Ben and Katy's BC "Boo-Yah" Moments

And pictures (adventure continues below)...

Somehow over the course of our BC vacation, I (this is Ben) fell into frequently exclaiming "boo-yah." I'm not particularly proud of the use of such a, well, lame term - but it happened. I have thought about why this might be, and the only reason I can come up with is that British Columbia was just SO incredible that at every moment my incredible English vocabulary was rendered useless by the awe inspiring beauty and awesomeness of what we experienced. Katy has done a great job of documenting the first half or so of the vacation to this point. I'll try to quickly summarize what ensued thereafter.

After our Vancouver urban excursion we headed to Garibaldi Provincial Park in the mountains near Squamish. This 1.5 hour drive set the stage for what was perhaps the most amazing experience of the entire vacation. We went to great pains to bring the equipment necessary to do a real backpacking adventure, and though we only had time to do a single overnight, boy was it worth it. We chose to enter the park at the Garibaldi Lake trailhead and hike to the backcountry campground on the shore of the Lake - a 5 mile uphill hike. We had heard that the hike in was "boring" - just a slog through a forest - but the payoff was huge. Well, we thoroughly enjoyed the slog through mammoth moss covered evergreens. The BC Provincial Parks are so incredibly well-maintained - the trail was immaculate with great signage. Further, the switchbacks/low grade made it possible to enjoy the walk despite the huge packs on our backs. We got our first glimpse of Garibaldi Lake at about 4pm, and instantly knew that we were going to want to stay longer than one night. A blog post simply can't do this place justice. Picture a huge lake of the most perfect clear glacial blue water surrounded on all sides by steep low-alpine coniferous forests and glaciers up higher. AND, the "backcountry" campground was better than most "frontcountry campgrounds" we've stayed at in the States. It features level sites, pit latrines, and cooking/food storage shelters. Plus, we ran into a ranger stationed nearby and she hooked us up with some fantastic advice for the next day's activities.

Her advice? To hike up to Panorama Ridge before heading out. The result: one of the most incredible vistas either of us has ever seen (for two well-traveled outdoorsy people this is really saying something). I can't do it justice, but after a truly gorgeous hike culminating in trudging up fairly steep snow fields to gain the ridge, we were treated to, an unobstructed view of the lake we camped on and the glaciers that feed it, and, quite literally, a 360 degree view of ragged snow and glacier-capped mountains. We had the ridge all to ourselves and just sat there dumbfounded. After feasting our eyes (and our mouths with bagel, cheese and tomato sandwiches) we started on the long hike out. In total, we covered about 15 miles or so that day (half of it with our packs).

The next day I spent bouldering at Squamish with some climbing buddies and Katy headed back to Garibaldi for a day hike in another area - she is totally hardcore - as the hike she chose was nearly entirely snow covered.
We then bid farewell to the mountains and headed to the ocean - Vancouver Island, and the city of Victoria, to be exact. While the city itself didn't hold a candle to Vancouver, it had a few very redeeming qualities. First, the restaurant rebar - which we have wanted to visit ever since Katy purchased their cookbook back in our Brown days. It was fabulous beyond belief. Picture us savoring every single bite, agonizing trying to figure out what was in each bite, and then remembering we owned the cookbook (lucky us!!!!).

Second, Victoria is close to a whole bunch of fun outdoors stuff. We chose to head to the San de Fuca Provincial Park, about a 1.5 hour drive from Victoria. There we hiked a Marine Trail along the West Coast of the island and were treated to three awesome beaches. We stopped at all three and counted our lucky stars. (And I forgot to mention when backpacking we woke up in the middle of the night to see the Milky Way in all its glory and splendor). Across the Strait was Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, and we contemplated our vacation coming to a close over a box of fancy French wine (said tongue in cheek).

Yesterday was consumed with getting back to Seattle for our red-eye flight back to DC. After considerable stress concerning whether we'd be able to find a ferry, we did indeed get on one (for freakin $70 - ferries are damn expensive!) that took us (and our car) through the San Juan Islands before depositing us back on US soil at the quaint town of Anacortes, WA. From there we drove to Seattle and spent the evening exploring the University of Washington area. What a beautiful campus!

Now we are tired. Katy is at work, I leave tomorrow for a night in Atlanta and then the first in a series of environmental leadership training retreats.