Castlegar to Midway: Cycling the Columbia and Western Railway
Gili and I are last minute people. If you ask us on Friday what our plans for the weekend are, we will probably say we’re not sure yet. Sometimes close to midnight we’ll decide where we are heading for the weekend. The plans might change completely on Saturday morning. This trip was different – we had set our minds on it for quite a while and planned it for the Canada day long weekend. Well, it wasn’t exactly a long weekend, since the holiday itself was on Tuesday. But that was even better we thought, no one will notice if we disappear for Monday as well, and then we will…
Slim Creek to Wolverine Pass: Ridge Walking in Paradise
Maya and I were entrusted with entertaining our friend Yaron for two weekends while his wife and children were away. Last year we had spent a long weekend in the South Chilcotin, and I was just waiting for an excuse to return. It also seemed like snow levels would be lower there and we could actually do some early season scrambling. We decided to make it into a long weekend by taking off the Monday too, preparation for the next weekend: the super long weekend (Sat-Tue) for Canada Day. We left Vancouver at 5am and made good time to Pemberton. From there we drove 60km on gravel roads following the…
Norske Peak: Going For Glory on Norske
A few weeks ago I read a trip report by Robin Tivy on Bivouac describing a two day trip to Manning Park and an ascent of an obscure peak – Nordheim. This was possibly the first recorded ski ascent of Nordheim, and it was mentioned that “if you really want glory”, Norske was up for grabs. I’m not one to usually look for glory, but it seemed like a good enough excuse for a trip into a relatively untraveled area. I emailed Piotr Forysinski who was eager, and Phillip Zielke came along too. Phillip had arrived to Vancouver in December (from Germany) and had only skied several times before this…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Food, Hot Springs, Trip Reports, Western USA
Washington Desert: Desert Cycling, Taco Wagons and Hot Springs
Last weekend was the Remembrance Day long weekend, and we went on a three day trip to Washington state, taking our bikes with us. The idea was to cross the Cascades and spend time in the real desert on the other side of the mountains. We waited “only” two hours at the border and continued driving south. At some stage I started feeling that the steering wheel was vibrating. We stopped at a rest area and discovered that one of our tires was flat, and much worse than that – torn. I don’t know if it tore initially, or if I drove too long on a flat and it tore…
Wedgemount Lake: Mt. Cook, BC Version
On Saturday morning we drove just past Whistler to the trail head for Wedgemount Lake. The hike up to the lake is quite steep – 1200m in about 7km, but still takes only a few hours. It was foggy and gray in the morning, but around noon the sky cleared completely and we were treated to a beautiful day. On the way we enjoyed wild Huckleberries and Blueberries, but wished there were more of them. We finally made it up to the beautiful glacial lake, surrounded by rocky peaks and a snowy summit – Mt. Wedge, the namesake of the lake. There were quite a few people on the trail…
Tsylos and Wells Gray: Getting Lost and Meeting Friends for Life
The trail head is a long day’s drive from Vancouver (11-12 hours), which we split over a day and a half. On the first day we drove almost to 100 Mile House, found a deserted and dark spot just off the highway and slept in the car (the wonders of station wagons). The next day we drove to Williams Lake where we stocked up on brochures and maps (at the info centre), discovered free internet (same place), and checked out the local swamp park (lots of birds). From there we took highway #20 which goes to Bella Coola. We only saw two cars going in the opposite direction even though…
South Chilcotins: Cinnamon and Sugar Mountains
Over the BC long weekend Maya and I spent three days backpacking in the South Chilcotins, located about 5 hours north of Vancouver. We left Vancouver at 4am, just like an alpine start. There was no choice really, since we wanted three full days. The roads were empty and quick, but even before 5am there was a line at the ferry terminal at Horshoe Bay. Just after Pemberton we got on the Hurley Forest Service Road and set in for about 50km of bumpy gravel road. The road is maintained and totally passable in a regular car. There are great views from the road down to the L-shaped Downtown Lake…
Kettle Valley Railway: Exploring BC on Our First Cycle Touring Trip
It was a Monday and it was raining in Vancouver. Gili and I packed the car with two pairs of bikes, a children’s trailer, panniers, sleeping bags and mats, some food, and all the rest of the equipment that we needed for about 12 days of riding. It was about a six hour drive to a small town called Midway (midway across BC east to west) where we planned to start the ride from. After we passed Hope, the skies cleared and the sun was shining. We were on our way to ride the Kettle Valley Railway. Once upon a time there was a gold rush in British Columbia and…
Washington Desert: Spring Hiking in The Desert
Last weekend was Easter, which means a double long weekend (four days). With all the snow and mountains around us we couldn’t help it – we desired the desert. I guess Beer Sheva did something to us. So we took our red car on its first road trip – down to the USA! But it turned out that if you are going to nasty America it means you have to be punished with two hours waiting at the border. I guess it was only because of the long weekend. On the way to the border we started to feel funny. What is that weird feeling? and then we realized –…
Joffre Lakes: First Winter Snowshoeing Trip
We just came back from a two day snowshoeing trip to Joffre Lakes. The drive up took about 3 hours. From a little after Squamish we started seeing more and more snow. The trees were laden with snow, cars coming down had snow on their bumpers and roof, and there was snow on the sides of the road that had been cleared away. Up on the hills the trees all had snow on them, making the scenery look like a black and white photo. To us it looked like the middle of a ruthless winter, but it is actually just the beginning of winter, a measly amount of snow that…
