Days Like This

Jackson Basin & Texas Peak

You have to wonder sometimes what's the origin of some peaks. This one is perhaps appropriate as a Post-Independence Day hike - Texas Peak.

It's been pretty hot lately, so we got a relatively early start and after a short drive up to Retallack and up the FSR to Jackson Basin, we started hiking by 8 am. Avalanche debris blocked the road at km 7.5 so that extended our hike by about an hour.

We had a nice hike up to the ridge at the end of Jackson Basin and along it to the eastern end. While my hiking comrades rested on the high point, I scooted over to climb up Texas Peak, about 45 minutes return. On the way back, we descended over more old avalanche debris down a gully that shortened our return significantly. Lots of glacier lilies, paintbrush, mountain avens and spring beauty to brighten the trail.

More pictures can be found on my Picasa album "Summer 2009".

The Post-Canada Day Hike - Fletcher Lake

Another in a series of very hot summer days. Today's objective was Fletcher Lake, one we've seen from a nearby hill before but never hiked to.

As usual, there was 10 km of bumpy, dusty logging road followed by a relatively steep, rough trail to a rather pretty subalpine lake. The topo map and GPS made sure we found the right place to start - trailheads aren't always really well marked in the Koots. Trail conditions would suggest this one's not hiked too often; a bit of trail clearing would be definitely in order. Speaking of which - I forgot my loppers, an essential piece of Kootenay trail hiking equipment. They would have been put to good use today.

Off in the far distance (see photo) is Mt Trafalgar, an objective for another (much longer) day. Today we were back home in time for some reading and a snooze before working on a few other chores.

The Pre-Canada Day Hike - Mt Roberts

The hot summer weather has finally arrived in the Koots. The day before Canada Day we went to Rossland to help celebrate the son-in-law's 30th BD. We took a couple of hours to climb Mt Roberts which is right behind Rossland, next to Granite Mtn and Red Mtn (the local ski resort hills). It was a short hike - only about 3.5 km each way, but fairly steep and a respectable 860 m elevation gain.

Views in all directions were the usual mountain summit's panorama - peaks and valleys in all directions.

Season Opener

Although we've been out hiking for awhile this spring, the past couple of days has to count as the real "season opener" in this year's hiking/scrambling season.

The plan for this past weekend was for a group to cross the lake, spend a day working on the Mt Loki trail, camp overnight up near the mountain and climb the peak the next day.

Eight of us met Saturday morning for the 8:10 ferry and by 9:30 were on the trail. Loppers, grub hoes and a chain saw found use in clearing deadfall and even re-routing the trail in a particularly steep section. We crossed the remains of large avalanches from mid-winter, enjoyed the alpine flowers that were popping out all over (glacier lily, spring beauty, heather, mountain avens...) and by early in the afternoon we had pretty much completed the work.

Some of us had elected to stay overnight so we set up our camp and rested in the sun, admiring Loki which was only about 15 minutes away. A relatively early start saw us on the summit at 8 am with great views in all directions - the usual sea of endless peaks.

After an hour or so admiring the view, we made our way down to the camp, packed up and headed back home.

Catherine has posted on her thoughts about relocating in this part of BC. For me, the pleasure is being in an area that is only short distances to all the outdoor activities you can imagine. I really appreciate how welcoming so many of the people are here and how many of them make the effort to include you in their activities. It's quite amazing how many little groups there are here that get out to hike together on a regular basis, maintain trails, explore the mountains, go skiing together..... I can't imagine anywhere better to be.

Chrome - Someting to Take a Shine To

Both of us have been increasingly annoyed with how often IE8 freezes up. It's been reminding me of the truth of an old joke: A good example of an oxymoron? Microsoft Works.

Decided the other day to give Google's "Chrome" a whirl. Surely it couldn't be any worse than Internet Explorer. I can report that so far, so good. Simple, effective and hasn't frozen up once - yet.

Is it STILL Hockey Season?

I don't usually talk (or care) about professional sports. Way too much overpaid ballyhoo in my mind. However, there's something about the current NHL controversy that has me shaking my head even more than usual. Keep in mind the last time I paid much attention to the NHL was back when there were 6 teams and the best season ever was the one with the strike. Soooo.....

RIM owner and founder Jim Balsillie wants to buy and move the Phoenix team (hmmm - what's the name? Roadrunners? Coyotes? Such a silly place to have a hockey team...but when you have team names like the "Mighty Ducks"...) to southern Ontario. The NHL, eyes ever fixated on the American market, persists on throwing up roadblocks ...er... I guess that should be throwing body checks.... They claim that letting the court decide would be a "dangerous" precedent. They talk of imposing a $100 million "relocation" fee.

The Phoenix franchise has been losing money for years, perhaps ever since it moved there. That's been over a decade now? How much longer does the NHL think it's going to take before the financials turn the corner? What's dangerous about letting the current "owners" sell the team to whoever is silly enough to buy it? And if you can't do what you want with something you own, do you really own it? Hockey in Phoenix? Potential of playoffs in Phoenix in June? You must be kidding. If Jimmy's ego will be massaged by buying the team and moving it (back) to Canada, let him. As much as I don't really care, hockey in southern Ontario (or the Peg, for that matter) makes more sense than Phoenix. And as for the NHL management? Two minutes for interference.