- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Outdoor Recreation, Trip Reports, Western USA
Point Roberts Loop: Cycling a Forgotten Piece of the USA
Point Roberts is a weird forgotten piece of the USA. It is landlocked by Canada, but lies south of the 49th parallel, the arbitrary border line. By any reasonable account it should have been part of British Columbia, and not Washington State. As ridiculous as it sounds, the school buses, garbage trucks and US postal service vehicles all travel from the rest of Washington State, cross the border into Canada, and then cross the border again into Point Roberts. Like many residents of the lower mainland of British Columbia I have often been to Point Roberts. Why, you ask? Well, to pick up packages of course. The USA is the…
Dark Beer Onion Soup: Heaven on Earth
Frying onions is the start of so many good recipes. I feel like the smell triggers something in us – any human noses in the area will perk up and come searching for the source of the heavenly smell. Onion soup is a simple way to concentrate the flavor and smell and allows us to keep enjoying them for days. After having beer onion soup at a restaurant a few months ago I decided to try making it at home, and it seems that the addition of a dark beer adds color, character and depth to the soup. For years I made onion soup that was tasty, but was not…
How to Make Bourekas at Home: the Wonders of Phyllo Pastry
Growing up in Israel, trips to the supermarket were often rewarded by some Bourekas: crispy and often still warm flaky pastry triangles, filled with salty cheese and decorated with sesame seeds. At the time, it seemed like the best thing ever. It was only later that I realized that it was a low quality product – most Bourekas in Israel is made with margarine-based flaky pastry. Some time later I came across phyllo, a paper-thin dough, which is very versatile and easy to work with. Using it, making homemade Bourekas is a snap! There’s a lot of room for creativity, both in the choice of filling, and the shape. Here…
Zoa Peak Loop: Not The Default Trip
Driving out of Vancouver, we had yet to decide where we’d be skiing that day, despite over thirty emails that had gone back and forth between us the previous week. The weather was unseasonably warm and rainy, so we weren’t expecting good snow. Our original plan was my suggestion to climb some an esoteric peak in Manning, Mount Forddred (I liked the name). This was shot down after a short discussion, due to the low snow conditions. Our backup plan was also discarded when we drove past it and again noticed a lack of snow on the approach. We were left with our default trip, Zoa Peak. Don’t get me…
Red Heather: How to Avoid Becoming Jaded
Over time we become jaded: the same old activities only continue to excite us if we make an effort to view them with a fresh eye. This is hard, since by nature we seem to be sensitive to changing stimulation but not constant stimulation. Just like in the oh-so-overplayed Passenger song Let Her Go: “Only know you’ve been high when you’re feeling low Only hate the road when you’re missin’ home Only know you love her when you let her go” That’s one good reason to introduce your friends to a new activity – they will hopefully be excited and super stoked from something that you have already started taking…
Hanging Lake: Hike-skiing, Ski-hiking, or Hskiing?
In the Coast Mountains, it’s not often that early season skiing starts at the end of December. This year, just like last year, is a late starting snow season. Somehow, during the years we have lived in Vancouver, almost every snow year is “out of the ordinary”, unusual or atypical in some way. Perhaps it’s global warming causing the weather to be more variable. Either way, we take what we can get. I picked up Doris, Avery, Matt and Mary. When we left Vancouver it was raining hard, and apparently continued raining for much of the day. We drove up the Sea to Sky, placing empty bets on when we…
How to Make Chocolate Milk, From Scratch
I’m obsessed with chocolate. I guess lots of people say this, but I feel like I’m worse than others. Barely a day goes by without me digging in the cupboard for some dark chocolate, ideally Belgian and 72%. Since I also have a thing for making stuff from scratch, I was very interested to learn about making chocolate, and in particular, whether I could make chocolate at home. Two years ago while cycling through Central America, we took a chocolate making workshop in Nicaragua, and then another one in Guatemala. Then, in Belize, we cycled into a small Maya village named San Antonio, where a young kid climbed up a cocoa…
Vantage (climbing): Basalt Columns Forever
It is sunset. Steep columns of golden rock rise before you like soldiers prepared for combat. Some of them are broken, crippled. Others stand tall and slender. You look carefully, and notice that in between their folds are little creatures, clambering up the columns, attempting to reach the top. When they crest the top of the cliff, they lower themselves down gracefully on thin cords, just to repeat the ridiculous ritual. It’s a mesmerizing sight. At nightfall they retreat into small nylon shelters nearby, and when a new day dawns they arrive back again, full of energy. Welcome to climbing at Vantage. Vantage is only about 4.5 hours from Vancouver, or so…
Illal and Spiral: Who Knew There was a Trail?
At 10pm on Friday evening we were still trying to figure out what to do on the weekend. After scanning various maps and trip reports, I somehow recalled a trip we did five years ago to Jim Kelly and Coquihalla Mountain, a beautiful and under-appreciated area up the Coquihalla Highway, about a 2.5 hour drive from Vancouver. After a quick call to Pascale and Ignacio, we finished packing and headed to bed for a few hours of sleep. After a 20km drive on a smooth gravel road, we reached the trailhead for regular cars. It took us a few hours of relaxed hiking to reach the sub alpine meadows, with…
South Chilcotin: All About Sheba’s Breasts
When people asked us where we had been on the August long weekend, and we replied: “the South Chilcotin”, none of our friends knew what we were talking about. Clearly we had managed to beat the crowds, once again. But we didn’t choose the South Chilcotin just to hike off the beaten track. Simply, it’s one of those places that you visit once, and then fall in love with and keep returning. There’s something about the remoteness, the open spaces, rounded mountains, wildlife and colourful rock that keeps us coming back for more. After a long five hour drive, including a rattly 50km’s on the Hurley FSR to Gold Bridge, we…
