Elk-Westmin Traverse: Serendipity Strikes Twice in Strathcona
I love those funny coincidences that make so much sense and yet are so surprising. On the first day of this eight day trip, while hiking up the Elk River Trail, we met a group that had turned around from a similar route to the one we had planned. They spoke of huge amounts of snow and a narrow gully with truck sized boulders, partially covered with snow, making for treacherous footing, where any moment one might fall into the creek. They had roped up, which sounded weird to me. The guy in the front noticed a piece of paper I was referring to, and said “that’s my trip report!”.…
Lytton to Lillooet: A Loop Along the Mighty Fraser River
The plan was to cycle from Lytton to Lillooet along a gravel road running up the west side of the Fraser from Lytton to Lillooet, and return via highway #12 on the east side, in two days. We had meant to leave early, but were tired and the days are long, so in the end only left Vancouver at 9am. The previous time we had driven to Lytton it took us two and a half hours, but due to traffic and lots of construction it took us three and half hours this time. We parked our car near the information center and got organized. Finally we were on our bikes…
Ring-Callaghan Traverse: Clawing the Thin Ice
I love frozen lakes. The thin ice covering them is like a call to arms. I feel drawn to the ice, to test it, walk on it, throw sticks and rocks at it, and am always surprised to see them bounce off the ice instead of making a splash in the water. Maybe this has something to do with growing up in the Middle East, where ice exists strictly in the freezer. My wonder at ice formations extends of course to the biggest pieces of ice we are likely to bump into, glaciers. Getting close to glaciers and traveling across them is still a novelty to me. This trip took…
Brodie to Spences Bridge: Another Spur of the Kettle Valley Railway
Three years ago we rode most of the Kettle Valley Railway, following the old rail bed from Midway to Hope, with a side trip to Osoyoos. The Kettle Valley Railway has another side spur or two, and on this weekend we followed the spur going from Brodie to Merritt and on to Spences Bridge. On the previous trip we had passed through Brodie, but had headed south to Hope, whereas this time we were headed north to Merritt. It must have been a huge job to dismantle the railway, but it is much appreciated by cross country cyclists. The old bridges, tunnels, washouts, old stations and water towers provide an…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports
Pender Island: Alpacas, Beaches, Yellow Flowers and Sunshine
Cycling season has started. Although ski season is still alive and kicking, it’s great to get out on a bike and enjoy some sunshine and greenery. Maya and I drove to Tsawassen, hopped on our bikes, and rode to the ferry terminal. There we met Doris and Avery from the VOC, also on their bikes (albeit light road bikes), but heading to Galiano Island. After one stop and one transfer, we arrived to Pender Island. Our ride took us past an Alpaca farm, where each Alpaca was a different colour. At this time of year, the farmer’s market seemed to carry mostly knick knacks and a few baked goods –…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Duffey Lake Road, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Anniversary Glacier: More Spring Turns
Yet another trip up the Duffey Lake Road, this time a few kms beyond Marriot Basin, which we had gone to the previous weekend. The route to Keith’s hut is in the forest for the most part, but it is very mellow. There were a few entertaining creek crossings, and soon enough we arrived to the cozy hut. Apparently the hut can be very crowded on the weekend. In fact, I had read a report written by someone who had spent the night with three dogs on the bottom floor. For this reason we brought tents, but in the end didn’t use them. It had started raining not long before,…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Duffey Lake Road, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Marriot Basin: Time for some Spring Turns
Last weekend we headed to Marriot Basin with Lisa, Julian and Colin. After strapping the skis to the roof in a jumble of ropes and bungee cords, we drove three hours to the trailhead. While we were getting organized, a rental car pulled over, also full of VOC’ers, but going to Mt. Rohr on a day trip. We headed up the logging road, admiring the views of the Joffrey group behind us, the fresh snow, and mostly the warmth and sun. We entered the forest, and were happy to follow tracks from the day before. We emerged from the forest, crossed a small frozen lake and soon found ourselves at…
- Backcountry Skiing, British Columbia (and nearby), Sea to Sky, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Brew Hut: Another Misadventure to Brew Hut
Easter long weekend requires an adventure, it’s not every week that we get a four day weekend. Gili and I signed up for the trip to Brew hut organized by Philippe LeBillon a few weeks in advance. We were hoping for a nice weekend in which we’d skin up to Brew, enjoy some spring skiing and warm up in the hut at night. As usual nothing really worked out as planned, especially when a trip to Brew is involved. When a group of us gathered in the clubroom on the Wednesday before the trip, Philippe opened by saying that the weather didn’t look too good and maybe we should reconsider…
- Backcountry Skiing, Birkenhead, British Columbia (and nearby), Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Phelix Hut: Pre New Year’s Trip and Blisters
We decided to spend four days at the Phelix Hut. We woke up early for the long drive – about three and a half hours north of Vancouver, past Pemberton, and up a logging road. Luckily this logging road is plowed semi-regularly, and it was in easy driving condition. On the way in I heard on the radio that the temperature at Pemberton was -13c, and of course we were going to be about 1500m higher than that… We were happy to find a vehicle parked at the trail head, since it meant that we would have a broken trail to follow. The first part was along a logging road…
Goat Mtn: A Sad and Important Lesson Close to Home
Some winter days in Vancouver are beautiful. The sun is shining (but not warming) and the visibility is almost endless. It usually comes with very low temperatures (for Vancouver), but at least we can say that it is not always raining here, even in winter. Saturday, December 5th, 2009 was one of those days. Unfortunately, the impact of such low temperatures is that snow turns into ice, which is quite a common problem on the North Shore Mountains. Since skiing on ice is not one of our favourite activities, Gili and I decided to go hiking that day. Since we were planning to go to the “Banff Mountain Film Festival”…
