so aparently i can't update this from my ipod, which is a huge pain but whatever i'll just have to make a better effort to block time for it.
i'm on a computer at the greyhound station - $5 for 30 minutes. expensive, but the same price as locking up my baggage, and it's raining damn hard outside so i'll suck it up.
right, adventure camping.
i went went camping this past weekend with friends jamie, karli and jay. we went to mount seymore provincial park, which is accessible from vancouver's public transit, plus a short hitchhike from the park gate to the ski area at the top of the mountain. we were told that a couple hours hike from the ski area we would find lake elsay, and we would be able to find a place to set up camp.
snafu #1: i wasn't sure how adventurous the hiking would be... i brought my guitar to the departure point in vancouver, thinking i could leave it there if my camping buddies thought it was a bad idea. jay seemed enthused about bringing it and helped my strap it to my pack so it would be easier to carry. he only later admitted that he thought it was a bad idea, but knew that he wouldn't have to carry it and that he would get to play it when we got to camp! anyways my pack was way too heavy and way too big. my tent is not really meant for hiking trips and i brought extra clothes because i knew my sleeping bag wouldn't stand up to the cold. jamie carried my pack the whole way - he wouldn't let me help and was probably right that it was too heavy for me to manage anyways.
snafu #2: we took our sweet time getting out in the morning. my friends all had been to the ben harper / pearl jam concert the night before so it was slow going. by the time we got ourselves and all our stuff over and up the mountain it was maybe 4. we quickly realized that the hike was going to be no walk in the park. we were climbing up boulder mountains and zigzagging down rocky cliffs. to make matters worse we had strapped the guitar upside down so that the neck would be braced by the straps, so jamie couldn't step down big rocks without the guitar getting in the way. he was not having fun and i felt awful for having him carry all my stuff. when we got to the top of a mountain we could see what we thought to be the lake down below, and it did not look close. we didn't have a choice but to keep following the trail down and hope to get there before we lost the light.
snafu #3: after hiking for quite some time down a rocky path into a valley where we hoped to find the lake, it became evident that we had lost the trail. we thought that if we kept going we would for sure find the lake, but when we got to the bottom of the valley there was no sign of the lake and no obvious path onwards. we were losing light and had no choice but to set up camp for the night.
turns out we kind of lucked out on where we ended up - it was a beautiful site with a delicious freash water stream and tons of firewood. the valley was shaded from the sun for all but a couple hours of the day, but we built lots of fires and stayed warm.
day two we woke up and could hear - then see - hikers on the trail which turned out to be high on a ridge above us. we debated packing up and moving on to the lake, but given that we didn't have an easy path out of the valley, and weren't exactly sure where we would find the lake, we packed water and snacks and decided to make it a day trip.
we scrambled up the boulders to where we could see the path above us, only to encouter bushes thick with prickles blocking our path. our progress slowed dramatically. we pushed on through and eventually got up by climbing on trees growing horizontally out of the mountain and monkeying over the bushes.
the hikers we found on the path informed us that we had another TWO HOURS to the lake. we were apparently severly misinformed. we cancelled the day trip to the lake, hiked the path for a few minutes to see what we could see (not much) and found a much better, prickle-free path back down to camp.
again, the campsite itself was really great. we had lots of food, good guitar and song sessions, and lots of laughter. we were happy to stay there for a second night.
the way home was a lot easier - we rearranged the packs so that weight was distributed more evenly, strapped the guitar the other way around and had a relatively easy hike back to base camp. on the way back we noticed a sign warning us of the difficulty of the elsay lake trail. oops. hahah.
i'm out of time. i might add to this story later. all around great trip with great friends.
peace out yo
j
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
first post!
ahhh so much pressure!
i've been meaning to start writing about my life and life's adventures for some time, and while it's hard to say when exactly my current adventure began, (perhaps as my blog title alludes, it began when i quit my job) now that i am on the other side of the country in beautiful vancouver i'd say it's safe to say that i'm in it.
i could write for days catching you up on the adventures of summer, from winnipeg to sundridge to the haliburton forest to peterborough to ottawa and montreal, but this library computer is going to kick me off in 40 minutes so i'll have to leave that for another day.
well i took off for vancouver monday evening. the flight was filled with marathons of jon and kate plus 8 and ultimate cake-off. i regreted not picking a daytime flight - although the skies were clear, the dark prevented me from seeing the beautiful landscapes that were no doubt below. excitement built as the animated plane on the map on my neighbours screened passed over north dakota, the prairies, alberta and finally b.c. i tried desperately to make out the contours of mountains but the best i could do was imagine them by the valleys lined with the lights of small towns.
getting to my resting place - house of kasper, a friend from highschool - was easy enough on public transportation. i was greeted with open arms. kasper showed me around and made sure i had everything i wanted before i happily went to bed.
i got a good start on the day the next morning. i could see that it was a beautiful day outside, but it wasn't until i saw a photo of vancouver on the wall - beautiful city on the ocean tucked into the mountains - that i thought 'holy crap i'm wasting my life why am i not outside yet'. i hit the road on foot to explore.
as soon as i was out of the house the beauty of the place overwhelmed me - i couldn't believe how much i had missed by arriving in the dark. the mountains! i could see mountains right from outside the door! a few people had told me leading up to the trip that this is a really magical place, and i knew right away that it was true.
my hunch to head in the direction of the university was a good one. it was a longer walk than i expected, but a good one. i passed through the pacific spirit regional park, which has the most spectacular trees and vegetation.
the trees here are like mountains and the mountains are like sky.
i made it to campus, which has a familiar energy of september business. i quickly stumbled on regent college where i found unsecured wireless (which i can access from my ipod) AND free food!!! there was a chapel service going on when i got there, and though i didn't go in i enjoyed the singing from outside, and noticed people setting up to serve bread and soup. of course i waited till the service was let out and helped myself to a hearty bowl of vegetable soup with a crusty bun and extra butter. how i was thankful for this bounty! god bless!
of course i was dying to get to the ocean. after meandering along the top of a cliff for a while i found a long stair path down to the water, and a sign: 'cothing optional beach ahead'. what a serendipitous find! could there be any more romantic, spiritual way to begin my west coast adventure than with a naked swim in the pacific ocean?
in the end the clothing optional beach was a bit of a dissappointment. their was a very subtle creepiness to the beach that was non-threatening but slightly unsettling. walking down the coast i found many many more beaches, beautiful sandy beaches and parks with lots of people enjoying the unseasonally warm september afternoon. in the end i decided that i prefer beaches of the leash optional variety.
day one ended with a lovely campfire with kasper and housemates and friends in their gorgeous back yard. we made smores, sang flight of the conchords and did the hokey pokey. pure joy. times a million.
day two was lazy, and the main activity was a very extended guitar/singing/harmonica-ing session in the backyard, which felt really great. i got to bed early so i can tackle day 3 with all my strength. i plan to go downtown, maybe get my camera fixed and find a harmonica strap/holder. tonight i will have dinner with kate, a former highland dancer who i haven't seen in too long.
kasper and his housemates have been so good to me. They have a beautiful house in a beautiful neighbourhood. they are currently in the process of renting out their basement apartment, which is where i have set up shop for the time being. i have been sleeping on a bed consisting of a bouldering mat, some cushions, some blankets, a pillow and a sleeping bag. it's wonderful. i have been subsisting mainly on pumpkin seed butter and dried apricot sandwiches and other odds and ends picked up from a corner store i stumbled on.
time is running out! i will do my best to update frequently. finding wifi for my ipod has been fairly easy although extended posts are tedious without access to a full computer.
thanks to everyone i've encoutered so far for making my travels so comfortable and enjoyable.
applejax
i've been meaning to start writing about my life and life's adventures for some time, and while it's hard to say when exactly my current adventure began, (perhaps as my blog title alludes, it began when i quit my job) now that i am on the other side of the country in beautiful vancouver i'd say it's safe to say that i'm in it.
i could write for days catching you up on the adventures of summer, from winnipeg to sundridge to the haliburton forest to peterborough to ottawa and montreal, but this library computer is going to kick me off in 40 minutes so i'll have to leave that for another day.
well i took off for vancouver monday evening. the flight was filled with marathons of jon and kate plus 8 and ultimate cake-off. i regreted not picking a daytime flight - although the skies were clear, the dark prevented me from seeing the beautiful landscapes that were no doubt below. excitement built as the animated plane on the map on my neighbours screened passed over north dakota, the prairies, alberta and finally b.c. i tried desperately to make out the contours of mountains but the best i could do was imagine them by the valleys lined with the lights of small towns.
getting to my resting place - house of kasper, a friend from highschool - was easy enough on public transportation. i was greeted with open arms. kasper showed me around and made sure i had everything i wanted before i happily went to bed.
i got a good start on the day the next morning. i could see that it was a beautiful day outside, but it wasn't until i saw a photo of vancouver on the wall - beautiful city on the ocean tucked into the mountains - that i thought 'holy crap i'm wasting my life why am i not outside yet'. i hit the road on foot to explore.
as soon as i was out of the house the beauty of the place overwhelmed me - i couldn't believe how much i had missed by arriving in the dark. the mountains! i could see mountains right from outside the door! a few people had told me leading up to the trip that this is a really magical place, and i knew right away that it was true.
my hunch to head in the direction of the university was a good one. it was a longer walk than i expected, but a good one. i passed through the pacific spirit regional park, which has the most spectacular trees and vegetation.
the trees here are like mountains and the mountains are like sky.
i made it to campus, which has a familiar energy of september business. i quickly stumbled on regent college where i found unsecured wireless (which i can access from my ipod) AND free food!!! there was a chapel service going on when i got there, and though i didn't go in i enjoyed the singing from outside, and noticed people setting up to serve bread and soup. of course i waited till the service was let out and helped myself to a hearty bowl of vegetable soup with a crusty bun and extra butter. how i was thankful for this bounty! god bless!
of course i was dying to get to the ocean. after meandering along the top of a cliff for a while i found a long stair path down to the water, and a sign: 'cothing optional beach ahead'. what a serendipitous find! could there be any more romantic, spiritual way to begin my west coast adventure than with a naked swim in the pacific ocean?
in the end the clothing optional beach was a bit of a dissappointment. their was a very subtle creepiness to the beach that was non-threatening but slightly unsettling. walking down the coast i found many many more beaches, beautiful sandy beaches and parks with lots of people enjoying the unseasonally warm september afternoon. in the end i decided that i prefer beaches of the leash optional variety.
day one ended with a lovely campfire with kasper and housemates and friends in their gorgeous back yard. we made smores, sang flight of the conchords and did the hokey pokey. pure joy. times a million.
day two was lazy, and the main activity was a very extended guitar/singing/harmonica-ing session in the backyard, which felt really great. i got to bed early so i can tackle day 3 with all my strength. i plan to go downtown, maybe get my camera fixed and find a harmonica strap/holder. tonight i will have dinner with kate, a former highland dancer who i haven't seen in too long.
kasper and his housemates have been so good to me. They have a beautiful house in a beautiful neighbourhood. they are currently in the process of renting out their basement apartment, which is where i have set up shop for the time being. i have been sleeping on a bed consisting of a bouldering mat, some cushions, some blankets, a pillow and a sleeping bag. it's wonderful. i have been subsisting mainly on pumpkin seed butter and dried apricot sandwiches and other odds and ends picked up from a corner store i stumbled on.
time is running out! i will do my best to update frequently. finding wifi for my ipod has been fairly easy although extended posts are tedious without access to a full computer.
thanks to everyone i've encoutered so far for making my travels so comfortable and enjoyable.
applejax
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