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

Comfort zone.

A terrible photo of me with my eyes closed, but thought I would post it just to show that I am still alive.

Today was the day that I had decided to leave West Vancouver and head to Squamish so as not over stay my welcome with my lovely hosts in West Vancouver, and I did leave, but now I am back...... Why? Well I shall tell you.

As some of you may be aware I had tried to stay in the US a little longer as the climbing season here in British Columbia has not quite started yet, March is one of the wettest months, but alas the States would not let me stay. So here I am as you all know in Canada.

I drove to Squamish, it actually only takes about half an hour or so and had the full intention of camping etc, but when I got there it was snowing and because it is still "off season" the park where I intended to stay did not have any of its' facilities working, blah blah, excuses excuses. Anyway, before I had left West Van my hosts had made it clear that I was very welcome to come back and stay longer if necessary and that it would be cold and possibly quite wet still in Squamish at this time of year. So whilst sitting having a coffee and watching some very large black clouds gather on the horizon, I weighed up my options. I could either stay in a very lonely National park with no one else there and hope for sunny dry weather or I could go back to West Van and sleep in a nice warm bed and just go to Squamish on day trips when it was dry. Guess which one won my vote?

So here I am back in the comfort of a house for a wee while longer. My current plan is to stay here for a few more weeks go train at the local indoor gym, try to do some CV training as I feel incredibly unfit, do some day trips to Squamish and other places and help my host Harriet out with some things she needs done. Excellent plan, even if I do say so myself.

I realised today that I have very few photographs of me actually climbing, which is kind of a shame but inevitable I suppose. You will all just have to believe me when I tell you what I have climbed!

I will post a few photos from my weekend trip to Gabriola Island soon.

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