Larch Plateau

The weather continues to be ridiculous this fall!  It's warmer and much much drier than usual - in fact, we're breaking records!  And Remi and I are loving it.  Even though it's getting dark at 7:00 PM, it still feels like summer through the day.  We were out in 20+ degree weather again today!

Yesterday we headed out to Manning Park in the wee hours with our friend Bobby.  After a quick stop at McDonalds (it's ok when you're calorie loading for a long hike) we headed up into the mountains.  

I should mention that Maggie didn't join us on this hike.  After July Mountain in September, Remi and I decided that the arthritis in her ankle has become prohibitive.  We want to preserve the function that she has, so no more long hikes for Maggie-pants :(  It was not the same without her and we're both beyond choked about having to leave her home.  Luckily she was relatively easily fooled with her regular walk and copious amounts of treats, not to mention our hiding our boots and backpacks from her and sneaking out through the basement.

On the way up we ran into the stupidest bird I've ever seen.  This juicy bird stood less than 4 ft from me and didn't fly away from us until Remi "booga-booga" ' ed at it.  Stupid.

The start of the plateau.  Larch are deciduous conifers, meaning that they have needles, but unlike evergreens, their needles change colour and fall off in the fall.  They are stunning!  Some of these trees are likely over 2000 years old.  Amazing!  They don't get very tall because of the cooler conditions at elevation.  The hike is about 18 km, with about 800 m elevation gain.  We hiked up to an altitude of just over 2 km.

 Our picnic spot!

 

 

More larch.  We couldn't get enough of them!  Unfortunately, most of Remi's photos were blurry and most of mine are too dark - just means we'll have to head back up there next year!  Beautiful hike that we'd be happy to repeat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall is so beautiful.  I was quite taken with all the foliage changing colour.

 

 On our hike down we ran into (as usual) whiskey jacks which we fed (as usual).

 

 You may notice that this little ingrate below has the audacity to vomit on my backpack.

We'll be repeating this hike next mid-September for all of you dying to see something so ridiculously awesome.  Guests encouraged (as usual)!!!

S

Gardening Update

The weather continues to hold!  Here are a couple of recent shots.  Still waiting for the tomatoes to ripen (we've had three ripe ones!) and going to likely pull the broccoli out tomorrow and harvest that tiny squash.

 The summer squash are finally flowering, but I don't see them fruiting in October so we'll just enjoy the pretty flowers!

 This was spicy!!

 Remi's also started woodworking.  These are the boards for our coffee table in progress!

 He also refinished a couple of the kitchen chairs.  So handy is my husband!

S

Gardening adventures 2012

I've chosen a green font, but my thumb is more of a blackish with green twinges...  We've been able to eat out of our garden this year, but the tomatoes are still green on the vines and despite the fact that everyone I know with a garden has zucchinis coming out the ying yang, ours (albeit planted very late) are just flowering now.  I doubt they'll ripen and may not even fruit before winter.

BUT!!  We've learned a lot.  Lesson #1 has been plant seeds in the ground and use cold frames.  I started a lot of seeds inside (ambitiously and foolishly in February/March) and planted out late.  I wouldn't do that again, especially for squash.  They seem to do much better if planted on hills (as recommended on the seed packet, I humbly add).  We also need to beef up our soil and so will be adding copious amounts of chicken poop compost come the end of the season.  We're trying to grow organically...

Anyhoo, a few photos:

Broccoli - if you're looking for something easy to start with, plant broccoli.  We bought plants, not seeds, and they did amazingly.  They're still producing lots of veg!

 

 Beans - these did very well too, I just didn't plant enough of them!  Again, planted right into the ground, the seeds did very well.  And they are sooooo yummy when eaten seconds after picking!

 

 This is winter squash.  Needs lots of space and good soil.  We have one fruit that is almost ready (see below) and the plant is still flowering.  Two more fruits have started.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed they ripen before the rains come.

 

 Tomatoes - a fan favourite.  Our plants are huge and there are lots of fruit on them, but as mentioned, still green.  I'm holding by breath that they will ripen before the season is over.  They like hot weather and the heat wave we had last week gave me some hope but it's cool and cloudy this week so we'll see.  Luckily we like green tomato salsa!

 

 Strawberries - delicious little yummies!  Easy to grow and perennial.  I plan to haul these plants out of this strawberry pot and plant them in my garden.  They spread out everywhere but who wouldn't want fresh strawberries in copious amounts??!!

 We also planted flowers in amongst our fruits and veggies to bring in insects and reduce soil erosion.  These are called nasturtiums.  You can eat them, but Remi and I weren't keen on the taste.  They also spread EVERYWHERE, so they need to be kept in check.  The nice thing is, they grow VERY well from seed and are therefore dirt (excuse the pun) cheap.

 Marigolds - because I like them.  I did learn that they grow better when planted in clumps.  The individual plants withered, but when I moved them together, they took off.

 

 Hot peppers and jalapenos - we bought plants of these and they're doing quite well!  Still producing.  I may did them up and bring them in for the winter.

 

 Basil - I kill basil kept in pots, but I planted this one in the ground and it seems to be doing very well!  I'll likely dig it up and bring it in for the winter (at which point, I'm sure it'll die in the pot).

 We also have rhubarb, parsley, thyme and oregano.

We're planning on expanding next year, digging another garden patch which gets more sun.  I'd love to try growing corn and we may yet plant some garlic this year.

Happy growing!
S

Drum Lake

We went up to the Coquihalla area for a Labour Day camping trip.  We chose the July Mountain area for a quiet long weekend.  Somebody put a bunch of money into these trails, but now the access roads are so over-grown we could only get to within 4km of the trailhead - and that's after we used roadside vegetation to scratch the paint off the side of the car.

This is Sarah on the way up.

We eventually got to the trailhead.  Immediately beyond this point the trail is nicely overgrown with alder and visibility was only a few feet.  We sent Maggie to the front to see if there were any bears waiting to eat us.  The bear poop looked old(er than it does on most of our hikes) so we just yelled like lunatics until we were through.

 We crossed a neat meadow on the way up.  Lots of blueberries to supplement our regular food.

 We went through early summer to early fall as we climbed up.  This one is early fall.

The final push up to the lake.  Sarah likes climbing big hills carrying a big pack.  I had to jog to keep up with her.

Some hellebore on the side of the trail.  This stuff is pretty toxic.  I've seen tourists carrying it in bouquets.

 The wind was howling when we got to the top.  We pitched the tent in a tiny open patch in a grove of sub-alpine fir to avoid having the wind buffet the tent all night.  We don't have picture of that.
This picture is of the following morning.  Nice view, but it was cold and not quite as windy as the night before.

 We took our sweaters, fleeces, coats, hats, and mitts off for this picture.  If it were a dozen degrees warmer we might have sat by the lake.

 We sat in a sheltered spot to read by the fire.  I thought it was nice.

Nice, if a little chilly.  We ended up deciding to head out early - we figured we'd be home in time to go to the pub and have a quiet Monday.

 I like this picture.  It looks steep.

 At sea level these come up in June.  It's a red columbine.

Out of order, but this is Sarah sprinting down the mountain.

This one truly catches Sarah's joy after climbing a large hill, sitting in the smoke of a fire during a class 3 hurricane, and hiking back down again the next day.  In boots that apparently hurt her feet.

R