Monday's Hike/Bushwack Adventure

     My Monday Adventure

The view at the beginning of the trail.

     Over the last three days, North Vancouver has had near constant snowfall. About 6-12 inches have stuck, depending on where on the North Shore you are. I had been wanting to do a hike in the snow while it lasted, so after work yesterday, I got home and decided to go out and explore one of the trails at the base of Mt. Seymour. Kait was busy with her classes, so I figured I would tease her by going out, taking a few pictures, and then sending them to her in the middle of her class. I'm a jerk that way. 

     

 

     

     


       

     

     Anyway, I strapped on my boots and got my jacket on. I grabbed my gloves, my toque, and my new fancy backpack and I jumped in the car and drove to the Old Buck trail head. Old Buck Trail is a fairly short one, though it gives you access to other trails, such as the Baden-Powell Trail. It's also a popular trail amongst mountain bikers. I don't know how it is when there isn't snow (I'm assuming it's pretty nice) but when it is snowing, it's absolutely beautiful. About three or four minutes into the hike, a smaller trail broke off to the left. I can't remember the name of the trail, but it takes you towards the west, away from Old Buck Trail. By the amount of tracks left in the snow, it didn't look like many people had been on the trail that day, so I decided to go an leave my own set. 

     

 

    

     

The tree fort.

Inside the tree fort.

     Not long after the fork in the trails, I came across a bridge over a small stream which I'm sure is more like a river in the Spring and early Summer when there's runoff from the mountains. There was a neat little fort made out of a large fir tree branch weighed down with snow that sat just over the stream. I tried to follow the stream upstream, and managed to make it about one hundred metres before I came across a pool of water too deep for me to pass, so I turned back and climbed up the banks back near the bridge. I stumbled through the bushes until I got back on the trail and continued to follow it west. Along the way, I had to dodge large piles of snow falling from the trees overhead. For about twenty minutes, the trail stuck near the clearing of the forest, with houses on the other side. I could hear a group of kids playing in the snow and occasionally would hear a kid scream after what I'm guessing was a thorough face washing. After a while though, all the sounds of people, traffic, planes, and just about everything faded away, leaving only the sound of falling snow, swaying trees, and the odd bird. It was wonderful to get away from everything. I had forgotten how quiet it could be. 

There were several cool clearings.

 

     

     


     

     After about thirty or so minutes of walking along the trail, I looked uphill and began making my way through the woods, stopping to take lots of pictures along the way. At one point, there was a very loud crack which made me nearly jump out of my skin. The last time I'd heard that sound, a tree fell fairly close to my sister and I while we were hiking Frosty Mountain. Luckily, yesterday it was just a large branch which had succumbed to the weight of all the snow. I wandered around and occasionally slipped around some more before turning back downhill to return to the trail. 

     I was pleased to see that the new EDC Pack I bought performed just as well as I had hoped it would. I had put a little extra weight into it to test the straps as well as butting notebooks, spare paper, and even some tissue to test how water resistant it was. Despite having lots of snow fall on it, it fall into lots of snow when I slipped, and being caught and scratched by branches and bushes during my off-trail jaunt, non of the fabric was torn and the paper and tissue inside wasn't wet. It also never felt uncomfortable on my shoulders. 

 More Photos

 

 

 

 

     It was a great adventure in the snow. I'm hoping to go back again when the trail is clear and do a trail review.

-A

Gear Review: Action Gear EDC Day Pack

EDC Day Pack

Flag, rope and carabiner not included.

     I just bought the Every Day Carry Day Pack made by Action Gear as a lightweight bag to pack all of the gear and equipment Kait and I like to bring along on our hikes. After receiving the bag in the mail today, I quickly began seeing how everything fit in the bag, and I'm very impressed. 

     

      I found the pack on Amazon for $37 and with shipping, the total came to about $54. Considering the cheap price, I'm very happy with the overall quality of the bag. The fabric is 600D polyester and is water and tear resistant. While being a compact bag, it still offers a lot of storage space. There are two main compartments in the back and two smaller compartments at the front of the bag. Inside the main compartments are mesh pockets as well as zippered gear compartments for organization of equipment. The smaller compartment at the bottom of the front of the bag also offers pockets for organizing gear. In addition to these, the bag is covered with MOLLE loops which give you the opportunity to add extra pouches on the outside of the bag or to tie on other equipment such as rope. I plan on purchasing an extra pouch to attach on the front or side of the pack to hold all our first aid equipment so that we don't have to store it inside the bag.

     The bag is also quite comfortable to wear, even when filled. Yesterday after the bag arrived, I decided to test it out by loading it with all our first aid and hiking equipment, some heavy textbooks, and a spare jacket and took it with me on a walk. The straps are not heavily padded, yet they are still quite comfortable and don't leave your shoulders aching after wearing the bag for a long duration. 

     Over all, I'm very happy with the purchase and would recommend the bag to anyone who is looking for a small, lightweight day bag that can still hold all your needs. I'm excited to use it more as we explore more trails on the North Shore!

-A 

More Pictures

Plenty of pockets makes organization easy!

Family Day Hike: Cypress Falls, West Vancouver, BC , Canada

Pre-moving stage in our new place. 

Family Day: First Day Off Since January! 

Playing Catch up 

     Aaron and I have been insanely busy 
between work, full time school, practicum, 
and moving. We both feel like we haven't 
had a second to rest, breath and worst of all hike!

First look at the place.

We have finally settled into our new place after spending night after night hauling all our stuff from our old place to our new place. We only had 2 weeks to move everything and settle before the beginning of February. Our new place is two stories and is currently backing a large provincial park in North Vancouver. We are ecstatic to start exploring the trails right outside our front door if only we can sneak past our cute yet furry and obdurate neighbour who likes to visit us often and especially likes trying to charm his way in through the front door. We have decided to name him Terrance, and while he's very cute and friendly, he is also full of cat mischievousness so we have to keep an eye on him.   

This video describe Terrance pretty much to a T 

Terrance creeping. 

Terrance pondering his entry plan.

   

















    



 Today, Aaron and I woke up around 10 am. It felt so good to finally sleep in past 6:30 A.M. and started making a nice big breakfast of Kait's famous Vanilla Almond Smash Pancakes made from scratch. On the side,we had a mix of scrambled eggs, hash-browns, and farmer sausage that we cooked up in a big frying pan. It's so so YUMMY! If your a pancake lover, we insist you try the recipe:

Kait's Vanilla Almond Smash Pancakes 

Dry ingredients. 

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 Cup of Sifted All purpose flour
• 3 & 1/2  teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon of Salt                                   
• 1 Tablespoon of Fine Granulated Sugar  
• 1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon 

Wet ingredients. 

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 Large Egg
• 3 Tablespoons of melted Butter 
• 1 & 1/4 cup of Vanilla silk soy milk
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract 
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Almond Extract 

Mix it all together and throw it on the frying pan on medium heat.

Once cooked, add the toppings.

Toppings: 

• Icing sugar
• Canadian Maple Syrup
• Un-sweetened Coconut flakes  
• Almond Flakes 

The Hike 

   

Start of the trail after you leave the parking lot.

Kait at the beginning of the trail.

 









 







     After breakfast, Aaron and I heading into West Vancouver in "Bruce," Aaron's Mitsubishi Outlander to hike a trail we discovered in the summer of 2013 during one of our late night drives. A few days after finding the trail head, we explored the area in the daytime and ended up following the creek bed all the way to the end before hitting the second water fall. 

Summer 2013: Aaron heading up stream. 

     Since it has been almost 9 months after our first visit to Cypress Falls we decided it would be a good quick trail to do during Vancouver's current record breaking cold snap. As we started on the trail we quickly began to run into frozen chunks of ice coating the rocks along the trail, but overall the terrain was quite walkable.

Kait standing atop a boulder prior to the First Falls.

One of the many patches of ice coating the trail.

A shot of the canopy near the First Falls.

Ice coated creek.

           As I just mentioned, the creek was coated in ice in several areas, and Aaron and I were pleasantly surprised to find that both falls have been frozen over by ice due to the cool temperatures. This is such an infrequent experience to see the falls so ice bound. The rare beauty of the frostbitten rocks leading into the mouth of the waterfalls were also incredible to see.  

Ice covered rock formation we saw in the creek. 

  Aaron and I both enjoy this trail because there are so many unique features in this area. There are hidden cliffs all along the trail which provided excellent vantage points to view the creek. There is also a small cave by the first falls thats been created by fallen trees and water erosion creating smooth, defined passages for water to run through. 

Small rock tunnel near First Falls.

     The trail itself also runs parallel to the creek, which is quite enjoyable, especially if you're a hiker that is drawn to the power of water. The creek itself is so dynamic with large pools of water dotted by rocks ranging from tiny pebbles to huge boulders. There are cliffs that wall in the creek itself and constant elevation shifts creating miniature waterfalls between the two larger main falls. 

Looking upstream from First Falls.

Ice on the creek above First Falls.

                                   

Cold enough for icicles. 

                                             Equipment

     For our hike, we packed all our gear into a Panagonia Atom 7L bag. The bag contained mostly survival equipment, as Aaron and I were planning on exploring a new portion of the trail we hadn't hiked before and we wanted to cover all our bases. We brought Coghlan's waterproof matches, an emergency poncho, a lightstick, an emergency blanket, and a couple Zip fire-starting blocks as well as a Lifestraw water purifier. Inside was also a flashlight, a couple apples and Cliff Bars, and a Gerber fine-bladed folding knife. On the outside of the pack, we attached a Coghlan's Trek II first aid kit, a compass/thermometer/whistle combo made by the same company, a few small lights in case it got dark quickly, and a Nalgene 1L water bottle.

Our day pack with our medkit, compass/thermometer, lights, and water bottle.

     

Contents of our day pack, minus the fruit, granola bars, and flashlight.

  

   

Kait standing at the half-frozen creek.

Our thermometer reading 3 degrees Celsius.

          








     For clothing, we both wore our Helly Hanson rain jackets. Aaron wore some brown light khaki pants, Mammut hiking boots, and Underarmour gloves. Kait wore her Lululemon athletic pants, and her Scarpa hiking boots.  

Helly Hansen rain gear.

Aaron found a tree bridge. 

Bridge crossing the creek just above First Falls.

Kait in the small tunnel/cave.

Bruce, the '06 Outlander.

Named after the Great White from Finding
Nemo.

     

     Overall, though very cold with the heavy rain, a temperature of just 3 degrees Celsius, and some wind chill, the hike was wonderful both visually and physically. Check back soon for an official review with details on this beautiful trail! 

-K & A

One Small Happy Family. 

Bio of Kait

Kait

                                                                             Thats ME....

The view of Shuswap Lake From Bastion Mountain

Now that you all know some stuff about Aaron, 
I suppose it's my turn to spill. 

I was originally born in lower mainland of British Columbia, but grew up in the interior near in the Shuswap Region. 

The View of White Lake from my Family Home

My childhood was consumed by the outdoors. I grew up on 7 acres of land, and my days were filled with stacking firewood, feeding and maintaining our horses' pens, building tree forts and massive ponds that were filled with Koi, bushwhacking, long drives on rural logging roads, swimming in the warm, white clay lake, and fishing on the Shuswap with my parents and my older sister Lindsey. In grade 2 my family and I drove across canada and back it took us about a month to do the entire trip. This is one of my fondest memories as a child.  I must say, my childhood feels like a wonderful dream and I miss those days of freedom and lack of adult responsibility. My parents always told me it's all down hill from 16  and I now understand what they mean ;-). 

 

Our Fishing Boat out on the Shuswap 

My Parents and Kuli 

My sister and I in the Garden 

  During my High school years, I was a very busy active girl playing and competing on the Varsity Basketball,Volleyball, X country running, and track and field team. I had gone to provincial championships for all teams except for volleyball. Needless to say I had no life expect for sleep and sweat. I had also begun my Lifeguard and Swim Instructor training, which led to my at the local Recreation centre. 

BC Provincial Championships  Track and Feild 

I lived in the Shuswap area  until the age of 20 where I moved to Kamloops to attend Thompson Rivers University to persue an education in Physical Education. 
    

TRU X Country Team Photo

In my second year at TRU my life continued to be busy. I joined the university's Cross Country team, and also worked as a Resident Advisor at the university's Rez on top of full-time classes. Being a Resident Advisor was like being a paramedic, a therapist/councillor, and a cop for the 500 plus students living in the 12-story building all at the same time. I must say I learned a lot about people during that semester, and many hard lessons were learned from such an intense experience. Later during the Fall semester, I competed in Canada's triple AAA X-Country Running Nationals representing TRU and the Province of British Columbia. This was an incredibly exciting, and at the same time scary experience. During the Fall semester I had also been in the process of applying to Capilano University's Early Childhood Education Program in North Vancouver. I left TRU needing a change and a break, so I moved back to my hometown to work at Supported Child Development to work as a Program Assistant for children with specials needs. 

Finish Line at Nationals 

That May, after being accepted to CapU, I moved down to 
the lower main land to begin a summer position. Once my busy summer ended I started school and began working for the local recreation centres where I met the lovely, charming Aaron and my life changed completely. 

Photos by Timothy Nguyen

Photos by Timothy Nguyen

This brings us to the present. I have now graduated from Capilano University with a Diploma is Early Childhood Education with a focus in Special Education. 

We are now prepping and training for the West Coast Trail. Aaron and I have start this blog as a way of sharing the beauty that is the West Coast with all of you. We hope that you as readers can start to find places close to where you live, places where you can loose yourself in the outdoors. I love this province and am passionately drawn to the outdoors and love being physically active, hiking allows me to combine the two. 

Photo by Kath Charlton

Aaron and I spent our first date hiking quarry rock together and we have continued to grow closer. The West Coast Trail is going to be a huge challenge for us, both finically and physically, but we could not be more excited to start preparing for such an extraordinary adventure.