I spent Saturday hiking in Strathcona Park with my hiking pal. We decided to head out and see how far we could get in a couple of hours and then head back. Our goal was Croteau Lake or Kwai Lake if time allowed. Being November we knew it would be cold but we had not anticipated it being 0 degrees at the parking lot.
Heading out through Paradise Meadows I was surprised to find the boardwalks icy. It was very slow going and I was looking forward to reaching the trail head that heads out to Lake McKenzie and be on solid ground. I was a little disappointed that the fall colours had pretty much disappeared but it was fun to see the ponds covered over in ice.
We hiked along just enjoying ourselves, nabbing the odd cache on the way. It really was very slow going because even once we were off the boardwalks the rocks in many places were also iced over and very slippery.
The views however were worth it and so was the silence. It felt like we were out there on our own, even the birds seemed to be asleep! I love hiking out into the woods on trails that are not over populated.
The peacefulness and quietness of the forest is so restful. Sure it can be a bit scary at times not knowing what wild animals are out there with you but one just has to be at ease and hope for the best. We passed three lakes before stopping for lunch on an outcropping of rock.
Then we headed off to Croteau lake. The highlight of the trip was when we arrived at the lake and I looked up into the mountains and I had a clear view of Mount Albert Edward. I had hiked up there last year and there it was in the far distance covered in snow. It gave me a great sense of accomplishment to know that I had been up there on that peak.
I do not feel I always have to reach great heights in hiking but I do love to hike to new places and I love being able to look around me and take note of which hills I have climbed and which ones are still on the list. Sometimes I just need that reminder that I can do this, I can get out there and really connect with nature and explore new places even if it means stepping out of my comfort zone. A few years ago my daughter painted me a large picture of our island and as I hike new trails or climb new mountains she adds them to the picture. It`s a visual of the places I have been, it inspires me to keep hiking and reminds me of all I have accomplished.
Croteau Lake was beautiful in itself. I was so impressed with the group campsite they have set up there complete with a yurt. Maybe someday I can take the kids but now it was time to turn back and head for home looping around Lake McKenzie.
We felt there would be less boardwalk on that trail and there was, however it was just as slippery if not more so and very sloped. We were forced to walk along side it in many places. The trails were now busy with people all of us warning each other of the slippery boardwalks ahead.
Five hours 14.5 kms made for a very good enjoyable day. It will be the last adventure up there for this year. I will not be able to hike there now til spring when the snow has melted but who knows maybe I will get up there snowshoeing! One must always have hope.
It was the most beautiful week last week. After a frustrating week of learning to be patient it finally happened. My little granddaughter Aria arrived on the 24th. As my Dad has always reminded...all good things come to those who wait. Well waiting isn't my thing but she certainly was worth the wait. Aria is so beautiful but then what baby isn't.
The three weeks I spent with my daughter and her husband will always be a time that I cherished. Being there to welcome her daughter into the world was a gift they gave to me that I will never forget.
Life is so very precious and being there to see a baby take it's first breath and make her first sounds just fills a persons heart to overflowing. Creation is so wonderful and the creation of a little human is just so amazing and totally puts one in awe.
This whole world of ours is full of amazing things all part of creation. From the plants that somehow manage to grow on rocks or dry ground, to the baby animals that come from their mother's wombs, it is all just so fascinating.
New life and the way it is all created and the way it all survives and the deep feelings it brings out in people, it is just beyond words. So little Aria, welcome to our family. I pray that you will always feel the love that surrounds you created you and that you take that love deep into your heart.
My youngest daughter is expecting her first child this month and as she lives two hours from home I have come to be with her while she waits so that I'm here for the delivery. I came a week before her due date because I didn't want to be driving up here in the middle of the night and none of our families babies have been late.
It's the first time in at least ten years that we have spent this much time together and what a wonderful gift it is for me. Each day I walk their dog down at the beach and we do a few chores around the house. Each day we hope that the baby will arrive.
Now that a week has gone by we are both ready for this baby to be here. We've ran out of chores, we've done all the shopping, we've completed three jigsaw puzzles and now we wait.
Waiting is something I'm not good at and neither is my daughter. We are both people who plan our lives in great detail - days, weeks and months in advance.
So here we are dealing with something that is totally out of our control. We are doing our best to make the most of this precious time together and just relax and let nature do what it will. It's a struggle for sure and yet it's such a good thing to practise. Letting go of all of our schedules, all of our worries and plans and just making the most of each day.
We've taken a few short walks on the beach and even gone "hiking" through Seal Bay park nabbing a few caches on our way. Just being out in nature has refreshed us and renewed our spirits.
Life is full of times of waiting but what is most important is to make the most of it. Don't waste it, don't let it frustrate you, just enjoy it. Find the positive in each moment and it will make the wait so much easier.
This waiting time with my daughter is really a gift and once the baby arrives we will never have this "just us" time again so I'm hanging onto each moment. I still would like this baby to arrive very soon as I know I have to return to my work life soon but I'm still very thankful for being able to share this time with her. It's a lesson in patience for me, it's a lesson in letting go but mostly a time to treasure.
For the past two years friends and I have planned an overnight hike somewhere on Vancouver Island. Our first hike was Cape Scott at the north end of the island and last year we conquered Mount Albert Edward in Strathcona Park. This year we decided to something with very little elevation gain and take it easy.
We decided we would do four nights and five days, hiking into Landslide Lake and Foster Lake for two nights and then hike to Bedwell and Cream Lake for the next two nights. Both were located in Strathcona Park near Buttle Lake and can be done as day hikes but we enjoy camping out in the woods. What a lesson we all learned.
We reached the trail head around 11 am on the Wednesday and were on the trail by 11:30. It was 8 kms to the first campground and 11kms to the second. With my 30+lb pack on my back I was aiming for the first campground, my friends thought we could make it to the second campground.
This trail started out with a nice but steep switchback going up and up and continued on through a lovely treed forest with a continued gradual upward grade. There were rocks to cross, a few creeks and streams with many of them being dry.
The trail and it's surrounding were truly beautiful but my heavy pack was sadly causing me to struggle to get to that first campground. There was more elevation gain that I had imagined. Yet I knew most good things in life take a bit of a perseverance so we continued on one step at a time. As we hiked I was given strength by the sights of trees growing over rocks and on rocks. It showed what one can do when one perseveres even in difficult situations.
We reached the first campground in 3.5 hours and we were all exhaisted and decided to spend the night. This trail was not nearly as easy going as we had thought. We were also the oldest on the trail. Most folks going past us were in their twenty's or thirty's and three of us were over 55. Our leader was my friends 14 year old daughter who can certainly out hike us all. We quickly took a dip in the beautiful Elk River which was ice cold and cooled off our tired bodies.
The next morning we headed out with our light day packs around 9:30 am. It was only another 5km's or so to the lake. The first hour of it was once again up some pretty steep mountain slopes which made us very thankful that we hadn't continued on with our heavy packs the day before.
We shared a few laughs along the way about our nice flat hike for this year. Ah well it was all good and the waterfalls continued to get more beautiful with each one.
Each one offering us a cool breeze and respite from the hot sun.
The views of the mountain tops were also fantastic. We truly were out in creation and trying to take it all in while continuing on up the trail.
We came to a bridge and we could see in the distance a gap between the tree line... the lake! We were almost there.
The next part of the hike was out in the hot sun, hiking along the side of the waterfall coming down from the lake. I found myself struggling at this point but we all continued on.
Then we came to the view of another waterfall and realized we were not there yet! There was another waterfall and plateau in the distance.
Last year we had false summits well this year was "false" lakes!
Once we arrived at the lake we soaked our feet in the cold water and just enjoyed our lunch with the beautiful view. We chatted with some young hikers and breathed in the peacefulness of the lake.
Looking toward the end of the lake we could see the waterfall coming down from Foster Lake. I had hoped to hike up there as I had heard that the lake had icebergs and a glacier. I really wanted to see it but I was just too tired to carry on. I felt it would add another two hours or more to our hike and it was just too hot.
So we headed back to camp. It was much easier going back and only took us three hours. We certainly are not known for our speed! It usually takes us twice as long as the younger folks to do these hikes.
The waterfalls were just as wonderful with the light now reflecting off of them at different angles. The trees growing over the rocks were still there letting us know that all is possible.
It was wonderful to see little bits of colour popping out among the green as we hiked. They too persevere and bloom in difficult situations.
That evening we spoke with two young girls who had made it all the way to Foster Lake. It had only taken them 30 minutes to reach it and they said it was just amazing. I started to feel some regret at not pushing on. I knew we would never come and hike this again. I felt I should have put more effort into getting to the further lake. A chance I had now missed out on.
As I sat there thinking about it I made myself focus on our accomplishment and not have regrets about the lake we didn't reach. I knew having regret would take away the happiness we all had from reaching Landslide Lake.
It was a beautiful hike and a wonderful lake and I didn't want to diminish what we had accomplished. The beautiful sites we had seen and enjoyed.
That night we all decided there was no way we were going to have the energy to do the second hike to Bedwell. It was just too hot this summer and we were too tired and low on energy.
In the morning we packed up our gear and headed back out finding a few caches along the way. We were back at our car in three hours and felt pretty good about this summer's hike. We would be back to do Bedwell another day.
As we headed off to find some decent food I felt thankful for all that I was able to do. I continued to put my focus on what I was able to see and take in and not on the goals not met.
We had made it to the Lake that we had originally planned. Like the trees growing around and over the rocks we had persevered and were feeling very fulfilled. Life is too short to have regrets. They take away from all that there is and all that we are blessed with. We need to always focus on what we have accomplished and what blessings we have. It can make our lives as peaceful as the beautiful lake.
Over three days we hiked 28 km's and at least 600m of elevation. A job well done for some over 55 folk and their young trail blazer!
I wonder....words that often go through my mind. There is so much in our world to wonder about. At our church in our Sunday school program for children they use the Godly Play program which tells the stories and then has the children wonder about them and ask questions. What a wonderful way to learn about life and our world. There are so many unanswered questions in life so we all must have many times of wonder.
I have just returned from a trip through our lovely Rocky Mountains here in BC and Alberta. It was four days of just being surrounded by magnificent creation and beauty.
They are so amazing! We drove from Vancouver Island in BC out to Calgary Alberta going through four Provincial Parks all full of wonderful, some gigantic, towering mountains and the beauty of it was that no two were alike.
There were many different shape sizes and colours of trees and rock.
I could have just stared at them for hours. Many still had snow on the top and crevasses where the snow lay deep.
Some were bowl shaped with deep snow, others had waterfalls pouring down their sides.
As we drove along the words "I wonder" were constantly going through my mind. As a student I loved geography.
I loved learning about how the mountains and layers of rocks were formed. Sadly most of the detailed information has left me. So I couldn't help but wonder how these beautiful formations were created.
Why some had sharp peaks, why others dropped off suddenly and why some were rounded on top.
In some ways I think the mountains are so much like ourselves. We are all so very different and no two are 100 percent alike.
We are all physically different and the circumstances of our life have helped to create our personalities. Just like the mountains different circumstances have created unique people. As with the mountains, we are all beautifully created and all wonderfully made and just as I wonder about the mountains we can also wonder about people. What has made them become the people they are. Even though we may wonder about their choices or ways we can still accept them just as they are.
Just like these "Three Sisters" we can be created similar and yet differently and all live in peace side by side each of us with our own gifts and beauty. I truly believe we can have peace in this world...when and how will that happen? I can only wonder...
