Fall

The days are getting shorter, the mornings crisper, and the leaves redder. It's definitely fall in Vancouver, and while I'm sure it's not, it feels way earlier than it should.

I've started wearing tshirts or even long-sleeved shirts on my runs, and I almost want to wear a toque on my way to work (except that I feel dorky, since it's still September!). Maybe tomorrow..

I'm not really ready for it to be fall.. I don't enjoy getting up before the sun, or going to bed three hours after the sun has set again.

To look on the bright side, fall is a great time to take photos. We're having Thanksgiving dinner with friends this weekend, with family the weekend after that, and then I get to fly away to visit my best friend and her sister, who is basically my almost-sister. And then, the month will be half over. Crazy!

Leaves on the sidwalk

W 19th Ave on a run.

Tree on my walk from work

I really like having a camera that's always with me and takes good enough photos.

Happy (basically) October!

Insta-update

It's been a while since I've blogged. I don't really have any desire to update with a long post, since I am most definitely not a writer. However, some photos that I've taken are kind of cool, so.. that's what's going up.

Home made blueberry pies and tea at R's grandparents.

Fireworks at R's birthday in July

Beautiful reflections in False Creek

Windmills near Tumbler Ridge

Flying home from the Peace in August

Borrowed lens on a beautiful camera.

Trip over the new Port Mann!

And more of the Port Mann

Cloud bank leaving Vancouver for the Peace, again.

Sunset at Iona beach

Monday night bike ride!

Fall sunrise and sun flare

That's a quick life update. I'll try and post some photos from our long hike this summer sometime, too.

September Book Update

I started out this month reading a book that I've picked up many times, and always set it aside for another time. This time though, being on a trip and not necessarily wanting to take the book home with me at the end, it seemed to work out.

She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb. This was a really twisted, weird, captivating book. It was the story of a girl who becomes so obese that it rules her life.. and how she deals with it. It was actually a pretty good read, although I wouldn't read it again.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak. This was our August book club book. This was one of the few that I really loved. The story took place during the Holocaust. It's hard to say much without giving a lot away, but the main character becomes a book thief. It's not at all what I expected (I've taken to not read the back of books lately  - it's kind of fun, really not knowing what to expect). I'd highly recommend this one - and while it's classified as a YA book, it wasn't childish in writing style or anything.

Every Little Thing - Pamela Klaffke. Clearly not a memorable book - I had to google it to see what it was about. Clearly wouldn't recommend this one! ;) It was about the daughter of a famous columnist who had died, and how she turns into her mom.. Exciting.

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card. I really liked this book. It didn't seem as sci-fi as I thought it might be. I've already got the second one out to read, and I'm planning on starting it within the next few days. I think R is planning on reading this one soon, too.

We're having another book club meeting this month after not meeting in September, so I'm hopeful that more fun things will be read this month :)

Hike: Joffre Lakes

Today we finished out first overnight backpacking trip. We headed to Joffre Lakes, three alpine lakes which are quite accesible (11km RETURN!) from the highway just outside of Pemberton.

We left yesterday morning around 9:20am, and headed north. The drive was pretty, quiet and felt shorter than three hours. After a quick stop in Squamish for some last-minute groceries, we got to the (busy, full, crazy) trailhead around 12:20pm.

The first lake was visible within about 5 minutes, and the colour was incredible. It was pretty exciting to see the colour of the lake already, with the glacier in the background.

The next part was nice with some uphill parts. There was a good chunk of boulders to hike over, which would have been slightly more fun without my camera and giant bag, but.. that's life, right?

The second lake got me even more excited - we could get close to it and see it more than the first. Unfortunately there were still tons of people there..

 So beautiful! The colour is incredible.

Yay!!! :)

So. Then we started on the switch-back section. Not quite that lovely, but still nice. From this point it was only 1.5km to the third lake, our final destination (for the night).

 First glimpses..

 Can not get over the colour of these lakes.

 View from our campsite.

After we set up camp, we hiked (walked?) towards a rock bluff and some waterfalls.

 Impossible to get the colour from up there, but.. what a picturesque place!

Lovely!!

After that, we made dinner, played some cards in our tent (yep, 5 people sitting in a 2 person tent!) and went to bed. The downside of the gorgeous place is that the valley is quite narrow, and the sunset quite fast.

This morning we got up slowly (it took about 2 hours for all 5 of us to get up and out), had a leisurely breakfast (with chocolate cheesecake. Yeah.) and got a bit packed up. Then we headed for a hike towards the Tszil Glacier. We didn't really know how far it went, so we just headed up.

 The view before the sun came out this morning.

 And the view with the sun.

 That's the third lake down there.

This glacier looks much nicer in this photo than it did in person, but.. still awesome.

So.
Total length: 11km (plus glacier hike, ~5 km)
Time needed: 5 to third lake, 3 to glacier from third lake.
Difficulty: Not too bad. After the Hanes Valley hike, nothing is hard ;)

I think that's all. I'm excited to do more backpacking trips, now that I have a water filter, awesome stove, good friends, etc.