A gorgeous sunny day to take in the Sea to Sky gondola near Squamish, BC, and walk some trails at the top.
Steller’s Jay
Will get around to sharing some GoPro video another day. . .
Category Archives: Hiking
Fungi and Fun Girl in the Rain in Byrne Creek Ravine Park
We took a walk in the rain in Byrne Creek Ravine Park in Burnaby, BC, today. It appeared conditions were perfect for fungi, as we saw many varieties.
Note: Don’t ask me which are safe, I just take photos! : -)
Alice Lake in the Rain
We took an overnight trip up the Sea to Sky. Here’s Alice Lake in the rain. . .
Hooded Mergansers
Putting 5.11 Tactical Pants to Rest
I put a pair of 5.11 Tactical Pants to rest today.
Sigh. . . I have two pairs, and one pair was so worn with multiple patches that it finally bit the dust.
The seat was so worn that you could almost see through it, and though I like to think I have a cute butt. . . 
These are amazing pants. They have, like, a bazillion pockets, and when I had them fully loaded, they probably weighed over 5kg .
.I rotated between the two pairs, wearing them nearly daily for years and years.
Hiking, camping, streamkeeping. . . Wedding and event photography because they looked nice enough to wear with a blazer, yet could carry extra batteries and flash units in all those pockets.
Eyeing a new pair. . .
ParkBus Summer Job Coming to an End
It was a gorgeous day at Joffre Lakes Provincial Park in BC east of Pemberton yesterday.
My summer job as an ambassador for ParkBus is drawing to a close, and I’ve met lots of interesting hikers from all over the world.
It’s great seeing so many people coming back to the bus after 3 – 6 hours on the trail with huge grins on their faces! Some may be tired, and snooze all the way back to Vancouver, but “we loved it!” is a nearly unanimous response to “how was your hike?”
Joffre Lakes is incredibly busy, and I’d say 98% of folks I’ve talked to appreciate the daypass system that was put in place to limit numbers of hikers.
Also thanks to the BC Parks Ambassadors who have staffed the trailhead all summer long. I’ve enjoyed chatting with them, they’ve been a great crew!
I have one more trip and I hope it’ll end on another lovely day like this one was.
Gorgeous Morning at Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver
With some vacay days to use up, we’re doing some daytripping around the BC Lower Mainland. Today we rambled Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. Nice to visit on a weekday, with few people around. Super day!
Black Oystercatchers
Harbour Seal
Weight-Loss Accountability Report
Accountability report:
As of today I’ve lost 20kg, or 44 pounds, over the last 13 months.
That’s a nice, slow, steady pace of about 1.5 kilos/3.3 pounds a month.
Next target is another 10k/22lbs. That will make me, and my doctor, happy. . . And take me back to my late teens/early 20s weight.
No special diets, no fads, just a minimum of 1 hour of power walking a day and counting calories.
Will treat myself to a large glass of wine tonight, and yes, that’s counted, too .
.
Will update the accountability report in about six months!
Coho Trail at Capilano Regional Park
After taking in a Metro Vancouver tour of the Capilano watershed/reservoir (see previous post), we headed out on our own and walked the Coho Trail along the river.
Metro Vancouver Watershed Tour
We took in a Metro Vancouver watershed tour today. We visited the Capilano Watershed, getting a behind-the-scenes look at where much of our drinking water comes from in the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area of BC.
It was fun and informative — highly recommended. We’d been to the Cleveland Dam several times before, but had not taken the tour into some of the restricted parts of the waterhed.
Also cool to see some signs of early water supply infrastructure still visible though slowly being reclaimed by the forest. . .
Capilano Dam spillway
Reservoir
Masks optional on the bus — most folks were still wearing them
Interesting seeing the forest gradually reclaiming old infrastructure from long ago. Settling ponds, a furnace for thawing frozen filters . . .
Testing the structural integrity of a back-country bridge : – )
Bear calling card
Looks like a Sapsucker was at work?
Rotary traps for moving fish
Nets for moving fish
Bald Eagle in the mist
Another Eagle
Joffre Lakes ParkBus Ambassador
At the lowest Joffre Lake today.
I got a summer weekends gig through early October being an Ambassador on ParkBus that picks up hikers in downtown Vancouver and delivers them to Joffre Lakes past Pemberton on the Sea to Sky.
I give them the standard “don’t pick any flowers, pack out your garbage, and don’t pet the grizzly bears” orientation before sending them off .
They’re on their own to hike as many of the lakes as they’re able in five to six hours, and then I make sure everyone gets back to the bus and bring them home.
The Joffre Lakes trails have gotten crowded over the years, so First Nations, Parks, etc., got together and came up with a management plan.
You now need a (free) permit to hike the lakes to limit congestion, and services like ParkBus are helping to reduce vehicle traffic and parking.
It makes a lot more sense to transport up to 50 or so folks on a bus than having, say, 25 dual-occupancy private cars making the trip.