Better month for reading, thankfully!
A Little Night Magic - Lucy March. Weird book about 'night' and 'day' magic. It was fast to read, which was a bonus for it, because it wasn't that wonderful. Somewhat.. Sabrina the teenaged witch.
The House on Fortune Street - Margot Livesey. I really liked this book. It was written from four different points-of-view, and it was really well done.
A Painted House - John Grisham. Not a typical law-related book. This was about growing up in the south in the 1950's on a cotton farm. I really enjoyed it.
Beyond Beflast - Will Ferguson. This took a while to read - a true story of Will Ferguson walking the Ulster Way (around Northern Ireland). It was entertaining, although it did drag on a bit.
Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - Ree Drummond. I love the Pioneer Woman and her style of writing. If this is an entirely true love story, then lucky her. Well-written and entertaining.
I am Number Four - Pittacus Lore. Somewhat Hunger Gamesish, but it was really good. Definitely young adultish, but I think I'll read the rest of the series.
That's all for now! On to another month.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Hike: Hanes Valley
After we got up to Norvan Falls almost two weeks ago, we saw a sign that said "Grouse, 9km." We instantly decided that we should hike it the next weekend, and so we did.
The first 10k was gorgeous - nice forests, a little hilly but not too bad, lots of creek crossings..
I bet that this would be a stunning view on a sunny day..
Then we started to climb up stuff like this, with the rocks getting smaller and smaller, and the hill steeper and steeper..
I stopped taking photos after this point because it wasn't fun anymore. And stopping meant losing some momentum, which took forever to build.
We got to a 'false top' and then celebrated.. and then realized that we still had to go up. Not very fun! Eventually we made it down to Grouse and celebrated with beavertails devoured in about 2 seconds flat.
Location: Lynn Valley to Grouse.
Length: 15 km
Elevation: ~1000m gain
Time: Approximately 8ish hours.
Notes: Need two cars, or to take a bus to get to and from the trailhead/ends.
I don't think I'd ever do the full hike again, but the first ~10km to the boulder field (which I don't have photos of!) was really fun and beautiful.
The first 10k was gorgeous - nice forests, a little hilly but not too bad, lots of creek crossings..
We got to a 'false top' and then celebrated.. and then realized that we still had to go up. Not very fun! Eventually we made it down to Grouse and celebrated with beavertails devoured in about 2 seconds flat.
Location: Lynn Valley to Grouse.
Length: 15 km
Elevation: ~1000m gain
Time: Approximately 8ish hours.
Notes: Need two cars, or to take a bus to get to and from the trailhead/ends.
I don't think I'd ever do the full hike again, but the first ~10km to the boulder field (which I don't have photos of!) was really fun and beautiful.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Hike: Norvan Falls
Today we headed to Norvan Falls, in Lynn Valley.
R and I are planning an overnight hike in mid-September, and in order to prepare for that we decided to pack our big backpacks with our sleeping bags, tent, stove and some other stuff.
The view at the "Third Debris Chute." Gorgeous day!!
The bottom of the falls, where M went swimming.
The falls.
Lunch!
Random suspension bridge. I believe this was a rebuild of a small wooden bridge. I guess it's a busy enough trail that they need it.. but it seemed a bit overkill to me. The other three really enjoyed bouncing on it though :)
Length: 13.5 km
Time: 5 hours (including ~1 hr lunch and meandering on the way down)
Difficulty: Easy
R and I are planning an overnight hike in mid-September, and in order to prepare for that we decided to pack our big backpacks with our sleeping bags, tent, stove and some other stuff.
Lunch - Hawaiian chicken with rice. Pretty good, actually. It did take quite a while to cook though (says 13 minutes, I'm not sure how long we left it) and they are pricey. We're going to work on making our own for upcoming trip.s
Random suspension bridge. I believe this was a rebuild of a small wooden bridge. I guess it's a busy enough trail that they need it.. but it seemed a bit overkill to me. The other three really enjoyed bouncing on it though :)
Length: 13.5 km
Time: 5 hours (including ~1 hr lunch and meandering on the way down)
Difficulty: Easy
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Hike: Ripple Rock
This past weekend R and I headed to Campbell River on Vancouver Island for a weekend of camping with my family.
On Saturday, we headed to north to hike to a viewpoint of Ripple Rock. The history of this place is pretty cool -- a huge explosion to destroy two rocks? Cool in my books! The straight where the rocks were is VERY narrow, even now, without the rocks. The tide was insanely fast too, which looked like fun for the boats playing in the narrows.
Suspension bridge that R LOVED because he could bounce everyone on it.. my sister, not so much love.
View of one of the beaches. Such a clear, hot hot hot day.
Another 'viewpoint.'
And another. Gorgeous.
Somewhere near where the whirlpools are is where Ripple Rock was.
More whirlpools. So pretty!
Location: 19km north of Campbell River on highway 19A.
Time: 2.5ish hours, not walking super fast.
Total length: 8 km, although it felt a bit longer.
On Saturday, we headed to north to hike to a viewpoint of Ripple Rock. The history of this place is pretty cool -- a huge explosion to destroy two rocks? Cool in my books! The straight where the rocks were is VERY narrow, even now, without the rocks. The tide was insanely fast too, which looked like fun for the boats playing in the narrows.
Location: 19km north of Campbell River on highway 19A.
Time: 2.5ish hours, not walking super fast.
Total length: 8 km, although it felt a bit longer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)