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For Christmas I headed to Hawaii to spend some time with my Dad and Michele. We stayed on the Big Island for 2 weeks but took a day trip to Maui to see Pearl Harbor and Waikiki Beach.

There were many gecko lizards around… I was able to get quite close to this one to take a picture.

Some pretty amazing flowers in Hawaii here’s one that I think they make lais out of.

A sea turtle up on a black sand beach.

This is the main active volcano Kilauea on the Big Island

The USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor

Endless amounts of lava cover the whole island..

One of many beautiful Hawaiian sunsets.

When I got back I could barely find my car…

I went hiking with Ryan and his group of scouts to Helm Creek. I camped overnight but Ryan and the group stayed for 2 additional days. It was a fairly cool couple days for July and it began to mist light rain as I arrived at the meadow. I quickly setup my tent (in the oncoming rain) and then we all hiked up to the Cinder Flats and the runoff creek. I managed to cross the creek by stepping on stones.

Headed out to Buntzen Lake in the morning and checked out the view from the many peaks along the lower ridge.

The new bridge is nice and solid compared to jumping across the old shaky slippery one. There were lots of dragon flies swarming above the vistas having a party. Lots of boats out today in the water and Buntzen lake was quite busy with beach-goers.

Mt. Baker from the viewpoint overlooking Buntzen Lake.

Here you can see the 3 peaks I hiked yesterday at Mt. Seymour. (Picture taken from roughly 900m lower in elevation than Mt. Seymour)

This is the view from Diez Vista #1

This is the view from Diez Vista #2

Today I decided to hike Mt. Seymour I had read reports that there was still some snow but compared to hiking the Panorama Ridge in Garibaldi Park this would be a cakewalk.
Well it wasn’t quite a cakewalk but at least this time I brought summer gaiters and my heavy boots/poles served their purpose.

I geared up in the parking lot and I had a few funny looks from people in flip/flops in the parking lot. Not more than 15mins into the trail snow and then trail again, run-off and then snow again. From Brockton point up it was almost all snow.

Most people that did hike to the peak(s) stopped after the 1st peak but I continued to 2nd peak and then Mt. Seymour for the Northern views.

Mt. Baker from 1st Peak.

Mt. Baker from 2nd Peak.

A crow joined me as I rested on the top of Mt. Seymour.

The Northern views from atop Mt. Seymour

For Canada Day 2008 I decided a hiking trip was in order. So I set my alarm for 4am and picked up my buddy Dave at 5am and we hit the Sea to Sky Highway for Squamish/Whistler. We had an awesome day but it was a long one. We hiked up the Rubble Creek about 9km (est 900m gain) to Garibaldi Lake.

When we got to the lake we ate lunch and found that we had attracted some camp robbers. They were not shy at all and came extremely close. This one decided to try my fishing rod out.

I know… I know… before you ask why did I decide to take my spin cast gear I’ll tell you it’s simply easier to fish from shore with a spin cast setup. It’s not completely against my religion of fly fishing, I did pack a fly rod and my gear into Lindeman Lake a few days before and there was no way I’d catch anything on that lake that day fly fishing from shore.

So I took my $15.99 Can-Tire special Rapala Rod/Reel combo and some 6lb spider line and tied on an old yellow rooster tail. 1st cast, counted to 5, reeled in.. little fish followed it in. 2nd cast, counted to 10, reeled in again little fish followed it in nipping at it. 3rd cast, counted to 15, reeled in and bam! Fish on. The fish spun in circles beneath the crystal clear water. I’m not sure why but I’ve seen this from fish at other alpine lakes before. Wasn’t much of a struggle and I got him to shore. Dave snapped a photo and I released him back to the wild. It wasn’t anything special compared to the fish I’ve caught in the Kamloops region but it was still an extremely nice catch of the day at BC’s largest highest alpine lake. (I mean no other lake is as large and as high)

It’s the long weekend! Woo hoo! Well maybe not for everyone but for many taking Monday off work it’s a 4 day weekend. I decided to head out to Chilliwack and hike up to Greendrop Lake with my friend Sy-Haw. After we battled heavy traffic on Hwy 1 for about 3 hours! (Don’t ask) We finally made it to Abbotsford and then started to head to the lake. We hiked up to the lake and decided only to hike as far as Lindeman Lake since we had a late start to our day. (Damn traffic.. That Semi truck driver that left his burning trailer the night before can kiss my ass!)

Anyhow the lake was clear and fish were jumping in the middle of the lake. We had very limited options for fishing from shore and we didn’t take a raft. I had my pack fly rod and Sy-Haw carried spin gear. We found a nice spot on some rocks and enjoyed the heat of the day. Boy was it hot, well no fish but it was still a nice day.

My buddy Shane was visiting from Kamloops so we decided to hike up Lynn Valley a bit and aim for the peak. We hit snow near the top and all the hikers coming down said there was no view. We pressed on and walked through the snow. There was no view when we reached the top but after about 15mins it began to clear up.

It was actually a fairly long and difficult hike, the elevation gain was approx 800m but much of the higher trail was loose boulders, a dry creekbed, and then snow.

It got a little chilly at the top once our sweat began to cool so we headed back down soon after reaching the top.

Pinantan Lake was a bit too busy so we decided the next day to head up to our favorite spot Duffy Lake BC. The fish were biting and even though it rained on us it was a good day’s fishing.

Pinantan Lake is just outside Kamloops and I’d say it’s a resort community. There are cabins almost completely around the lake and road access is good. Clyde and I decided to fish it with some of his co-workers and their annual picnic/fishing derby.

Fishing was pretty slow but we did catch a few.

My good friends Clyde & Christine, Elmer and I planned a late trip into Murtle Lake in September. It was quite a trip and we had planned to go for about 7 days but cut it short by about 2 days because it was quite cool, windy and rainy weather. We had fun but boy was it work hauling our camping equipment and canoes to the lake. Once we got into the canoes the real work began, paddling across the largest canoe only lake in North America!

A long way to paddle to the first campsite. It’s around the dark green point on the left of this picture.

Day 2 Elmer and I backtracked to another beach we passed yesterday. This beach campsite was closed because of bears in the area feasting on the Kokanee in the creek. Did I mention that this lake is frickin huge yet? Well it IS! This view is looking up the West Arm (the popular area in the summer)

The next day we decided to paddle to the West Arm and find a good campsite it was a lot of work paddling against the wind to get there. We left earlier in the day to avoid heavy winds but we still got caught in them for a bit.

We found a nice campsite that was like a Tropical beach! There was a small break in the storms passing us providing sunlight for about 30mins… It was amazing!

One of the most beautiful rainbows we’ve ever seen!

Fishing was quite good, we waded out in the water and caught fish for dinner. Can you believe how far out we could wade?

Who’s cooking?

We camped within the trees near shore but it was all sandy and the sand went everywhere. One night it was so windy we thought trees would fall down on our tents. We had a tarp up that we thought for sure was being ripped out and blown across the lake. It didn’t.