Utah - The Second Week

Our second week in Maple Canyon has come and gone. Luckily, the weather warmed up and the camping has become much more comfortable. Our first few nights were bitterly cold and we started seriously discussing an option to withdraw to a warmer climate. It's nice now - let's hope it lasts. We've met a nice crew of climbers from Salt Lake City and have enjoyed evenings around the campfire sharing stories. One couple will be in Turkey during our stay and we hope to spend some some time with them abroad.

Grandpa Bourdon drove down from Trail for a few days of camping. We all piled into the van and took a day trip to Capitol Reef national park in southern Utah. It's a spectacular landscape of desert walls and amazing rock formations. It was a hot day, but we managed to see some great sights. We started with a one-mile hike to a sandstone arch and enjoyed lounging in the shade and taking in the scenery once we arrived.

Landscape on the approach to the arch:


The arch on the left. It reminded us of some of the large spans we'd seen in Arches national park the year before.


Grandpa and Elise posing under the arch.



Grandpa, Elise and Daddy posing under the arch. It was a gorgeous day!


Grandpa Bourdon and Elise enjoying the shade


These are a few photos I took of Elise underneath the arch. She very much enjoyed herself and scrambled on the rocks and cliff bases until we left.




The Bourdon family under the arch.


After a very hot return hike, we enjoyed wading in the cool waters of the river. Elise thoroughly enjoyed the silty mud and wanted to fling some at me. I said, "no way!"


After the arch, we hiked a boardwalk along a large cliff base to look at a number of well-preserved petroglyphs. There were all kinds of animals and human figures, which Elise questioned us about.



We finished with a hike in a narrow slot canyon called Capitol Wash. The canyon walls were very high and the trail snaked through the cliffs. Eventually, we finished at a series of "tanks" or water-work holes in the sandstone that held seasonal water. It was a hot hike, but the views and rock formations were spectacular. It was a far cry from the farm land surrounding Maple Canyon. It was a great day!


Grandpa had to leave a couple of days later, but Elise's disappointment was quickly forgotten when we returned to the reservoir one evening and caught a rainbow trout! This time, we fished until the sun was setting and they started feeding vigorously. A couple of young boys nearby caught a fish, which got Elise really worked up, and then we landed this lunker! She really wanted to eat it. (Yes, eat it.) I thought it might be a good lesson in connecting us to our food source, but alas we were ill equipped (once again) to clean the poor thing so we opted to put it back. If we fish again, we will likely bring the trout home, fry it up and eat it. Elise has promised me she will eat it if we do. Stay tuned....


We did a scenic Sunday drive over the pass beside Mt Nebo, the highest peak in the Wasatch range. The fall colours were truly gorgeous and we enjoyed a short hike through an aspen grove.




Elise and I at once of the scenic pullouts.



During our hike, Elise clutched a small aspen tree. I called her a "tree hugger" and she immediately asked for a photo of her hugging the sapling. I had to oblige.


Our climbing is improving after a long summer of injury rehabilitation. The steep rock in the canyon is tough, but is slowly getting us back into shape for our trip to Turkey. Last year, I carried Elise to the Pipe Dream cave each day, about a half hour uphill hike. This year, she's hiking on her own (much to my great pleasure) and it's been a real treat to see her progress toward greater independence. Here she is, tackling the trail on a warm morning.


Acting silly.

Her treat for doing the hike on her own (without whining) - a Tinkerbell Pez dispenser.


Here's a few shots of a climber named Mindi from Salt Lake. We've climbed with Mindi and her partner Gordon on two separate weekends and enjoyed interesting US versus Canada discussions and sharing climbing information. Mindi is strong - this is a tough route (Toxic Turkey, 13c)!




We hope the weather holds. See you all in a week or so!

Marc

Utah - The First Week

We broke the drive to Maple Canyon, Utah into three parts: a short evening to Seattle, a full-day drive to Twin Falls, Idaho and then a short day drive to the climbing area. Although we were in the car for three days, it felt much less rushed. All the driving was done during daylight hours and it went without incident. Elise was pretty patient, although there was a noticeable increase in "are we there yet" queries. Eventually we just turned on the iPod, slapped on her headphones and all was quiet.

The night spent camping in Seattle was fairly uneventful (we slept near Snoqualmie Pass). The next night we arranged a motel in Twin Falls. We made sure it had a pool so we could tempt Elise with this "carrot" during the drive. Turns out, the weather in Twin Falls was MUCH cooler than normal. When we arrived mid-evening, it was downright crisp. Undeterred, Elsie declared she wanted to swim in the outdoor pool so we all braved it. That was the coldest swim of the year for me (lake dips around Squamish included). The other motel patrons must have thought we were nuts (or Canadian)!

Photo: Maple Canyon from our campsite.


I picked up a bit of a stomach bug along the way to Maple Canyon which made the first night and first day spent climbing rather unpleasant. I climbed terribly, Pam was tired from the drive, and Elise was thoroughly energized, excited and ready to explore. I ended up falling asleep in the dirt while Elise caught dragonflies, collected bird feathers and built stone structures. We ended the day by taking Elise to a small canyon where she could do a couple of climbs - which she scampered up quite well. It was a vast improvement over her skill from the year before.

Photos: Elise climbing at Maple. She dubbed this climb "Jewel".




The weather is very nice so far, although the evenings and mornings are crisp in the narrow, shaded canyon. Our campsite is very peaceful since we are at the very top of the road, far from the concentration of other campers. As always, Elise enjoys the camping and makes full use of the campsite. Her favourite pastime is playing in the tent, particularly with one of us - the rougher the better! She also recently purchased a bag full of rubber snakes and has been thoroughly enjoying placing them around the campsite and bringing them into the tent at night. We have joked that "Grandma Plumb", with her horrible phobia of snakes, would never be caught dead sleeping in our tent with its eclectic collection of exotic (fake) snakes.

Photo: Snake Charmer!


Photo: Now that's what I call camping!


We spent an evening fishing at a small reservoir near the Mt. Nebo scenic byway. We saw a lot of fish, but didn't manage to catch anything, despite a friendly fisherman loaning us a few nightcrawlers. Regardless, the weather was gorgeous and we just enjoyed hanging out by the water. We did spot a muskrat sliding through the pond, which was interesting for Elise.

While we are fishing, Elise often asks my why the fish won't bite our hook? I say, "because they are smarter than you think honey".

Photo: Quiet! You'll scare the fish.


Photo: Fishing is "number one".


The weather is very nice lately. The coldest nights have passed and we are into warm days in the upper 60s and cool nights in the low 40s. If it stays this way, we'll be very comfortable.

Photo: Climber at The Compound.


Grandpa Bourdon arrives today. We hope to do some sightseeing with him while he is here and I'll post some pictures. Elise is very excited to camp with him. It should be fun!

Marc

A Long and Busy Month

It's been over one month since I last wrote, but it's been busy times for us in Squamish since we returned from the Kootenays. We are three days away from our Utah trip and I think both Pam and I feel under the gun to get all our ducks in a row before we drive away.

Photo: All this summer activity is tiring!


We have a variety of house sitters staying at our home while we are absent, and coordinating all of this has taken some effort. Regardless, the summer has been enjoyable and there have been a number of interesting events:

Garibaldi Lake: We hiked up to this pristine alpine lake a couple of weeks ago. We timed it well between hot spells, so the conditions were quite bearable. I am proud to say I carried Elise the entire way (18 km round trip with 2600 feet of elevation gain)! It was exhausting, but a great outing nonetheless. I'd not been up there in years and the alpine lakes and forests are just gorgeous. Upon arrival, we tried fishing at the creek's mouth, but despite there being numerous trout in full view, none would bite our worm! Elise lost interest quickly, but the obsessive fisherman that had lurked in the shadows for three decades came crawling back to the surface - I fished and fished to no avail. The mosquitoes eventually drove us away from the lake and we hiked back, finishing the last half hour at dusk.

Photo: Hike to Cheakamus Lake with (from left) Kaian, Josie, Hazel and Kaida.


The Apron: Elise did her first climb on the Chief this summer. It wasn't a true climb, but we roped up and scampered up the descent slabs on the Apron (the bottom portion of the mountain). The angle of rock was perfect for Elise and she ran up the slabs without hesitation. Once at the top of the Apron, we traversed some exposed rock ledges (withe ropes on!) to a well-known perch, Memorial Ledge. Here we sat, gazed across the valley and spotted our house far below. Elise really impressed me with how comfortable she was in the exposed cliff environment. I doubt another four-year-old has ever been on Memorial Ledge. It was a fun and memorable day...

Photo: Tearing it up at Murrin Park on the Sugarloaf Wall.


Photo: The Chief from the Squamish estuary.


Photo: The Apron on the Chief. Elise's ascent is marked in red and terminates at Memorial Ledge, approximately 600 vertical feet up the mountain. Click on the picture to see a larger version.


Brohm Lake Snorkeling: Elise and I have made a few trips to Brohm Lake to practice for Turkey. She is now snorkeling in deep water with me, but with her life preserver on. She is also doing very well at the swimming pool and regularly swims in the deep end without any floatation device. She climbs the rope ladder, jumps off the diving board and even goes off the rope swing. These are vast improvements over her efforts a year ago.

Photo: A visit to Patrick and Tara's to see their new chicks!


Flying: I took a flight with a friend of ours that works as a local pilot. We spent about one hour flying around the Chief on a beautiful summer evening so I could amass a collection of aerial photography for my next book on Squamish climbing. It was thrilling to be up in a small plane and see all the terrain from a bird's eye view. Elise and Pam spotted the plane from downtown on a number of occasions.

Photo: Resting on a bench on the hiking trail with Kaida and Kaian.


The Shoulder: I've had a lot of ups and downs with my shoulder this summer. It was great in the Rockies but then flared up again in August around Squamish. I finally saw a well-renowned shoulder surgeon in Whistler about one week ago and got some answers. She reviewed my X-rays, MRI and did a thorough physical exam. Her recommendation was no surgery at this point. She claims that the overall stability of my joint if very good (my physio agrees) and that my pain/discomfort is quite minimal compared to the average patient. For this reason, she advised me that she'd likely make my pain worse and the recovery would be long. She felt as though climbing on the joint was not that hazardous and as long as I kept up the strength and stability exercises, I could move forward.I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this news. I guess it's somewhat comforting and I am feeling better lately, so I'm being as optimistic as possible for the fall.

Photo: Tubbing with Kaida and Kaian!


School: Pam has two pro D days to attend this week. This was part of the arrangement she made with her principal in order to fan dangle the time off this fall. Other than that, she's done well and had a nice break this summer, except her knee is bothering her. She is currently seeing the same pysio as me and he's got here on an exercise program. She was worried she might be developing arthritis, but the physio said "no" based on his physical findings and a set of X-rays. He feels as though she has some muscle imbalances that need to be addressed and hopefully that will help clear things up.

Photo: Hike to the top of the Chief with Josie and Tim Clifford. Josie and Elise hiked all the way (over 15oo vertical feet)!


Sleepovers: Elise has had two sleepovers this summer. One with her friend Josie and one with Olivia, Scott's daughter. Both were eagerly anticipated and thoroughly enjoyed.

Photo: Hike at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.


The fall: Our plan is to spend about one month camping in Maple Canyon in central Utah. We will then return to Squamish around October 6th and be at home for a short stay before flying to Turkey on October 18th. We are going to spend two days in Istanbul before getting a domestic flight to Antalya, a bustling city on the south coast (the Mediterranean). We have a two-bedroom apartment rented for two months. It's about seven blocks from the beach and right across the street from a large park with lots of play structures - Elise will be pleased. We are planning our climbing and sightseeing activities and have discovered some very interesting options. I'm especially looking forward to exploring the coastal inlets and beaches. Hopefully we'll find good swimming and snorkeling. After we return from Turkey, we'll have about 10 days to rest before leaving for Hawaii for the holidays. Whew!

Photo: I love being outside. Broom in the Smoke Bluffs.


We will be reachable via e-mail throughout our travels and welcome notes from friends and relatives. We are looking forward to our upcoming adventures and hope you are all having a great end to the summer!

Marc

The Kootenays

We are back home in Squamish after our trip to the Rockies. The weather is warm and it's shockingly dry, but it's nice to be back in familiar surroundings. On our way home, we stopped for one week in the Kootenays to enjoy summer in the Interior and had a really nice time visiting with my family. It was hot, but we managed to find lots of water in which to cool off. We stayed near Salmo, across the highway from Eerie Lake. Here's a picture of the barn on the farm.


Our mission each day seemed to be to seek out some good swimming. The Interior is great for this as lakes and rivers abound. We spent one afternoon with my mother at Champion Lakes, a twenty-minute drive from Salmo. Here's Elise covered in sand shaped like a mermaid. She loves to play in the sand, but we found that her indoor pool swimming skills did not translate very well to the lake. She preferred to use her "floaty" instead of swim on her own. At least she enjoys being in the water...


While in Salmo, Pam and I went climbing at a limestone area called Metaline Falls just over the border in the US. There is a fair amount of limestone (good climbing rock) in the northern part of Washington and I was interested in checking it out. Amazingly, this cliff was only about a 30-minute drive from Salmo. This is a view of the cliff above the bridge, just west of the town of Metaline Falls.


This is a view of town from the top of the cliff. The actual cliff was quite high, but the zone in which we climbed was quite small - smaller than I was expecting.


The view up up the river. It was a hot day, so Pam and I swam in the river before we ventured to the cliff to climb. The river was slow, but the current still tried to drag us away from the swimming area. To approach the climbing, we drove to the top of the cliff, hiked through open pine forest and then descended a fixed ladder to the cave. It was a pleasant spot.


This is Pam below the cave. The stone was quite nice, but the walls were short. Also, this cliff seems to get very little traffic so the routes were somewhat dirty. If this cliff were closer to a major city, it would be very popular. Regardless, we did a number of short climbs and socialized with the only other climbers there, a couple of guys from Florida!!!


Despite being small, the rock still formed the classic limestone features: drips, pockets and tufas.


A couple of days later, we traveled to another limestone area called Marcus with my father. This zone is also in the US and closer to Spokane. We went for an overnight trip and camped at a nice spot next to the Columbia River. It was smoking hot, but we cooled off in the campground swimming area before dinner and bedtime. Again, Elise would not swim unassisted, but did venture out with her "floaty". She enjoyed getting on and off the raft and fooling around with Grandpa in the water. Here's a view of the swimming raft and the river.


Elise and Grandpa in the Columbia River just as evening was settling in.


The view of the climbing cliff above the campground. The cave is barely visible in the trees, just right of the centre of the photograph.


While at the cliff the next day, I managed to sit down right beside some poison ivy before realizing what it was. I got a bit of a rash, but nothing too bad, luckily. We never worry about it on the Coast, but I need to be more vigilant in the Interior I guess. The climbing was good, but it was very hot again. At least this cliff was higher than Metaline Falls and seemed to get more traffic. The cave was deep and impressive.


This is the wall right of the cave. The rock quality was mediocre, but the climbing was still fun and physical.


Looking out of the cave at the Columbia River. After climbing, we swam in the river again before heading back to Trail and dinner at The Colander, a local Italian restaurant of note.


The next day was our last and we filled it with activities. Here's Elise and Grandma in the canoe at Eerie Lake. We paddled out in the morning and fished from the boat. We caught a sunfish and got it on board. Elise put it in her bucket filled with water, but it splashed frantically, which scared (and soaked) Elise. I tried to get a picture, but Elise threw it back before I could get the camera out. You'll just have to take my word for it I guess.


Late in the afternoon, we drove over the US border again to swim in a small, but beautiful spot called Crescent Lake. The pond is surrounded by limestone, which I believe gives it this aquamarine colour. The water was super clear and we enjoyed swimming, relaxing on shore and some unsuccessful fishing. We even saw a small bear near the end of the lake!


Our journey home was pretty uneventful. We were shocked to find that most of our grass had turned brown after a long, cool June that had left it very green. Fire bans are in effect! If all goes well, we will spend the rest of the summer in Squamish and then head to Maple Canyon in September for some camping and climbing. We've purchased our tickets to Turkey and will be gone from October 21st to December 15th. It should be a great fall.

We hope you are all enjoying the summer!