Festivals and Banff

Diane, Bobbie, me

When I was in Tennessee back in May, I was in a car park near to the bouldering area I was going to, when the lady parked next to me started to chat. She remarked on my BC plates and said I was a long way from home. The conversation progressed and we exchanged short snippets of information and names. Diane told me that she would be in Banff in July for some hiking and I would be very welcome should my plans allow. Email addresses were written and we parted company.

On my return to BC from the States, it was easier for me to see what my plans etc would be and it turned out that the dates that Diane and her friends would be in Banff fitted well into my plans.

I wanted to stay in Squamish for the weekend of the Mountain Festival. I bought myself some tickets to see a photographic slide show presentation/competition by some of the top outdoor photographers, presentations by Royal Robbins and Tommy Caldwell and last but not least a ticket to the Party.

The photographers slide shows were amazing and inspiring with photos from around the world as well as locally. It was great motivation for me to learn much more about outdoor photography. The presentation by Royal Robbins, a big wall climbing legend was funny and very interesting. Tommy Caldwell on the other hand was extremely disappointing, but I suppose not all climbers are slide show/talk specialists. Partying in Squamish was much fun though, lots of drinking, dancing and fun.

I left a day to recover before I hit the road for my 12 hour drive to Banff, Alberta, to meet up with Diane. The drive was good and it was great to be welcomed by Diane and Bobbie in a comfy condo with a shower and lovely food.

I spent the next 5 days hiking some of the most scenic trails I have ever been on. Diane and Bobbie were amazing to hike with and I am extremely grateful to their outstanding generosity and kindness. These ladies have a passion for hiking and would put most people half their age to shame with their endless energy. I would also like to thank Bobbie for taking more photos of me in 5 days than I have collectively over the last year.

Banff National Park did not disappoint and I would suggest that you visit if you like uncomplicated hiking with fantastic mountain scenery.

I am now back in Squamish trying to get in some climbing with my wonderful Canadian climbing buddies before leaving to come home. Just over 3 weeks away now.

How time flies.

xx

View from the top of Sentinal Pass

Me trying to be a photographer

Did not see any!

Moving on.

Knoxville, Tennessee

It is time to move again and I have to say my farewells to the South and head back north to Canada. I have to say I am quite sad to leave it is a truly beautiful part of the world.

Knoxville reflections

I have managed to get to quite a few climbing destinations whilst here and although very out of season it has been great to experience this amazing southern sandstone. I would love to come back when it is cooler and climb more of the fabulous looking boulders I have seen.

My latest excursion took me to Little Rock City (LRC) a couple of hours drive south of Knoxville. This is an area right on the edge of a golf course so is on private land and there are a few rules and regulations but well worth the $5 to climb there. I then travelled to Rock Town near Lafayette, Georgia. Sadly I only got to look at the boulders as it rained whilst I was there. Next on my list was Horse Pens 40 in Alabama. This area is again on private property but you can camp and climb there for $10 a night. The boulder formations here reminded me very much of Font in France. The heat and humidity were not very conducive for climbing on the many slopey top outs this place had to offer. To get full advantage I would love to go back in the winter with more people and crash pads. I did manage various low grade problems the highlight being a V2 called Dope. I am not good at slopers at the best of times but when your hands are sweaty and the rock is warm I reckon it makes it more like a V4. Well at least that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!

I also had a weekend trip to Boone, North Carolina with Matt, Justin and Josh. Good rock, good company and lots of laughs. Happy times and wonderful memories.

Y12 sport climbing

Green and blue everywhere

Lush

Butterfly

LRC

LRC

The boys at Boone

Horse pens 40

Beautiful rocks

Dope

Slopey top out nonsense

Me. Rock. Peace. All is good in my world right now.

All photos by Caroline Harvey

Time. It's a funny old game... Part II

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

My beloved time piece

I am fairly obsessed by time and I think it has become more noticeable to me over the last few months. I have always been "on time" and one of the few things that actually stresses me out is when I am not, or indeed when other people are not. I think my old job also made me very aware of time as my day was governed by bells ringing, so everything was very structured.

At present my life does not have much structure and I am no longer controlled by bells telling me when to start my day, eat and end my day. However, I still obsess about time. I find it very difficult not to wear my watch, although I do now take it off when I climb, mostly! I can live quite happily and have done when I have been camping, getting up with the sun, eating when hungry etc but I still like to know the time.

This obsession also means that I worry about making the most of my time, wondering that if I spend days like today not doing much in particular, am I wasting time. I have now been in Canada for nearly a month and I just do not know where the time has gone. I have been doing things but nothing of great significance. Should I have been doing more with my time or is this time being spent well by just doing "stuff" whilst waiting for better weather to roll into town.

It annoys me that I get annoyed by my sometimes wanton disregard for something that I am very precious about, and then waste more time procrastinating over the fact that I am wasting it. I worry that I have wasted large portions of my life time being in situations that I probably should have changed sooner, but were they a waste? Would I be any different if I changed those portions of time? Would I want to change the paths that I have been along? You make your own destiny by making choices and although I am still unclear as to what my destiny might be, would I have made different choices? If I had my own DeLorean would I go back in time to change my future? Probably not.

What scares me most about time is the speed that it passes. It amazes me that I have been on this planet as long as I have. It seems like only yesterday that I was 20 something with my whole life ahead of me. Now, well I am older, with still hopefully plenty time ahead but where the bloody hell did it all go. Am I not supposed to have my life "sorted" by now? I think many of these thoughts have been compounded recently as most of the people that I have met that are doing this whole take time out from life thing have been in their mid twenties and even they at least have a semi plan. Do I need a plan? Probably. I was hoping that this time away from home would help me to formulate something but so far no lightening bolts of inspiration have struck.

Whilst obsessing one evening I tried to write a poem of sorts just to get the thoughts out of my head. Now before you laugh, I am fully aware that I am no Wordsworth and it was only ever intended to be a scribble in my note book, but I thought I might share.

Time, it marches so proudly,

Always forwards and never back.

So swiftly it slips unnoticed through our fingers,

Ticking, ticking, ticking.

When we are young, time is unimportant and we seem invincible.

It is only age that shapes the reality of time as it runs away with our days,

Always forwards and never looking back.

Make the most of every day, so that memories will brighten your darkest thoughts.

Be always hopeful that time will be kind and serve you well.

Be gracious and thankful to the good times, but learn and gain wisdom from the bad.

Don't waste time by thinking, what if?

Use time and ask yourself, what now?

Time is valuable and precious and yet we often treat it with disrespect,

But regardless, time will move on even if we suddenly do not.

Do not miss a second, do not miss a beat.

It will pass without you, always forward and never back.

Time.

Old and new

Soggy shoes

I bought these amazing 5.10 shoes just over 2 years ago and as you can see they were looking a bit shabby. They had a rather large hole in the left heal and both soles were cracked along the middle, so needless to say they let in water. Today after a lovely but very rainy walk through the forrest I thought it best to go and get some new ones. Luckily I managed to get exactly the same shoes. Yippee.

Dry shoes

Getting there, slowly!

Well it has been a week since we left Hueco and what a week it has been.

Friday = 13 hour drive back to LA, although Wes did all the driving.

Saturday = Up early because I did not want to sleep in. At LAX by 8.30 am. Arrived at Tacoma, Seattle 1.0opm, departed 2.30pm. Landed Vancouver 3.30pm. Arrived final destination about 5.00pm.

Sunday = Went for walk in the morning then watched Olympic ice hockey final, visited Down town Van to watch celebrations, lost camera lens cover, watched closing ceremony on TV.

Monday = Looked for a car, found one, paid deposit. Bought a new phone because you can not buy just a sim card and my O2 wireless one from the States does not work here.

Tuesday = Bought car. Had hassle getting insurance because British Columbia's car insurance is run by the government and they have many funny rules and regulations. Managed to get 3 months insurance for Canada. If I go to the US again will need to get some there, hopefully. Got myself a haircut after 8 months without. Looked ok once the guy had finished.

Wednesday = Realise that my new phone is not receiving any texts. Try to contact Bell to sort out why this was happening. They were less than useless. Took phone back to shop and got a new one. Hair not cooperating, my cow's lick has a mind of it's own and I look like I am 12, not a good look.

Thursday = Went for my first run in 3 months, very slowly and only 25 minutes. Managed to find a play park to do some stretching and some pull ups. Took a trip into town to the Mountain Equipment Co-op and bought some new climbing shoes, they were on sale, but still quite expensive, wished I had managed to get to the 5-10 store in Redlands, Ca, but I never passed on a Friday, the only day it is open.

Friday = Muscles a bit sore from my run etc. Drove to Walmart in North Van to get a few things for my new wagon and next trip. Pimped my new ride with some lovely stripey curtains.

Tonight I am going with my hosts to their other home on Gabriola Island for the weekend, and then hopefully head off to Squamish on Monday and if the weather is nice get some climbing in before all my hard earned Heuco skin disappears.

Go Canada

Big flag

Canada eh! I made it just in time to catch the end of the Winter Olympics. I arrived on Saturday to a very quiet Vancouver airport and caught the train downtown, from there I managed to lug my heavy bag, rucksack and boulder mat through the thronging crowds to the bus stop where I caught the bus to West Vancouver in order to meet my new hosts for the next few days.

Sunday was the last day of the Olympics and the big event of the day was the final of the men's ice hockey between Canada and the USA. Where would my allegiance lie? To be honest I was not too bothered but thought it would be good if Canada won since they were the host nation. Thankfully and not without a few nail biting moments they did. I took a trip to downtown Vancouver after the game to check out the party atmosphere and oh my goodness it was jumping. I have never seen so much red and white and heard so many car horns in my life. I soaked up as much of the excitement as I could, but after spending so much time in very quite corners of deserts recently it all got a bit too much for me and I retreated back to the comfort of the house and watched the closing ceremony from the couch.

Party

Olympic cauldron

Lots of people!

Bouncing snowboarder

Catching some air

Go Canada

Photographs by Caroline Harvey