Canmore Part 2

Our second week in Canmore has flown by. The weather has been on and off, but that's the mountains for you. And it sure beats sweltering in the coastal heat. This has been a very social trip with lots of evening dinners and barbecues. We've got quite a few climbing friends in this area we've not seen for years and we are meeting some new folks as well. One couple, Gary and Kimby, have two kids around Elise's age that she really enjoys playing with. Elise said to us the other evening, "I really like my friends here". Maybe we'll have to move????

This is a picture of Elise and Bella at Heart Creek.


We had a nice family climbing day and the kids got a chance to do a route. These are photos that Derek took of Elise climbing and lowering back down. Cute!



These are a few photos of me climbing that Derek took on the same day. This is a route called The Convincer and is rated 5.12b.




While at Heart Creek, Pam and Kimby went off to do a climb and so did Derek and I. This left Gary in charge of the kids by the creek. When I came back from climbing, Elise was naked from the waist down and riding a metal culvert pipe like a horse. I said to Gary, "What kind of crazy Austrian games have you been teaching my daughter?". Gary is from Austria and we all laughed.

We visited a touristy hike called Johnson Canyon on the advice of some local parents. It turned out to be an excellent hike along suspended boardwalks high over the clear blue waters of the creek below. Three kilometers of walking took us to two different waterfalls, both of which delighted Elise. She walked the entire way and decided she needed to imitate Pam on the way back. Pam was hiking with poles and Elise found two sticks and "poled" her way back, all 3 km worth!

Photos of us on the hike.







The wildflowers are lovely here right now. This is Alberta's official flower, the wild rose.


After the hike to Johnson Canyon, we drove home along the Bow Valley Parkway and finally had some luck spotting some animals. We ran into a group of Elk grazing on the sweet grass beside the highway. This fellow was about 10 feet from the car. That didn't stop multiple tourists from jumping in front of him to take his picture. The say this is one of the leading causes of injuries to tourists each year in the park. I stayed in the car.


We continued our drive and spotted a black object up ahead crossing the road. Sure enough it was a bear, but what we didn't expect were the three tiny cubs that darted out of the trees behind her! Luckily they wandered into a campground, so we took a detour and watched them all forage for food for a good half hour.

Here's photos of momma' with a dirty face from digging in a rotten log.



And here's one of the cubs. Isn't he cute?


We've been trying to catch a glimpse of bighorn sheep or mountain goats, but have had no luck. We drive up the Spray Lakes road behind Canmore at night (a good spotting area), but no dice. Maybe before we leave? However, we have had some great views of the mountains in evening light. This is Ha Ling (formerly known as Chinaman's Peak). Also, it's very windy in this area so Elsie can fly her kite. This is always a hit!


We leave on Friday and have really enjoyed our two weeks here. Our house is very comfortable and it's been nice to vacation with friends in the area, a rarity for us. We plan to spend about five days in the Kootenays on the way home and will be in Squamish for the month of August.

Adios!
Marc...

Canmore Part 1

As summer finally arrived in Squamish and the skies turned blue, we packed our van and sped off on our summer vacation. Our destination was Canmore, Alberta, where we planned to spend a couple of weeks rock climbing, hiking and visiting with friends. The first leg of our journey took us north over the Duffy Lake Road and we enjoyed a beautiful morning in the mountains with views of glaciated peaks and glorious blue skies. We stopped for a lunch break at the picturesque Pavilion Lake, just east of Lillooet, and then pushed on toward our destination for day one, Revelstoke.

Upon our arrival, we purchased groceries in town before heading south to Blanket Creek Provincial Park to camp for the night. Elise was very excited to camp because she loves sleeping in the tent - she had eagerly been anticipating this part of the trip for days. After we set up camp with Elise's "help", we enjoyed a relaxing evening with a picnic dinner by a pond and a twilight hike along a nature trail near the river. The campground was on the banks of the Columbia River, but the water was so high that the shore was flooded and we couldn't explore the river bank, unfortunately. After our hike, we played "Moose Bingo" and then turned in for an early evening.

The next morning, we woke early, had breakfast and then spent the morning climbing at Begbie Bluffs, an area some of our friends had recommended. It was nice to get some exercise after the long drive on the previous day. By noon, the weather was heating up so we packed up and jumped back into the van for the final push to Canmore. The drive was slow due to a lot of highway construction and the conditions were hot - we used air conditioning most of the way. After a quick stop at the bakery in Lake Louise, we finished the final stretch to Canmore. Our friends Todd and Penny had graciously offered to let us use their beautiful home near Cougar Creek while they were away, so we drove around, located the house and settled in.

The next day dawned sunny and warm. I spent the morning working while Pam and Elise did a little shopping and exploring. In the afternoon, we drove to Banff and decided to hike Sulphur Mountain, 2200 feet (!) of uphill switchbacks through spruce and pine forest. I carried Elise and, truth be told, was totally spent at the top. I don't know if it was the elevation or heat, but I barely made it. Granted, the hike was long, but I've been doing a fair amount of cardiovascular training and didn't feel unfit. Regardless, the views from the top were spectacular and we enjoyed lounging in the sun and exploring the summit boardwalks. The highlight, though, was the gondola ride back down. Elise had not been on a gondola before and was very excited. She kept commenting, "I've not been on a gondola before!" I enjoyed watching her eyes get big as the car plunged over the rim of the ridge and began its decent.





That evening, we went to our friends, Dale and Nancy's, for dinner. They have a four-year-old boy named Isaac, and Elise had a great time playing with him and all his great toys, including the slip-and-slide on the front lawn! Dale and Nancy plan to go to Turkey this fall so we'll all be together for a couple of weeks. It will be nice to have some friends around and it was good for the kids to get acquainted before we all go to Europe.

Friday we spent the day at Lake Louise. We'd talked this up with Elise before the trip and I think she had a great time. As we approached the lake through the forest and she saw the Chateau and the aquamarine waters glinting in the sun, she turned to me and said, "This is a good day, Dad." We hiked to the back of the lake to climb, but it was really hot so we played in the water at the head of the river delta, which flows down from the glaciers above. While relaxing, we heard ice fall from above, a very loud and distinct sound. I got up the nerve to jump into the lake, which is fed from the melting glaciers above. It was cold, to say the least. Despite my coaxing, Elise wouldn't swim, but she did do a lot of wading in the icy streams.




After lunch, the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up providing better climbing conditions. We enjoyed the excellent quartzite climbs and Elise did a route called "Tom Cat" - twice! After relaxing in front of the Chateau Lake Louise in the evening sun, we visited Lagen's Bakery and all picked out a treat. We ate our sweets by the river, where Elise proclaimed her love for us quite loudly (she's been doing this a lot lately - she knows it gets a positive reaction). We drove home along the Bow Valley Parkway, hoping to see animals, but only spotted a few deer.


Our plans for the coming days are to do some more hikes and walks in the valley, climb, swim if the weather is warm and connect with some more friends. We plan to stay in the area for two weeks before heading to the Kootenays. Elise is very much looking forward to seeing her grandparents, as are we.

Whistler Hiking

Since the weather has been chilly and damp, we've done a number of hikes around Whistler on the weekends - it's a nice way to socialize with friends. Elise is really impressing us with her ability to walk moderate distances. She hiked the Four Lakes Trail at Alice Lake last week, which is a loop of around 6 kilometres. Pictures from our hikes:

We hiked a nice loop at Brandywine falls on a chilly Sunday afternoon. The hike took us through rolling pine forest with basalt slabs underfoot and ended with a nice view of the spectacular waterfall from a viewing platform. From left to right: Anne, Josie, Mardi, Neve, Pam and Elise.


The hike had a lot of blowdown, so we had to navigate over logs and under some large ones! Here Elise, Takaya and Neve pose under a very large Douglas fir.


Josie, Takaya and Elise posing near one of the small lakes we saw on the hike.


Neve, Takaya and Elise in the same spot.


Brandywine Falls is an impressive natural feature of the basalt plateau above Daisy Lake.


The next week, we hiked the Riverside-Farside trail in Whistler with Mardi, Jeff, Takaya and Neve. This was a beautiful hike along the Cheakamus River and was great for the kids because the trail was well groomed and mostly flat. Plus, it ended in a great suspension bridge over the river canyon, which I unfortunately did not get a picture of because my camera battery died.

Upcoming plans? Pam will be finished with school in a couple of weeks, which she is eagerly anticipating. We think we'll go to Canmore (the Canadian Rockies) for 2 weeks mid-July and then come home through the Kootenays to visit my parents. We should be back by the last week of July and have time to visit with Sharon Plumb, who is coming to Vancouver to visit her mother for two weeks.

Enjoy the rest of the spring!
Marc

Bears, Bears and More Bears

The weather has improved since April and we've been getting out and enjoying the spring. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Newhalem in Washington with our friends the Tasakas for a little climbing, a nice night of camping and a good dinner out in Bellingham. We all had a nice time and the weather was wonderful.

Here we are at our campsite. From the left: Scott, Elise, Olivia and Pam.


Besides camping and climbing, we went for a hike. We spotted salmon in the river and lots and lots of flowers in the gardens near the water. This is Elise and Olivia (who is eight) hiking down some stone stairs that Elise crashed and burned on shortly thereafter.


The hiker hamming it up for the camera.


The flowers were amazing.


Red Columbine


Early this past week, Elise and I took a drive out the Squamish River Valley road to look at a new climbing cliff and hopefully spot some bears. We didn't see any bears, but we did see a grouse up close, something Elise had never seen before. After hiking to the cliff, we found a spot by the river to have lunch. We drove 37 miles up a logging road - it was quite a journey.


Elise saw a beautiful purple butterfly and got absolutely obsessed with catching it. I watched her do a slow motion dance for almost fifteen minutes trying to pinch it from the ground. She never got close (and neither did I), but it didn't stop her from trying. It was fascinating to watch...


Yesterday, we drove to Whistler intent on hiking into Cheakamus Lake, a spot we hadn't been to in 15 years or more. The hike is 3 km in one direction, and Elise did it all by herself - her longest hike yet, we think. We promised her fishing at the lake as a reward and this helped motivate her along. We got caught in a light snow squall upon arrival, which threw us for a loop. It's May, for goodness sakes!

The sign halfway to the lake. Evidence of the distance Elise hiked.


This trail, which is beautiful, was lined with some truly amazing trees. Huge Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir and Western Redcedar framed the path.


Some flowers were out, although it was still a little cold for a full bloom. This is Pacific Bleeding Heart, which Elise has mixed up and calls "heart bleeders".


Elise and I fishing at the lake. It was cold and we didn't get a nibble or see any fish. I'm not too sure why. Maybe we weren't patient enough or our timing was poor. I did manage to get the hook snagged on an underwater log. I temporarily contemplated going for a swim to get it, but common sense took hold as the snowflakes swirled around my head. I got it loose with a very long stick.


The sun came out and we reveled in the warmth before the hike back.


Elise at the base of a large cedar. There was a hole I wanted her to pose in, but she was scared. She thought there might be bears hiding in the darkness, which I thought was ridiculous until the drive home...


As we drove down the logging road back toward the highway, Elise shouted "bear". Sure enough, a mother bear and her cub were right beside the road. We stopped and watched from the safely of the van and never have I been so close to a bear in the wild. It almost came up to the edge of the vehicle while munching the grass. We all enjoyed the show and stayed for some time. This photo was taken WITHOUT a zoom lens from the passenger window.


After the bears wandered into the trees, we continued our drive down the road. Not five minutes later Pam yelled "bear". This time, there was a mother and two cubs in the ditch. We stopped and watched again, amazed at our luck.


We continued onward and started driving south on Highway 99. In the vicinity of Daisy Lake dam, I spotted - you guessed it - more bears! This time it was a mother munching grass near the highway and a cinnamon cub up a tree. What a delight!

All in all, we saw a total of 10 bears on the drive. That was a record for us and left quite an impression on Elise.



I thought I'd throw in one final shot of interest. Elise loves to dress up and we had some friends over the other evening along with the son Evrest. Elise put Evrest in her Snow White uniform, which we all got quite a kick out of. He didn't seem to mind, but eventually asked his father to take it off. Have mercy! I thought he looked cute...


I've canceled my trip to Maple. My shoulder is not well and my physiotherapist said it wasn't a good idea. I'll put all my effort into rehabilitation right now so we can stay on track with our plans for later this summer and the coming fall.

Enjoy the spring!

Spring Update

It's been a long time since I last wrote, but we've had a busy time since our Olympic trip to California. Pam has a tough class at school this year, which keeps her spinning three or four days a week, and I have been working hard toward a self-imposed deadline on my latest book project, which I couriered to the printer in Hong Kong today - whew! The new book is a second edition to a previous book that I had written, Squamish Bouldering. The research and writing on this new edition was extensive and I'm really glad it's done.


In amongst the busy work, we've had some nice outings with Elise. A few weeks ago, Pam and I took Elise for one last ski before the mountain closed for the spring. We had a beautiful sunny day and enjoyed skiing under the Magic Chair at Blackcomb and having an outdoor lunch at the lodge. Elise wants to keep going back and I've had to explain to her that skiing is only possible in the winter, which is one of the reasons it's special. She's looking forward to next year.

Easter was a fun time this year. Elise is really getting into the swing of these holidays and eagerly anticipates their arrival. Pam and I hid eggs around the house and enjoyed watching Elise hunt for them on Easter morning. Afterward, we went to the Brennan Park Rec Centre for a group egg hunt, which is really just a mad rush to collect chocolate eggs that have been sprayed across the field by the local fireman. Regardless, the kids love it.

Elise relaxing after her morning egg hunt.


Elise with her "take" from the Brennan Park egg scramble. Not bad...


The biggest Easter bunny I've ever seen. Elise was hesitant. I'd be too. Note that the "bunny" is wearing hiking boots. Anyone seen the film Donnie Darko?


Pam and Elise had a nice visit to Vancouver to see Great Grandma Brown. She thought Elise was a lot taller - it's hard for Pam and I to tell because we see her all the time, but she is growing for sure. They had a nice time together, Elise played in the apartment and Uncle Grant read her a story.


We enjoyed a visit from Grandma Bourdon a week ago. The highlight for Elise was the present that Grandma arrived with - a Tinkerbell outfit! This was a huge hit and as you can see in the pictures, she was thrilled. We went to a big pasta dinner at the local country club that evening with many of our friends and Elise insisted on wearing the outfit, much to the envy of a few of her friends. The costume is impressive.



They also enjoyed a sunny day in Vancouver and visited the beach near Ambleside. Elise found this starfish. Any sea creature is of great interest and she was thrilled to handle this one. We've been invited to Hawaii for this coming Christmas and Elise and I will be training hard for the snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Speaking of swimming, there was a breakthrough at the local pool this weekend when Elise finally got up the nerve to try swimming in the deep end without a flotation device. This was followed by an even more significant event when she decided she'd jump off the diving board. This had been a real phobia of hers and she talked about it constantly for the next couple of days. We were very proud of her.


Elise continues to climb and has become a much more active participant in this common activity of ours. On our father-daughters days, I sometimes take her to the Smoke Bluffs close to town where she can do a climb or two and then have a picnic lunch with me. Last weekend we took her into Cheakamus Canyon. She now hikes to the cliffs by herself and gets exasperated waiting for "her turn" to climb. Here are a couple of photos of the approach hike and her climb (and lower).





Her biggest recent physical accomplishment (besides the skiing, swimming and climbing) has undoubtedly been her hike up the Chief. We decided to do the hike one nice evening and I fully intended to carry her to the top. At the start of the hike, she walked alone because I was taking some pictures by the creek. Pam and Elise went ahead up the trail and I caught up about 10-15 minutes later after doing my photography. We were about to put her in the backpack, but I thought we might as well see if she'd hike a bit further. Did she ever! She went all the way to the first summit with little complaint. Truth be told, I lifted her up close to 20 large steps, but never carried her. Pam and I were very impressed, especially since we'd done very little to prepare for such an outing. Here she is on the summit after the successful ascent.



Some plans are coming together for the summer and fall. I'll likely go to Maple Canyon in Utah with a couple of friends from Vancouver in late May. I wish Pam and Elise could come (like last year), but the job of a school teacher has minimal vacation flexibility. After Pam is finished in late June, we may go to the Canadian Rockies for a short trip - we'll see. The big plan, though, is for the fall. We are hoping to visit Turkey this year in November and December. The area we are targeting is on the south coast near a city called Antalya. It's a touristy area on the sea and the sightseeing, climbing and swimming are all supposed to be superb. If it works out, it will be a great trip.

We hope you are all doing well. I'll try not to let so much time go by before our next post.

Marc