My summer vacation

Last month, we took the entire month off and headed up north to British Columbia. The hiking adventures will and have been documented in stand-alone posts but I thought I'd gather up the loose ends of the trip to beautiful Rossland in British Columbia and post them in this missive.

The Columbia River, at Trail

After hiking up Bear Creek Mountain with Jim, we left Yakima and headed up to Spokane. On the way we broke up the trip by cruising the Wild Horse Monument overlooking the Columbia Gorge in central Washington. The monument is a collection of metal horses, collectively known as the sculpture "Grandfather Releases The Ponies" which while growing up, was time for us children to leave the room in a hurry.

Horsies!

Horseshoe Lake at night

In Spokane we camped at Horseshoe Lake and I had fun despite having to spend an entire day with Dollie's family. And if any of the inlaws reads this:  relax, I say the same thing about my family. And if any of my family reads this: I didn't know  you had Internet. When evening fell we launched a firework over the lake and then spent the rest of the evening searching for Maggie as her little dog brain can't handle loud explosions. I finally found her walking along the road about a mile away.

The Columbia River

In Rossland, British Columbia, we enjoyed a super hike on the Seven Summits Trail. We also ambled around Nancy Greene Lake, named after a local skier who won a gold medal in the Grenoble Olympics. It was a short and pleasant walk that didn't quite rise to the level of "hike". Other activities we partook of while in Rossland were daily afternoon dips in the Columbia River where retired miners recounted old mining stories, a bike ride in Trail, a car tour up the Kootenay River to Nelson, and a visit to a winery that had a red wine to die for.

All the Rossland fun would not have taken place without our host Sabra and her cohort Scotty. We are absolutely indebted to you two.

Seven Summits Trail

Sabra and co-host Scott on the trail

Hooray, it's summer vacation time in the O'Neill household! Our previous hike into the Washington's Goat Rocks was the opening salvo. Migrating north like Canada geese in spring, but with considerably less honking, we found ourselves in Rossland, British Columbia and yes, we were in Canada.

Sabra, our host, suggested we hike on the Seven Summits Trail and all I needed to hear was "Seven Summits" and I was in. The Seven Summits Trail is primarily renown as an epic 22-mile mountain biking trail and we shared the trail with many bikers who were mostly walking their bikes up the trail, a steep trail being the apparent equalizer between hikers and bikers.

Indian paintbrush along the trail

Sabra, Dollie, Moose,
John, and me

Joined by new found Canadian friends Sabra, Scott, John, and Moose (you know you are in Canada when you have a friend named Moose), we set out on the trail which initially was fairly level through a wooded forest. But that would change and change it did as we started to climb through the wooded trail. At nearly two miles, Dollie and I found ourselves well ahead of the Canadian contingent and we had to backtrack to rejoin the group at the Sun Spot, a viewless backwoods shelter.

Mount Crowe

Continuing on, Dollie and I hiked to Lepsoe Basin, a relatively nondescript open spot on the slopes of Mount Lepsoe. We enjoyed  a nice view of Mount Crowe (no relation to Russell) as we lunched on a rocky bench. After lunch, the trail went uphill in earnest, contouring relentlessly upwards through the woods.

The reason we hike

After several miles, we encountered a hiking group coming downhill and they advised us to keep going as there were good views near the Lepsoe summit. We were wondering at the time whether to keep going or not and we were glad we heeded their advice.

Old Glory, in all its glory

The forest did thin out, spitting us out into wildflowered meadows under a blue sky while the trail grade eased up a couple of percentage points. We could see some stuff, too, Old Glory being the nearest mountain with a deep river valley below. In the distance were some very large mountains, begging another visit to this beautiful corner of British Columbia.

Orange agoseris

We turned around where the trail began to descend to a saddle between Mounts Lepsoe and Plewman, bikers literally whooped with joy at the descent. We enjoyed the scenery all over again on the way back while picturesque thunderheads formed over Mount Crowe. I wasn't even disappointed we bagged only one out of seven mountains.

Getaway day in Vancouver

I don't like you and I shall scream in your ear

After our visit to Vancouver's Capilano Park, we hopped into the car and returned to Stanley Park. We drove around the park's peninsula shoreline, stopping at several beaches where we observed crows and gulls napping, feeding, and wading.  There were geese in a small park there and while we were taking pictures of a goose couple, up comes a goose striding purposefully and carrying nothing but bad attitude. There was much honking, squawking, and feather pulling. My guess is that the bad goose was the jilted husband.

So this goose walks into a bar...

From there we drove into the downtown area and ate Lebanese food, a rarity for us Roseburgians as most Roseburgians think Lebanon is a small town in Oregon with no cuisine of note. Nearby was a collection of odd little men statutes. Well, not all that little, each one was several feet taller than me. We had stumbled on the A-Mazing-Laughter whose little men are dedicated to the power of laughter, frozen forever in time guffawing at the latest off-color joke involving a bad goose.

I felt right at home

Fore!

But this is a hiking blog (allegedly) and we would be remiss if we didn't start walking at some point. Beginning near Science World, whose building resembles a giant golf ball waiting to be smacked by a 3-iron club, we set out on the bike path on the seawall alongside False Creek. I'm not sure what was false about False Creek, but the "creek" was way too wide to be considered a creek, no matter how many beers had been imbibed.

We walked by Rogers Arena, home of the Vancouver Canucks (hockey!). I yelled out "Go Portland Winterhawks!" and no one paid attention, apparently our Oregon team is too minor league. A "Go Sharks!" did the trick and drew dirty looks.

How many apartments does a city need?

I swear Vancouver must be the apartment tower capital of the world;  tall towers sprung up like weeds on both sides of the creek, false as it is. At any rate, we passed a bunch of tall buildings before ducking under the Cambie Street Bridge and coming upon a Time Top.

Maybe this is where President Obama was born

Yes, it really was a Time Top and I have no idea what a Time Top does. But there was one there, looking all the world like an alien artifact. A nearby plaque identified the contraption as a Time Top. Actually, after doing a little bit of research I found out the Time Top made its appearance in the Brick Bradford (yes, that Brick Bradford!) comic strip and the artist came from Canada. So the Time Top found a home, randomly placed, under a bridge in Vancouver.

The next item on our agenda, which was as random as the Time Top's final resting place, was the iconic Canada Place. Passing the Olympic Flame cauldron (flame extinguished when the Olympics left), we strolled on the wide promenade on the Place. Canada Place is adorned with distinctive "sails" above the businesses, hotels, and promenade walkers.  The net effect is that it feels a lot like walking a deck on the Love Boat, not that the Love Boat ever had sails on it.

Paging Captain Stubing

We had spent most of the day in Vancouver and only scratched the surface of this interesting and beautiful city. But we had a long drive to return us to the interesting and beautiful city of Winston, Oregon (sarcasm intended). On the plus side, this blog will return to the more familiar theme of hiking on trails.

Get that camera out of my face, now!

Capilano Park

Capilano Park, straddling both sides of the Capilano River canyon near Vancouver, is billed as "extreme nature" or something like that. For Dollie and I, who spend many a weekend on the various goat paths, cliffs, and mountains in southern Oregon; Capilano comes across tame and a little bit cheesy, just like fondue.   Actually fondue is quite a bit cheesy and Capilano still is a fun way to spend a frosty morning.

Dollie brings her Oregon brand of culture to Capilano Park

Dollie, on the Cliffwalk

There are three main attractions: The Cliffwalk, the Treetop Adventure, and the renown Capilano Suspension bridge dangling 230 feet above the Capilano River. As we started the Cliffwalk, a huge chunk of canyon wall broke off and tumbled into the river with a loud crack and roar, just like my dad stretching after a good night's sleep. Since the Cliffwalk is a spidery set of catwalks, seemingly frail and delicate, clinging precariously to the canyon cliffs, a landslide across the canyon was disconcerting, to say the least.

The precarious Cliffwalk

However, I am glad to report our side of the canyon stayed intact long enough for us to enjoy the Cliffwalk experience. The walk is exposed and high up there and would send any acrophobe into a panic attack similar to my wife finding a garter snake in the garden.  For us however, it compares to maybe hiking the cliffs on the Rogue River Trail, with one exception. There is a glass enclosed "diving board" jutting out into the airy void, causing me to utter a queasy "eeh" as I walked out to snap a few pictures. 

The Capilano Suspension Bridge spans the canyon and is, as mentioned, 230 feet above the river. I quickly found out there are stern-faced staff (not to mention, a stern-faced wife) posted nearby to tell certain tourists not to play on the bridge.

Capilano, himself

The Treetop Adventure

On the opposite and apparently landslide-prone side, a series of wooden catwalks and suspension bridges took us from tree to tree. Now this was cool and no one told me not to play on the bridges. It reminded me of the old computer game Myst or maybe the elf city in the Lord of the Rings. Gollum Dollie enjoyed the Treetop Adventure, also.

Hi, Mom!

The trails underneath the Treetop Adventure wound their way alongside the canyon rim in beautiful and pristine boardwalks in what was quite a change from our normal trail tread. Our feet and eyes were grateful. 

A small  creek on its way to the Capilano River

We enjoyed dangling on the various catwalks and bridges above the park but by this time we were cold (it was below freezing) so we headed back to the car, in search of warmer environs in Vancouver.