Saint Marks Peak: Definitely Not Unnecessary
St. Marks Peak is a small peak, more of a bump actually. However, it is quite a spectacular bump, due to the steep topography to the west and to the east, dropping down 1400m steeply to the ocean. The access is easiest from the Cypress ski area, where we began our trip. The ski area was still closed, but quite a few people were milling around. It turned out that around 25 of these people were also heading up our trail, an organized Korean looking group. We let them pass us and slowed down so that we could enjoy the peace and quiet. I guess this is how others feel…
Crown Mtn: The Crown of the North Shore
I have often looked at Crown Mtn. while enjoying a BBQ with friends down at Jericho or Locarno beaches, near UBC. I knew I would make my way to the summit, it was just a question of when. We drove to the Grouse parking lot, and were surprised to see it so crowded: what were all those people doing there? We chose to hike up the BCMC trail, shunning the Grouse Grind and its many artificial steps and spandex clad hikers jogging up and down. After just over an hour and a half we arrived at the chalet and took a quick bathroom break. I always find it weird to…
Saxifrage Mtn: In the Footsteps of Rachael and Jonathan
I only met Rachael once before she disappeared. It was Canada Day 2010, and we were both on a large VOC trip to Skypilot. The weather was crappy, there were no views, but we still had a good time and some people got to the summit. I had a short chat with Rachael, she seemed nice. I remember she mentioned hiking naked with a few other girls in Garibaldi Park and coming upon a somewhat shocked hiker. Two months later, on the Labor Day Weekend, Rachael and her boyfriend Jonathan went missing. It is believed they were hiking in the Valentine Lake area. To the best of my knowledge, no…
Brazeau Loop and More: Two Weeks in the Rockies
After our cycling trip we decided to chase the sun, which led us east, where it looked sunny. Originally we had planned to spend two weeks in the very remote Spatsizi Plateau Provincial Park, but the weather was looking bad enough to warrant changing our plans. Ironically, we had been in a hurry on our cycling trip in order to leave enough time for Spatsizi, but in the end didn’t end up heading to Spatsizi at all… On our way east we stopped at Moricetown, a first nations community, to buy salmon. First we bought fresh pink salmon, which was caught to the order by a youngster wielding a long…
Prince Rupert to Skagway: Looking for Sunshine
Some people say it rains a lot in Vancouver. I suggest them to take a trip, or better yet, a cycling trip to Prince Rupert, the rainiest and cloudiest city in Canada. In an average year, they get only 100 days with some sun and the total precipitation is 2552mm. But this year wasn’t an average year. It was a cold and wet summer in this part of the world. Ignoring all those facts, or simply not knowing the exact details, this is where Gili and I chose to start our cycling trip through Northern BC, the Yukon and to Skagway Alaska. Like every great adventure it all started by…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports
Salt Spring Island: Birthday Cycling Weekend
My birthday is in July and therefore associated in my mind with sun and warmth. It didn’t look like I was going to get any of those this year. The forecast called for rain and clouds, so our initial plan to do a hike somewhere fell through. For some reason we thought that cycling in the rain is not too bad compared with hiking in the rain, so we came up with the plan to cycle to Salt Spring Island. We cycled in the rain to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, just like we did on the May long weekend when we cycled the Galloping Goose Trail. We caught the direct…
Kelly Lake: The Backroads of Lillooet
We left Vancouver early Friday morning and drove to Lillooet and beyond. The starting point of the trip was actually farther then we thought and was way past Lillooet. The original idea was to do a trip along the Fraser River which was quite involved with steep down and uphill sections. I wasn’t too excited about it and we came up with a plan B that worked out just fine. Anyway we discovered that the road down to the Fraser was closed for construction, so it’s not even sure that we could have done it. The road we drove on (the Clinton-Pavilion road) was washed out, luckily close to the…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports
Gabriola Island: Discovering Another Gulf Island
On the last week of June we headed to Gabriola Island. We woke up on Saturday morning and what a surprise – rain! We started cycling from home and it was pouring all the way to Horseshoe Bay. Once there we caught the ferry to Nanaimo and then cycled to another ferry terminal where we caught a small ferry to Gabriola Island. There is something so calm in the Gulf Islands that even once off the ferry I felt so relaxed. There is a nice campground less than a kilometer from the ferry. It is just on the beach and it wasn’t crowded at all. We had lunch by the…
Washington Rails: Rails-to-Trails Over the Border
On the first weekend in June Gili and I headed to Washington State. We had just bought a new (used) car the previous week and it was time to start using it. It was also sunny and quite warm which is always an advantage. We headed to the border early Saturday morning and crossed with almost no waits. We drove to a town called Sedro-Woolley and started to ride from there along the Cascade Trail till another town by the name of Concrete. What we discovered is that this trail is very popular and gets a lot of use from the local community for cycling, hiking and mainly dog walking.…
Mt. Baker: Which is Harder, Climbing Mt. Baker in a Day, or Crossing the Border?
For a while I had been waiting for a midweek window of good weather to climb Mt. Baker. Finally the forecast was showing some sun, but finding partners was a scramble. I asked everyone I knew and posted online in several places. Luckily, Charlie Beard was in town, after his two-month volunteering trip to the Arctic was delayed by a week due to large amounts of snow. The only catch? We’d have to be back relatively early, since Charlie was catching a flight north the next day, early in the morning. We decided to drive to the trailhead the evening before, and get a good night’s sleep there, and then…
