Tundy, house and beetle build thread...and exploring.

First night in the hammock on the trip.. sprayed myself with bear spray to keep them away.

Apparently that stuff applies differently than mosquito spray.

 

Climbing over Howe Sound. Rappel down, climb back up the slab.

Good fun!



All the white things are jelly fish. Extra incentive to avoid falling.

 

After a couple weeks in Alaska, most of that being overcast and rainy, I wanted to get back to seeing the sunshine. There was an “early fall storm” scheduled to arrive that had the 10-day forecast with nothing but rain. With that in mind, I was ready to leave a few destinations unchecked in Alaska and soak in the sun in Canada.


Of course, it was sunny the day I decided to head out. I had a nice lunch spot along the river.


20904171616_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


I didn’t have much on my list of things to see along the coast of Canada since I hit most of it on the way up. And the round trip driving out to the coast was a long way (4-6 hours) just to see the beach. I wanted to see the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Cave, but the bad weather had me thinking that the cave might not be the beautiful blue color if there was no sun to light it up along with no guarantee that you could actually get into the cave since the entrance sometimes collapses during summer after the long hike in the rain to the entrance. Being that the ferry ride cost half of the price of a plane ticket to Iceland that is full of ice caves sealed the deal that I would just see them there instead.


I knew I was going to have a long… tiring drive down to the Vancouver area where I wanted to do some climbing in Squamish, the outdoor capital of Canada. Knowing it was going to suck either way I decided to just make a few long days of driving to get down there where I could then hang out for a little while. I traded the rain for slightly smokey skies, but at least there was sun!


20907171303b_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


20907171422a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


But after a few days of driving, I made it to Squamish/Vancouver which would be my home for a little while. I explored the rainforests, and bought some climbing gear for my first experience of climbing outdoors. It was fun and I enjoyed it even though my fingers got a real good workout.


20910171150a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


221640460_10208659451157850_1901958716_o copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


The skies were mostly clear again, which made for great views all around.


20911171121a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


More Climbing


20912171722c_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


20913171900_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

 

Vancouver Island


When it was time to take a little break from climbing, I rented a mountain bike to tear up some trails. I should’ve taken a hint when the rental guy said “there's really no flowy trails around here”. It was a rough day of hike-a-bike on mostly technical trails. I connected a ton of trails that all seemed to go up, and the only downhill section I scored that day was on the pavement heading back to the bike shop. I am a fan of technical trails in the Colorado sense… this area was completely different.


20914171258a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


So I finished up my day of biking with more biking around Stanley Park which is on the northwest side of Vancouver followed by exploring Vancouver a little.


20918171206c_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


And then to Vancouver Island. It was my first time being on a vehicle ferry. It was at night, so there was not much to see, but there were tons of lights on Vancouver Island.. This place looked like it was going to be bigger than I expected, and more people.


The first sight to see was the goats on the roof in Coombs. They live on top of this general store/restaurant.


2DSC05952 (2) copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


I made it to the west coast/Pacific Ocean and did quite a bit of exploring the beaches. The beaches near Tofino are very popular with surfers. All of the beaches were a bit different from each other but the one thing they had in common was signs that the tide changes were huge! The distance of beach as well as the height that the water changes between low and high tide was impressive.


20919171130a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


20919171802a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


20919171851_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


There is a plane crash hike near Tofino that I almost decided not to do because of the description. The hike is an unofficial trail only marked at points by string, some random signs and orange flags as it cuts through dense marshy areas. It also warned that people often get lost in the dense forest and end up needing search and rescue to find them. The information I found online said to bring good rain boots and prepare to get really muddy (which I wasn’t overly excited about).


I loaded up my pack with essentials, walked out to the main road, and counted out 15 telephone poles to where there was a path into the woods. The hike was less muddy than I expected but I took my time balancing on dead trees and stumps to avoid the mud pits. Many times I sunk my hiking poles halfway into the mud without any effort. Which would have swallowed most boots other than waders.


But I made it to the plane crash which was a cool site. The site is of a Royal Canadian Air Force Canso 11007 that crashed just after takeoff in February of 1945. The plane had 12 crew memebers on board as well as a full tank of fuel and four 100-kilogram depth charges on board. The plane lost a port engine and began to fall. The pilot stalled the plane and was able to slow it before it crashed into the side of the mountain. His quick thinking saved all 12 crew members even though looking at the wreckage, it was a miracle. They were rescued 11 hours after the crash and the bombs that were still attached to the plane were moved away from the wreckage and detonated. You walk past the circle crater that is left from the explosion.



20919171405a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


20919171840_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


2DSC05870 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


Saw a nice waterfall that was etched through the rocks along the highway. I had to pull over and take a little rest there.


20920171357a_HDR copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


I didn’t see many animals while driving around, but I stopped along the road to figure out where my next stop was. I looked up and there were some bears walking up and down the river. They didn’t seem to be on any particular mission, just meandering. There were four of them and at least two sea lions that were playing with the fish they caught.


2DSC05911 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr


All of the beaches were very nice and all were pretty different from each other.

220-09-2017 01.53.13 copy by Brandon M, on Flickr

 

Another great day... 7 climbs and 3 rappels down.

 

Awesome picture of yours truly from yesterday.

 

After 5 weeks of $4+/gal gas ($1.30+/liter CAN), this is a nice change!

 

Have you started leading yet?

 

I lead a few 5.6 to start, and a 5.8. Did my first multi pitch where that picture was taken. Would've led a few more but I didn't have a helmet but would borrow one when leading and didn't want to keep borrowing one. I would have more slack on top rope even though I know it's much different leading.

Prices were a bit more in Canada and wasn't planning on staying that long or driving all the way to Vancouver before a climb.

I'll snag one when I need it down here for half the cost of up there.

 

git sum

 

Nice! Just wait for your first whip! Haha

 

Tonight's nighttime lullaby is elk bugling.



Shout out to the LG G5 for an 8 second no tripod freehand manual night picture.

I was in the city for the past few days... Climbed the skin off my fingers at the Seattle Bouldering Project and then sat in traffic to get back to nature

 

And I'm headed into that city...
for an ultimate driving experience look up dirt fish driving school.

 

Not cheap but it looks like a freaking blast...

 

The only "deals" are at the end of the month. Too bad the multiple day ones are as expensive as buying an old subie and taking it out to rally cross.

I'll wave as you pass, I'm somewhere above/near I-90

 

Your up around us 2? Well I crossed 90 early this am, taking a bus downtown to the market then airport

 

Snoqualmie Pass

 

Win a Cairn Box!

Should’ve done this earlier in the season, but better late than never. Lets get trails cleaned up before the snow gets here this season and covers up the garbage.

What: Over the next three weekends, when you are on the trails, hiking, biking, offroading, climbing, etc, pick up some trash that some dirtbag left behind. On Tuesday, October 24th I’ll randomly select two winners to receive a single Cairn Box, @getcairn with neat outdoor gear.

How: Post the picture on Instagram with the three following rules:
1. Location
2. The hashtag #Cleantrails2017
3. Follow me on Instagram @ aero3685

Each user will receive a single entry but multiple cleanups/posts are always welcome!

When: Before Tuesday, October 24th 2017. I'll randomly select two winners and contact you through IG for shipping address.

Why: Because trails are much more enjoyable when you arent driving past plastic bottles, shotgun shells, and spare tires. And when its already clean, the problem children might think twice about leaving garbage behind next time. Garbage is one reason why trails get shut down for all users. Shout out to a great local small business Odin Designs @odindesigns and odindesigns.com who does contests like this to keep trails open...and inspired this.

Who: Anyone with an Instagram account and who lives in the US or Canada.

I’m currently on a bit of a road trip, and will keep pumping out awesome pictures along the journey! You can follow the trip on Expedition Portal as well:

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/172685-The-Grand-Expedition-Colorado-to-Alaska-to-Baja

 

Wheeled with a group of 15ish rigs, had a crash, a broken rim, overheat, rig fall off a jack, fire and body damage... All different rigs and that was just the known stuff.

Mine was the one that started on fire. But quickly taken care of. (Wire jacket rubbed away and sparked, not tight or over sharp edge, guessing it was crap wire, was appropriately sized).

After the extinguisher smoke left... The gauge reads in the red area, but I literally used a single burst, half a second of spray. I'm guessing it'll still work fine but, i want to make sure. It's a metal handle one so it can be recharged.

 

Damn dude. Stay safe.