2017 - A Year Full to the Brim!

Today is the last day of a wonderful year that was full of adventures and new beginnings. Each year seems to go faster than the last year and this year has been no exception. I started the year off with a small hike and ended it with another small hike, both in the snow which is rather strange seeing as we don't normally get a lot of snow here on the island. 
I am so thankful for all of the great adventures I have had with friends over this past year. Thankful to be able to get out in nature and explore and see some of the wonders of this world. 

The year began with a little place -  Crofton Lake,

followed by snowshoeing with my daughter and son-in-law in Strathcona Park. Always a fun time!

Then there was the wonderful hike with my Mom, who is in her 80's - taking her to Stoney Hill was a gift I will always be grateful for!

 It was a year full of hikes - East Sooke Park with the hiking group, 

a couple of trips to Gabriola with my pals

a few nice hikes over on the Sunshine Coast during vacation time. A wonderful place to explore and explore. 

There were also many quick hikes up Mount Tzouhalem, Stoney Hill and Genoa Bay on days when there wasn't time to venture further a field. 

Hiking with my grandchildren at Goldstream Park, Eves Park, Kinsol Trestle and Stoney Hill are adventures I will also treasure. 

It was a year full of blessings as I welcomed two new little boys into my life. There will now be four little ones to take out into the woods and explore the trails and beaches of our island. Seeing nature through their young eyes has me being more appreciative of the little things in creation. 

In among the hikes there were also a couple of trips out in the kayak with my friends, times that I always look forward to and am thankful for.  Exploring the land from the sea is always a delight - its fun to look at the shoreline and see it all from a different view. Like looking at life from both sides. 

In the fall I also did a 43km walk with my sister and friends. It was a long day hiking on the Trans Canada trail from Shawnighan Lake to Lake Cowichan. A wet day but certainly one to be treasured. 

I also finally made it out to Avatar Grove thanks to my friends. The old growth forest and huge trees are just amazing out there. 

There were way too many hikes on the island to even try to mention them all but as for hiking the highlight of my year was definitely my four day hiking trip in Strathcona Park with the Walker family. We hiked up Mount Albert Edward - a climb that had me out of my comfort zone and reaching new heights. It was a hike that brought me new confidence and an achievement I will always be proud of.

As a new year approaches I can't help but think of what lays ahead. What great adventure will I embark on. Life is never easy and we must all strive to reach new goals to stretch ourselves, to have the confidence to try new things. Words that I heard on a show, "Call the Midwife" remind me that I must have faith. 

"Some might call it confidence, others name it faith, but if it makes us brave the label doesn't matter for it's the thing that frees us to embrace life itself." 

These words are so true - the label doesn't matter but what does matter is that we find confidence or have faith in ourselves so that we can be brave to try new adventures. Adventures outdoors, adventures in our careers anything that has us embracing life. As we all know life is so short and so precious. Being able to try new things, explore new avenues and celebrate life has us living life to its fullest. 

I am so thankful for my family and friends who were there filling this year full to the brim with new adventures, new life and new accomplishments. Looking ahead to 2018 - I can't imagine how it will ever top this year but in its own way I have faith that it will.  Staying positive in a world so full of angst is not always easy but we must be free to embrace all that life has to give us. In striving for and reaching new heights and accomplishments we gain the strength to handle the down times that occur.   I will have faith, I will be free to embrace life and all that it blesses me with. Wishing us all a year full of new adventures - welcome 2018!

Turned Around

As Christmas approaching life gets busier and busier. So many events to attend, decorating the house, baking and many other things which are all things of great fun. Sadly though there are only so many days in the week to fit it all into leaving very little time for hiking. Thankfully today we were able to get out on the trail and hike up to the ridge on Mount Tzouhalem. When we left the valley it was covered in fog and we thought we were in for a mystical time up the mountain, taking a GPS in case we couldn't see our way. However when reaching the parking lot we were up well above the fog and as we began our hike we were able to look down on our fog covered Cowichan Valley. It was to be a quick hike up to the cross and back, a trail we have done many times.

As we hiked towards the cross we came to the old logging road that leads to the ridge. We had come down from the ridge a few times that way but never gone up. We decided to change our plans and hike to the ridge instead of the cross. We followed the trail along and I felt really comfortable that I was leading us in the right direction, and I was until we came to a junction. I chose the trail to the right and yet after a ways it didn't look familiar at all and so we turned around and went in the other direction. We still could not see the ridge or the water on the other side. At one point my friend said oh this is where we came down from but I wasn't so sure that was the way to go and headed further down the trail but it soon became obvious that she was correct and we had to turn around once again. Thankfully, we soon came to ridge and enjoyed the wonderful views down onto Cowichan Bay. 

It always amazes me how turned around I can get in the woods and I'm always thankful for my friends sense of direction to get us heading in the right direction.  Life can be like that as well. We set off on a path confident of the outcome, feeling it is the best "pathway" for us to take. Then all of a sudden circumstances can have us feeling lost and unsure of whether we are on the true path. We have gotten ourselves turned around from our original goal. At times like this in my life I have always been thankful to have my friends. As with being out on the trail, your friends are there to listen and to guide and to sometimes speak the truth and say hey - you're going the wrong way or making the wrong choice. They are able to point us in the right direction. It would be very lonely on life's pathways if we didn't have our friends along to support us and for us to also support them. 

Life is always a continuation of choices to be made. Sometimes we make the right ones, other times maybe not so much. There are times when we all feel lost and there are times when we feel alone but hopefully we have our family and friends to get us back on the right path of life. I feel for those who are truly alone and have no one to guide them. 

Today was a great day and I am glad we managed to get up to the ridge. It has always been a favourite place of mine to sit and reflect. Although I never hike up there alone anymore it is a great place to share with a friend and relax from the busyness of Christmas time. A great place to breathe deeply and let go as we await the birth of Jesus. 

Family, Friends & Selfies

Today's weather of wind and rain discouraged my friend and I from our planned hike. It was just so wet but more importantly it was very windy and being out among the trees in a wind storm is not a very safe place to be. Still we managed a short hike along the river and enjoyed our time together. It didn't matter what we went and did as long as we spent the time together having an adventure. 

Being out in nature with family and friends gives us a time to share and to listen to one another. It's a time when not only can we enjoy the beauty around us but a time to reflect with one another on our lives and all that is happening in our community and world. It's so important to spend that time together. 

As I grow older I realize how important time is and how the time I have left is getting shorter and shorter. I want to spend as much time as I can with the people I love and care for. We all need our friends to listen to us, to understand us and be there for us when times are tough and when we celebrate the good moments in life. Spending time on the trails together gives us that time to share and to listen to one another. 

I'm at a time in my life when I am blessed to still have my parents with me and also have my children and grandchildren. 

As I watch my parents age and slow down their busy lives I am also watching the little ones grown and learn.

 I am so very lucky to see my parents love for their grandchildren and watch them  play with them as they once played with me and also with my children. It's four generations of family all coming together and sharing our love for each other, each accepting that we are all at different stages. We share in lots of laughter and we are there for one another with our struggles. 

This past summer and autumn I have made sure to spend time with my friends and my family, to have fun with them all and to be there to listen to them and I  am very thankful that they have also been there to listen to me share my struggles and joys. 

It's really what life is all about - being there for one another. Although some people don't really care for them - I always try and make sure we have one selfie taken on each adventure! After all life is short so we might as well share in lots of laughs, which always happens when you try and fit everyone into the picture!

Thank you my friends and family for being there for me and for always bringing a smile to your face for my camera. 

I pray that life will continue to bless us all for many more years, for many more adventures and many more selfies! 

Fullness of Life

Its been two months since I have posted a blog. It's been two months of family, friends and adventures. My life is so full that each day blends into the next. I am always busy and the weeks just fly by. I work full time, I am blessed with having my family all live here on the island and am thankful to have friends adventurous as myself. 

I wonder though, is having a busy life, a life that is full with so many wonderful things - is it the same as living life to the fullest. I don't have huge dreams really and am grateful for all that life has brought to me but today I got to wondering if I should strive for more. 

Life here on the island is wonderful. You can hike year round and the ever changing beauty of nature always brings me great joy. In the last two months I have enjoyed so much. Walked 43km's with my sister and friend, 

checked out the Chemainus Estuary with my daughter, granddaughter and grandson,

went to the community fair with my family,

 finally made it out to Avatar grove to see the huge trees, 

traveled up to Buttle Lake and hiked to both Upper 

and Lower Myra falls with my daughter and son in law,

shared in Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, 

went to the abyss and explored the Extension Ridge trail,

and then down to Sooke Potholes. Each adventure brought a sense of awe and filled my heart with joy. 

I'm so thankful and grateful that the people in my life love to be outdoors as much as I do.

 I am not sure what I would do if I wasn't out there exploring the trails each weekend. Being outdoors brings me such fulfillment, the same feeling I get when I spend time with my family. 

My little grandchildren have me seeing life from different views. They make me laugh as they giggle and help me to be childlike. They make all of  life seem so simple.

My favourite season is autumn and the trees are now turning to their golden yellow and some reds. It's beautiful to be out on the trails among the marvelous trees, so full of colour. 

I was explaining to my granddaughter how the trees change each season. She is only two and too young to remember that the trees were bare last winter.

 I so look forward to being able to take the young ones out on the trails and share the gifts that creation gives to us. The beauty and wonder I find along the trails so much more meaningful when I can share it with friends and family.

So am I living life to the fullest or is my life overfull with busyness? I'm not sure I have the answer to that but I do know I will continue to find the time to be with family and friends, to explore nature and be in awe of its wonder and to make the most of all that I have been blessed with in life. 

I realize there is so much more to life than all I have done and all I will be able to do. Time goes by so very quickly and my pal is right - we must make the most of each precious moment in time. Does that make one's life full or fulfilling - maybe it's a bit of both. I'll just be grateful for it, either way.

A personal reflection on Mount Albert Edward

 As a child I always loved to explore the forests and I had a deep love for trails. It was all I ever wanted to do - play on the trails at the vacant lot or when we were camping. Heading out on a trail was an adventure and in my mind I was a great explorer going where no folks had gone before. Even as we drove down the highway I was always looking out the windows at the mountains and pretending I was hiking up the hill thinking there must be a way to make a trail up there. 

So now in my adult life I have been so blessed to be able to hike and explore not only the local mountains of my valley but also mountains and trails in three different countries.  I am thankful to have friends who also love to hike which allows me to explore places I could not do on my own. I have to give credit to my friend, Duncan, for teaching me about hiking and instilling in me the dream of climbing up to those "thin places"  - explaining the need to always be prepared for whatever the mountain may give to you that day. 

This past week I headed off to Strathcona Park with my friends and their daughter.  This would be our second overnight camp out together -  last year hiking to Cape Scott - a long but almost flat trail out to the west coast. This year our goal was Mount Albert Edward which is a short but steep hike with the summit sitting at 2091 meters. Higher than I have ever hiked before. 

Our first day we hiked the 11 kms into Circlet Lake at 1200 meters, where we camped for the night. My pack was 38 pounds and a bit too heavy for me so the going in was very slow and what should have been a 3 hour hike became a 5 hour hike. I was exhausted and a little concerned about the next days climb. Throughout the afternoon and evening we met different groups that had hiked the mountain that day. They all said the same thing - the first hour and a half was straight up and a real grind but after that it wasn't too bad. Lots of rocks and slippery dirt coming back down also took time. With the summit only being 5.5 km's away most people had done it within 6 hours. I had to admit I was getting very nervous. I knew my teammate was a slow hiker and so was I going up and if it took people 6 hours, it would probably take us about 8 or more. I was also concerned about the weight of my pack. We were just going up with water and snacks but I knew I needed my pack to be light. My friends were just taking one pack between the the three of them and I didn't want to slow us all down.

The morning of the hike we woke to a few light clouds but we knew the sun was to shine in the afternoon so I did one of the most unskilled things I have ever done out hiking -  I emptied my pack to lighten the load and only took water, snacks and my rain jacket.  I was really nervous and had had very little sleep due to the very cold night and as I waited for my turn at the "toilet" I found myself sitting down on a log and praying. Over the past few years I have drifted off from time of prayer but I was scared and although I know God isn't a place for wish lists I needed to find strength. I sat there deep in prayer asking for guidance and strength and for God to watch over us and bring us safely down from the mountain. It helped me feel more centered and calm.

We set of at 8:30 am and within fifteen minutes we reached the base of the first climb and up we went - up and up and up. It was very steep but the terrain, although rocky and root covered was not as bad as I had feared BUT I was scared. I found we had cell coverage so I quickly texted Duncan telling him how scared I was and was thankful to receive his note of encouragement. Upward and onward we went for about two hours. Most do this in an hour or hour and a half but we were being very cautious plus having to stop to rest and breathe along the way. 

There was a gap in between the two cliffs so we did get a short reprieve crossing a lovely plateau with small lakes and trees. It was very beautiful and would be a wonderful place to stop and spend some time but time was something we didn't really have a lot of. It was a tranquil and quiet place of reflection. The small ponds of water everywhere added to the beauty. 

Halfway up the next steep climb we stopped to rest on a log. An elderly man caught up to us and chatted away about his past hikes and hiking partner. He had a huge blue overnight pack on. He told us about the mountain we were climbing and where we needed to turn and such and said he would follow us to pace himself. 

 At one point he was talking to me and telling me of the dangers of the fog coming and and how one could easily make a wrong turn on the way down if we weren't careful. I told him I had a GPS and he said that was good but that we needed to really look at the markings around us so that we could find our way back. He reminded me so much of my wise friend Duncan and it was comforting. Eventually he went ahead of us and we carried on following the small cairns and ribbons along the way. There were many different trails so we stuck with the ones that looked the most traveled. Eventually we came up into the open and could look ahead and see the summit far off in the distance. We still had a very long way to go. 

After another hour we caught up to the elderly gentleman who was taking a break and so we chatted again. He suggested we could always hike the smaller mountain - Mount Jutland if we were running out of time. He said most importantly "Don't get cold and if that fog comes put on your rain pants. You've all got lights so you'll be okay."  Well none of us had rain pants, I was the only one with a light, we had not brought our toques, I had no mitts and I was now getting scared about the length of time it was taking us. I kept picturing all the gear I had brought but left behind in my tent. I knew better than to climb up a mountain into the snow level without enough layers to keep myself warm.  He pointed out the storm back where we had come and  said "If there is a storm on this side of the mountain there very well could be one on the other side". We couldn't actually see the summit as it was in the clouds.  He headed on up the mountain and I waited nervously for the other two to catch up to us. I kept thinking back to last year when I had hiked up the Old Man Storr on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The fog had come in quite quickly and was so thick you couldn't see more than a foot or two ahead of ourselves. I hoped that it wouldn't happen on this hike. 
Once the four of us were together we agreed on a 2:30 pm  turn around point and off we went. By this time I decided that if we reached the ridge I would be happy. I had no desire to stay up there too long. We passed a few people coming down and they said the view from the ridge was just as good as the view from the top and they had been at the summit in the fog so hadn't had a view at all. Most of them were young people full of energy, just wearing shorts and carrying light packs. One fellow we met was hiking all three mountain summits that day.  

At this point there is no trail just rock after rock. We each picked our way through them trying to follow the cairns placed by others. Every now and then I would get a glimpse of the man way up ahead in the distance. He wasn't going to the summit but going around the summit and down to the other side but each time I saw him I felt comforted to know we were still on the right pathway.

The mountain was wonderful. There were patches of snow that we had to cross. There were lovely little flowers growing out among the rocks, mostly heather but other lovely plants as well. I kept thinking how strong they had to be to grow where there was such little soil and where the weather was so cold for most of the year. 

I mostly hiked with my friends' thirteen year old daughter as we had a bit faster pace but we would wait and the other two would catch up so we never went too far ahead. 

Just before we reached the ridge I found the older man sitting, leaning up against the rock having a break while staying out of the wind. I went up to him and sat down and told him that we were probably only going to the ridge and then turn around. He asked me "Why would you do that? You've made it now, you have time to get to the summit. Just keep an eye on the weather and you have your light, you will be okay". So when we reached the ridge cairn twenty minutes later at 12:30 Brenda said we should go to the summit and sign the log. So off we went. It was so cold and windy up on the ridge. We put on our rain coats and kept moving.  My hands were very cold and I was so upset with myself for not bringing gloves. 

Thankfully there was a distinct trail along the ridge that you could see far into the distance and we could travel at a much quicker pace. Every now and then I could still see the blue back pack way up ahead and as we approached the base of the summit I looked over and saw the man still hiking but way off to the left now, heading around the base of the summit. He was walking at a steady pace. It was quiet moment and it saddened me to see him go but I realized there was something very special about him. He as our "shepherd". He had waited for us along the way to make sure we were doing okay and led us where we needed to go. I hoped he would get to his destination before dark as I am sure we held him up a bit. I truly felt the care he had shown us. 

By 1:50 we were at the summit. The clouds had parted, the sky was blue, the sun shone down upon us and we celebrated our climb by eating wine gums and finding the cache that was hidden up there on the ledge. The summit was marked by a cement block and wasn't all that huge of an area with a steep drop off on the other side.

 It felt so good to be up there and the 360 degree view was just amazing. I could have stayed up there in the sunshine all day however we could see another cloudy storm coming in the distance so by 2:10 we began our descent. 

We moved at a quick pace as we saw the fog coming around the base of the summit. I found myself constantly looking back to see where the fog was. Eventually the fog was in front of us. I felt bad as each time my friends caught up we headed off again giving them no rest but I knew I had to keep us moving. It had taken us 5.5 hours to reach the summit and it took us another five hours to get back to our campsite. 

We were so lucky as although the fog did catch up to us it was never heavy enough that we couldn't see the markers along the way. For the first three hours down though I was very scared and couldn't stop thinking how careless I had been to not pack extra layers in my pack and extra food. I kept thinking about Duncan and what he would say to me if I got stuck up there over night but thankfully we made it back to the lovely plateau before dark and were able to slowly climb down the steep steep cliffs to the campsite, arriving at 7 pm, only an hour before sunset. 

The next morning as I waited for my buddies to wake up I had a quiet breakfast with a small guest. I was still in a bit of shock from what we had accomplished yesterday and was reflecting on our "shepherd". In many ways it was a very spiritual hike that filled me with a sense of awe.  

That day we only hiked 4.5 kms to Kwai Lake where we set up camp and had a day of relaxation in the sun. We had planned to hike out to Cruishank canyon but none of us were interested in moving our bodies 4 km's down another trail. We rested our weary bodies and reflected back on our amazing hike up Mount Albert Edward.

 Kwai Lake is a beautiful small lake and it was so peaceful there. We took an evening stroll around the lake and tucked in early. It was nice to be able to sit and watch the birds and enjoy the sounds of nature. 

The following day we hiked the 7 km's back to our vehicle and looked back to the mountain in the far distance. All of us still surprised that we had actually been up there on the summit. It was an amazing experience for sure. For most folks it is an easy short day hike but for us it was a challenge and I believe the challenge of the day, of overcoming my fears, helped me to grow spiritually and reawaken in me a deeper sense of creation and our Creator. 

This was the most difficult hike I have ever been on and I think all four of us learned a lot about hiking up into places where the snow lays on the ground twelve months of the year. It was such a meaningful hike and experience and I will be ever thankful to our "shepherd" for watching over us and making sure we were safe. Looking through all of my pictures, I can't find the kind gentleman yet I will never forget his lovely smile and face and his wise words to us. I believe he was the answer to my morning prayer and I won't ever forget the way he looked as he slowly walked over the mountain and disappeared over the edge below the summit.