Birthday Hiking

Ah, the joys of a birthday. It's not my birthday, but J's. And for his special day he took me to the dentist in the morning, so I could have clean shining white teeth to smile at him all day. Then we headed out to Pt Reyes National Seashore.

It was a beautiful day, in the 70s, blue sky and low wind. The water surrounding the lighthouse (which is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays) was glass-like which made it perfect for whale watching. Mid-January is prime time for whale migration. So, with a pair of binoculars and a lot of patience's you may be able to spot a few.

We left the binoculars in the car (oops) and both of us were itching to hike, so we left the scenic viewing point and head across to the Chimney trail. From the parking lot you can see the sandstone cliff faces and hear the barking of elephant seals. We walked down the path soaking in the sunlight and the spectacular views.

Ah, what a nice way to spend a day. Happy birthday J.

A day at the Pool

I've seen the Kitsilano pool. I sat in the bleachers south of the pool, but until yesterday I had never actually touched the water in the pool.

This salt water pool opened around the second week of May and cloese in mid-September. You can purchase a pass or just drop in anytime for under $5.

The pool is one of the longest in Canada and offers beach like access along with three slides. It is heated to 77 degrees and offers a snack bar.

The city of Vancouver offers a total of 14 pools (9 indoor and 5 outdoor) but by far, Kitsilano pool has the best views of the beach, the mountains, and don't forget about people watching.

photo taken by Joel Wener at 10:30pm.

Grouse in the Summer

Even with temperatures in the 60s (20C) on Grouse there's still snow patches. J, his cousin and I trekked up the mountain over rocky terrain, mushy ground, snow and black sticky mud.

Evidence of the snow melt is everywhere. The water cascades down the rock faces and tickles over decomposing trees. The mountain has a completely different feel in the summer. There are shows schedule throughout the day, such as Birds in Motion.

A rescue group talks to the audience about birds of prey featuring a barn owl who's 10 months old and learning to fly, a hawk who weights just over a pound (both seen above respectively), a falcon shows off his hunting ability, a turkey vulture (not pictured) and a four year old eagle who's feathers will turn white as he gets older.

Look at the size of the eagle (below). Wow, you just don't understand how large these bird are until your standing next to them.

Then the grand brown bear. The mountain plays home to two brown bears, both still considered cubs. Both were found in the wild without parents and were brought to Grouse to be raised and eventually released.

There's also a Lumberjack show and if your up for a bit more of a thrill you can take a helicopter tour or the newest attraction the zip line.

Yes there is plenty to keep you entertained if you don't find the views, the trees or a nice hike enough to fill you up. Oh and the Beaver tail shack is open to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Lighthouse Hike

Welcome to Point Atkinson’s shore in West Vancouver.

We had heard from friends that it was a nice park, not a far drive and the hiking book that I recently bought sketched out a nice description of the trail. Our hike began with a muddy trail, reminding both of us that wearing hiking boots (not trail runners) would be a good thing when hiking. We headed west through 500 year old douglas firs and popped out on a legde over looking the Burrad inlet. We followed the penisula around to the lighthouse stopping to enjoy the views.

This original lighthouse was built in 1874 while the operating lighthouse today was erected in 1912. The majestic trees in this park are original old- growth, spared from logging due to the fact that the Douglas firs, Western Hemlocks and Western red cedars provided a dark background for the white lighthouse.

The 65 hectares was set aside in 1881 and many trails criss-cross the park. During World War II many of the lighthouses on the west coast of BC were used for monitoring ships and looking for enemy subs. Point Atkinson was installed with gun emplacements, search lights and several buildings: bunkhouse, officers mess hall, dining hall and a guard hut were built behind the lighthouse. There was a lonely phone booth near the guard house that suck out and was probably installed only a few years ago. Wonder how much the that was to install? Today the dining hall is a Nature Houe operated by the Girl Guides (similar to the Girl Scouts but with less cookie flavors to choose from) and one of the other building was turned into public bathrooms.

We would recommend this hike. But even if you just want to see the lighthouse there is a service road that leads from the parking lot to the lookout that only takes about 15 minutes to walk. One last thing to note, is that you can't acctually go inside the lighthouse or even get close enough to touch as it's off limits and resides on a very rocky point. Nonetheless, it's interesting to read the history and enjoy the large virgin rain forest.

Where has your feet taken you recently? Get out and explore!

Flying High at Jericho beach

We ventured down the sand and found colorful tents scattered along the shore and bright canopies zipping across the sky.

Kite surfing. It's a hot sport and as it turns out there was a kite surfing camp in session.

But the kites weren't the only things in the sky... this beautiful bird circled above us before perching in a nearby tree.

There was plenty to look at as many families strolled the walkway, taking Mom out for a day in the sunshine. Happy Mom's day.

Natural Textures

J and I decided to take a stroll around the block. Well, with my new Canon 40D in hand, I was itchin' to get out and shoot. I want to be prepared to snap the best possible pictures for our upcoming Alaska trip.

As we walked I started to spot interesting patterns, whether it was the cherry blossoms sprinkled on the ground, the mix of colors in the tulips or the amazing brown and white bark on this tree.

... the fun red door with carved details,

or the beauty of a weed, yes dandelions can be stunning (this reminds me of fireworks).

So what natural textures, patterns or other amazing details are catchin' your eye this spring?

Crabby

With the sun shinning and my new camera in hand it was the perfect day to go to the beach. As we headed down to the waters edge, I was was some difficulty with the camera. The shutter seems to be on manual exposure. So instead of clicking the shutter button once, I needed to click it twice. Annoying to say the least.

With the tide out, many rocks with barnacles were exposed. I switched my camera into a basic mode and began clicking away, this time without problems. J pushed over a few of the rocks and loads of crabs scuttled around. Some hurried to another dark place while a few stood their ground.

Even with a slight nudge this reddish-brown guy wasn't going to move.

The camera (when switch into any of the manual modes) continued to cause me shutter problems. And as a result turned me a bit crabby. I switched off the camera, played a bit more on the beach and tried to suck in as much sunlight as possible.

Let's Hike!

We headed out toward UBC to look for hiking trails in the Pacific Spirit Regional Park. And sure enough we found one.

We started on trail 7 (East Canyon), turned onto trail trail 17 (Pioneer) and headed north towards the beach. The trail turns along a cliff looking out to the Burrard Inlet and Spanish Banks beach.

We turned off the main trail and followed this babbling stream out to the beach.

With the sun shinning and sailing boats cruising, one could easily think that spring has arrived. We wandered down the shore line looking for interesting rocks and sea glass. Instead we found a struggling crab which probably made a great dinner for a lucky sea gull.

We headed back to the woods and continued along trail 1 (Admiralty). We turned south onto trail 21 (Salish) and climbed up a steep incline. The dense forest reminded me on backpacking in Lake Tahoe although there was less wild flowers in bloom.
We finished up our close to 2 hour loop and headed back home to clean off our muddy shoes and have a cold drink. The park has over 73 kilometers of of forested trails and we covered about 4 of them. So I wonder what trail we'll conquer next.