June 11, 2016 Ryan and I planned for either a long day trip or a short hike, weather pending, somewhere along the Downton Creek road. With forecasts showing either rain or snow in most areas, we decided conditions on our drive up would determine what we would hike: Viola Lake. Viola Lake is a gem of a lake reached by crossing an old cutblock, subalpine forest, and alpine meadows. It offers views of glaciers and steep slopes of surrounding peaks. Stats Distance: 6.8km (round trip) Cumulative elevation gain:…

Trip date: May 21-22, 2016. You know there’s a May long weekend coming up when your local MEC is jam-packed with customers, loading up on camping gear and supplies, on a Wednesday evening. May long weekend holds a special place in our hearts; it sort of kicks off the camping/hiking season and, like bears, we come out of our hibernation and head outdoors to soak up the warm sun and bright blue skies over the course of not two, but THREE days. Not this weekend though, forecast showed…

June 13, 2015 Trip Report: Ryan and I headed up the Hurley on Friday night and car-camped at the trail head. Goal was to poke up to Semaphore Lakes and beyond. Stats Total distance: ~8.81km Cumulative elevation gain: 460m The hike to the lakes offers quick access to surrounding summits including Locomotive, Tender, Caboose, Handcar, Face, etc. Pros: quick access to alpine, range of scrambles from beginner to advanced levels, water sources along the trail.

When we set off for Rohr Lake last Saturday, given the weather, I was expecting skiers and snowshoers all over the trail; I was surprised when we didn’t run in to anyone all day. Is Rohr that underrated? The plan was to take our time up the trail, squeeze in as many blood sugar checks as possible, and consistently eat carbs throughout the day. I was playing around with my basal rate (hourly insulin intake) and I was trying out a few new sources of carbs including: Gu…

May 28, 2017. UPDATE: Site Closed. AGGRESSIVE BEARS IN AREA: TRAIL AND AREA ARE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. DO NOT ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES Thanks to irresponsible people, bears have become conditioned to unnatural food sources. If this closure is ignored by visitors, additional measures up to and including removal of the hot springs bathing tubs may be pursued. For more information: http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/search/search-result.aspx?site=REC202717&type=Trail June 23, 2016. ATTENTION: Pebble Creek Hot Springs is closed indefinitely due to food conditioned bears. To avoid losing access to more beautiful places, please…

The Trip With snow already hitting some of the higher peaks and our nights getting cooler, it’s safe to say Fall is underway. I’ve soaked up as much sun as possible this month, including an excellent day in Garibaldi Park. Last Saturday, a few of us hiked up to Wedgemount Lake. Not a bad way to mark the start of the end of a hiking season. Tall trees, rushing creek, and pristine alpine views. The hike to Wedgemount Lake is a Garibaldi classic. With the 1200m gain within…

After weeks of nagging Ryan about wanting to learn more technical skills in terms of hiking, scrambling, and mountaineering, he finally took me out. This is one of those hikes I should have done long, long ago, but never really got around to doing; nor was I too interested in the high traffic trails. I made a failed attempt at snowshoeing in the area years ago, but didn’t make it back until this trip. I was surprised at how beautiful it was – this seems to be happening…

We recently did an overnighter at Pebble Creek Hot Springs. I remember my first trip here I had trouble keeping my blood sugars up. We spent a day at the springs last Summer and between the heat and steep (but short) incline, my blood sugars kept crashing and I think I stopped for food and a blood sugar check every 5 minutes or so. This trip was a little different with my new found ‘Kili’ legs. I used it as an opportunity to do some cross-training with a…