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| Tuesday, 4-Jul-2006 02:36 |
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Shot of me yesterday at Viking Ridge
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Here's a shot of me at Viking Ridge taken yesterday by my friend Magnus Vinje.
A hot day, but I found it just right..a little bit of clouds hanging around the mountains, kept it a bit cool. But still, quite warm and pleasant up top. I didn't bring my camera, but will post some pics from friends at a later time.
Carolyn:-)
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| Monday, 3-Jul-2006 03:41 |
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Manning Park Continued
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Rearing to go!
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Mark from Victoria
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We finally made it near the top.
And we finally saw some nice views.
Little patches of snow here and there, but not too bad, so we didn't need to put back our snowshoes on.
Carolyn:-)
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| Thursday, 29-Jun-2006 04:22 |
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Wicket Update
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My little Wicket
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(Copied from my posting at www.quakerparrots.com)
Wicket Update
The vet finally called back. It's not going to be cheap, but I'm going to get a blood test and a fecal test done on him to rule out medical reasons.
I have to bring him into the vet tommorrow morning before work, and then I will pick him up after work (8 hrs later).
This is the first time I've ever had to leave him at the vet, so I hope he won't be too stressed. I guess I must bring his cage with him so that he will at least have something familiar. Hah! I guess that they put the birds under with anesthesia for just a short time... during a blood test.. the bird wakes up pretty quickly because of their high metabolism.
I bought a mister, so I've been giving him daily mistings..to help distract him from his feathers and sore. The sore has been healing so-so, with the major difficulty coming from limiting flight wing movement so that it has a chance to heal. At this point, I don't think he's picking at it, it's when I struggle with him to feed him the oral antibiotics, or if he accidently tries to fly...that it seems to bleed a little.
Speaking of misting, what I don't understand is that in my old place, where Wicket lived most of his life with me, he used to always let me know when he wanted a bath in the sink. But during the last half a year or more when I lived there, he quit asking me for them. And he seems to hate them now, can't make him go into the sink or whatever. I even have left containers of water on the bottom of his cage, won't touch him. I am not sure if he even really likes misting, but I must keep him clean. I wonder why he has changed in this regard. I know Gobo is scared of water, because she nearly drowned in a toilet when I first got her. She seems to like misting though. NOthing tramatic happened to wicket.
I put a bag in his cage, as he loves playing around in them..and tearing them.
He went into Gobo's cage yesterday, looking like he wanted to go outside, because that's what I put him in when I take him out, more portable. So, I took him outside..he loves it!
I wish I could get him to play with his toys more. He likes to shed the paper that I have always hang around his cage...he always seems to ignore the toys..well, he did shed this cotton rope toy he had..but others he ignores.
So, tommorrow will be a busy day for me, and I'm sure I'll be just as stressed out as Wicket will be.
I'll be sure to let you know the results of the tests.
Carolyn:-)
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| Monday, 26-Jun-2006 16:14 |
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Manning Park, Part II- The Skyline Trail #1
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A Pika
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Lunch!
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That would be a steep snowy climb
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This day, the weather improved, and we decided to hike up the Skyline Trail #1
Here is a writeup about that trail:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/ecmaning/skyline1.html
Not sure of the elevation gain, but it has to be at least 1000+ feet.
As we were hiking very early in the Season, there was lots of snow at the top. I borrowed a friend's alpine snowshoes as mine are not for the alpine. The hardest part about the snow, was that it was difficult at times to find the trail, as there was very much a lack of florescent ribbon markers on the trees. In fact, I just was watching the news today, and 2 people got lost while hiking near Vancouver, due to the lack of those markers on the trails, and the amount of snow covering the trail. They were rescued today by helicopter, and were in good condition because they had all the proper gear with them. This is why a good compass and a map of the are is important, though I don't know if our group had a map or not. Most likely if we ran into difficulties finding the trail, we would have turned back and retraced our tracks back.
On the Mt. Frosty hike, which we did the next day after this hike, we also had difficulty finding the trail at times, and that's why Magnus, and part of our group, including me, didn't want to spend too much time on top, so that we would not run into difficulties finding our tracks down. But, more about that hike later on.
We had to keep a very close eye on the trail, so that we wouldn't become lost.
Pic # 1 is of a Pika, a very common rodent found in the Alpine. This one was very used to humans....
Pic # 2 was of the lunchbreak up on the Skyline Trail #1. It took us a bit to find this trail, as the beginning of it was not marked at all! We ended up walking to Strawberry Flats first, before we realized that this was not the Skyline Trail #1
Pic #3 is what I thought we might have to climb, but it turned out we walked around it to the right and on a much less steep path up.
Carolyn:-)
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| Saturday, 24-Jun-2006 04:20 |
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Manning Park
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Here, finally, are some pictures from my recent 2 week trip.
These are of the first day of hiking up Windy Joe. Wasn't the best of views that day, but still, worth going up. Saw lots of these yellow Glacier Lilies.
I have been so busy since I came back the other day..and on top of that, the problems with my bird Wicket keep recurring. The sore under his wing hasn't healed, so I went back to the vet yesterday. Wicket now has to go through another round of oral antibiotics that I must feed via oral syringe, this time for 4 days longer. I was going to go camping for the upcoming long weekend, but I have decided to not go, so that I can be there for the whole regime of antibiotics, and make sure the sore heals, and that he doesn't pick at it. I've been splurging trying to get stuff to keep him from picking at it. I've got a mister to keep him clean as he now doesn't like bathes ever since I moved into this apt last year. ??? Don't know why...? And I got him some nut bars for him to chew on...I might get some thick rope to hang from the ceiling....and some other toys.
Just to rule out various causes, I have requested to have a few tests done on him, ie blood tests, etc..which won't be cheap, but I feel has to be done to be certain. If I was smart, I would have done all that when he first started plucking out his feathers. It's a habit by now.
I might see if I can convince the vet to give him anti-anxiety meds (she suggested it the first time round) to help relax him and give the sore a chance to heal. Hah! I seemed to know more about feather picking, then she did. She said she'd do some 'researching' on it, and get back to me, which she hasn't yet.
Carolyn:-)
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| Monday, 19-Jun-2006 18:00 |
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C-GWCM
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Here's the plane I flew home. It's a brand new 737-700, C-GWCM . It's been to Tampa, and Orlando, Florida, and Ottawa, Toronto, Ft. McMurray, Canada..along with Vancouver. There's a weird round swell on the top. That's the satellite system. We got to watch the last hockey game of the Stanley Cup, it finished just as we were landing (Carolina won the game over the Oilers).
I forgot the call letters, but could remember (and see in the pics) the number of the plane on the flaps that cover the front wheel when it retracts during take-off. From that, I was able to trace the call letters and where it has been.
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| Monday, 19-Jun-2006 17:25 |
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last day
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Hello,
Today I fly back to home. I don't leave till tonight, and it's only a 1 hr flight.
I'm all packed...with 2 bags now. I picked some stuff up at Ikea, MEC, and Canadian Tire. Lots of stuff for my plants and for hiking. Got a good new slightly bigger daypack, which will good for carrying snowshoes or heavier loads.
I bought another pair of trail shoes as I feel the other ones are slightly too short for me, and are hard on my toes. These ones have more room in the front and seem comfortable. I hate buying footware. I spent over 1 hr at MEC trying different footware on. They are very knowledgable (the staff at MEC) about these kind of things.
I did a hike on sat with my brother...went near Whistler.
Last night, I went with them to a BBQ hosted by my brother's climbing buddies. My brother loves to Rock climb and Ice climb. Makes me look like a wimp! 
Sorry, can't upload pics here....have to wait till I get home.
Carolyn:-)
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| Monday, 12-Jun-2006 18:50 |
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trip
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Hi there,
Can't upload any pics now.
But having good break. Hiking/snowshoeing in Manning was good..lots of snow. Climbed up to 2000 metres...at Frosty Mt.
Just biking today around qualicum...sunny and warm.
Go for a day boattrip tommorrow by Pt. Albernie. Seen Quadra island the other day. And while fishing yesterday..saw some dolphins playing around our boat!!! How cool is that?!!!!? They came so close and were having fun!!!!
Carolyn:-)
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| Friday, 2-Jun-2006 15:18 |
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Smither's Part II
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Trail to Big Onion
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Big Onion in background
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Here's a few more pics of the trip.
I'll be going to Manning Park on Sat for a week to do some hiking, then I'm off for another week travelling somewhere. So, I prob will not be near a computer for that time, so I won't be able to post here. But I'll take a lot of pics to put here afterwards.
Carolyn:-)
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| Wednesday, 31-May-2006 15:06 |
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Smither's Pics Part I
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Gail and Magnus at Twin Falls
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Twin Falls
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Memorial Plaque at Twin Falls
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Here's a few pics from Smither's hiking trip.
These pics are from Sat. May 20th, and are taken at Twin Falls...an easy side trip.
The rain clouds seemed to follow us everywhere that day...we did a hike earlier, which would have given us excellent views of the Bulkley Valley, but alas, it poured when we got near the top.
Carolyn:-)
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