Maggie and her new pack

I had to post this video of Maggie adjusting to her new pack. This was during the High Falls Creek hike. More videos to come later!

Sarah

Elaho Canyon

Our first camping trip of the season. This trail is in the same area as High Falls Creek (last post) about 100km away from Squamish on a bone jarring logging road. We left the house around 5pm, expecting to get to the trailhead in time to make our first camp, but it took three hours over rough terrain to get to the trailhead. Luckily, there were campsites at the trailhead. Unluckily, it was raining. Undaunted, we set up a makeshift camp and set up a couple of tarps to keep the tent dry.

When we woke up the next day the rain was just stopping and the sun came out, a nice way to start a day. We lazily packed up our stuff and headed off on the trail. Parts of it are poorly marked, but we had a nice walk through some old growth forest with a few huge Douglas firs. After negotiating countless fallen trees, we eventually found the proper trail and headed off towards our goal: Canyon Campground. The trail meanders up and down around dry creek beds through a nice forest before arriving at Cessna Creek. There was once a bridge here and the crossing in our guidebook is only described as "problematic". For us, with our packs, the dog, the high water and steep canyon walls, it was game over. We turned around and headed back to Lava Camp near the trailhead.

Lava Camp was nice, located high above the junction of the Elaho River and Lava Creek with nice views down the canyon. However, the only source of water was 10 minutes down a steep ravine to Lava Creek, where we could get some glacier fresh water to cook our dinner. A bit annoying, but not the end of the world.

We had a relaxing evening and left early the next day so that we could take our time on the drive home. The road along the Elaho and Squamish rivers has many nice parts, so we found a good spot for lunch and relaxed there for a while before finally getting back on the road for Vancouver.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend of free camping. Now we work for a week before this coming long weekend. Hopefully we'll find something nice to do.

Sometimes we don't go over the best bridges. Our intrepid Sunfire was up to the task.



Our first camp.

Getting ready to go. We're out of the habit of carrying large loads.

The trail was a bit hard to follow at first, but we found our way.

These are the large trees.



This is the "problematic" bridge. I think there is a special circle of hell reserved for people who make euphemisms of this kind.

Some pretty moss gardens.

The Elaho Canyon.

Maggie is alergic to insect bites. It didn't help that she ate an ant that repeatedly bit her tongue.

Our camp.

A panoramic shot of the Elaho.

A tiger lily.

Our lunch spot. We decided to light a fire and have something nicer than cheese on crackers.

High Falls Creek

Sarah and I had last Monday off, so we went on our first official hike of the summer. We got out of the house relatively early and started hiking around 10:30. The total distance is only about 12km so we decided to take our time and enjoy the sights, stopping here and there to take pictures or to relax.

The hike starts off pretty steeply: within a few minutes we arrived at a cliff with a flimsy rope. We thought this would be the end on account of Maggie, but I managed to lift her up and over with little difficulty. The walk continued steadily upward for a while, frequently coming in sight of the creek and the Squamish Valley below. Eventually we got to an old rockslide that led up to a logging road that we followed back down to the valley and our starting point. We were out on the trail for 5 or 6 hours, had an awesome picnic and plenty of time to relax. Another nice day off in BC.

Maggie is still adjusting to her pack, so she gets stuck in some places.

Climbing up!

Another great view


Identifying plants next to the waterfalls.



From the logging road.

And we saw two black bears on the way home. We missed the other, which is too bad, because it was brown, which is pretty rare.

Diez Vistas

I had the day off yesterday, so I decided to take Maggie for a bit of a hike at Buntzen Lake near Port Moody. I don't know what I was thinking when I left the house (it was a 15 km hike!) because I've never done such a big hike on my own, but I guess I figured what the heck!

Anyway, I got there and the bridge I needed to use was out (BC Hydro is doing something with it, I guess), so the entrance to the trail that I wanted was closed. Luckily I ran into a couple of women (Gillian and Gina) who were also looking for access to the same trail. They fell in love with Maggie and her backpack and invited us along. So I didn't have to hike it alone and quite frankly I'm glad. It was a slog! Up up up up up, flat for a big and then down down down down down... I'm so sore today, but it was worth it. Here are a few pictures!

Sarah

Another walk

The weather has been pretty bad lately, so we haven't been anywhere too neat in a while. Plus there is still a lot of snow in the mountains and it's difficult to find or follow trails, so we're trying to explore other areas. This las Sunday we went to Pitt Lake. It's the largest tidal lake in North America. There are dikes the whole way around it, so it makes for an easy walk. There were lots of neat birds, there's a picture of an eagle below, and some panoramic shots. Not very interesting, really, so feel free to make up the rest of the story.



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Must I always be the one posting!

Yes, Remi is lazy. We've been up to quite a bit since the last time I wrote. I've finished my hellish practicum with Jezebel (my preceptor hated life in general and as an extension of said hate, made everyone else's life a living hell), Remi's begun plant collecting for one of his classes with his fearless sidekick Maggie, Remi's parents visited us in May and we've picnicked like there's no tomorrow (and then the weather turned shitty again, typical of BC at this time of year). Here are a few photos of the happenings!

A picnic at Lighthouse Park. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and various snacks in the gorgeous late afternoon sunshine. The nice thing about this park is that you can usually find a private area to sit where no one will bother you.


This was the only day I had off while Remi's parents were here. It rained - poured actually.

This is a walk Remi and Maggie went on to field test her new backpack. I can't remember where this one was. There may actually be pictures from two different hikes mixed in here.




Another picnic at Lighthouse Park! Just the three of us this time though. We've found a little picnic spot that most people don't bother to climb down to.


Do you guys think this stick is big enough? She finally dropped it at the top of a hill. I was impressed she'd carried it that far! If' she'd made it to the car with it we would have had to let her bring it home to reward the effort ;)

Sarah