Expedition Canada

A Mountain Escape Mon Aug 22 Alta Lake, Whistler A bit of a gap since the last blog as we’ve been on hols in Whistler.  Some might suggest we have been on holiday since we arrived in Canada April 3, 2021!  The jumps and bumps will be flattened for the ski season After a few months of tour guiding, which we have thoroughly enjoyed (a new career maybe?), it was time for a family catch-up.  Ros has been up in Whistler volunteering on Crankworx (the name similarity was purely coincidental).  Nick and Lizzie were in town either end of our week, so it was a last chance to spend time with Roz en-famile, before she headed back to NZ Sunday evening.   Popular as a winter resort, there is just as much fun to be had in summer as there is when snow shrouds the town.   From October to April, trails are turned over to cross-country skiing, lakes are frozen and are largely left to be admired and the fun is up the alp.  In the summer, it's hiking, biking, s...

Things not to do Naked Tue Aug 10th Sunrise Wed AM Wed Aug 11th Our local radio station, CKAY Coast FM, ran a feature this morning on things one would not want to do naked.   Picking blackberries was one of the suggestions.  Not that it would ever cross my mind. I mention this as two young Black Tailed deer, worked their way down the steep bank of our front garden grazing on the still plentiful supply of blackberries and young shoots that grow throughout the summer. They must have very thorn proof lips and mouths.  I was going to pick those same blackberries tomorrow morning - dressed! What did you think my reference to nakedness was going to be all about?   Coast FM serves the Sunshine Coast and eastern side of Vancouver Island, particularly around Nanaimo where many of the advertisers seem to be based.  They are a bit like Planet Rock in the UK, but do a good local news bulletin at the top and bottom of the hour as well regular updates of t...

Another Hike Fri Aug 6th Loggers Lake - Crater Rim Trail I was musing as I was gathering thoughts for today's post how far we'd hiked since being let out of quarantine on April 17th. The total is just over 1,200 kilometers, we've climbed 13,200m and descended 14,250m.  Shouldn't those two figures be the same? I haven't yet totted up the number of different trails we have explored. Early on, Nick introduced us to two hiking apps, AllTrails and GaiaGPS which have been brilliant. The GaiaGPS map on the right shows yesterday's hike, and the surrounding trails yet to be explored.   The hike was only 6.3k, but it included an ascent (and descent) of 693m over the length of the hike to get up to and walk Crater Rim Trail.   The crater rim was formed 10,000 years ago when a volcano blew through the glacial ice which went on to form Loggers Lake. Trails are graded in terms of difficulty, from 'Easy' to 'Very Difficult'.  Crater Rim Trail was classed as Mod...