Port Renfrew Loop: Discovering the Backroads of Vancouver Island
I honestly didn’t think we would do another cycling trip so soon after returning from five months of cycling in Central America. But blisters from the previous weekend’s hiking trip prevented me from wearing my hiking boots for a while. So this is how we found ourselves cycling not so early on Saturday morning towards the ferry after finding (free) parking in Tsawwassen. When we arrived to the terminal we were told that the 10am ferry was full, even for foot passengers! After sticking around for a bit it turned out that we could actually board the ferry. While the ferry was packed by enthusiastic tourists who were taking pictures…
Twin Lakes: Crystal, Elliot and A Problem Marmot
I am drawn to places that are hard to get to, and visited by few. Yes, it’s harder to find information about these places, they require more effort and sometimes planning, but they offer solitude and an authentic experience. I like to think that there’s a “marginal effort principle” at work: if you put in just a bit more effort than most people, you get a substantially higher reward. This is applicable to many fields, including, for example, blackberry picking. You want to pick ripe, plump berries that are oozing with juice, right? Reach slightly higher, scratch your arms and legs in an effort to go deeper into the thorny…
Last Few Days in Vancouver and Hasta la Vista
For more than six years we lived in our lovely apartment in the family housing on UBC Campus. We fell in love with the place the moment we passed through the doors. We quickly made it ours and felt right at home. But we always knew the day would come when we would have to move out. Last week this day indeed came. We had a few very busy weeks in Vancouver, starting with Gili’s graduation and visitors staying with us on and off for over a month. It was lots of fun and smartly we started selling our furniture early. Also the end date of my job at UBC…
Wreck Beach: A Different Kind of Trip
UBC is the only university I know of that has a nude beach. Imagine yourself, on a mid summer day, clambering down the wooden stairs to Wreck Beach, through pristine forest, coming out to a scene in the spirit of the free love atmosphere of the 60’s. There are volleyball nudes, beer hugging nudes, sunbathing nudes, ice cream selling nudes and even magic mushroom and pot selling nudes. They come in all types. If you return at the end of summer, Wreck Beach transforms completely. A wilder, undeveloped and more pristine beach: the nudists disappear, and the beach is reclaimed by quacking seagulls. On a beautiful sunny fall day, the…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Sea to Sky, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Hanging Lake Trail: The Gratification of Trail Clearing
British Columbia contains some of the wildest wilderness on Earth, and yet very few trails run through it. For us, outdoor fanatics, there is constant tension between wanting more trails to access the back country contrasted with wanting less trails to keep the wilderness as it is. Those few trails are generally maintained by volunteers, at least the ones outside of parks, and BC Parks suffers from an ongoing lack of funds that hampers their work. Other than lobbying the provincial and federal government for more funding for new trails and the maintenance of the existing ones, what are we to do? Go trail clearing ourselves, of course! Scott Nelson…
Tenquille Lake: Summer Grand Finale
This has been an amazing summer. It started kind of slow with a very wet June, but July and August were pure sun. We’ve been lucky enough that this sunny weather continued on into September. On the first official day of fall, Gili and I headed for a three day trip to Tenquille Lake, as a finale of this wonderful summer. In the next couple of weeks we’ll be visiting our families in Israel, and by the time we’ll be back it’s probably going to be full-on fall. The drive was quite long, past Pemberton and then on to the Birkenhead Lake road. As we were driving the logging road…
Punch Bowl Loop: A Jungle in Manning Park
The plan was to sleep on the summit of Snass Mtn, half way around the Punch Bowl Loop. But things don’t always go according to the plan. Both on trips and in general, in life. We need to adapt our expectations to a constantly changing reality. Otherwise, we are doomed to be unhappy and unsatisfied. At least, that’s what I tell myself. We hiked up the Whatcom Trail through a beautiful forest, covered with bright green moss and stringy Old Man Beard, as thick as a sheep’s coat ready for shearing. Maya wasn’t feeling so well, so we took lots of breaks and a nap or two. Higher on the…
Banff-Assiniboine: A Journey Into the Centre of the Rockies
The Rockies evoke images of sheer black rock faces topped by glaciers, turquoise alpine lakes, high mountain passes, and wildlife encounters. This trip had all of this in abundance, it was a journey into the centre of the Rockies, an exploration of the very heart of the Canadian Crumblies. The crowning jewel was definitely Mount Assiniboine. For days we could see it on the horizon, tantalizingly close. With its sheer rock faces, this pyramid captures one’s gaze and won’t let go. Last year we spent some time exploring Jasper National Park. We still had our National Park Pass, so we decided to return to the Rockies, this time to Banff…
Wind Lake: Ben More and Ben Lui
It was hot and sweaty. Flies kept on circling around my face, buzzing to their heart’s desire. Every now and then they landed on me, and I’d swat at them, killing the slowest ones. We were stuck in a Catch-22. We wanted to stop in one of the rare patches of shade to cool down, but the heat brought flies that would swarm us if we stopped. So we kept going. I was starting to think this trip to Wind Lake would be the definition of hell, but from there and on it only got better, and I mean much better. As we got higher along the the trail, we…
Frosty Mountain: Free Light Show by Mother Nature
We haven’t done trips in Manning Park for maybe four years, and I had set my eyes on Frosty Mountain for a while. I think I especially liked the name, but this weekend it was definitely not frosty there, or anywhere close to it. As usual we packed late on Friday night as we were invited for dinner at friends, went to sleep late and didn’t get an early start on Saturday. The drive was quite long, nearly three hours, and by the time we started hiking it was almost noon. The trail starts at Lightning Lake Day Use area and immediately starts to climb. The first part is in…
