- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Sea to Sky, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Hanging Lake Trail: The Gratification of Trail Clearing
British Columbia contains some of the wildest wilderness on Earth, and yet very few trails run through it. For us, outdoor fanatics, there is constant tension between wanting more trails to access the back country contrasted with wanting less trails to keep the wilderness as it is. Those few trails are generally maintained by volunteers, at least the ones outside…
What to do with 130 pounds of Cherries?
A few weeks ago we had a crisis. While driving back from the Rockies we stopped at friends in Creston and returned with about 130lbs of intensely purple cherries. Like my sister said, it’s like we drove home with a whole person worth of cherries. And a very tasty person at that. We had to figure out what to do…
Tenquille Lake: Summer Grand Finale
This has been an amazing summer. It started kind of slow with a very wet June, but July and August were pure sun. We’ve been lucky enough that this sunny weather continued on into September. On the first official day of fall, Gili and I headed for a three day trip to Tenquille Lake, as a finale of this wonderful…
Punch Bowl Loop: A Jungle in Manning Park
The plan was to sleep on the summit of Snass Mtn, half way around the Punch Bowl Loop. But things don’t always go according to the plan. Both on trips and in general, in life. We need to adapt our expectations to a constantly changing reality. Otherwise, we are doomed to be unhappy and unsatisfied. At least, that’s what I…
Banff-Assiniboine: A Journey Into the Centre of the Rockies
The Rockies evoke images of sheer black rock faces topped by glaciers, turquoise alpine lakes, high mountain passes, and wildlife encounters. This trip had all of this in abundance, it was a journey into the centre of the Rockies, an exploration of the very heart of the Canadian Crumblies. The crowning jewel was definitely Mount Assiniboine. For days we could…
Easy and Delicious Lamb Shanks
There is a fairly famous and excellent Greek restaurant in downtown Vancouver called Stepho’s. Fame brought with it large crowds, and if you expect to eat around the normal meal time, forget it – you’ll often be waiting in line for an hour or more. But then again, the lamb at Stepho’s is amazingly tender, and the sides are almost…
Wind Lake: Ben More and Ben Lui
It was hot and sweaty. Flies kept on circling around my face, buzzing to their heart’s desire. Every now and then they landed on me, and I’d swat at them, killing the slowest ones. We were stuck in a Catch-22. We wanted to stop in one of the rare patches of shade to cool down, but the heat brought flies…
Frosty Mountain: Free Light Show by Mother Nature
We haven’t done trips in Manning Park for maybe four years, and I had set my eyes on Frosty Mountain for a while. I think I especially liked the name, but this weekend it was definitely not frosty there, or anywhere close to it. As usual we packed late on Friday night as we were invited for dinner at friends,…
Brunswick Mtn: The Giant Next Door
If you are in Vancouver and crave a quick gulp of alpine scenery, the North Shore Mountains can deliver. But you must be ready for some exercise. Brunswick Mountain, at 1788m, is the highest of the giants next door. Most of the 1550m ascent is through the trees, but once you pop out of them, the views are stunning: steep…
Saint Marks Peak: The Summer Version
Saint Marks Peak was our last hike before we started the skiing season and oddly enough it was also our first summer hiking trip for the season. My (half) sister Alyssa was visiting from NY and she said that she would be interested in doing some hiking. Since both Gili and I remembered this hike to be not so strenuous…
