Losing your Marbles.......

Location: Hell's Gate, Fraser Canyon.

Time of Year: May 16,2009

Other Info: Crossed a bridge.....walk up a path..............take note of the sign which is 90% helpful. Now how to contact Helen about said, "lost marbles".

Simplistic Conifer

Location: Whytecliff Park

Time of Year: May 3, 2009

Other Info: I just like how simple, at least to myself, this shot feels. The greens and yellows pop out nicely in contrast to the grey shaded background.

Whytecliff Park

Island connected to the shore via rock scramble.


Lone tree on the Island looking out south west into the Straight of Georgia.



Shot is to the south with West Vancouver in the background.



Location: Whytecliff Park, West Vancouver (Near Horseshoe Bay)


Time of Year: May 3, 2009


Other Info: Park has quiet a bit to offer with hiking trails, Island off shore that is accessible by a rock scramble path, and a beach. The Island that is located offshore, I figure through deduction, was once connected to the mainland. Striations mark up the mass of granite, which has a higher resistance to erosional forces than the rock that connected it to the mainland. The rock on the island has been smoothed thanks to processes of erosion wind, water and ice.

Diamond Head Hike

Location: Diamond Head, Waikiki Oahu

Time of Year: July 2008

Other info: Wear proper footwear for this hike, I was wearing flip flops as our original destination was Kapiolani Park and then we saw Diamond head was close and decided to walk up and around to the entrance and hike to the summit. The Trail is in decent condition a lot of tourists, tunnel sections, stairs and darkness. Also water is essential as there is no source of water on the hike and depending on the time of day you can bake in the crater as there is not much shade to cool off in. In total our walk was around 10 miles from hotel to summit.
One thing that I remember from the hike is that the Diamond Head is comprise of Tuff which has a resistant to erosional forces i.e. wind and water which in essenes is not tough at all, kind of nerdy but I still remember it so it works.
Also the crater provided a home for a military base which is much smaller than the days of the mid 20th century so the trail that we walked is the trail that the military used to carve out its tunnels for strategic lookouts on the ridge of the crater.

(Taken from Google Maps)

The red circle indicates the location of Diamond Head Crater in relation to Oahu.




(Taken from Google Maps)

Point A: Location of the hotel
Point B: No significance to the trip just where we turned to move on to the park
Point C: Kapiolani Park/ Zoo (Original Destination)
Point D: The entrance road to the Crater
Total distance to this point 2.2 miles, total distance to summit 5 miles (estimation, one way)



The classic Hawaiian shot of Waikiki golden sand, turquoise water and Diamond Head in the back ground.



The summit of Diamond Head 760 ft in elevation

View from the top (NW) over looking Waikiki, Kapiolani park the beaches and the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean

View from the top (NE) over looking Waikiki's residential areas which are moving up the slopes. Also in the foreground is a hut that is connected to the many tunnels that are in the ridge created by the military as a look out.

View from the top (SE) over looking the Crater floor where the military base exists today but in a much much smaller scale. In the distance to the left is Koko Head which has a crazy seat of stairs going straight up the side. Also Hanauma Bay is located on the other side of the mound to the right of Koko Head.

This is some interesting dry plant life or former plant life as it looks dried up but it was really spiky looking and caught my eye.

Manning Park (Skyline)

My friend I took off early in the morning hike for five fun filled hours. The trail that we tackled is called Skyline it starts from Strawberry flats near the ski hill and takes you to the junction of skyline1 and skyline2. Skyline1 starts from the east from spruce bay. Skyline2 continues west from the junction and takes you down into the Skagit Valley. The elevation gain from Strawberry flats to the junction is roughly 1500ft or 450m over 5km with a grade of 9%. So not super steep but a good work out to the junction.

The map below shows the trail as a black dashed line. The junction as I saw it seemed to be more to the west as the red line would indicate, some nice heads up digitizing eh eh. There are five points on the map and they coincide with pictures.

The trail takes you from heavy forest up through sub alpine and alpine areas as the treeline thins out. There are some good examples of glacial features left from the last glacial period. The main features that I observed were U-shaped valley's and a possible Nunatuk with cirques, arretes, scree and talus slopes.

(Point 2)

This is the view from the junction. In the distance you will see a defining mountain in the distance. That is Mount Hozameen which is located South of the 49th. The Lake in the bottom of the picture is Thunder Lake the most westerly of the thunder lake chain.

So here is a closer view of Mount Hozameen. There are some defining glacial features that can be observed. First is the Nunatuk which is located to the right side of the picture (snowy side, above the tree). A nunatuk is pyramid point in which was not eroded because it was higher than the ice. So how high was the ice you ask... about 2km's all the other peaks in the area are rounded due to glacial erosion. Another interesting fact is that Mount Hozameen seems, from a distance to be made of igneous which means that it is more resistant to erosion therefore the sharp features we created as the weaker material was carried away. There is also a cirque between the two peaks this is where snow accumulates and a glacier is born over many years of accumulation and depletion. There is also an arrete which is a kinfe like ridge at the back wall of the cirque connecting the two peaks.

Here is an example of the rounded peaks these are just under 2000m's so they felt the force of a glacier.

(Point 3-4)

This is a picture of a alpine meadow it was much rewarding to walk on semi flat ground with very little elevation gain after 5km of elevation gain. It is amazing how rejuvenating the flat areas are. In the distance you can see a U-Shaped valley with its steep walls and flat valley floor. Rounded peaks once again sure fire sign of glacial erosion.

I was expecting to see more flowers but I think we were in between seasons for wild flowers. So this hike took place mid July so hike mid June to beginning of July if you want to see wild flowers.

Dying flowers symbolizes depleting stamina of the hike.

Devils Paint brush just coming into season.

This section of the hike was rewarding in a sense that the meadow and breeze but that lasted for about 1.5km then about 1km of narrow scree/ talus slopes of narrow angled trail. Talus for those interested is loose rock. So steep slopes + loose footing * narrow trail + (backpack)*(Camera bag) equals alot of concentration and taking my time (thinking back I should have used my a bigger backpack it would have helped with my balance).

(Point 5)

The summit, sitting at 6550 ft looking across the valley eating lunch there is nothing like it. The wind and sun caressing your skin acts as a pain killer to your sore muscles. There were black flies at the peak that enjoy sweaty flesh, little bugger took a chunk out of palm but I honestly did not care.

I apologize for the stitching job of the panoramic forgive me, my next attempt will be better.

The worst part of the hike is that you have to traverse back eventually so we did. This is the only wildlife we saw. I think it is a grouse nearly stepped on it. We saw other traces of animals such as bear fur, prints and droppings. So be aware of your location and bring some noise makers and use common sense. This is active black, grizzly bear territory.

Josh conquering the said hike

Me and my lame tree impression

This is a beetle kill tree. Manning park has an issue with the pine beetle alot of the trees in the campsites and around the lightening lakes have been taken out.

Manning park has alot to offer outdoors wise hiking, canoeing on the lightening lakes, I also recommend as it is reasonably priced, camping etc... If you think of it in our times of economic strife this could be the perfect staycation as Manning Park is located less than 3hours from Vancouver.

Overall this was great hike got some good shots, I think, had a great sense of accomplishment that no video game could ever give me.

Deep Cove Hike

This hike is perfect for a picnic on a glorious sunny day. The local of the hike is in the sleepy town of Deep Cove which is located East of the City of North Vancouver. The hike is located on the Baden Powell trail. This section of the Baden-Powell trail if continued on will take you on a trek to Lynn Canyon, Which is much longer and,according to the information I have read, is rated between moderate and difficult. The length of the hike that my wife and I did was just over 1km and was a good work out. There were alot of people on the trail a majority running it which was border line insane if you are not in peak physical condition. The trail was well maintained with markers every five steps it seemed. For sections that were too steep for a trail stairs are in place. Below in the graph is a representation of the trail, not completely accurate as I used my GPS for elevation. The elevation gain is about 100m which may not seem like much but 100m of 1100m which works out to a 9-10% grade as generalization of the hike.

Graph: Trail Representation


There are also 5-6 bridges which you cross which I found entertaining, not sure why but I did.The whole hike, to the viewpoint, is in the forest and you are surrounded by massive Douglas Firs
Once you reach the view point you are greeted with a smooth rocky outcrop which has stood up to the erosional forces of water,ice,wind etc.

Photo: Looking South across the Indian Arm towards Burrard Inlet:

Deep grooves,striations, can be seen in the rock out crop which points to glaciation and ice being the main erosional force.

Photo: Striations in the rock out crop.

In the striations and depressions in rock outcrop wind and water have transported and deposited sediment which has allowed for short grass and some other plant life to grow.

Photo: Plant Life

Photo: High above Indian Arm
Overall this was an enjoyable hike not to long but not to short perfect for an afternoon.

Bridal Veil Falls

These photo's were shot at Bridal Falls in Rosedale, just east of Chilliwack. My wife and I went on one of the warmer day's in May figured we would see some good flow dropping down the mountain side. I was disappointed at first as from the highway the promise of rushing water cascading down seemed to dawn a trickle. As we hiked, 15 min tops, the roar of a spring freshet could be heard and the process of alluvial erosion perked my nerdy geography side. Provided below is a topographic map from, natural resources Canada, at a scale of 1:75000 Grid zone 92H4, point of reference Chilliwack is located in 92H then 92H is broken down further,i.e. the 4 after the H, so a larger scale can be used to show more detail. Here is the website for the online topographic maps http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map its interesting to look at. Anyways after examining the topographic map I learned that Bridal falls originates off of Mt. Archibald and not Cheam,which is what I assumed.
Cheam Peak from Harrison:
Also another interesting website is river forecast website it shows the snow pillows and what there status is whether they are above or below normal and has some interesting graphs showing what has happened and is happening and compares them to trends of the average, maximum and minimum ranges. The link is http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/rfc/river_forecast/snowp_map.htm. The closest snow pillow to Bridal Falls is Wahleach Lake which is located about South West of the Cheam Peak. What this can show is when runoff or the freshet is occurring and that is when the waterfalls will be cascading the best.
So enjoy these shots.

This rock came flying down the Falls from the top about 400ft up. The rock bounced 5 ft from my head over a guys head below me and landed a few feet from my wife in the standing area. You can walk up to the falls but be aware of falling rocks, this rock is about 8"x8"x6" (L x W x H)

Water flowing away from the falls:

Near the parking lot:

I was impressed by the waterfall at this time of year if you go up in summer it is still nice but the water flow will be down to half or lower to what the spring run off will show you.