Lillooet and Joffre Lakes

With our camping gear in the trunk, Backroads BC Mapbook and Camp Free in BC book in hand, Nicole and I set out on a three day camping/hiking trip through the Lillooet Lake area last week. We left on a Tuesday so we could beat the weekend traffic and crowds. However, the drive up Hwy 99 took longer than usual because of the road construction. We were in no rush, so we didn't mind and just took in the sights along the way. (By the way, the Hwy 99 is becoming a much nicer and safer highway with all the improvements). About 15 min past Pemberton, we took off on to a forest service road that meanders tightly along the coast of Lillooet Lake. According to the books, the road was passable by 2WD, but it was a dusty, and bumpy ride. Definately the most abuse I've put my little Civic through. We set up camp at Lizzie Bay, which the book described as the nicest one around. And it was...except that the bugs were out in full force. Wasps, Mosquitoes, Flies...you name it. Our defenses were futile at best, as the Citronella candles warded off the mosquitoes, but seemed to attract the wasps. Anyhow, we made the best out of it, enjoyed a nice BBQ dinner, and then were treated to a show by the campers next door who went skinny dipping in the lake, not realizing that we could see them through the trees.

The next day we drove up to Joffre Lakes, a provincial park which features a few glacier topped mountains and three picturesque lakes. We originally set out to see the first lake (Lower). But the first lake was like a movie trailer...it just gave a small hint of what was to come, and we pushed on to the upper lake (5.5 km). As you'll see from these pictures the scenary was awesome, especially at the upper lake where you could see the melting glacier waters flow down the mountain side into the lake. The hike back got a little hairy at times, as the thunderstorms loomed in the distance and the rain steadily came down on us, making the trail quite slippery..which isn't all that great when your legs are on the verge of turning into jello. Fortunately we made it back in one piece. The following day we decided for a complete change in pace and vegged out at Alta Lake to work on the tan.

Yah gotta love BC, eh?

Buy high, sell low

Nicole and I signed up for our Gift Registry yesterday. We both went into the store pretty pumped up to do some "shopping", and after filling out some forms, the lady handed us Mr. Scanner and away we went. It was damn fun and frustrating at the same time. Fun because i'd go around to each item and scanning stuff like it was a game of laser tag (I'm sure Nicole thought i was a goof.). Frustrating, because, it's so freakin' hard to decide on what to get, as I already have a lot of stuff already (might not be best quality stuff though). So when I came across the Potato Masher - which I don't have - , i was all over it. So I scanned it in. Later that night, we checked the list online, and lo behold..it was there. But upon closer inspection, we discovered that '# desired' was 19. Our shock turned to laughter, when we imagined getting *19* potato mashers. Anyways, thanks to the wonders of online shopping, I corrected our mistake - must have been a little too trigger happy with that scanner.

On a somewhat related note, if I'd ever want to sell stuff I don't want, I could always go to eBay. But of course, I'd be up front and honest. And here's an example of honesty to the extreme.

Grindin' away.

Working from home today. Except for my birds, its pretty quiet and i seem to get a lot more done. In other news, in what seems to have become a Canada Day tradition for the past two years, i made my annual pilgrimage up Grouse Mountain on July 1st. I finished it in a record 1hr 56min, my slowest time ever. But that's OK, i had a good excuse :P I redeemed myself and did it again last night in 49 mins thanks to some guy who made a race out of it as we kept passing each other a couple times. I bought a Summit Seeker card this year so i can get my Grind times tracked. I officially reached Kosciuszko status having climbed the equivalent of Mt. Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia, which probably doesn't say that much since Australia is considered the flattest continent on Earth.