The Rockwall: Braving the Storm for Rewarding Sunshine
There is something about beautiful places that draws us back to them again and again. This was not our first trip to the Rockies, and rest assured, it won’t be the last. But every time we make the long drive, past numerous lakes and rivers, across mountain passes, and basically cross the province to reach that beautiful area known as the Rockies, I know it will be well worth the effort. Even if in the beginning the sun does not shine in our faces, and the mountains look sad and sometimes are well hidden behind a thick wall of clouds, I know that in the end it would all be worthwhile. We decided…
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…
Three Brothers Mountain: and Cherry Picking Too
We are obsessed with cherries. So obsessed that driving 400km away and five hours each way just to pick cherries doesn’t seem like a ridiculous idea to us. I think there is something exotic for us about cherries. I remember hearing stories from my grandmother about how she used to climb the family cherry tree in their backyard in Cologne, Germany, pre WWII days. She would sit for hours on a wide branch munching on the unlimited supply of cherries, spitting the pits into the Nazi neighbour’s yard… It always sounded like a fairy tale, cherries were almost unreal. Growing up in Israel we sure enjoyed many different types of fruit, but…
Joffre Lakes: Heading up to Tszil Mountain
Eight years ago, soon after arriving to Vancouver, our first winter trip was a snowshoeing trip to Joffre Lakes. At the time we didn’t know what we were getting into, and had barely seen snow. On that two day trip we only made it as far as the middle lake, and the trip ended with us wet and shivering on the way home, which is also when we discovered the heating in the car was not working. Since then we’ve become a bit better at doing winter trips, but I still find that alpine lakes are so much more beautiful in the summer, when their turquoise colour can be seen fully,…
Garibaldi Lake: A Long Time Coming
For eight years we had avoided Garibaldi Lake in summer. This beautiful turquoise jewel of a lake, high up in Garibaldi Park, draws hordes of visitors in summer months. In fact, it’s probably one of the most popular hikes in BC, and for good reason: it’s surrounded by high mountain peaks and glaciers, and has the most unbelievably beautiful blue colour. Especially prized by blue lovers such as myself. We had been to the shore of the lake in winter three times and crossed it twice, but in winter this huge beauty of a lake looks like any old flat snowfield. The mountains, of course, are beautiful in winter as…
Mt. Seymour: A Few Favourites
Mt. Seymour is probably my favourite hike on the North Shore. When we parked the car, I realized I probably share this sentiment with many others, but despite the full parking lot we didn’t see that many people on the trail (where did they go?!). The thing about this trail is that it provides excellent “bang for the buck” – one ends up on a mountain top, but most of the elevation gain is done by car, and it takes only a short while to arrive at the First Pump and the glorious views of the snowy and volcanic Garibaldi Massif, Judge Howay, and Mt. Baker (sometimes). This also provided…
The Chief: Escape from the Fog
The fog engulfed us for over a week. I woke up each morning just to see a dense grey cloud outside our window, with no sign of the sun. Yes, it led to a mysterious atmosphere: I imagined stalkers lurking, waiting for their prey, and was almost run over by a few cars while riding my bike around town. However, after a few days the fog got kind of old, and we considered praying for the sun to come back. In the end, all that was necessary was a short drive out of town to Chief Stawamus, also known as The Chief. During an inversion, cold moist air hangs low…
Blowdown Pass: The Perfect Combo
The forecast looked good for the weekend, so we were excited to get out for yet another September hike. There is something really great about hiking in September – usually we are more in shape, I am actually enthusiastic about hiking, there are less bugs and of course there are berries. Blowdown Pass seemed to offer a perfect combination of short access to the alpine, a picturesque lake for camping and a few excellent scrambles nearby. When we woke up on Saturday to a grey and cloudy Vancouver we were a bit confused. But the forecast still looked good for Pemberton, and actually it looked really hot. As we crossed…
South Chilcotins: A Castle, Two Grizzlies, and a Cardtable
Long weekends around Vancouver are a “problem”. They cause crowds at all the usual hiking spots. Since one of the reasons for even wanting to travel in the backcountry (for us) is avoiding crowds, we search high and low for places that will be empty even on a long weekend. A good bet is a combination of a location that almost no one has heard of, and a very long drive (see our trips up Taylor Creek and Slim Creek). Such are the South Chilcotins. Our friends Jan and Warrick arrived from Vancouver Island on Friday evening just as we rolled back from the August Critical Mass. The next day…
