bradland

Sevilla and my last few days in Spain

2009-10-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

Off to Sevilla, a beautiful and amazing city that made a perfect end to my Spanish travels. I wandered the streets, shopped for souvenirs, ate many tapas, sampled some cervesas, and of course enjoyed many helados... as I savoured my final few days in Spain.

Plaza Espana

The huge gothic Cathedral (one of the largest in the world) and towering Giralda dominate the centre of Sevilla. The 90m high Giralda was the minaret of the mosque that once stood on the same site as the cathedral.

I went to explore the ancient Alcazar Palace, built in the 9th century...

... and ended up getting lost in the huge hedge maze in the Alcazar gardens! (OK so I could see over the hedges so I wasn't really that lost!)

After I found my way out of the maze I went out for tapas...

... and "traditional" Spanish beer (Duff!?)

And enjoyed an authentic flamenco performance - very cool!

And so after an amazing 5 weeks wandering through Spain it was time to go home!

The southern tip of Spain

2009-10-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Geri rented a car in Madrid so the next 5 days of my trip I tagged along for the ride as we headed to the southern tip of Spain. First stop was Gibraltar, actually in British territory so we had to show our passports and walk across a runway at the Gibraltar airport - very weird!

We took the gondola up to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar where there were incredible views of Spain to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea and Morocco to the south (only 14km away).

The Rock is home to a colony of Barbary Macaque monkeys and they are quite used to seeing humans... they even pose for photos!

Little Lily has a staring contest with a curious monkey.

There were little baby monkeys running all over the Rock too.

After visiting Gibraltar we headed to Tarifa and the beachside Hurricane Hotel where we would stay for the next few days.

Relaxing poolside in the sun

A little time at the beach too.

The beach at Tarifa is huge!

And the sunsets are spectacular.

On our last day together we walked around the old town of Tarifa...

had some lunch...

and then they dropped me off at the bus station and we said goodbye.

It was a great 5 days travelling with Jeff, Geri and Lily - exploring, playing, chatting, eating, drinking, laughing - it reminded me of our travels in Africa together more than 10 years ago and how much fun travelling with good friends is!

Next (and final) stop... Sevilla!

Wandering through Spain

2009-10-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

So somewhat reluctantly I left Barcelona last week and have been wandering around Spain, following the good weather, generally heading south. First stop: Montserrat.

Montserrat is an ancient monastery perched high up in some incredible limestone mountains.

A steep train climbs high into the mountains to get you to the monastery... and continues even higher into the mountains!

I followed the path up the mountain, past some small chapels used by the monks and nuns of the area...

... to the top of the highest peak with amazing views of the area.

Next stop: Valencia - the third biggest city in Spain, situated on the Mediterranean coast a few hours south of Barcelona. The most interesting thing to see in Valencia is the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) which consisted of some huge, fascinating buildings and the largest aquarium in Europe...

... including an incredible 70 metre-long shark tunnel!

... where you can get up close and personal with the sharks!

Next stop was Granada, but on my way I noticed some very high mountains from the window of the train - the Spanish Sierra Nevadas. So after a little investigation, I discovered that the highest mountain in Spain - Mulhacen, 3479 metres/ approx 11,500 feet - was only a short bus ride outside of Granada and a relatively easy day-hike to the summit...

So I went and climbed, passing a few ibex (Spanish mountain goats) on the way...

... to the top!

Where the clouds blocked most of the views but it was still a great hike.

So then I headed back to Granada where I explored the ancient and spectacular Alhambra, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the most visited monument in all of Spain.

I entered through the Gate of Justice.

And then I climbed the towers of the incredible Alcazaba fortress which was built almost 700 years ago!

The 14th century Royal Palace is said to be the most impressive Islamic structure in all of Europe... so I took a lot of photos.

View of Granada from the towers of the Alcazaba

Sunset over the Alhambra with the city of Granada in the distance

That night I met up with Jeff, Geraldine and little Lily who had made their way to Spain from France. We had dinner and planned our next week of travels together!

Next up... Gibraltar!

Barcelona

2009-09-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Barcelona has easily made it onto my "Top 10 Favourite Cities in the World" list! I expected Barcelona to be an incredible city but it exceded my expectations in almost every way. Beautiful and ancient yet also cosmopolitan and festive, especially with the Feste de Merce taking place for most of my visit!

The main street in Barcelona is La Rambla, packed with people day and night.

A typical street in the Old Town of Barcelona

Pintxos - I ate many of these delicious tapas!

City streets were very busy during the Festival de Merce...

...and the Parade of the Giants.

Live music stages were set up all over the city.

Fireworks in the street

Human-castle building is a popular event at the festival.

Impressively high!

And I had a front row view.

I checked out some of Gaudi's incredible and sometimes bizzare architecture around Barcelona.

Casa Batllo

La Pedrera

And the amazing Sagrada Familia Cathedral

The Cathedral's Passion Facade

The cathedral is still under construction after 100 years!

Gaudi's intricate Nativity Facade

The view from the top of the cathedral spires was worth the $2.50 and one hour wait!

And finally off to the beach for a swim...

...and the sunset from the waterfront

I could easily stay in Barcelona for another week but there is still a lot more in Spain to see!

Madrid

2009-09-23T04:10:00.000-07:00

I didn't know what to expect from Madrid but I ended up loving this city and had 3 amazing days in Madrid!

I stayed in a Youth Hostel (the "Mad Hostel") for the first time in Spain and it was a great place to meet other travellers and speak a little English (which I hadn't for almost a week!). The city has an amazing energy to it and never seems to go to sleep. I wandered the streets and sampled cervezas and tapas from many little bars and restaurants... and of course helado (ice cream) too!

Saturday was the Noche en Blanco (White Night) Festival where the city centre closed off to traffic and people partied in the street all night long! Many of the art galleries, plazas and theatres in the city had free art/entertainment and the streets were packed until early in the morning... I went to bed early though and was in bed by 4 am!

On Sunday I sampled some Spanish art in Museo Reina Sofia and Museo del Prado, featuring Picasso, Dali, Goya and many celebrated Spanish artists.

And then in the evening I went to the Plaza de Toros to watch some bullfighting.

Again I wasn't sure what to expect and I have to say that I was quite shocked by the entire spectacle. There might be a fine line between a culturally significant art form and brutal animal cruelty but when I saw the first (of 6) bull stabbed, gored and finally slaughtered I can honestly say that I felt sick to my stomach. But a little later on a much more skilled matador fought with a bull for many minutes so skillfully that he appeared to "dance" with the bull.

The bull was bleeding quite badly after it had been fighting the matador for about 20 minutes.

In the end, horses came in and dragged the "honorable" (aka dead) bull out of the ring.

And when the time came to kill the bull, the more experienced matador did it with precision and skill that had the crowd on its feet applauding his efforts. In all it was an incredible experience that I don't think I will ever do again.

So after 3 incredible days in Madrid I am now off to the Mediterranean coast of Spain and Barcelona!

Town-hopping in central Spain

2009-09-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

On my way to Madrid I decided to stop by a few interesting towns along the way.

My first stop was Teruel...

...just in time for the Annual Teruel Ham Festival (seriously) so of course I took advantage of the free samples!

They even had ham-flavoured chips. Yummy.

Teruel is an old-looking town that appears to be trying to reinvent itself as a tourist destination, featuring lots of spectacular mudejar (islamic influenced) architecture...

But the noticeable lack of foreign tourists made me think that the town appears to attract mainly locals interested in the Ham Festival. And can you blame them? (Did I mention there was free ham?)

Teruel Ancient Roman Aqueduct

Next stop, Cuenca...

...just in time for a spectacular thunderstorm that lit up the sky and soaked the town (and me). But the sun came out long enough for me to dry off and walk around and see some of this amazing town.

Built atop cliffs on the edge of a river gorge, some of the buildings appear to be barely hanging on to the edge of the cliffs!

And finally Toledo... Spain's mini-sized version of Rome. Toledo is a fascinating walled city with a mind-boggling labyrinth of narrow streets, plazas, ancient cathedrals, mosques and synagogues to explore...

Bird's eye view of Toledo from the tower of one of the cathedrals

Next up Madrid!

The Spanish Pyrenees

2009-09-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

Bad weather in the French Pyrenees drove me to the Spanish side of the mountains a couple of days early and I was rewarded with sunny skies and some spectacular hiking, particularly in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

A few days ago, as I was hiking out of Candanchu into thick, dark clouds hanging low on the mountains, I looked to the south into Spain and there was blue-sky and sunshine... so that's where I went! Conveniently there was a trail heading south that intersected with the Haute Route very close to Candanchu... in fact it was the Camino de Santiago and I hiked on it for the entire day! The Camino de Santiago is a famous hiking pilgrimage route across northern Spain and along the route are many historical sites and ancient buildings/ruins that made my hike that day quite interesting.

On a side note: There are trails everywhere in Spain - if there is a valley or peak that you want to explore, there is probably a trail going there!

The next day, thanks to a short bus ride from Jaca to Torla, I entered Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

Due to its outstanding natural scenic landscape (high mountain peaks, deep canyons and spectacular cirque walls), this park is designated as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site.

My planned hiking route was to climb the Circo (Cirque) de Cotatuero to Cotatuero Pass and visit the Brecha de Rolando (a high pass - 2807m - on the French-Spanish border looking down into the Cirque de Gavarnie in France) before hiking down to camp at the Refugio de Goriz. At first the trail climbed fairly steeply from the Pradera canyon floor and quickly I was high up in the basin of the cirque with cascading waterfalls and incredible views. But the canyon wall became increasingly steep and I began to wonder where the trail would go... and how was I going to get to the top of the canyon?

Then I arrived at the Clavijas de Cotatuero and saw the death-defying route that lay ahead! 32 iron pegs hammered into the side of the rock face led to the top of the canyon.

So using the pegs and the security of the fastened chain, I carefully climbed the Clavijas de Cotatuero with full adrenaline pumping. When I got to the top of the canyon my heart was pounding and my legs were shaking and I shouted out across the gorge!

But my climb had only just begun.

The top of the Cirque de Cotatuero was a huge alpine basin that seemed to go on forever. Several herds of chamoix deer made this basin their home.

Quickly the trail disappeared and I began following sporadic rock cairns as I climbed the northern wall of the cirque towards Cotatuero Pass. From here on it was basically just alpine route-finding and common sense as I walked/climbed my way higher and higher and the cirque went on and on.

Normally these type of hiking conditions wouldn't phase me but the map I had was less than detailed, it was getting late in the day (5pm already) and dark clouds were starting to gather over the mountains ahead... plus I hadn't seen anyone else hiking in this area!

Right before I reached the pass I passed another herd of chamoix which scurried away probably uncertain of the foreign human presence in their normally quiet habitat.

At Cotatuero Pass (2500m) I found the trail coming up from Refugio de Goriz and it looked like a highway compared to the route that I had just taken.

As it was getting late and the weather was turning nasty, I forego my side trip to the Brecha de Rolando and just headed down to the refugio to make camp and have dinner. A brief rain and hail storm kept me moving quickly on my descent to the refugio!

At the Refugio de Goriz I met again with John and Liam from England who had come up the traditional route via the Ordesa Gorge, which I would descend the next day.

Dinner of chicken soup and cheese and tomato tortellini and off to bed.

Low clouds and a little rain greeted me the next morning but the Ordesa Gorge was still stunning and the hiking was easy and enjoyable.

The Ordesa Gorge is a huge glacial-carved valley, at the head of which is the Cirque of Soaso.

I descended the steep trail of the cirque to reach the valley floor.

The Arazas River cascades down the Ordesa valley in many waterfalls.

I didn't quite beat my camera's self-timer for this photo!

The trail in the valley is incredibly scenic, surrounded by the steep walls of the gorge.

I reached the parking lot just as the rain began to come down hard so I stuck out my thumb and hitched a ride back to Torla where I would catch the bus to my next destination in Spain... somewhere sunny for sure!

The French Pyrenees

2009-09-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

After a long, overnight train ride to Pau, thankfully the train-bus-hitch hike to Lescun turned out to be no problem... and I was greeted with sunshine over the Pyrenees in Lescun!

I started my hike on the Pyrenee Haute Route by walking through the villages and farms of the Lescun country-side... and while my pack definitely felt heavy, the blue-sky happiness had me feeling good!

Pyrenee country-side on the Haute Route

As soon as I entered the Parc Nacional de Pyrenees the trail began to climb... and climb! 1300 metres elevation gain on Day 1 was a tough introduction to the Pyrenees!

I stopped for lunch at this little sheppard's hut high up in the mountains... where I was visited by the resident rooster and chickens.

After lunch I climbed to the Col de Pau on the French-Spanish border. From the col the trail followed close to the crest of the border ridge for much of the rest of the day... with incredible views looking down into both France and Spain on either side of the ridge!

Sheep are a common obstacle in the Pyrenees!

My camp near Refuge d'Arlet - this was the first night in my new tent.

That night I shared camp and hiking stories with Maarten and Celine from Belgium - great to meet you guys! They know how to make a delicious trail omelette!

-Refuge d'Arlet in the background-

My signature pose on the French-Spanish border near the Valle d'Aspe on my way to Candanchu.

Beautiful.

More Pyrenee wandering still to come...

Another day in Paris

2009-09-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

Another sunny day in Paris

So once again I wandered the street of Paris... along the banks of the Seine...

past Notre Dame

And then to the Louvre to see the Venus de Milo - I'm not sure how I managed to actually get a photo without anyone in it as this place was packed!

and the Mona Lisa

This is as close as they let you get to her. I still got her number though. ;)

The Louvre is huge! I spent 3 hours there and saw maybe half of the galleries... but by that time all of the old paintings were starting to look the same to me - oh another naked lady feeding grapes to a young child with wings, riding what appears to be a goat.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon so I headed off to climb up the Eiffel Tower (via the stairs)

and enjoy the view

and sunset

Eiffel Tower all lit up at night

At this point I was getting hungry so I headed to the Arc de Triumphe and found a place to eat on the Champs d'Elysees before catching the metro back to the hostel

I caught the night train to Pau (in the foothills of the Pyrenees) which is where I am now. I've got to shop for hiking food and find some fuel for my stove somewhere before I head up into the mountains tomorrow... if the weather is good. It's a little cloudy and gloomy today... so we'll see.

I'll keep you posted.

Paris

2009-09-08T03:46:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009 - PARIS, FRANCE

I arrived last night and I'm staying in Montmartre near the Sacre Coeur cathedral. I've been trying to use my French (what little there is) but everyone at the hostel speaks English...

My room (with a view) at the hostel in Montmartre

I watched the sunset over Paris from the steps below the Sacre Coeur last night.

Then I decided to do a little reinactment of my whirlwind 1998 tour of Paris so... I wandered through the busy streets of Paris, through the plaza of the Hotel de Ville (where we watched the 98 World Cup soccer games on the big screen), walked past Notre Dame, along the Seine, and then I headed past the Louvre over to the Champs d'Elysees...

I didn't walk all the way to the Arc though, instead I headed up to the red light district - yikes!

Back to the hostel and in bed by 2 am... not a bad first night. ;)

I'm catching a train and heading down to the Pyrenees tomorrow!

Phelix Creek / Mount Gandalf & Mount Aragorn

2009-09-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 2-3, 2009

Phelix Creek and Mount Gandalf & Mount Aragorn

This was the week of very hot, sunny weather in Southwest BC and that also meant forest fires. Both the Hurley Forest Service Road to the west and the Duffey Lake Road to the east were closed due to fires but fortunately the road to Birkenhead Lake was still open. So after a refreshing afternoon swim in Birkenhead Lake, I headed up Phelix Creek towards the Vale of the Lord of the Rings.

I made it up Phelix Creek Road to where a creek washed it away and a log bridge crossed the creek.

I made it to Long Lake just as the sun was dropping behind Mount Gandalf.

There was a large VOC group up doing some maintenance on the hut so everyone was camped outside. Too bad I didn't bring my tent!

Sunset over Long Lake - the haze from forest fire smoke is quite noticeable

Sunrise from my lakeside sleeping bag

The upper lake on the way up Mount Gandalf

On the summit of Mount Gandalf - and yes I did climb to the very top of that pinnacle in the background!

The view of Long Lake from the summit of Mount Gandalf

On the edge of the ridge between Mount Gandalf and Aragorn

On the summit of Mount Aragorn

Forest fire to the west

Looking back towards the ridge and Mount Gandalf

In the alpine basin below Mount Gandalf - on the shortcut route back down to Long Lake

Check out the video from Long Lake and the summit of Mount Aragorn:

Joffre Lakes

2009-09-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

JULY 4 & 5, 2009
Joffre Lakes and Mount Taylor

My dad turned 70 earlier this year and said to me, "Brad I want to go hiking with you this summer." So I chose Joffre Lakes - a relatively short hike (5km) for very high reward... and while my dad's leg may have been killing him after the hike, the weather and our hike were spectacular!

Our lake-side camp

After setting up camp and having lunch at Upper Joffre Lake, dad had a nap and I climbed Mount Taylor where there were incredible views of the lake, glacier and surrounding peaks!

Upper Joffre Lake, Joffre Peak and the Matier Glacier viewed from top of Mount Taylor.

We made a gourmet dinner of chicken fajitas and watched the sky turn purple and red as the sun set.

In the morning we ate bacon and eggs, packed up camp and hiked back down to our cars. After a great hike and with some pretty tired legs, we said goodbye and headed our separate ways - dad back to Penticton and me back to Vancouver!

Check out the video from the top of Mount Taylor:

Sasquatch Festival 2009

2009-09-03T03:07:00.000-07:00

MAY 23, 2009
Sasquatch Festival at The Gorge

The Line-up: Kings of Leon, Bon Iver, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Decemberists, Animal Collective, Devotchka, Doves, Mos Def, M. Ward, Passion Pit and many more!

Brad and Julie are ready to party like rock stars!

Another hot and sunny day at The Gorge and cold drinks are only $10 each!

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Blowing bubbles over the Gorge

Sunset over the Gorge

Bon Iver

I was looking forward to Bon Iver most of all and it was by far the best performance of the day! Check out the video of Bon Iver performing Skinny Love and The Wolves:

Kings of Leon were also excellent and had the crowd singing along as they ended Day 1 of the festival...

Worshipping the Overlord (mountain)

2009-06-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

OVERLORD MOUNTAIN & RUSSET LAKE VIA THE MUSICAL BUMPS - SEPTEMBER 27 & 28, 2008

September just kept on providing beautiful weather so with the help of the Whistler gondola, I headed to Russet Lake via the Musical Bumps, planning to climb Overlord Mountain the next day before hiking back down to Whistler Village via the Fitzsimmons Creek trail.

For such a nice day, I was surprised when I didn't encounter a single other person from about 2km beyond the Roundhouse all the way to Russet Lake - solitude on the Musical Bumps is unexpected.

There has been a lot of construction since I was last up here in 2000: a new chair lift up Piccolo summit (Symphony Express), a few new HUGE signs, and a pole "fence" marking the boundary between the ski area and Garibaldi Park.

Himmelsbach Hut at Russet Lake.

Sunset on Fissile Peak at Russet Lake campground.

The next morning was clear and cold, and I left the warmth of my sleeping bag just before 8am on my way to climb Overlord Mountain. To avoid the glacier between Fissile and Whirlwind peaks you must ascend the long and steep west ridge of Whirlwind Peak. Access to the ridge can be challenging, but at this time of year there were two easy routes up.

Assessing the ridge; Cheakamus Glacier in the background.

The route up Whirlwind Peak is an easy scramble.

Whirlwind summit.

The climb from Russet Lake to Whirlwind summit was about 550m elevation gain in 1.25 hours.

The easy-moderate scrambling route from Whirlwind to Overlord was made a little more challenging by several centimetres of new snow (from earlier in the week), making sections of the ridge-route quite slippery. It took another 1.25 hours from Whirlwind to Overlord summit with additional elevation gain of 300m. The summit of Overlord Mountain is surrounded by glaciers in almost every direction so the view is spectacular 360 degrees!

Approaching Overlord summit.

Self-portrait on Overlord summit (2625m)

Pano view from Overlord Mountain: Castle Towers and Cheakamus Glacier (far left), Whirlwind Peak (just left of centre), Black Tusk (distant centre), Overlord Glacier (bottom right), Fissile Peak (right), Musical Bumps (far right).

Check out a short video from Russet Lake and the summit of Overlord Mountain.

Beautiful!

© BRAD 2008

Sleeping in the Shadow of The Table

2008-10-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

MOUNT PRICE & THE TABLE VIA BROHM RIDGE - SEPTEMBER 6 & 7, 2008

Another gorgeous September weekend would mean big crowds in Garibaldi Provincial Park so I decided to head up into the Park on a path less travelled via Brohm Ridge and take the time to explore the area around The Table a little more...

The Table is a flat-topped volcanic mountain located just south of Garibaldi Lake. It is very easy to recognize.

The drive up Brohm Ridge road was very rough but I made it all the way to the gate in my trusty Subaru. From there it was less than 30 minutes to the huge Black Tusk Snowmobile Clubhouse where the crest of Brohm Ridge is attained and stunning views of Mount Garibaldi begin (and never end)!

My route via Brohm Ridge (that's Mount Garibaldi on the far left)

The HUGE Black Tusk Snowmobile Clubhouse

Ridge-walking next to Warren Glacier

Mount Garibaldi and the Warren Glacier

I descended off of the ridge, passing a little lake perfectly reflecting The Table, waded across a creek and found a good place to camp near a second crystal-clear lake as the setting sun turned The Table a fiery red.

The Table at sunset

My shadow

A lone duck visited me at the lake while I ate dinner and watched the sky turn purple as the sun dropped behind the mountains in the west. Magic.

From this angle, The Table looks a lot less like a table and more like an impressive desert fortress. I found this piece of animal jawbone letting hikers know that should you attempt to climb The Table it'll eat you up and spit you out.

The next morning I headed up Mount Price via the south side.

My route

After another wet creek crossing (only shin-deep but ice-cold), the route was fairly obvious and a trail even existed in some places.

I headed across the glacial plain aiming for the lava-rock boulder field on the southern flanks of Mount Price and up I climbed.

I found this odd bit of treasure in a meadow on the way up - what is it?

Turns out it's a very old external pack frame and an old back tank-pump used for fire suppression - leftover from many years ago!

From the meadow I could see the summit of Mount Price and the fairly obvious (and steep) route up. I followed a faint animal trail steeply up, gaining 200+ metres to the Mars-like summit of Mount Price and stunning 360 degree views!
Here's a short video from my hike:

© BRAD 2008

Locomotive Mountain

2008-09-12T02:27:00.001-07:00

LOCOMOTIVE MOUNTAIN / SEMAPHORE LAKES - AUGUST 16-17, 2008

This was our first hike into the Semaphore Lakes area and the static storm on the summit of Locomotive Mountain was an unexpected unique and scary experience!

We left Vancouver late and didn't get started hiking until 7pm but the hike to Semaphore Lakes is short and we had camp set-up shortly after 8pm, just in time to catch a beautiful sunset.The next morning started clear and sunny. We started our hike/climb up Locomotive Mountain just before 9am.
The upper basin holds several crystal clear lakes.
Bad weather started to blow over during our ascent of the steep snowfield below the summit-ridge crest.
It took us 2 hours to reach the summit where the views were spectacular.
The sky suddenly darkened and our hair stood on end!

I raised my hand in the air to motion to Christy "let's get out of here!" and my fingers were instantly tingling and popping with static electricity! Needless to say we got off of the summit right away! Strong wind and an icy rain began to pummel the summit ridge.

We met six other guys on their way up to the summit. Their ice axes had already started humming loudly! We warned them that it got worse on the summit and that lightning was a good possibility and then we continued our rapid descent.

But the lightning never manifested and maybe 30 minutes from the summit the weather changed again dramatically - blue sky and sunshine returned... so we had some fun!

We took a little rest at one of the lakes in the upper basin.
And then lazily wandered our way back down to our camp, before heading home.
Another outstanding weekend in the mountains... with a little lesson learned: Nature is beautiful and powerful and deserves respect.

Cypress Peak

2008-09-12T02:04:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 4, 2008 - CYPRESS PEAK

A gorgeous BC Day so Christy and I headed up to Cypress Peak for our first time. It turned out to be an incredible hike/scramble. The road to the trailhead is the same road that we snowshoed up on our way to Brew Hut in March, but this time it wasn't covered in deep snow!

The trail crossed Roe Creek and immediately started a steep climb towards Cypress Peak.
The basin below the peak was filled with a glacier and a lot of snow, so we avoided the glacier and plodded up the snow, gaining the summit ridge on the north end.
The walk along the summit ridge was spectacular!

The "crux" of the route involved a little hands-on scrambling but nothing too serious.
The incredible views towards Garibaldi, Tricouni and the Tantalus beyond had me wanting to fly off the summit!
Christy contemplating the view with Mount Fee on the left.
A brilliant day in the mountains!

New York City

2008-09-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK CITY - July 28 to August 2, 2008

After a brief unscheduled stopover in Chicago...

...and a very relaxing visit with the Stesky clan up in the Thousand Islands Park and Brockville, we were off for our second visit to the Big Apple - but this time we drove into the city. With Christy behind the wheel and me as the navigator we cruised over the George Washington Bridge into upper Manhattan and were greeted by the iconic buildings of New York City.

The Empire State Building

The Flatiron Building

Times Square

The Chrysler Building

Grand Central StationAnd many other cool looking unnamed buildings

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

We walked and rowed through Central Park.

This kid was dancing up a storm to a drummer in Central Park.We visited the huge and incredible Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We did the "Flight of the Conchords" walking tour through the Lower East Side.

Bret and Gemaine's apartment

Dave's Pawn Shop

Murray's New Zealand Embassy

We took an afternoon subway trip out to Coney Island.

We managed to get tickets to go see Dave Letterman (guests were Luke Wilson and Mindy Kaling from The Office).

And we finished off our day with a foot massage in Chinatown!

Good times!

Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge

2008-05-28T23:35:00.000-07:00

May 26, 2008 - Sasquatch Festival at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington State.

We arrived just before noon on Day 3 of the Festival before the bulk of the crowds gathered later in the afternoon...

We scooped a spot on the grassy slopes with an amazing view of the Columbia River Gorge.
No line-up to use the Honey Buckets was a rare thing to see during the day!
In the heat of the mid-afternoon sun, The Hives incredible, high-energy performance ranked as my #3 performance on Day 3 of Sasquatch.

#1 performance of the day was of course Bret and Jemaine of "Flight of the Conchords"- The crowd laughed and sang along to all of their songs, but their 45-minute set was far too short!

The Flaming Lips Sasquatch grand finale (#2 on my list of performances) was entertainingly over-the-top, highlights included: a giant UFO landing on the stage carrying the band members, the lead singer crowd surfing inside a giant translucent ball, dancing teletubbies, dancing naked people, and enough confetti and fireworks to make Times Square jealous... it was a sensory overload but a lot of fun! Check out the video of Flight of the Conchords!

Brew Hut snowshoe trip

2008-04-15T00:31:00.001-07:00

March 15-16, 2008

For this year's annual winter overnight backcountry trip we chose Brew Hut, which is located in the mountains on the west side of Highway 99 just about halfway between Squamish and Whistler.

So after breakfast at the Squamish McD's, Jeff, Geri, Scott, Cindy, Pat, Christy and I headed up Saturday morning... thinking that we might be able to drive up the Roe Creek Forest Service Road all the way to the trailhead. But two stuck vehicles later, we discovered that the road was only passable to snowmobiles, snowshoes and skis so we unstuck Jeff and Geri's Toureg and had to abandon Pat's truck which was impossibly stuck in deep snow, hoping that we would be able to get it out the next day. This added about 7 km and 500m elevation to our hike but we thought we were starting early enough to make it to the cabin before sunset. We might have underestimated the trek...

Trekking up the ridge to the hut.
A bright half-moon and a clear sky full of stars made the night-hiking magical!
8 hours later, we arrived at Brew Hut about an hour after sunset.
Good morning in Brew Hut.

The next day involved a lot of sliding back down (we brought crazy-carpets!) and what took 8 hours up only took 3 hours down... and with a little help from some friendly snowmobilers, we got Pat's truck unstuck and made it home safe and sound. Good times. :)

Hawaii

2008-04-06T23:42:00.001-07:00

February 13-21, 2008

Hawaii - The Big Island
After discovering that Christy's backpack had mistakenly flown to Kauai all on its own, we picked up our rental car at the Hilo airport and killed time until the backpack arrived with a sidetrip to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory. Mmm...free samples!

On our second day we drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and set out on a trek across barren lava fields to the oceanside beach oasis of Halape.

Our tent at Halape.

Halape beach (almost all to ourselves). The Halape "Guardian" overlooking the sea turtle nesting beach.
Green Sea Turtle (we saw a lot of these guys!)

Self-explanatory sign

The aforementioned "dangerous gas" - We did keep our car windows closed but we actually saw a couple of people hiking through this area - yikes!

Snorkelling in Kealakekua Bay.

The Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Place of Refuge - an ancient Hawaiian religious sanctuary. Christy at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau
Our gecko friend on the kitchen wall of our B&B.

On our last day we drove up to the top of Mauna Kea (13,796 feet, highest point in Hawaii) where there are several huge domed astronomical observatories. The high elevation and thin air can make your head a little dizzy but it didn't stop two guys from snowboarding down the snowy volcano slopes!

Aloha!

The Olympic Peninsula

2007-12-20T01:05:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 11 - 12, 2007

Christy and I took our high-valued Canadian dollar ($1.04!), decided to brave the long border wait and headed down to the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park in Washington State for the November long weekend. The weather wasn't great (to say the least!), but the area is incredibly beautiful. The "storm of the month" blew through the area and on Monday morning trees were blown down everywhere, ferries delayed, bridges closed, and the power was out in most of the towns on the peninsula... but we still went hiking!

Port Townsend

The windy ferry ride to Port Townsend

Crescent Lake

Marymere Falls

(having fun with the colour settings on my camera!)

Olympic Peninsula coastline

Video of the Olympic "Perfect" Storm

Adventure on Alice Ridge

2007-12-20T00:17:00.000-08:00

AUGUST 4 - 5, 2007

This hike ended up being much more of an adventure than I anticipated - check out the video at the end of this blog entry...

Paolo got sick at the last minute so after much contemplation, I headed up to the mountains on my own at 2pm Saturday afternoon. Two sweaty hours later, I was at Elfin Lakes which were still frozen over (a lot of snow on Paul Ridge too) and the bugs managed to maintain squadron-force numbers even in August!

Elfin Lakes

I filled my water bottles and headed up to the Columnar-Gargoyles saddle (photo above) where I was greeted by the view of a massive snowfield all the way to Little Diamond Head. My plan was to scout a route down Alice-Cheekye Ridge, so after crossing the snowy slopes of Little Diamond Head, I made camp just below treeline on the ridge where I enjoyed a magnificient sunset... and a visit by a black bear that evening! He didn't get too close but close enough to keep me wide awake for a while that night.

On Sunday, I headed down towards the Cheekye River to see if I could find a route down, across the river and make my way up to Brohm Ridge and hike out to Garibaldi Lake following a similar route I hiked last September... but after 5 hours of serious bushwhacking I was thwarted by steep cliff after steep cliff above the Cheekye River. Expecting to reach the Cheekye River to refill with drinking water, I didn't bring enough water and soon ran out on my climb back up to Alice Ridge: a 600-metre straight up, exhausting, leg-cramping slog... pulling myself up on tree roots and shrubs while using my ice-axe as an anchor in the ground of the steep slopes.

-Phew-

I returned to the top of the ridge by 3:30pm and proceeded to melt 3 litres of snow to rehydrate while feeling soundly defeated with my effort to get down to the Cheekye River. My route-finding expedition would have to continue on another trip... so I began my impromptu descent off of Alice Ridge towards Alice Lake... and that's when I walked right into the T-rex nest.

I was bushwhacking along Alice Ridge when all of a sudden I smelled the distinct and strong odour of animal... and then pile after pile of fairly-fresh bear scat... I started talking out loud and making my presence known... I broke through some trees into a clearing (aka "the nest") and right in front of me was a half-eaten deer carcass... and much more bear scat... scared as hell I walked past the dead deer, talking out loud every step of the way, holding my ice-axe in the "ready" position. I never did see another bear but I was paranoid for quite a while as I bushwhacked down off of the ridge towards Alice Lake.

I found the old, overgrown trail (indicated as a dirt road on the old topo map) about 30 minutes from the nest and hoofed it the remaining 15 or so kilometres to Alice Lake by 8:30pm, where I called Christy to come pick me up... exhausted and beaten... quite the adventure. We drove through the Wendy's drive-thru on the way home so the trip wasn't a complete loss. Good times. :)

Ziptrek - Nigel's Stag

2007-10-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

September 29, 2007 - Whistler BC

Or check out a large, hi-res version at http://www.bradlandproductions.com/ziptrek.wmv

Coquihalla Climb: Needle Peak

2007-09-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

September 15, 2007

When we began our ascent at 11:50 am, the clouds still clung low on the peaks surrounding the Coquihalla highway. But after only 45 minutes of steep uphill climbing, we reached the treeline and were rewarded with a clear view of our objective - Needle Peak.

Christy and Jeff on the ridgecrest...

The summit pyramid...

The route is mainly an easy hike on well-defined trail with a couple of moderate scrambling challenges including the the chimney crux on the summit pyramid.

Christy climbing the chimney crux...

Brad on the edge...

We reached the crowded summit (12 other hikers) in two hours and enjoyed the reward of 360 degree blue-sky views while eating our lunch!

Jeff, Christy and Brad on the summit of Needle Peak (2090m)

The view from the summit...

The descent...

The video...

Garibaldi Peakbagging: Black Tusk and Mount Price

2007-09-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

August 29-30, 2007
With our boyz trip to Lake O'Hara cancelled and the weather forecast for the week hot and sunny, I decided to head up one of my favourite trails: the Helm Creek trail to Garibaldi Lake.

DAY 1

I reached Helm Creek Meadows under bomb-proof blue skies in just over two hours from the Cheakamus Lake parking lot but what you can't see in the photo are the swarms of mosquitoes which are normally gone by the end of August!

The normally easy rock-hop crossing of Helm Creek was a little more challenging this year due to the still-melting snowpack causing the creek to swell and spread across the cinder flats.

The Black Tusk reflected in Helm Lake - I hadn't planned on summiting the Tusk but decided I couldn't walk past and not try...

Panorama view from the top of the Tusk - I reached the top about an hour before sunset and had the summit all to myself for the first time ever.

So after snapping the obligatory summit shot I raced the setting sun, reached the Garibaldi Lake campground about half hour after sunset, made dinner and slept like a baby.

Video from the top of the Tusk...

DAY 2

The next morning I slept in and lazed around on the sunny shore of Garibaldi Lake...

...before heading up the trail to Mount Price.

I had never seen an elk in Garibaldi Park before today but I followed this guy for a while up the ridge towards Mount Price.

When you reach the treeline, the defined trail ends and the ascent steepens as the route climbs the rocky slopes of volcanic Clinker Peak.

Craggy Mount Price summit with Castle Towers in the background

The view north from the summit of Mount Price: Mount Garibaldi and The Table.

Video from the top of Mount Price...

On my way down from Mount Price I met Libor from the Czech Republic. We shared many hiking stories on the return hike, reaching the car by 8:00 pm. After a quick stop for a well-deserved burger in Squamish it was back to Vancouver... two-day hiking stats: 55 horizontal kilometres, 2.7 vertical kilometres (2700m elevation gain) and 2 tired legs. Sweet.

© BRAD 2007