Hail Storm adds beauty and excitement to Deep Cove Tuesday Night Paddle Races

Andrew and I headed out in Ben's Mark 2 double surf ski for the first time this spring/summer. It was still chilly out and the water not warm but Andrew being more of the risk taker persuaded me it was time to step it up a notch. Not wanting to feel like a wimp and deep down inside wanting to get out on the surfski I smiled and said yes. I was quickly regretting my decision as rain and dark clouds greeted us in Deep Cove. As the race began and we all sprinted off the hail began to fall... at first it was fun, then the drops got bigger, harder and faster and fun turned into pain...but, as the rainbow shined over the mountains and the sun created a beautiful white mist over the ocean and the adventure became a little ridiculous fun returned and I loved it. The noise as the hail hit our carbon paddles was a little surreal and the plopping sounds of it as millions of drops pounced on the ocean was pretty cool! If a video turns up i will post it up.... until then use your imagination....

adventures continue on the pacific northwest!

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!

lina

Comox Snow to Surf....GOLD!

(Paul Palfreyman photographer)

Paul's Pictures HERE!

Figrolls racing came together in Comox for another fun filled weekend of mtn biking and the annual snow to surf relay race. This year Andrew and I were the last leg of the race... the ocean canoe!

First thoug,h Saturday a crew of us went out on some of the local CUmberland xcountry mtn bike trails for a little rip around...after a couple of minor mishaps (leaving a helmet behind etc) and our usual guides being busy we had an eventful little ride. We were left to our memories and a map but some recent logging left us confused and a little lost.... we did manage to hit some of the usual trails and a couple of new ones even if they weren't the ones we intended to ride and it was still good times with awesome trails!

After the ride, Andrew and I hit the water on the canoe for a last minute paddle on the course for Sunday.. it was calm and a beautiful evening for a paddle.... race day would prove to be very different....

Our usual potluck dinner and drinks finished off the fun filled day in Comox....

Sunday was the big Snow to Surf RACE DAY. It is a brilliant locally run event but can be a swarm of confusion for those of us with a lack of organizational skills. Luckily Andrew and I just had to head to the beginning of the canoe leg, simple!..... The race begins with the alpine ski, then nordic ski, two runners, mtn bike, kayak, road bike and finished with the canoe.

(photographer Paul Palfreyman)

Andrew and I had been in the canoe twice beforehand but felt fairly confident in the sturdy boat. The canoe leg began with a 1km run down the bike path where the canoe partner would be waiting with the boat at the edge of the water. I scored the run as I luckily brought running shoes (lucky? I don't know?!?)... I forgot how much sprinting hurts! Jacek came in 12/13th from the road bike and I was off trying to hold off another competitor just behind me. Andrew was ready with the canoe I jumped in and we were off. The water was nothing like the evening before, it was choppy, wavy and pretty much all over the place. One canoe took off ahead of us and we tried to keep it in our sight and managed to sneak by another. 3/4 of the way through the course a canoe that overtook us capsized in front of us which allowed us to regain our spot. Andrew did a fabulous job steering while I tried to keep us moving forward. I have to say we were a great team. Paddling into the finish was grand and I got to jump out of the canoe and ring the finish line bell! woohoo. We managed to come in 12th overall and 1st in the Open mixed category! the rest of the crew did awesome!

we enjoyed the beer garden but had to sadly head back to mainland... until next year

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

The Sea of Cortez gets my two thumbs up...

Andrew and I have just returned from a picture perfect kayaking trip in the Baja California Sur Mexico where we spent 6 days out on the beautiful sea of Cortez, then a day at the El Chorro hot springs and finished off our little trip (thanks to Captain Kirk) with SUP'in from la playa in La Ventana.

It was hot, it was sunny, and it was post card picture perfect. We snorkeled with balloon fish amongst other sea creatures, we got 5 nights with private beaches (no one else happen to be there), we hiked up and through canyons and among various cactus plants, we experienced the markets of mexico, and some of the great local delicacies such as fish tacos and clams. We enjoyed our share of cervezas and vino. We read books, slacklined and simply enjoyed life in the desert.




Mar y Aventuras provided us with kayaks and the right kayaking gear for our 6 day trip out of Telecote and around the Isla Espiritu Santo and Partido. The islands are part of the national park and no fresh water can be found on these islands. We therefore stuffed 48 litres of water in our kayaks along with food and gear for 6 days. We decided to try and maximize our Mexican experience with bringing lots of tortillas, beans, avocados and cheese. Something, that is very different in Baja than in BC is that it is HOT and fresh food is harder to keep than in BC where cooler waters and temperatures help preserve these fine foods.



Our kayak route is shown on the map. We enjoyed fairly light winds on our trip. Apparently April is one of the best months for kayaking in this part of the world. Wind is normally the "worry" while kayaking on the Sea of Cortez off the coast of Baja. Having only the forecast of winds and waves before we left we took the opportunity of light winds on our first two days and covered much distance on our kayaks (3/4 of the route...maybe I was treating it a little like an adventure race and forgot that we could rest and not keep moving as fast we could and be heroes...oops! hehe). Having completed most of our route on the first two days we took the opportunity to hike, snorkel and enjoy 'rest' on the final four days of our kayak adventure while bay hoping on the inside passage of the island. We rarely saw anyone else and enjoyed 5 nights of private beach camping!!!

More of our favorite pictures can be found HERE!

Andrew also has a blog and wrote something up about the trip as well. Our pics are the same but our thoughts and take on the adventure are different... enjoy!

This trip was grand and it had been awhile since I went away on an adventure that wasn't a race.

I do miss racing and I will be back on the adventure race scene sometime in the near future. I am excited to train and see what opportunities arise for me. For now I am going to train hard on the mtn bike and race in Pemberton's new 50km race in May as well as give my first xterra race a try in Squamish this June....

for now its back to applications, training, and life in Vancouver (which I LOVE) until the next adventure...

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Easter Weekend at Ipsoot Mountain

We spent a lovely weekend in the mountains with good friends Sj and Tom.... we ate, skied, shredded, camped and truly enjoyed life! Here are some pics by Tom Furst.























Happy Easter!

Here are some pics from Andrew





We are off to Mexico on a sea kayak expedition off the coast of Baja!

Live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Weekend

Andrew and I headed back to Egmont for some wedding planning stuff but also for the relaxation, and the beautiful outdoor setting! We took some pictures (yet to add), rode our mtn bikes, hiked and had some r & r. We even got to pick our dinner for Saturday night straight from the beaches of Egmont. We went Oyster, clam and mussel picking in the low tide and "caught" our dinner fresh off the shores! Lexi, a french woofer made us a sweet belgian style mussel dish with "pomme de frite", a classic, apparently.

We had to return Sunday morning as I had a lululemon luncheon function at the top of Grouse. After very little deliberation I hiked up instead of taking the gondola. It was in pretty good condition until closer to the top where the snow was a little slick but really not that bad (probably a different story now after some heavy snow fall this week). I made it in time for some delicious lunch and great conversation. I also made it before the massive hail thunderstorm hit the peak of Grouse. It was quite the spectacle.

Of course the grind wasn't enough for me so I went out for an evening run in the rain around east van (my rockin' neighborhood if you didn't already know).

What's next? Well, some backcountry pow fun to be had this weekend and then.... Andrew and I are headed to Southern Baja for a weeklong sea kayak expedition and some r&r on the beach. A little celebration for making it through my long teaching practicum and getting that much closer to becoming a full fledge school teacher! woohoo!

Upon our return we will paddle hard in the snow to surf comox relay race and then some local run/AR/etc races in May.

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina

Tuesday Night Paddles

Love it!

we had a wonderful paddle last night... good to be out on the water with Ben, Johnny and Andrew! No more night paddles though... it was light the entire time...summer is coming! Look forward to warmer times so I can get out of the ski without worrier about hypothermia!

Last day at Moscrop :(... I will miss it all. Soon to be a teacher though.... exciting stuff!

off to the sunshine coast for the weekend! mtn biking and wedding planning! woohoo!

live, love, laugh,..DREAM!
lina

To the top of Mount Baker

(photo of us on the summit from Paul's camera)



We climbed MOUNT BAKER!!!!!! WOOHOO!

The weather forecast looked promising, the group came together and the summit was reached.

Friday evening the group was formed: Paul, Andrew, Kala and myself. I was excited yet nervous. My body has not been feeling up to par as of late and I was a little worried what a 12 hour day might look like for me (or not look like) but I wanted to climb Baker so bad.... So I promised myself to focus mentally and work on pushing through if anything were to happen with my body.

Saturday morning Andrew and I slept through as our alarm was set for 4PM rather than 4AM... OOPS. It was good luck that Kala rang us and was picking the crew up.. phew... thank goodness for Andrew's mad organizational skill as we got up and ready to go in less than 5 min and were in Port Moody to pick up Paul around 5am.

The border was a breeze and the American officer actually made some jokes mostly consisting on us realizing how early it really is and that Baker doesn't open for several hours.... Good thing we were being hard core and propelling ourselves to the top!

We hit the trail head at about 7:30AM.... and looked like we were one of the last groups to begin our ascent...



Paul set us off with a solid pace and we made it into the alpine in about one hour... The view was stunning with Baker hovering infront of us and sharp aspects of the glacier jetting out of the snow... We climbed a ridge for awhile and eventually started making our way to the Col. Baker is definitely one of those mountains that grows as you get closer. You think you are there but then there is another ledge to climb over.



As we were gaining ground towards the Col/saddle the Wind was starting to pick up. The wind was still quite warm and blowing in gusts. So in other words quite pleasant.

We eventually reached the saddle where the wind was pretty unreal. It was becoming difficult to see in front of you as the wind was picking up the snow off the ground and blowing it in many different directions enough so it almost felt and looked like we were in the midst of a squall.



We shedded our skis and put on our crampons to begin our trek up The Roman Wall. The snow was icy in points but on the whole not too bad but the wind... oh the wind... Basically neither of us spoke to each other for 3 hours until we made it back down to the saddle as comprehension would not have been possible. We got ourselves as bundled up as possible. As people were coming down from the summit their expressions and actions described the wildness of the wind we were to experience on top of the summit... The wall seemed to go on forever until we reached the flat section just before the summit.

The wind was gail force up there and unfortunately we did not spend too much time on the summit. It was hard to even stand up there! It truly was an amazing feeling to reach the top of something people in Vancouver constantly stare at on a nice sunny day.



We quickly retreated back to the saddle trying not to get blown off the cliff. Once we reached the saddle we put our skis back on and quickly escaped the worst of the winds. It is such a pleasure to be able to ski down rather than walk... the legs were definitely sore but the speed and ease of skiing is so wonderful. We even scored some nice pow!



We had lunch just before our last forest section... well deserved I think! We skied/hiked the last bit through the forest, the snow was thin and we could tell the sun was shinning down in the valley.

I cans see why mountaineers keep heading back into the mountains. There is some sort of addiction to it all.

Of course a little apres dinner and beers at Graham's in Glacier was in order to celebrate our success!

i think there will be more trips like this in the future

Andrew's Blog: write up and Pics

Paul's blog write up and pics

live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina