Thursday 14 February 2013

Whats New!?

Hey Folks!

Been a little bit since my last blog post and I'm am bored so I have decided to post about news in my life as well as the hike I did today to Norvan Falls!

So whats new, well I have been working hard and sticking around the city for the most part. I have been playing polo quite a bit as the weather has held out relatively well in the last two weeks. I will be playing a lot of bike polo in the next month leading up to my very first bike polo tourney in Seattle! 
  March 16th and 17th I will be heading to Seattle for the Emerald City Open and will be playing on the team 'Blind to Defeat' with Louise(E Van) and Jared(Everett, WA).  I cannot wait and am trying to ramp up my play and throwing some money into upgrades for my polo bike. Just upgraded the gear ratio to 32:18 by throwing a 18 tooth free wheel on my bike. Also I will be starting to play with clip pedals and shoes. Hopefully I will really start playing more competitively and be ready to have fun in Seattle!

Next week I plan on doing a few activities including a brew at Beer Cat Brewing Co-op and a few days of skiing up a Whistler-Blackcomb!

Anyways, today I did a pretty awesome hike so here are some photos and info!

Norvan Falls

Lynn Headwaters Regional Park (North Vancouver, BC)

So today I hiked up to Norvan Falls for a walk-about and to get out of the city. I regularly need to get out of the city into nature to really maintain a balance in my life. During my hike today I was thinking that hiking is a splendid way to do this as it is a pretty easy way to combine nature and a sense of self-fulfillment. This self-fulfillment is easily obtained hiking depending on the skill level required for the journey... but even if it is a grind or is hard, I think there is nothing like standing on top of a mountain or at a lookout, breathing in the fresh air, and getting the heart pumping


The Norvan Falls hike in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is a pretty easy hike in terms of what is out there, but this time of year it is a little more difficult and requires a bit more care. The path can be steep at times and icy or very wet. But I didn't really find any obstacles being a nimble 23 year old. 

The weather was nice, variable clouds and periods of sun but the low lying clouds in the mountains shifting around in the wind made for some really awesome photo ops. 


About 1/3 of the 11 kilometer return trek is along a well maintained gravel road or path that turns into a semi-icy but maintained path for the second 1/3. Then at the debris chute trail junction the trail to Norvan Falls takes a more elevated and ascending path. The path is maintained but be ready for stream crossings, logs across the trail, and very uneven slopes so sturdy footwear is a must. 


Once you get to the Norvan Falls junction trail there is a metal suspension bridge, which I thought would offer a view of the falls but does not, the falls are about 200m north-east up the creek. You would have thought they would have built such a nice suspension bridge a bit closer to the falls?

None the less I hiked up to the falls and they are pretty worth it. It was certainly nice to take them in in the winter for a different view of them. I will certainly go up to the falls in the summertime to take in another scene of the area!


So after a successful hike, about 11.7km in 4 hours 2 minutes, I got a good idea of what the conditions are like for hiking up around 400m. I'll be researching the Lynn Peak hike and trying to find a partner to do it with over the next month or so. Never actually got a view of the peak due to the low hanging clouds in the mountains. Hopefully by the end of March I'll make it work.

Anyways thanks for checking in and I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Wednesday 6 February 2013

My Hope for Cascadia in 2013?

This is a question that was raised in the Cascadian section of Reddit. That I thought would be nice to share on my blog.

Well I am new to the movement, and the bio-region. I have moved from Ottawa, ON to Vancouver in Oct '12 and up until recently Cascadia has all been sort of foreign to me.

Don't know what Cascadia is? Find out about the bio-region HERE. Don't know about Cascadian Secession? Read about it HERE.

What do I hope to see happen in 2013?

Personal Level: Before I go globe trotting in August I hope to discover and pinpoint exactly what it is that makes Cascadia so different from the rest of Canada/USA. From what I know now of it combined with my current detachment from the government of Canada, I know that it is right for me. But, I'm hell bent on discovering at a community level, why is it so different? How can I contribute to this socially and biologically unique region?

Regionally/Movement wide: Well I simply don't know a whole lot about the current affairs of the movement, BUT, I can see that it is much stronger in places like Portland, Seattle, and Victoria than Vancouver... So simply put I hope the momentum keeps up and grows exponentially in the City of Vancouver and hopefully into the mainland.


Perhaps the motto, Ecology, Equality and Equity Through Respect, Reverence, and Responsibility, will guide me in what to look for.

Coagula Cascadia