Ontariariari-O!

I went back to Ontario to visit my family in Southampton for the last week of August.  Mom and Dad picked me up in London (which was at least a zillion times easier than flying into Toronto, but which had an unfortunate stop over in Calgary at 12:30 AM for an hour...) at the "buttcrack" of dawn.  It was gorgeous and Remi would have LOVED the light, so I took a couple of pictures out of the moving car.  This was the best.

Keenan came over that afternoon, oh, with Kristin ;)  And we played on his bike.  He loves his bike, the swings, the slides and this crazy froggie (picture to come later) in the park near Mom and Dad's place.

It was very hot.  We hit the pool a couple of times.  Keenan was apprehensive at first, but after distracting him by tossing him in the air a few times, we got him to the centre of the pool.  After that, he was kicking away and loving it.

 We also hit the beach.  I love this picture with the Popsicle. He is soooooo serious about it!

Dad creamed me at horseshoes.  It was like 21 to 6 or something.  Pitiful!

This was the end of our main family day.  Ice cream on me :)

On the way back to Mom and Dad's Keenan got side-tracked.  This is the aforementioned froggie.  When they first arrived and we were playing horseshoes he took off and I thought he was running for Grandma and Grandpa who were across the pits.  But he burned right by them and over to the frog ;)

We played some badminton.  Keenan was actually really getting the hang of it.  He would put the birdie on his racket and try to fling it at the net ;)  So cute!

Dad got his plane out but we never went flying.  The hurricane hit the next day.

This was the day we babysat Keenan.  Mom read him to sleep :)

The waves were INCREDIBLE.  I've never seen it like this on Lake Huron!

Fish & Chips tradition :)

It was cold for the rest of my time there.  But we're always outside at Mom and Dad's - unless it's pouring - like it did A LOT in my last few days home.

It cleared up my last night home (Sunday of Labour Day weekend).  One of Kristin's friends came out so we had him take a family photo.  Dad is actually kinda smirking in this one - which is rare!  He either sticks his tongue out or looks angry.  Kind of like Alain with pictures, actually ;)

We went to the park at Port Elgin beach my last night.  There was supposed to be a carnival and fireworks, but it was canceled on account of the crazy winds.  I will admit to sort of Michael Jackson'ing Keenan here (dangling him over the edge), but it's such a cute picture!

Keenan loved to have Mommy swinging with him :)  That's Kristin's friend from high school, Damen

We stayed for the sunset and had ice cream and a train ride before we went back to Mom and Dad's place.  It was a very nice last evening to my trip :)

This picture was a total fluke my last morning in Ontario.  I just love how lazy Rosie is ;)

It was a great trip - very relaxing.  It's actually the first time I've been back to Ontario in the summer since moving to BC.  And I'd like to go back again!!!  Mom and Dad's summer place is soooooooooo nice - it was good to be home :)

Sarah

Miscellany

It's been pretty miserable out the last few days, but it's still nice to play in the mountains on the north shore. It's also an excuse to keep playing with black and white pictures.

Lots of huckleberries up there, which means the few bears that aren't scrounging for garbage down the slope are probably up here.
I didn't see any, but after the summer we've had I'm being pretty careful.

I had some chores to get done in Vancouver, and I got lost in some back streets. Something you might not know about Vancouver: there are lots of old buildings from a more industrial time. Most, like our provincial government are derelict; and unlike our government, should probably be preserved.

Sarah and I have passed this building a few times, and I finally got a chance to take a picture. I think this one is only 80 years old or so, but the company is still around.

Another shot of the same building.

I stole this from their website. The building as it looked in the fifties or so, judging from those cars.

This picture didn't turn out the way I wanted, but here it is anyways.



R

Attempt on Mt Outram

Having been unsuccessful at finding someone to go camping with me (read: no friends), I decided to go alone to Mt Outram, a 2400 something meter summit just outside of Manning Park, east of Vancouver.
The trail winds up quickly from the parking lot to get to this old road, made in the late 19th century during the Gold Rush. The route was mapped out by Sir Sanford Flemming, in case you were interested.

This is a view from part way up. I was pretty tired by this point, the trail climbs 1800m to the summit over 9km, with an average grade of 20% (that's steep).

Somewhere around here my idiot dog decided to chase marmots for a while, and totally disappeared from sight. After I yelled like an idiot for a while, she eventually deigned to come back up to meet me.

Here she is... the quality of this picture isn't very good, but I don't feel like fixing it.

Anyhow, this was merely an attempt at Mt Outram. This lake, somewhere around 2000m up (1400m or so up from the parking lot), where I was planning on spending the night, also turned out to be used by a large black bear. I stumbled across him just behind that ridge on the right. I'd have taken a picture, but I had to choose between the bear mace and my camera, and I knew I had the wrong lens on, so I went for the mace.

I sat here for a while, had lunch, and debated whether or not I should still stay the night. Being upwind from the bear, I decided against, figuring he'd be over that rise before he knew I was around, and I'd end up shooting the bear spray into the wind. Two strikes against staying. Having already suffered enough carrying a bunch of now useless gear up the hill, I decided against working towards the summit, and shot a few more pictures before heading down.

There was a nice cool wind, and it would have been a refreshing night, with a spectacular sunset, but it just wasn't worth getting mauled over.

Your fearless author, shortly before running down the hill like a crazy sissy, talking to himself to avoid startling the bear.

Sarah comes home soon. It'll be about time, these adventures are more fun with her - we wouldn't have chickened out if we were both there.


R

Alouette Mt.

With Sarah away, I got bored (didn't take long), so Maggie and I headed to Alouette Mountain in Golden Ears Provincial Park for a short (22km) walk. This is the view from the summit. Usually I prefer something nicer, but we can see this mountain from our house, so now I can at least say I've climbed that bump.

I had lunch here, so I played with my camera while my legs came back to life. I got to the trailhead at 8:30, so everything was still covered with dew. By the time I reached the summit I was soaked through. Luckily, few people try this trail (wimps), so I could sit in my underwear while everything dried off (no pictures of that - sorry).

 Another picture from the summit. Looking north.

This is Blanchard Peak. A bit too extreme for my taste, but it makes for a nice view.

Maggie did pretty well for an old girl. I thought I'd poop her out, but she was still game for a walk this morning. This is her in the backyard this morning.


That's all I've been up to so far, I may go camping next weekend though, we'll see how that goes.


R

Joffre Lakes

We have been busy this summer, with lots of outings, adventures and other interesting things. So busy, in fact, that we haven't had time to post blogs. This trip, to Joffre Lakes, near Pemberton, was actually before the trip to Semaphore Lakes (below), but it got lost in the shuffle.
With the long days of summer, we've been going as far as possible from Vancouver on Friday nights so we're near the trailhead in the morning. This picture was taken in Pemberton in the evening. Pemberton has to be among the most beautiful villages in Canada (contrast to Sudbury).
Devil's club. It's very photogenic, but seriously painful to touch.
Joffre Lakes is in a provincial park, and rightly so, the spot is quite beautiful. This is the third lake, right below the glacier.
The glacier in question.
Usually I think it's stupid to filter this glacier water, it clogs the filter, and it's pretty much pure anyways. Unfortunately, idiot visitors tend to make a mess of things, so here it was probably necessary. A new friend, Jérôme, and his girlfriend Coleen, came up with us... they elected to carry water for the whole trip. Newbies.
I only prepare my President's Choice pre-packaged hot chocolate with glacier water, and ditto my Tuna Helper (take that snobby Torontonians who reserve it for their Scotch)
The place was ridiculously busy on Saturday night, but most of the tourists had left by noon the next day, leaving relatively peaceful for Sarah and I.

We climbed about the lake, just for something to do. A very neat spot. Mountaineers like it because they can climb the terrifying mountains nearby.
That's about it... Pretty ho hum. For those of you who don't really follow the blog (mom & dad), there are a couple of recent posts below.