The adventure continues up north

Canada is always a treat

Home is Bellingham today – and I couldn't be happier about it. Last night the sun went down late behind colorful clouds that hung over the bay. Downtown seemed to be lit by crisp and orange spotlights. I was happy to friend my good friend Ryan bartending at the Calalloo and happily drank the tall mojitos he muddled in front of me. After my intense two week trip in British Columbia I couldn't pick a better place to catch up with the finer things in life and enjoy a few days without being a leader.

Lots of notable things happened on my BC trip with LongAcre Expeditions. We backpacked through much more snow than expected, we skiied in blasting summer sun on a disappearing glacier served by roped tows at Blackcomb, the kids ripped apart some really hard routes at Squamish (this may have been the hardest things I've ever seen beginning students climb, were talkin' 5.11 slabs here), and we weaved through the normal nasty traffic of Vancouver to make the ferry to Galiano Island. From Galiano we traveled by sea kayak to a handful of islands around Wallace Island.

Sea kayaking, for me, was great (I guess the kids had fun too). I peppered our experienced guide with endless questions about currents and winds and rescues and paddling techniques. Sea kayaking is fairly new to me and I wanted to meld my knowledge of map reading and canoeing etc. into a new skill set for expedition kayaking. After a few days with Mark I think I've got it and am looking at a personal trip in early August. It felt great to be a neophyte at a new outdoor en devour. Plus: sea kayaks can hold just about anything and I'm dreaming of all the yummy food and field guides and toys that can be loaded into one. We're still looking for some fellow adventurers for the Vancouver Island sea kayak mission. August 1.

The pictures from this trip were few and far between. I find I don't take as many pictures when leading. Something about having kids in tow and just not focusing on capturing the moment on film. Also, it may have something to do with the large group – everybody's always snapping pictures so I feel less inclined to take some for my self. Nonetheless, The frozen glacial lake in Garabaldi Provincial Park was some of the most scenic countryside I've seen in a while. The bald eagle we came across while sea kayaking was almost a little too comfortable with us being there – I think I was actually scared when my boat continued drifting in closer and I had little I could do since I had brought my paddle parallel to the boat so as not to spook him. I sat there, uncomfortably close, waiting for the wind to puff my boat back into open water. I adjusted my rudder with the foot pedals ever so slowly and was able to turn nose in to shore so as to not pull up directly alongside. The nose of my polymer boat bumped the barnacles on the shore, the eagle stared directly at me. It seemed like an eternity before the boat began to slide back and away from shore – I dropped the camera in my lap and sheepishly backpaddled with my hands. The sea kayak is indeed the perfect wildlife viewing machine.

The summer continues with another backpacking trip up north – and then play play play. Keep in touch all!