes and gear in Cancun during a short five hour layover between our flights. It was a great plan but…

  • Camping,  Chilliwack and Nearby,  Kayaking and Canoeing,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids

    Harrison River: Eagles, Seals, and Sturgeon!

    When I bought our inflatable canoe a couple of years ago I had visions of us floating down a rushing river. In the meantime, most of our trips have been on lakes, theoretically more mellow, but in reality at least one was scary too. Finally, on this trip, we got a chance to experience some real “moving water”. The trip down the Harrison River is apparently a classic fall trip in the canoe community, due to the many eagles that can be seen at this time of year, and the fall colours – and it sure delivered! Mid October swim… We left home a bit late, and made a quick…

  • Camping,  Carfree,  Cycling & Cycle Touring,  Trip Reports,  Trips with Kids,  Western USA

    Olympic Discovery Trail: Ending the Summer on a Positive Note

    This summer did not start in the best possible way… In early July while making dinner I managed to cut myself pretty badly, cutting 70% of the way through one of the tendons in my right hand. Of course, after the initial shock of first going to the ER followed by a small procedure a couple of days later, my next question was “can I ride my bike”? The intern who did the procedure looked at me like I had just landed from the moon – “of course not”. I kept asking my physiotherapist the same question and her answer was even worse, maybe in 8-10 weeks, like mid September. …