Why Chihuahuas Are The Most Appropriate Backcountry Dog ...

Yesterday, I learned why a micro-dog like a Chihuahua is a more appropriate dog for the backcountry ... especially when you have to carry one out from the mountains.

This is a picture of me carrying Tukker, a 85 pound Border Collie / Labrador cross with a broken front right leg:

The story ... on Saturday (the 28th), Killaine & I went to hike up the Golden Ears (in Golden Ears Provincial Park). The hike is quite strenuous, with about 1500+ metres of climbing over a 23 or so kilometre round trip. Killaine & I made it to Panorama Ridge and decided to stop there - a combination of poor visibility, Killaine's lingering tiredness from the Queen Charlotte Marathon last weekend, and that I'd been to the summit before.

So, we hung out for a little bit along the ridge, then headed back down.

At around the 8 1/2 km mark, we ran into a couple (Adam & Kierstie ) whose dog (Tukker) had slipped and broken his front right paw - they already had Tukker in the back of Adam's pack, and Kierstie was carrying the bulk of their overnight gear.

Considering that Killaine is virtually a card-carrying member of PETA, and that it was a long, long way back down the trail to carry Tukker, we both pitched in to help Adam & Kierstie .

We split up the gear from Kierstie's pack, and proceeded down the trail, with Adam carrying Tukker in his pack (the trail down, by the way, is steep, rocky & rooted). We lost the trail at one point, necessitating a quick reconnaisance and hike back up to the main trail. I took over carrying Tukker for a couple of kilometres, traded him back to Adam for another couple of kilometres, then a final carry for me down the last bit of steep trail and thankfully onto the long, flat 3 km stretch back to the parking lot - Adam taking over for the last 1 1/2 km.


Tukker was remarkably patient to being carried in a pack for around 6 or 7 hours - although he did squirm a few times, he was generally pleasant (albeit very heavy) to carry. All in all, it was a very long day - about 20km, 1400m of elevation gain & loss and about 11 hours of hiking.

A short YouTube video of me carrying Tukker can be found here.

Hopefully Tukker gets better soon!

(Update: Tukker did have a complicated fracture of his wrist, so he might need some surgery on it)

Rush in Seattle

Sadly, I didn't go to Seattle to see Rush (my all-time favorite rock group), but my friend Todd went, and sent this photo:


Suffice to say, I was sad that I didn't go. They don't have a Vancouver date planned yet, but hopefully and God willing, they shall schedule one for later this year.

Euphorbia Leuconeura

On a totally different track ... a few details on plants in my office!

Here is my office:

As you can see, I've got alot of plants ... a number of different types - around 11 or 12 plants.

My favorite plant is this one:


This plant is a "Euphorbia Leuconeura". I was particularly interested to find out what kind of plant this is so that I could get it to propogate properly. It took a bit of detective work - my Mum indicated it was a Euphorbia - which is a rather large genus of different plant types - about 2160 different species. They are generally distinguished by having a caustic, poisonous latex sap (i.e. they bleed a white latex fluid when their skin is pricked).

It took a bit of work to figure out which of the 2160 different species this particular plant actually is ... but, thanks to Google Image Search, I went through pages of images until I found one that matched my plant. I discovered that the common name is "Madagascar Jewel".

In terms of propagation, the plant propogates by creating little husky seed casings with little petals. These eventually dry and fall off the plant, where they (eventually, and with luck) generate into tiny little plants.

I haven't had much luck getting them to propogate, but I discovered that they like the early morning sun - this seems to get the plant to create the seed casings. I discovered - just yesterday - one of these plants growing in a different pot!

Busy 7 Days

It's been a busy 7 days of exercise. Starting last Wednesday:

• Wednesday: hiked up the first and second peaks of Mt. Seymour
• Thursday: did a great mountain bike ride around the lower trails on Mt. Seymour
• Friday: Went paddling for 3 1/2 hours in Burrard Inlet with Killaine
• Saturday: Helped out at the KneeKnacker with North Shore Rescue (providing emergency evacuation & first aid). I "swept" (i.e. ran) the last quarter of the race looking for straggling runners (Killaine swept the second quarter)
• Sunday: Hiked up the Squamish Chief with my friend Martin
• Monday: Sweep on the Grouse Grind
• Tuesday: Team familiarization hike on the two peaks of Strachan, behind the Cypress ski area.

Phew. Altogether, over 3600m of climbing. Time for a rest day ...

Pumpkins!

I just got tickets to see the Smashing Pumpkins, September 24th here in Vancouver! They're one of my favorites - I've seen them once before in Berlin.

Short Hike on Seymour

I did a short "after work" hike on Mt. Seymour on Wednesday, up to the first and second peaks. There is still an astounding amount of snow up there (~2 to 3 feet on flat or south facing slopes above ~1200m).

The blackflys were absolutely horrid - I was completely swarmed by them for the majority of the hike.

New York Times Calls for Immediate Withdrawl From Iraq

The New York Times (finally?) prints an editorial calling for the US to withdraw from Iraq immediately:

The Road Home - New York Times

Leading Peak on Anvil Island

I did something today I've wanted to do for some time - paddle out to Anvil Island in Howe Sound and hike up Leading Peak.

Here's a google map showing the location.

I was in the water at a little past 8:00am, and did the 7km or so crossing from Porteau Cove over to Anvil Island:


The view of Leading Peak from the cove on the south-east side of the island:

I landed at Pebble Beach, stowed the kayak, put on my hiking boots, and headed up the peak. The trail was in excellent condition making for pretty quick progress.

The peak, as it draws closer:


Finally, the view from the summit - it was a fantastic panoramic view of all of Howe Sound:


A token picture of me at the summit:


Then, after a quick lunch, quickly back down the trail to get back to the kayak. I wanted to get down and back in the water before the afternoon winds came up.


It was a little choppier going back, but conditions were still fine. I was back at Porteau Cove by a little past 2pm.

Now, I need to put in a few words here to help with others that might want to repeat this trip. All the trip reports that I've read (there aren't many out there) specify landing at the Bible Camp on the south tip of the island. However, during the summer months, they don't all people to land and cross their property - at other times, hikers are assessed a $25 fee for crossing. A much better alternative is to land at Pebble Beach - a small (75m or so wide) beach in the cove east of the southern point. UTM coordinates for this are 785851. From the middle of the beach, a trail leads a short distance onto a broad path (you'll know you're going the right way 'cause there's a sign pointing to "camp"). Going west along the broad path, take the right (uphill) fork at 783850. As you walk along this path, you'll cross a small creek with a small concrete dam, and a few water structures. Eventually, you'll pass a couple of concrete water structures 5 or 6 feet high - the trail to Leading Peak starts just on the other side of them - there is a sign pointing towards the Peak. From there, the trail is easy to follow!

An Exploration in Mosquito Creek

During the summer months, North Shore Rescue trades training for familiarization hikes on the North Shore. Last Tuesday night, under the guidance of our mapping and trails expert Doug, we explored the trails up in Mosquito Creek.


I've been into Mosquito Creek a couple of times on different search & rescue tasks - once, Bob and I descended the length of the creek over 9 hours in a search for a missing American, David Koch. In a separate task last year, Mike & I went in to find and bring out 3 wayward Japanese english students:


The Mosquito Creek area can best be characterized as having horrendous bush, criss-crossed in the lower area with a confusing array of very old logging and skid roads - certainly a very easy area to get lost.

In Memory of Caroline

An acquaintance of mine, Caroline, died in a rapelling accident last weekend at Skaha Bluffs, near Penticton.

A couple of articles from the Penticton Herald can be found here and here.

I first met Caroline several years ago, on a BCMC trip up Sproatt Mountain. I later took a lead climbing course with her, again through the BCMC, and also climbed Mt. Shuksan in Washington with her.

I ran into her one day at the outpatient clinic at the Vancouver General Hospital, during one of my post-surgery checkups for my broken leg. Caroline was also there for a checkup, having sustained a number of bone injuries in an earlier climbing fall.

Although it has been a few years since I last saw her, I will remember her as an enthusiastic outdoors person who embraced the challenges of climbing.

Paddle out in Burrard Inlet

Killaine & I went for a paddle today out in Burrard Inlet. Killaine rented a kayak from Ecomarine at Jericho Beach, and I paddled over from Kits Beach:

Gear Recovery at Singing Pass

On Sunday (Canada Day), I headed back up to the Singing Pass area to pick up some gear that Gord & I had left behind on the final, long day of our spring ski traverse with Diana and Ron.

I rode up the access road to the parking lot - it probably saved a little time on the way in, but it was very fast on the way out:

The challenge of the day was getting across a couple of streams. The first one was a bit of a heinous crossing of the stream coming down the big washout early on the trail. It was worse coming back (as the flow increased from snow melting during the day):
There was still quite a bit of snow up near Singing Pass. This picture is at about 1432m, a couple of hundred metres above where we left the gear:

The snow quickly disappeared, and it was back down the slopes we had climbed earlier, with big packs and skis on our backs:

The GPS led me pretty much straight to the gear. However, mice had eaten into the plastic bag we left the gear in, and the rope and other stuff had "leaked out", exposing it to the elements.


Curiously, only Gord's overbooties showed any visible bite marks. Suffice to say, however, after my harness and rope sitting out for 2 months, rotting in the rain, I'll be throwing them away.

One of the nice waterfalls on the way out:


And, finally back across the stream at the washout. I crossed on the logs visible in this picture:


It was slightly intense.

All in all, a fun day out - my own "geocaching" challenge. Although some of the gear is kinda ruined, we can still recover the climbing hardware and fuel bottles. I finished up the day with a Splitz Burger in Whistler, and watched the Red Bull Elevation BMX Contest.

Gear Recovery

I'm writing this from close to the Singing Pass trail - close to where we left some gear on the last day of our spring ski traverse.

I found the gear quite easily! However, it looks like some mice have been into it and feasted on Gord's overbooties. Plus, the bag was ripped open, and looks like the stuff in there got exposed to the elements. I think the climbing hardware is ok, but not the harnesses or rope! Fortunately, my harness and rope are older, so that's ok. Nice hike anyway!

Hiking up to Singing Pass now, then out to whistler for a splitz burger!