Vancouver Island

This little guy was a tad
shy and turned his head
just as I snapped the picture

The next couple of days were much less energetic as I only drove a few hundred kilometers each day. Originally, I had hoped to make it to Hope (ha-ha!) in a day, but then I remembered I have lots of time and don't need to be in a hurry, and so decided to relax and take my time. Instead of spending my time driving, I found some free internet and wrote a blog (which always takes an hour or two), read a book and generally got off to rather late starts in the morning. Eventually I did make it to Hope and being such a nice afternoon, I decided to go with the original plan of camping at Silver Lake which is just a few km south of town. A very nice provincial park campground that comes complete with a small lake nestled snugly between nearly vertical hills, and surrounded by tall cedars and rainforest as one would expect for Hope. Lots of fishing being done in the lake, but not a lot of fish being caught as far as I could see.
Next day it is on to Tawassan and the ferry and finally Victoria.  Although driving through Vancouver without a navigator was an interesting exercise, I did manage to find the ferry and was exactly on time to drive on and sail with no wait - always a bonus...

Kinsol Tressle
- walking between the
support towers

Kinsol Tressle

Managed the first golf game of the year a few days back (and even won a golf shirt in the process), so now was a good time for the first tennis game of the year. I nearly won the match...which roughly translates to 'lost' the match - although I did manage to do well enough to push it into overtime (that is, it took 10 games for me to lose) which I was quite happy with for the first playing of the year.

Went for a bike ride on small portion of the Trans Canada Trail at Kinsol Trestle (or Koksilah River Trestle) which is the largest wooden trestle in the commonwealth and one of the highest railway trestles in the world. After a close call with the wrecker, it has just recently undergone a major rebuild/repair/renovation and is once again open to foot, bike and horse traffic (no trains). A bit of an engineering marvel...the individual supporting timbers are about 30cm square and possibly 15m in length and although it is hard to see, the platform or rail bed is made of similar sized timbers except they all have a curve to match the 7 degree curve of the tressle.

After a vigorous paddle to the middle of
the ocean, we found a small island to
have a rest before the journey back

Kayaking on the Pacific Ocean - well at least a very small and protected piece of the pacific... we did see one seal swimming just off the point in the picture, but no close encounters, although I do now know of a place where they hang out, so will have to check that out in a day or two.

Vancouver Island - via Kootenay

I am now (really) on my way...with a stopover to visit family and try a bike hike that I saw published.
Diana Lake - only about 30km from the highway - and if you have the right car you can drive most of it on logging access roads. I don't have the right car. I was able to drive the first ten km and then things got a bit rough so I decided it was a good place to begin the bike portion. As far a a bike ride goes, the path/road is really quite good and fast. It isn't an overly scenic ride but there are very nice views now and again. From where I parked it was up for 3km and down for 4km and up for the final 11km to the beginning of the trail which I was able to ride for about the first km and then it became too steep and rough to do anything but push or carry.

I chose to park the bike which would mean that I would have to walk down, but as it turned out that was the right thing as this trail is definitely built for hiking. The map I had said 5km to the lake but as it turned out was almost exactly 6, which normally wouldn't be a problem but I had allocated only so much time in order to not be late for dinner.

A good portion of this hike is in the trees (which is nice on a hot day) and a good portion is in the open with very scenic vistas.

The Judge

Once you are out of the steeps and getting into the alpine, the views get absolutely fantastic! The majority of the trail is fairly steep and at the rate I had to travel in order to not be late, I was really pushing it....and then the extra km.... but I made it to the lake at one minute after the time I had set as the absolute-must-turn-around time ...so that was good... but that also meant that I had to attempt a 7-8km/h jogging decent (which lasted for about 3km and then slowed substantially) and ended up averaging 6km/h...which was pretty good, but now I had to make it up in the cycle ride down.

Larches around Diana Lake

Things went really well until I got to that 4km climb, and by the end of that I was really hurting  - thank goodness I still had the 3km coast down to the car!
This was really the perfect time of year to go as all the larches were changing color!

Vancouver Island -via Kananaskis

...on some river crossings it is just easier to lie down
and do the backstroke...

This trip was planned for early summer but kept getting postponed, so in the end it sort of started for real with a couple of side trips to the Kananaskis (that needed to be done as the weather was sooooo good it would have been a shame to run away and then come back to find everything covered in snow...).
So first up was an exploratory trip to Canyon Creek with a return along Prairie Creek. In theory it would work just fine, but there was very little information on the Canyon Creek portion past the Ice Caves and hence the 'exploratory' classification. The one description we did have suggested several creek crossings but it is now late summer and the water levels have all subsided so that should make things a bit easier. I also had a track for the first portion of the path in my GPS that we could use as a guide and that ought to make things easier also.

without water, it was easier in places
to just use the creek bed as the path

eventually there was water
in the creek

The first portion up to the Ice Caves trail is of course a gravel road and a nice easy ride on a fabulous day (which it was). As soon as we left the gravel and found the trail, which was actually the remnants of an access road of some sort we found things were going to get ore interesting. In places the trail was fabulous, wide and reasonably smooth, and in places it had been washed out and was now a rocky stream bed, and in others it narrowed down to a very winding single tract that wasn't always easy to follow. The one consistency was that it kept crossing the creek. We lost track at around fifteen, but at least the lower portion of the creek was dry which made it much, much easier. Eventually there was enough water to remain on the surface and the creek was no longer dry and then became a significant stream which became difficult to cross without getting the feet wet. You might ask why the path crossed the creek so many times - I know I did! Well, it wasnt just random or for fun. The creek is aptly named. It travels through a small but quite long and very winding canyon with a lot of bends that end in cliff faces so the trail has no choice but to go to the other side.... after about six or seven kilometers the trail begins to peter out and is difficult to follow in places which is where the GPS track I had came in very usefull. Eventually, after about ten kilometers we were not able to find the trail anymore as my GPS track ended there as well. The last few kilometers had been quite slow due to the bushwhacking and route finding and so we decided to about face rather than push on and tempt a return in the dark. As it turns out we were within a half a kilometer of another access road that would have taken us where we needed to be...  ...Oh well, good to know for next time!

The next was in the Sheep end of the Kananaskis on a couple of trails that I had done a few weeks before on my commuter bike - I wanted to redo one or two and do one or two that I hadn't gotten to... re-do as a comparison for myself between what mountain biking was like in the 80's with no shocks etc (like I had with my commuter bike) and today with full suspension, 24 gears and fat tires.

nice trail - lots of obstacles

Well, on the new trails I went on with all the roots and fallen trees and rocks and bogs, I would have been hours longer on the other bike - not to mention how much more effort would have been required... But on the trail I chose to re-do, things went somewhat different. I figured if I could do twenty km along a fairly good track with the commuter, I ought to be able to double that on the mountain bike - which would have gotten me all the way up the Sheep River to Tombstone. Things began very well - I was making great time and the ride was a fair bit easier, but just as I was done most of the hard climbing and was getting into the long valley, I came over a rise to find I had a small problem... well, not so small actually!

Mr. Grizzly cooling down on a warm day

There was Mr. Grizzly on my path with no apparent intention of leaving. (You might also notice he has a significant silver patch on his shoulder hump). I was about a hundred meters away and on a bike that (with a bit of adrenaline)  could do 35km/h along that path, so I was reasonably comfortable taking a couple of pictures and waiting a couple of minutes to see what he would do. He definitely knew I was there but made no move to retreat and there was no way I was going to advance - so we watched each other ....and then I retreated.  ...I'm pretty sure the whole 40km would have been quite doable otherwise.... :)

a new Gone4aday

Another one?
Yup! ...at  Gone4aday.wordpress.com
I've decided to go wireless, with all that that entails, and when I was doing my reading I happened on some persons mentioning a site (Wordpress) that was good when blogging from an Android device. Well I have an Android device. So now I am trying it out and comparing to working with this Gone4aday.


there was an intersection in Houston that reminded me of this....



Hot Springs & Durrand Glacier



BCG - I liked your picture so much,
this is mine in return

Well, I didn't get started as early as I had hoped, but then again I was supposed to leave yesterday... cause this was origionally going to be the Hot Springs Tour (HST), and with a half-dozen or so springs to visit on the first leg, it would take a few days ... but then things happened and now we have the modified HST - which is to skip the first 3, go to one, then skip some more, go to a cold lake, and finally, to skip the last few ...well at least we'll get in one HS... So I guess I'll call this new plan the 'modified version'...



The Fireweeds are out in force this year!

I started my modified version tour by stopping to visit dad. We had a nice breakfast on the patio, but that meant it was one o'clock in the afternoon before I got on the road. ...which did get me to Whiteswan Park and Lussier Hotsprings in time for a late afternoon soak and then a 10K hike - yes I probably did that backwards, but sometimes you should eat desert first. :)


Alces Lake (Whiteswan Park)

There are two lakes here, both crystal clear and seem that they would be great for fishing (at dusk you can see the fish from shore, just under the surface - presumably hunting bugs). I got back and set up camp as the sun was going down and managed dinner in the dark... well by the light of the campfire....
 

Lassier Hot Springs
-It was initially my thought that I was going to do this posting with
pictures only (like this), but that plan got modified also...

   
ooops... late leaving again today...hmmm, could there be a pattern developing here....? Actually, I was only late by the campground warden's clock. By my 'Slightly Modified Hot Springs Tour' clock, I was right on time.... you see, since I had gonE for a late afternoon dip yesterday, I had to get to the springs for a morning dip/soak. After much deliberation I decided the morning one was better - less people (thus more pool), besides who wouldent want to watch the sun come up while soaking in their own private hot pool?


PS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAC!



 Tomorrow it is off to Revelstoke and then an early morning helicopter lift to Durrand.Glacier. 



A fairly early 8:30AM arrival




Honymoon Lake

Weather today was part sunny, part cloudy, part rainy with possible thunderstorms so we did a shortish hike in the morning and came back to the lodge because of a threatening thunderstorm, checked the latest weather and radar imagery, guessed that the storm had just missed us and decided to go out again for an afternoon hike. After walking a few kilometers the weather finally decided to get serious and have a nice little storm. Luckilly, we were still low down at the time and could easily duck into a small copse of trees to wait it out. Twenty minutes later - sunshine! ...so off we went and got to the top of the ridge when suddenly the weather decide to threaten again, and not wanting to get caught out in the open...down we went...
  

 Day 2 started out without a cloud in the sky - and stayed that way the whole day! ...unfortunately I forgot my sunscreen and, boy, could you tell by the end of the day... which was 10 hours of hiking as we inadvertently ended up taking mom to the top of Goat Peak and at 10.5km and 3300', that was a personal best for her this year!



Morning visitors who later became
our tramping buddies for the day



Looking back towards the lodge

the lodge from Goat Peak

Day 4 was even hotter! ...like 24 degrees, which is really warm for 2000m elevation! So instead of a long walk we did a little boot skiing and had a swim in one of the lakes. 

Summer in 'the Soo'



After being lazy and mucking about in St Lucia and Spain it was time to get some chores done at home -like the usual spring cleaning and, of course, cleanup in the yard after winter - somewhat unexciting and rather time consuming, but not so much that I wasn't able to squeeze in the occasional coffee. Since the weather was rather so-so, it seemed a good opportunity to get some bigger chores started... or maybe finished? First, was the wall I built several years back but could never decide on the right finish.... So I compromised and bought some styrofoam 'stones'.


...it is hard to tell what is 'real' and what is styrofoam...

 They come in sheets which makes them really easy to install - they just don't look so great because of the uniform strange green colour for both stone and mortar... so they needed a custom paint job - to look a little more like the real thing... ...and of course an 'end' stone wasn't available to buy, so I ended up making a bunch of my own stones to finish off the ends of the wall. In the end, the look and finish was exactly what I wanted, but perhaps was a tad more labour than I originally envisioned!



sometimes stitching photos doesn't work so well
- but you get the idea...




The floor is now dark (Ebony Rosewood),
the backsplash glass and mosaic tile
and the counter is 18"x36" porceline tiles.



Summer still seemed to be having a hard time getting motivated so I decided to tackle the kitchen next. This became a perfect example of how one change forces another until you find yourself looking at a complete reno! It all started with needing a new floor because the finish on the old one had worn away and thus I could never get it to look clean. --But if I was going to replace the floor, then it seemed to me that that would be a good time to put in an island, if such was desired (and it was) -- And since I was changing the colour of the floor, the counter no longer worked (and of course it would need to be changed because it ought to match the new island's counter) -- And if you re-do the counter, you're going to have to re-do the back-splash -- And heck, if you're going to do all that then you may as well sort out the lighting and get the switches placed more sensibly - you know, instead of having to go to the back door to turn on the kitchen sink light...

Eventually I did finally get the kitchen reno finished (thanks to my advisers who helped me make decisions when I got stuck). The new island looks great - in my opinion, it gives just enough of an updated look, but I really don't know what I'm going to put in all the new drawers!

 Then it was off to visit the girls in Ontario!

When summer is called here in Eastern Canada they certainly follow through! Lots of HOT sunny days, a little bit of rain and cloud and then more hot and sunny. Spent a fair bit of time in the Soo with Mia and doing a lot of chores around the house there - the list of to-dos on this house seems to be endless!



....not sure why people plant cedars in front of
windows, but I think they look a lot better here!

 

This years list included a lot of landscaping, tree moving and re-grading of the yard to try to direct the water away from the house (it rains marsupials here on occasion) also needed to get the solar heating for the pool working and of course there was that little hole that had to be dug under the back deck to enable a foundation repair!



ahhhh, this was fun! ...the nice thing about
digging under a deck is that it is always
shady - still 30 degrees, but shady!

  One thing we did find out with all the digging that we did was that there are a LOT of rocks in this ground - so Mia now has a very nice rock pit/garden! Inside the house, there was the last bedroom that had to be redone (walls and floor ripped out and rebuilt) and another bathroom reno and finally the theater/guest room built.


the sheds got a much needed face-lift and
of course, Mia's new garden!



a new rock garden - what you don't see is
that there are 2 cubic meters of rocks in it!




Mia's new garden with 2 weeks of growth...



You can't have all work and no play, so Mia and I took the short 8 hour drive down to London to spend a few days with Pepper (aka Cricket). We unfortunately weren't able to do a couple of things we we wanted to like going to Niagara to pound grapes and learn how to kite surf, but there will be time for that.... Mia did get a first out of the trip - first time to be pulled over by the OPP! (sorry, no picture - thought about it too late!) ...no fault of hers - a wire broke and thus there were no brake lights. The nice police officer lady did advise her however that the registration was expired, and with no brake lights the car would have to be towed.... initially.... Perhaps the nice police officer lady took pity on poor Mia and soon came back and asked Mia if she knew her arm signals - ie how do you signal a stop? Thank goodness Mia was paying attention at bicycle school! With permission, we promptly drove home and diagnosed the brake problem, fixed the broken wire and phoned up Adam and gave him shit for forgetting to put registration on the car. We then quietly drove the short way back to the Soo and have since parked the car in the driveway until Adam can get the registration sorted out. London was fun though otherwise... Had a nice visit with Pepper, met her new beau, had a nice day trip to he beach and another day on a boat tour of the Huron river courtesy of a friend of a friend.


I think the person sitting in the lookout chair
ought to be looking out - or at least forward!




...a private beach

 We were even there for Sunfest! ....and yes, it was sunny...and hot...and then it rained for a bit and got tired of that and went back to being sunny and hot.

So now we are back in the Soo and although it appears it may have rained here sometime in the past, it is currently....care to take a guess?....Yup! Sunny and hot!


Mia even got a quick course in autobody repair...



Ok, got to go. Still have the last two items left to finish on my list and of course, must test out the solar heated pool! :) Had to buy a new thermometer for the pool - the last one didn't survive freezing over winter... anyway the new one says to pool is a tepid 30 degrees.

Madrid 'n home

I think I hit overload tonight as I walked around Madrid-there is just so much of everything...everywhere; architecture, history, people, shops, parks, cafes, plazas... it is seemingly endless and I only covered a few square kilometres. Coming from my reality of having very little 'stuff' covering a huge area, I find it totally amazing to be in this reality of so much in such a small area.

Granted, I am in the old town now, which is significantly different from the newer areas. The newer suburb I was in last night was almost depressing, endless mid-rise apartment blocks, a handful of parks and cafes, and one enormous shopping mall (which is whre everyone seemed to be).



Parque del Retiro after dark



One thing I do find interesting as I’m walking about, is that I never feel unsafe – probably because there are always people around. I don’t think the locals feel unsafe either as the average person (in all the towns I’ve been) seems to have no sense of anyone around them, even at night. After dark, being in a large park is normally to be avoided...yes? Not so here, tons of people about, walking, biking, jogging, dancing, playing soccer and tennis, or just hanging out.



'Market day' brought out lots of street performers



Lagoon at Casa del Campo



And then there is the Casa del Campo (the royal hunting estate until 1931) at 1700 hectares, I walked through it for 3km and barely touched it – definatly need a bike to explore that place! 



a plethora of churches - this is the Cathedral de la Almudena
at Plaza de España



interior of the Basilica
Pontificia de San Miguel



The trip from Denia to Alicante airport in didn’t go quite as planned yesterday...a leisurely 2 hour trip turned into 5 hours -I say leasurely because I was supposed to have 2 or 3 thours to sip coffee or sit at the beach - but it's a good thing I'd given myself the extra time, or I might still be there...looking for an apartment! First bus arrived on time at 8:00am – all was good. Second bus...? was I a minute late? Not sure, but no matter, because there was another in 20 minutes and I had plenty of time. It arrived. Good. Two and a half hours later and we've only made it half way (where my schedule says we should have arrived by now) so I go ask the driver. He says another hour and a half, but that’s ok ..I think...because I allowed myself extra time. We arrive, and my third bus arrives shortly, so I’m thinking all is going to be ok, and then we begin taking a different (longer) route than I expected, but no problem......I hope...I allowed extra time... In the end I arrived with 20 minutes to spare...Whew!



Oooo, look, the sun sets here too!



trip total 12055 km
(walked 27 km today!)

Finding something is always an interesting challenge. But thanks to a good friend who reminded me how to ask the whereabouts of the public toilet, that isn’t a problem! Discerning the answer can be something else altogether. But I have found I can pick out a word or two and then along with the accompanying hand gestures, piece something together...ahh, look for something with red in that direction on the left...and it only took about 3 weeks to begin to hear individual words instead of one long string...

Flew to England this evening and so I guess the Spanish lessons are on hold for a while.
trip total 13377 km 

...and then a nice early start at 5:30am (except I forgot to change my watch and it was actually 4:30am) for the final leg home...

FINAL trip total 20733km