June 27-29

Monday, June 29
Grand Wall!!!!!
Hunter, Shy, Ian and I decided to climb the Grand Wall!!!!

The climb started on Apron Strings, a route which had required a lot of laybacking.

Shy on Apron Strings

This climb is the craziest climb I've ever done. As expected there is lots of crack climbing and slab on the route but also tree climbing and aide climbing

This is actually part of the Beta

The slab sections were mercifully bolted, but the exposure was still huge! the run out was insane.

After and awesome climb we celebrated by having food sold by the pound at Mag's 99 and another swim this time at Murrin Lake. There were craggs surround the lake.

I got exactly what I expected, quantity not quality

Sunday, June 28
Rest day. Hunter and I decided to take a rest day in preparation for a big climb we had planned for Monday. I found a bit of info on a 4x4 trail to Cheakamus Lake and we set of late in the morning.

The route we planned to take

Turns out the trail is pretty technical, even stranding a Tacoma. We had to take the bikes off the hitch at one point. A couple of kilometers in we realized the risk in pushing on was too high. Unfortunately I could not turn around as the trail was just too narrow. I could not reverse out as the hitch mount would dig in so I continued to push on until the trial widened a bit. I did a multiple point turn and we returned the way we came a bit defeated not reaching the lake.

As we returned to the Cheakamus camp site we ran into Harry, a friend of mine who worked with me at the outdoor center. He invited us to a barbecue later that afternoon.

At the barbecue we were roped into helping paint the host, Eric, paint his house, which we did not mind as we got free beer and burgers.

The only picture we have of the day is one of Eric's lamps suspended by a carabiner

Saturday, June 27
Saturday was a scorcher so we got an early start to climbing. Hunter and I were planning to do Birds of Prey while Shy and Daire were getting onto The Great Game. Hunter and I took the wrong trail head on the way and and got pretty lost. By the time we found the climb there was already a lineup so we jumped on The Great Game behind Shy and Daire.

We spend the afternoon at Cat Lake. We played on a log in the water

Post to come

June 30, 2015 A return Journey. Camping out with Hunter Joy and Shy, visiting Camp squeah with Joy, almost running out of gas and a hail storm

Skaha/Revy Trip
May 15
camping out in Revy, meeting in the morning EP crew, Jess, Jay ect... Camping out that night.
May 16
climbing with the crew
May 17
Climbing with Hunter, Tim and Chelsea in Begbie bluffs
May 18
Climbing with Hunter, Tim and Chelsea on WaterWorld

June 5 evening climb with Esteban on Amphitheatre in Heart Creek
June 6 Climbing in Guides Rock with Esteban.

June 18-26

Friday, June 26

Today we had another rest day. After walking around Squamish for a bit we went to Alice lake and hung out for the day.

Hunter and I tried finding a camping spot before heading to Alice lake.

Thursday, June 25

Hunter went bouldering with Steve, I went climbing with Daire
Daire and I did some cragging at the base of the chief. I got to lead a few climbs including Apron Strings, Exasperator and Rainy Dream Away.

Daire and I on Rainy Dream Away

Wednesday, June 24

Wednesday was a rest day. My friend Joy visited from Vancouver! I went with her to Smoke Bluffs. I threw down some top ropes at Crag X. I guess I was just having too much of a good time to take any pictures.

The rest of the day was just spent hanging out.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The next day we climbed the Buttress and Rock On with Shy and Allie.

Shy just being a bad ass

The view was breath taking.

Hunter and I traded leads while Shy did all the leading for her and Allie in front of us.

We had to put all our small gear together for this pitch, unfortunately we had some problems with passing gear back.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Ryan and Mary left this morning, but before they left Ryan treated Hunter and I at the Howe Sound Pub.

Group Shot!

Hunter and I went to Neat and Cool to do some really cool lines.

This is one of the Top 100 climbs. We both also got to lead the Neat and Cool classic.

After this we went to the Recreation Center to take a shower. They no longer have 2 dollar entries for the shower.

After playing some Foosball in the lobby of the rec centre we me up with Shy, our friend and boss at the Outdoor Centre, and her friend Allie.

View from Allie's House

In the evening we went back to Cheakamus campsite and met up with Steve who was doing some projecting. We joined in briefly.

Night projecting is the coolest looking thing in the world, but hard to photograph

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Today we took a relaxed day. The four of us climbed a multipitch called Sky Walker. It was an easy climb with a gorgeous view up top.

On our way up on SkyWalker. Serious line ups with a group right behind us.

Saturday June 20, 2015

Ryan and Mary got up extra early (still on Ontario time) to find Star Chek. It ended up being right around the corner from where we were before

Hunter lead up a pitch of Star Chek and snapped a photo

After this point the four of us went to the Smoke Bluffs. Hunter and I wanted to practice our trad climbing so we went to Krack Wall and Laughing Crack.

After a bit of cragging Ryan and Mary went to spend some time in the town. Hunter and I did the Smoke bluff connection in this time. It had the prettiest view of any climb on this trip to date.

One of the Pitches Wonderland. Seriously Cool

Hunter celebrating at the top of the smoke bluff connection.

Friday June 19, 2015

The next morning, we met up with Hunter’s friends Ryan and Mary.

Our campsite in Cheakamus

We did a bit of cragging in Cheakamus. While we were there a girl climbed a 5.13d route. It was very impressive.

Mary leading just under the roof where the girl climber did the 13d

Hunter, Ryan, Mary and I tried to do a multipitch called Star Chek today. We ended up getting lost and getting into a bit of a difficult situation. Rappelled down the wrong cliff to start. We ended up finding a set of bolts up a flake and decided to pull the rope down and climb up the flake.

A shot from not quite where we were supposed to be

Thursday June 18, 2015

On Thursday we got up in our campsite after sleeping in the car again. The weather was looking decent so we decided to go for a quick bike ride around the area. The trail we took up ended up being the down track, so we had to push the bikes a bit

A shot from our campsite at Begbie falls

After a ride we packed up the car and headed for Squamish. We arrived to a bit of rain, so we had dinner and set up camp.

Revelstoke!

Last night we drove to Revelstoke. Arrived in our usual campsite in Begbie falls in the evening with enough time to collect wood and cook a couple of patties for evening snack. On the way out we had pretty small sandwiches for dinner so the burgers were a welcome intake.

This was our lunch today, our snack last night was the same thing with one less patty

This morning we got up and cooked our breakfast of oatmeal and protein over a fire as well as our lunch. We headed out to Waterworld, a climb that is right outside Revelstoke. We met up with our friends Rauth and Jordan.

A ridiculous shot of Jordan(center), Rauth(right) and I

We headed over to Voyage wall, the middle wall at the top of Waterworld. The four of us made quick work of the rappel. On this wall there are 4 multi-pitch climbs, Hunter and I had completed Bon Voyage during our trip to Skaha, so we set out to do the other three.

The weather was pretty ideal, with the sun hiding under thing clouds most of the day, with enough making through to keep us at a cool temperature. At lunch we headed back to the cars which were right off the side of the highway. This was less than ideal.

After a day of achieving our goals Jordan and Rauth ate a quick dinner and headed back to Calgary, Hunter and I talked about heading out for Squamish. To get there at a reasonable time we would have to eat on the road. Our plan was to cook spaghetti (our first problem) and eat on the road. Which rushing to get our spaghetti I spilled half of it. To add to my frustration I burned the sauce. What should have taken us ten minutes ended up taking an hour as things just kept going wrong. We ran out of fuel, I ran out of flint for my lighter, dishes were taking longer than expected to clean ect.

Tired and hungry I decided to just eat the meal there. We are going to go back to our campsite tonight and decide when we head out tomorrow. It will be dependent on the weather.

Squamish Again!

I am going on another roadtrip to Squamish. This time with my buddy Hunter. Hunter is a friend of mine who works with my at the University of Calgary's Outdoor Centre as a climbing instructor.

A shot of Hunter and I in Barrier.

The road trip will be two weeks long, leaving tomorrow on June 16 and returning June 30. Currently the plan is to stop in Revelstoke for 4 days to climb or bike or raft, then on Saturday the 20th in the afternoon, head to Squamish.

A shot from the top of WaterWorld in Revelstoke

We will stay in Squamish until the 30th giving us about 8 days of climbing in Squamish. I plan to stop at Geoff's (my friend I met in Hope on my last roadtrip out west) for a visit on the way back! We might swap some time from Revelstoke to visit in Vancouver(I haven't discussed this with Hunter).

11hr straight shot to Squamish if you were wondering.

Good times in Revy

I don't remember the chronology of the rest of the trip and I can't find my journal entries. I stayed in Revelstoke until Friday. For the rest of the trip I stayed with Tommy. Climbed with lots of people including Tommy, Jay and his partner, Rachelle and Joe. Revelstoke was my first real exposure to the sport climbing culture. All the people I met considered themselves Revelstoke locals. I had dinner and partied with mostly the same group but there were others. I remember hanging out with a Rupert. I met one of Rachelle's friend I believe her name was Natalie. I believe I met her on the Friday before I left. It was raining and I ate a Nanaimo bar, I can't remember much but I remember this girl because she wanted to work for an NGO. She had aspirations and wanted to make a difference which is normal in Church circles but she stood out in the sport climbing community. I remember the Big Eddie Pub right by the one way bridge, it was pretty awesome to hang out there and there is a volleyball court.

Revelstoke

I don't actually have a journal entries from Revelstoke, but I'll tell the stories as best I can from memory.

I arrived in the evening and the first thing I did was to find a campground. I visited the information centre and the girl there told me of a camp-site that she normally didn't share. It's tucked away on a logging road and is public use(therefore free).

This crappy screenshot doesn't tell how beautiful this camp-site by Beggbie falls is.

Right by the Creek.

I stayed here one night. In the morning I visited the Valhalla Pure, which had a list of people looking for partners to climb with. I met up with a girl named Corina to climb. I also met up with Tommy, who let me crash in his basement in Revy.

Last Hope

Today was delightful. After breakfast with the Goulds I got ready was invited to see the camp by Geoff. After camp he said we would go bouldering with his interns. I got a tour of the camp from Geoff, who is the intern director. The interns are there to learn about running camp programming. After the tour Geoff had a meeting and I just hung around the camp for a bit, then we headed out for bouldering. 
After bouldering one of the staff members at Squeah, Matt, invited me to the camp after bouldering to have dinner with the staff. Before dinner I stopped at the Gould's one last time; I'm going to miss them. Then I went to dinner with the Squeah staff. After dinner I hit the roads and headed to Revelstoke. I really wanted to stay in Hope. Everybody there really wanted me to stay, but I feel God wants me to move on. The drive was gorgeous but I didn't end up making it to Revelstoke. I stopped at a Lutheran Church in Salmon Arms.

The Camp has a really nice campus. The out trips also sound amazing. I wish I went to this camp.

http://www.seevirtual360.com/themes/52/VirtualTour.aspx?listingID=2356#.VX_Hk_lVhBc

A shot of us bouldering

Serenity

Another day in Hope. Today I got lost in Hope. I started the day with the Gould family then went out for a bike ride. I went to Hope Mountain. It was a nice ride, a bit more intimidating than I thought it would be. The ride was not as well developed and it scared me a lot more than the rides at Squamish. After this I found another downhill route by the Othello Tunnels. The approach was very difficult to hike with a bike and was often too narrow for a bike. The downhill was good at points but for the most part was even less developed than the last trail. It even led me to a construction site that was not on the map. I was very lost. After asking some of the operators I eventually found the parking lot. 

A couple shots from the Othello Tunnels walking path

I then took some time off to do some reading. The first park I visited, was in the center of town(Memorial), I decided to bike to one that apparently had a view of the water(Central). It was not much of a park. The town map that I had showed one more at the other end of town so I biked there. It was also not what I expected that I didn't realize I had biked through it(Thacker Regional). On one side was a residential area under construction. On the same side there was a rusted old car from the fifties with vegetation growing out of it. It was kind of cool, but it did not fit the feel of the park and just made it look trashy. I biked back to the Memorial Park and sat down for some reading.

Here is the map from the visitor's centre I used to get around

In hindsight I wish I had taken more pictures. Hope is a beautiful place, that thanks to deforestation, is dissappearing. I may not get another chance to see the trails that I did.

After reading at the park I headed back to the Gould residence. They were getting ready for dinner. At Geoff’s house I met Grayden Baker. He is currently biking across Canada. After dinner Grayden gave at talk about his mission. Grayden's wife Sarah and his son Lukumay were travelling with him in a chase car. Lukumay means lion killer. Grayden and I talked about when he passes through Calgary and we talked about meeting up. I hope to see Grayden when he arrives in Calgary.

Again I'm not very good with taking pictures so a picture off of Grayden's twitter will have to do.

Meeting the staying with Geoff Gould and his family is amazing. Geoff grew up in South Africa as did Joy’s mom, Gwen Roodnick. Geoff and his wife Sara were missionaries there. Sarah is from Halliburton, Ontario, and knows Sawyers Lake, where the Wrights own a cottage, very well.

http://ride4rufiji.com/who-are-the-rufiji/

http://www.graydonbaker.com/

http://vimeo.com/64935261

Hope

Last night I headed from Squamish to Richmond to visit with my good friend Joy. This morning I got up to the sounds of Mr. Roodnick playing some sort of video game. My first time at the Roodnick’s I had huge culture shock seeing the living room lined with computers! Again I had culture shock when I greeted Mr. Roodnick and got a quick good morning. I’m actually glad that he didn’t feel obligated to act as a host, but it was just surprising. Mrs. Roodnick offered me breakfast. I felt obligated to accept. After a quick breakfast, Joy got up and we left for church.

After church we went for a quick lunch then, Joy and I headed out for Abbotsford to skydive. Our main instructor Joe was full of jokes. He was full of obviously recycled jokes. He was my tandem instructor. I chose to go with him as I he seemed more outgoing and probably more likely to do twirls and stuff. There was one sport jumper a camera man and two other tandem jumpers other than Joy and I. We were crammed into the back of the plane; Joy and her tandem instructor were the first out of the plane. Joe and I were last. Joe did a backflip out of the plane. He we spun around a few times before he deployed the chute. He did spirals in the air. I could see the other jumpers below us.

Joy and I suited up and ready to go!

After Skydiving I headed out to meet Joy's uncle Geoff Gould who lives in Hope. Before I left I said goodbye to Joy. I realized I left my uplink jacket in Richmond, and Joy said she would find it for me. That might give me an excuse to see her again, so it’s not all a bad thing.

In Hope I met the Gould family. I had dinner with them and in the evening went to a local College and Career's church gathering.

I'm really bad with taking pictures. I didn't get photo's of the Gould's so a picture of Geoff off Camp Squeah's website will have to do.

Last day in Squamish

Day 7: Goodbyes. This is my last day in Squamish. It is raining this morning I’m going to sleep in. After talking with him I ate lunch with the Quebecers and Ken. The weather cleared up. Ken and I headed back to the Smoke bluffs and did some climbing. We did two routes at Neat and Cool wall, then a “multipitch” linkup that included four different climbs. It was a lot of fun. It started on the Mosquito and ended on the Jabberwalky.

Ken Climbing on Mosquito

Zombie Roof

After climbing talked a bit more, I told him how much I appreciated climbing with him over the past few days, and I headed back to camp. I ate and the Quebecers were there again. They spoke French again, so it’s hard to say dined with them. I told them I was leaving and said my goodbyes. It was fun meeting them. I tried to dry my tent off with a towel and packed it up. I texted Joy and headed for Richmond. I’m looking forward to relaxing tomorrow. Skydiving with Joy will be a good break. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Joy.

I'm really going to miss Squamish

Adventures around Climbing

Day 6: Little and Small: Ken and I were going to climb at Smoke Bluffs. Because of the rain we did not want to climb a multi pitch. There are lots of climbs I would like to try but the weather just didn't allow for it. We did four climbs at the same crag, Penny Lane. We wanted to climb a multi pitch next to the Zombie wall but it started raining. Ken talked with other climbers about different places they've been. Every climber I've met has big trips under their belt. It is very intimidating being here, but makes me want to stay and learn more. Some of the other places they talked about were, Windy Rivers, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks(Vegas), Bugaboos, there were lots more. I tried to take mental notes to which places I wanted to visit.

Climbing in the Smoke Bluffs

Climbing in Squamish

Day 5: Thursday May 30, 2013. I really wish it would stop raining.

New beginnings: I was grumpy when I got up. I was feeling a bit homesick, and a bit scared again.  As I was finishing breakfast, I saw Ken. I offered him a ride into town. We talked about climbing crags at Malamute. The weather was nicer and I still hadn't gone climbing on this trip for real so I thought it was a great idea. By this point my mood had started to change, I really think I was just grumpy because I was hungry and tired. We started out with a slab. I believe it was Malamute North wall. Then we moved to the Starr wall.

This was the view from the Starr Wall

I really did need some time by myself so I used this opportunity to go off to do some biking. I tried another blue square route called the Rollercoaster. I expected it to be somewhat like the route from yesterday, but it was tame. Still it was fun and short, so I did it twice. I returned to camp, and made myself a dinner.

Tomorrow Ken and I are going to do crags at smoke bluffs. I hope the weather is good for Ken and I. I am still feeling tired and a bit homesick. I really hope I don’t get burned out. I should increase my calorie intake.

Fear

Day 4: Overshadowed by Fear. During this trip I've been reading about Dietrich Bonhoffer. He was a man who knew what fear was, and how to stand firm in the face of it. Today I faced fear, a different type though, and definitely not as serious or grave. Until today I've never biked a trail. I've always wanted to but never new how to get into it. I drove on a logging road, which was still in use. I then I bike up for about an hour and a half. I got to the top of a Trail called the Half Nelson. On the map it was a blue square run. I got ready and started my decent. 

Trail map I purchased

The sign where Recycle trail split off the Half Nelson

After not very long there was a fork in the road. A route split off to the right called the Recycle. As a novice biker, I still have to learn my limits, especially on a new route. There was a hairpin turn that was unbanked, and blind. My front wheel locked and I understeered. I slid off the trail and my bike hit the tree and stopped. I flew over the handlebars and I hit my head on a branch breaking the branch and I jerked to a halt. I looked down to a good 30m fall. Fear. The roots of the tree I was caught on were exposed and I used them to climb back onto the trail. My nose started bleeding. A small scratch on my knee and a 5 minute nose bleed was all I suffered. I picked up my bike and continued. After I the crash my gear selector had broken off. I didn't realize this until after I reached the bottom of the trail and tried to shift down to repeat the ride. I walked back to my car, disappointed. 

Mud and Blood after the Half Nelson

I dropped off my bike for repairs, will cost 140 for the repair. I'm waiting now and have returned to my campsite at the chief. I have just explored the base area a bit more and will go on a quick hike until I get a call about my bike.

My view from the top of the Chief was about the same no matter where I went.

My campsite is very cool. It is at the very base of a face of the Chief, which looms over it, but between my camp site and the face is a rock. At first notice this rock looks small, by comparison to the wall, but when I walked up to it, this thing was at least 30 ft tall. It even had a cave beneath it that I could walk into. This boulder while grand was just overshadowed by the Chief, making it small by comparison. While exploring, I found a small path that went up the face. It soon turned into a scramble and had ropes somebody had left from a rappel. it looks as if they brought one single rope but had to make a 60m rappel. I climbed up most of this section. I wanted to see the top of it. But I got scared. I had already had a near death experience today, I didn't need two. This time fear made me turn back. 

Right behind my camp-site was this beast. Behind it the Chief.

I hiked the Chief trail to the first peak I call about my bike while I was up there. I got back and picked up my bike and returned to camp. After updating my diary, I made spaghetti and met Ken. He is from Maryland. I don't remember much about him accept him complaining about getting stopped for an hour at the border. I guess I would be pretty upset if that happened to me. After eating spaghetti and sandwiches I headed out back to the trail that I had done earlier. Biking was fun. After I got back a group of Quebecers invited me to join them bouldering. Their Anglicized names were Oliver, Antoine, PL, Oliver(two of them were named Oliver) and Luka. One of the Olivers is camping next to me. Antoine, Oliver and Luka were camping together. The three travelling together were very good at bouldering, so was PL. I don’t know if Oliver was any good. They spoke french most of the time, but the Oliver who climbed well told me that Climb on had shoes on sale. I will go tomorrow to see if I can buy a pair, and hopefully chat with the cute clerk.