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| Friday, 1-Aug-2008 18:38 |
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Vineyards report
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Here are photos of Vineyards overnighter hike done last weekend, and a trip report that I just wrote up. Sorry haven't been here for a while.
Trip Leader: Darryl P.
Hikers: Carolyn I., Darryl P., Dave M., Iris S., Peggy, Ric M.
Written by: Carolyn I.
There were 6 Ramblers who decided to go on an overnight trip to the Vineyards. It was a very nice day to start our climb up to the alpine meadows up top. We eventually split into 2 groups as Ric, Peggy, and Dave, were much quicker then me and Iris. Darryl stayed with me and Iris also..so we wouldn't be alone.
After 2 1/2 hours of hiking up, we made it to the Sub Alpine Meadows up top. We weren't sure if we were going to camp there, or somewhere else. There was a decent sized water source here though, and after scouting ahead a bit, Ric couldn't find a better source. We decided to eat lunch and think about it. After lunch, it was decided that we would camp at the current location as this is usually where hikers camp.
After pitching up our tents, we decided to explore a ridge that we could see in the distance. The Ramblers never usually go up this Ridge, so this would be new to us. After following the trail for a bit, we turned off the trail to the Left and started climbing through some thick bush. What would a Rambler's trip be without a bit of bushwacking!
After somewhat of a struggle, and a few few scratches later, we made it to the 'top' of that Ridge. We saw the Ridge go on in the distance to another peak, so after a quick break, we wondered down the ridge to the next peak. There were wonderful views everwhere as the visibility was good. We eventually found a spot and had another snack break to regain our energy. For most of the way, we could spot our campsite, so it was hard to get lost.
After we went as far as we could, we turned around and headed back to the campsite. We took a different, more direct way home, and thanks to an animal trail we found, we hardly had to do any bushwacking!
As the area is called the Vineyards, Darryl decided to bring a 3 L bag of wine up. Iris thought she should bring an appetizer, so she brought up some Salsa, Rice crackers, and Ukrainian Cavier. Yummy! We really lived the cultured life that evening. Darryl lit a fire, which we nicknamed 'Darryl's Inferno', to help keep the bugs away. After sitting around fire for a while, soon, it was time for bed
Next morning, after a night of heavy rains, it was all fogged in, and cooler. We quickly ate our breakfast, and started our dayhike to the third and possibly the fourth peak in the Vineyards range of mountains around a lake. We had let Ric and the others go ahead of us, but they ended up wandering off the trail, in the wrong direction as they couldn't find the second peak and trail because of the fog being so thick. This time around, Iris had good eyes to spot the continuation of the trail from the first peak to the second one. It's so easy to become disoriented in the thick fog.
Ric and the others again, had problems with directions in the fog, as when they climbed up the second peak, they headed in the wrong direction to get to the third peak, and only found out when they ended up on the edge of a cliff.! Then, after they found us, and we had a quick break, Iris too, headed off in the completely opposite direction until we called out for her to return to us. We did eventually find the trail and ridge to the third peak.
We made it to the third peak a half and hour later and decided to try to go the fourth, but no matter what, we had to turn around at 11am, so we could meet up with the Rambler's dayhikers who were to hike up to the Vineyards that morning. We didnt' quite make it to the fourth peak, before it was time to turn around, but we did make it to '3 1/2' mark, so that was alright. This was the farthest that most of us had been at that point.
Eventually we met up with part of the Dayhikers, as not all had made it to the top where we were camping. Nowell got to enjoy some wine that Darryl had saved for him. After, dismantling the tents and packing up, we started the hike down the mountain, along with the Dayhikers. For most of the trip, we only saw some rain, but on the way out, it began to pour. And as the trail went through a few dense sections of Alder Forest, it was IMPOSSIBLE to stay dry, even with rain gear on.
After what seemed eternity hiking down an old logging road, we finally made it to our cars , completely soaked. We were so glad that we had backup dry clothing to change into! Thank you Darryl for such a fun weekend, and to all those who came on the overnighter and the dayhike next day.
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| Monday, 7-Jan-2008 02:00 |
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More fids shots..
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Wembley really like his gym. So does Gobo.
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Boy do I ever love my birds, here are a few more shots of them.
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| Monday, 7-Jan-2008 01:56 |
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My Wembley's a male!
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An artist drew Gobo for me. What do you think? I like it!
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Yeh, I found out that this week that Wembley is a male. After bringing him back from birdsitter, he started singing away. Now I'm eager to teach him the Addam's Family.
I spent well over $100 Canadian on bird stuff while on Holidays, here's what I got them.
Carolyn:-)
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| Sunday, 11-Nov-2007 01:34 |
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My new Cockatiel
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I'd like to introduce my newest family member, my 6 month old Whiteface Cockatiel, Wembley.
Carolyn:-)
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| Saturday, 15-Sep-2007 21:44 |
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Free Hugs
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UNBC Engineering Club
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I'm surrounded by hugs!
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UNBC Rugby Club
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Hah! Guess what I found on my way to Grocery shopping? Some Free Hugs UNBC was having a Multiple sclerosis fundraiser today....
I had to go back to home twice...once to get camera and some non-existent spare change, and once more to get batteries for the camera! D'oh!
Carolyn:-)
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| Saturday, 15-Sep-2007 00:11 |
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Blue Man Group
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The Blue Man Group is coming soon. And I'm going to see them, in the 'poncho' section. Mr PG, our city's mascot, is all dressed up for the occasion.
Carolyn:-)
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| Sunday, 9-Sep-2007 00:05 |
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I'm back- sort of
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Vulcan, AB
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Between Drumheller and Stettler
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Me at Assiniboine Park
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Hi there. I apologize for my not being here for a while. My 2 1/2 yr old computer died back in July..and I had to wait 6 weeks to get a new one!
I've been spending more time at Facebook...and wish they had a photo blog like this. I find their place the fastest place to upload photographs...
Here's some from my summer trip.
Alberta pics...Drumheller...
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| Tuesday, 26-Jun-2007 04:53 |
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Save Net Radio
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Go to http://www.savenetradio.org/ to save internet Radio. Day of Silence is today!
Do you really want to be listening to commercials and 'blah' mainstream music?
Carolyn:-)
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| Friday, 22-Jun-2007 02:52 |
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Raven Lake Trip
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Here's a story I originally wrote up for our local paper, but it turned out, it wasn't the type of story they requested, so I am going to post it here as I worked my butt off to write it.
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A snowy hike up to Raven Lake
by Carolyn Ibis
One thing I like about living in Prince George is the easy access to good places to hike in and around the area. Raven Lake is one such popular hiking trail that is located approximately 95 kms Southeast of Prince George, and it is not too hard to spot the sign at the turnoff to the trails on Hungary Creek Road.
I am a member of the Prince George Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club. We go on organized hiking trips every Sunday from the end of April until the middle of October. This is a story of a recent hike that we did in 2007, to Raven Lake.
It was a very warm sunny day in June. There were 28 of us who showed up behind City hall to go hiking that day! We all left the City Hall early to get to the trail head at a decent time.
I find that there are always adventures in just getting to the trail head, and on this particular day, that was no exception. Driving in on Hungary Creek Road, we spotted 2 Black Bear cubs alongside the road. Even though we were safe inside our vehicles, we kept on driving as we didn't see where the mother was. It is not unusual to spot some wildlife during the day, either on the road, or on the trail.
At the trail head we noticed that BC Parks has been fixing up the trail. Instead of a very worn out path that goes straight up, and has lots of exposed tree roots to trip on, we found this new trail nice and easy to hike on with it's many switchbacks.
It didn't take us long to find snow. Thankfully, the snow was still firm, so we did not sink into it much. We did decide though, to bring along our snowshoes, just in case we needed to use them. As we got higher, there was more snow, and at one point, I sank into a hole and it went up my whole leg! I recommend that you bring along some alpine snowshoes if you hike up into the alpine before July and in the late Autumn as it can be hard to predict how much snow there is up in the higher elevations and what the condition of the snow will be like.
After a couple of hours, we reached the meadows. At a certain point, you have there is a splitting of the trail and you can either turn left and go to the Raven Lake cabin down by the lake, or you can keep on going straight up the mountain up onto the ridges. We decided to keep on going up to the ridges above us. As we continued, there was still plenty of snow , but suddenly, just up on the ridges, there was dry ground below our feet., and there was even some flowers blooming!
The views were fantastic from up top. Looking all around us, we could see a wonderful panaroma. To the Northeast of us, we could see the snowy peaks of the McGregors and the Rockies. To the East, we could see the valley leading to Grizzly Cabin, which is hidden behind Leprechaun Mountain. To the south we cold see the Cariboo Mountains and the Bowron Valley. What a beautiful place to eat your lunch on such a nice day.
You can do the trip as a day hike or you can stay overnight at the Raven Lake cabin, which is available on a first come, first serve basis. You can also do a loop going out either on the Leprechaun or Grizzly Den trails and walking back to vehicles along the road. With it's fairly easy hike up, well developed trails, and wonderful views up top, this is definitely an excellent destination for avid hikers. There is more information about the Sugarbowl/Grizzly Den Provincial Park and Protected area at the BC Parks website at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/ .
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| Thursday, 7-Jun-2007 01:41 |
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Learn something new every day
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Gobo's Preferred Nesting spot
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Gobo's Preferred Nesting spot
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Now I know why Gobo goes hyper every night. She wants so much to sit on her eggs, but only where she normally sits on them during night, in her closet! She hurt herself trying to get into the birdroom the other day. Cause, I moved sleeping cage with eggs in it to sleeping closet, and voila! She's sitting on them now.
D'oh!
Carolyn:-)
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