- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Outdoor Recreation, Sea to Sky, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Brew Hut: Neil’s First Overnighter
This trip was an adventure. Yes, we have been to Brew Hut a few times over the years. But this trip was different. Being Neil’s first backcountry overnighter, we really didn’t know how it would go and even whether we would make it to the hut, and in fact we almost didn’t. On the morning of the trip, before leaving, I suddenly realized that with the warm weather we would probably need snowshoes. After making a phone call or two, I dashed over to Ron and Dana to pick up their snowshoes, which in retrospect were very much essential. We were finally ready to leave, sometime after 11am, not exactly…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Chilliwack and Nearby, Hiking & Scrambling, Outdoor Recreation, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Harrison Grind: Not That Kind of Grind
The Grouse Grind in Vancouver has become a popular tourist attraction, but for no apparent reason. After all, it’s a steep stair-master like trail, crawling with lycra clad racers with fanny packs busy trying to improve their “Grind time” while overtaking you without missing a heartbeat. It’s the kind of place where you can scan a card at the start and end to have your time recorded for posterity, and have a latte at the coffee shop at the top, not exactly a remote wilderness experience. Then there’s the odd issue of the trail name being trademarked… How often does that happen? With that in mind, we set off to…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Black Mountain: Tummy Time on Top
If you are looking for a hike close to Vancouver, relatively easy and short but still rewarding with good views, then Black Mountain just up from the Cypress ski area is a good option. As you can see it’s also a great place for babies to take naps while doing their tummy time… We started not early on Saturday afternoon, somehow when you have a baby the days just fly by, and before we noticed it was already noon, so we started hiking around 2pm… The trail up is in excellent condition and is well maintained. We hiked up Black Mountain in the winter when I was about six months…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Outdoor Recreation, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Diez Vistas: Even the Baby Did It
Diez Vistas (“ten views”) is a bit of a weird hike. For starters, it’s not really clear why this hike is named in Spanish. Then there’s the issue of the number of viewpoints on the hike: it is not even nearly close to ten, although we did forget to count them. The last time we did this hike was several years ago. It was a gray day, and the views were close to non-existent. This time we got luckier, or perhaps smarter, and hiked in full blown sun, enjoying beautiful views of Indian Arm. Two girls passed us on their way down. One of them pointed to me, carrying Neil…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Dog Mountain: Back to Hiking in Baby Steps
When our new baby boy Neil was just over a month old, we decided that it was time to get back into outdoor activities. We heard about Dog Mountain a while ago, and it was always on our list when a short and not too strenuous hike was in order, but we never got around to going there. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. We drove to Mt. Seymour ski area not too early (i.e. 2pm). The sight was a bit sad. Like the rest of the local ski hills, Mt. Seymour has been closed for most of this season due to a lack of snow. Is this the future…
- 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…
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…
Vernon and Kamloops: Winter Wonderland of the Interior
Finding somewhere to go over the Christmas break is always a challenge. Everyone is on vacation at the same time and therefore flights and everything related to traveling is more expensive. Things get even more complicated in the third trimester of a pregnancy since we wanted to avoid flights, long drives and downhill skiing is out of the picture for now. So we decided to stay ‘close to home’ this time. Then Tal, Gili’s brother, said he was coming for a visit, which is always nice. Since Tal was keen on doing some skiing, an activity he doesn’t get to do often due to living in Israel, and the local…
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…
