Snow

When I left The Netherlands first of June this year I promised myself that I would allow myself to fly back to visit my friends and family every once in awhile. Today is that day, I'm flying home! I'm really excited to go home and hug everybody! 

When I get back to Canada mid December, there should be enough snow to start skiing and snowboarding. The first runs have already been opened, but the conditions are just not really good yet. Plus, all my gear is still at my parents' place. So, nothing better to do then to hike. Haha, yes, hiking again! I just can't help loving the mountains. And really, it is BEAUTIFUL to hike in snowy mountains! 

Two weeks ago I went up Elk and Thurston mountain near Chilliwack. Driving there we were wondering if we needed boots, or if shoes would be sufficient. "Will there be snow?" "Maybe a little?" "It did rain last nights, it might have been snow up there?"

When we got closer it seemed there was a bit of snow on the peaks. Once we starting hiking however, it turned out there was loads of snow. In some parts we would sink in untill our knees!

Most people had micro spikes (those are like snow chains for your shoes) and gaiters (Gamaschen, to avoid snow getting into your boots), but dutch as I am (meaning: not wanting to spend the money for all that fancy equipment) I wasn't that well prepared... So on the steep parts I had a bit more trouble walking without slipping and I had drenched socks at the end of the hike, but that did not lower my spirits at all. Happy as a little kid I was stomping through the snow, once in a while letting out a cry of happiness to "greet the first fresh snow of the season". Apparently I was acting totally non-Canadian as my fellow hikers asked me if I had ever seen snow, or if The Netherlands ever gets snow... he he.  

Last weekend my good friend Alex from Ottawa was in Vancouver for work. We managed to do a morning hike together to spend some time. I invited another new friend, Kerstin, who I am growing fond of as she is as crazy and uncomplicated as I am. And it was just really nice to do a Sunday morning hike with them as company.

Kerstin (totally not) feeding the birds
(Never feed the wild life!)

Top of Black mountain

Ok, my face might look hilariously distorted, but the view is amazing!

Halloooooeeoeoeoeoween!

Halloween is big here in Canada. So I joined right in! It started with buying a costume:

Vampire costume!

And then carving pumpkins. I loved to do this so much I made my roomies make another one with me the day before Halloween. The results were great! Even the kids that came to our door for trick-or-treating commented on our great looking pumpkins! 

A get together for pumpkin carving, awesome.

My haunted house creation attracted a lot
of attention. (yes, I was very proud of it!)

My other creation!

Halfway through the candy! 

What better to eat than pumpkin soup on Halloween!

Best costume of the saturday night party!
(Best thing, he totally stayed in character)

More hikes

It seems like the hikes that I am doing keep getting better and better. More challenging, more views, more fun. More dangerous...?

After hiking in the Rocky mountains this summer, I thought I had done some pretty nice hikes. But then I started hiking in Vancouver. And although the views in the Rocky mountains are spectacular, the hikes here in the backyard of Vancouver are more challenging, rewarding, fun and just a little more awesome. First the Hanes valley and then the Stawamus Chief near Squamish (described in this post), and now I'm about to tell you about the Crown and the Lions. (It has a nice sound to it, doesn't it?) 

A big challenge, and thus very rewarding to get to the top, is hiking up Crown Mountain. To get to the top you need both hands and feet at least half of the time. Steep cliffs, a difficult route, amazing views and hardly any 'normal' flat trail to just walk. It's just so much fun in my opinion! Plus, two weeks ago, we had the bonus of being above the clouds while the whole city of Vancouver was in thick fog all weekend. Obviously we had to treat ourselves to some after-hike drinks accompanied by the gorgeous sunset. 

On the way up

Well deserved lunch with a view!

On top of Crown Mt!
(And note, in shorts and T-shirt in the middle of October...)

Going down with amazing views

View on the clouds below us

Mt Baker in the US was clearly visible

Still in the sun, just before taking the Sky ride
down into the fog

Amazing sunset! 

And then, the Lions:

The Lions

The Lions are a pair of mountain peaks that can be seen from Vancouver and everybody knows them, the Lions Gate bridge is even named after them. I found my limits that day of what I dare doing to get up a mountain, but I did it! I can now, with much pride, tell you that I have stood ON TOP of the West Lion, the highest of both!  

I'm still not sure if it was just awesome that I went up the last bit to the peak, or also a bit stupid. Loads of people actually go up there, most stay on the lower plateau. For sure, I don't feel the need to ever do it again. This was the first time I was scared of heights ever in my life, quite a new emotion for me. Maybe I'm just getting old?

Early morning view 

View from St. Mark's Summit 

The Howe Sound

North Vancouver

The easy part... 

the harder part 

ok, this looks worse than it was..
or maybe not.  

On top!! 

The 'trail'  

On the way back with the sun setting 

Sunset just before we arrived to the cars

How are things in Vancouver?

I've been working in Vancouver for about 4 weeks now as a project manager, or a system engineer, as that is my official title here. I work for OSI maritime, a company that makes navigation systems for Naval ships. I'm here to provide expertise on ergonomics and human factors during the engineering of Bridges on ships. This is a lot of fun and totally my field of knowledge, but it also has been quite the change from my summer job. From being in the woods, the mountains and camping outside, I am now in front of a computer screen 8 hours a day, in a cubicle. But then, if I return home from my work, I drive up the hill enjoying the view on the mountains on the north shore and I can not help smiling, every day again.

My new ride.

I find myself lucky that I am still staying with my friends Bena and Laurin. After the first week, it turned out we get along very well and are enjoying each others company. My contract is until Christmas approximately and I don't know what will happen after that, so we all decided I should stay with them for now.

What will happen after Christmas when my contract ends, I don't know yet. That is as much terrifying as it is a great sense of freedom. I might be able to work longer at OSI and stay in Vancouver, I might be able to work as a ski guide. Who knows!

Bena and Laurin showed me the biggest Gelato Casa I've ever seen!

I live close to the mountain, just left of the bridge

Fall is around the corner...

Finding new friends is not easy in this huge city. Vancouver is filled with people from all over the world and lots of people are coming and going. Luckily, there is a whole network online to find people with the same interests. You can find everything on meetup.com. I've tried out the hiking groups and it has been really nice so far!

The last three weeks we've been lucky with the weather, lots of sunshine and not colder then 15 degrees during the day. Perfect for hiking! Weather forecast says it will be like that until end of October, which is very unusual for Vancouver. Normally it is raining by now. For me that means I can still do some of the hikes that can't be done safely as soon as snow shows up in the mountains.

And in the near vicinity of Vancouver there are some very cool hikes. The Stawamus Chief for example, less than an hour drive from my house, was quite the fun trail with steep cliffs, narrow valleys, some scrambling over rocks and a few chains and ladders to help you get up the peak. And, an amazing view from the top! 

 

View on first peak with some strangers on top

View from the top!

Watch your step!

View on the Howe Sound

Dangle your feet if you dare!

Time for a break.
Again, such a good lunch spot.

 Our little Meet-up group for the day

A nice peek
(pun intended)

Beautiful sunset on the way back to Vancouver

Another hike I did, with my friend Felix, is the Hanes Valley hike. It starts about 15 min. drive from my house, and ends on top of Grouse Mt. from where you can take the Skyride down. Although the hike is very close to the city, you are in the backcountry very quickly and have the sense of being far away deep in the mountains. We only encountered one other person on the hike. The hike has some fun challenges like walking over a (very slippery!) tree across the Lynn creek, conquering a boulder field and climbing up some slippery, muddy rocks. It what makes this trail a great adventure. We both loved this one. 

Fun bridges

Dangerous crossing over Lynn creek

View into the Hanes valley
 after conquering the long boulder field

The first snow! 

search the trail...

View on West Vancouver from Grouse Mt. 

Now, back to the question 'How are things in Vancouver and do I want to stay here?'. Well, I don't know yet. I'm still in the process of exploring the answer to that question. In the mean time, I'm enjoying the moment and taking every opportunity to enjoy this city. Mostly by hiking, eating great food from all over the world and playing around with photography:

Lions Gate Bridge

Lions Gate Bridge