A weekend in New York City to see Billy Joel. We visited Times Square, Central Park, the World Trade Centre, and the 9/11 memorial.
Read MoreEast Bound
A photo journal of my trip to Canada’s east coast.
Read MoreWest Coast Road Trip
In May I decided to take my mobile home down the west coast to Jamul, California to attend a Wilderness First Responder course. This solo adventure took me from 3 hours north of the Canadian/US boarder to the Mexican/US border. Sometimes the need to wander is too strong to be ignored.
My journey south took me down through Alberta, the Crowsnest Pass, into BC, and through the boarder crossing in Yak into Idaho. With a quick stop in Spokane for fuel and food I continued west until I could no longer see straight.
That night I was grateful to pull into my camp for the next two nights, a trailhead for a bouldering spot just east of Portland, Oregon. The road to the trail was not made for minivans, but Bodevan is nothing if not determined. The next day and a half were spent wandering aimlessly around Portland drinking too much coffee, hipster-watching, and checking out the local climbing gyms.
By the afternoon of day 3 it was time to continue on. I headed west until I hit the ocean. Slowly, I made my way south to my next campsite along the beach.
The next morning was an early start to get to Thor's Well before high tide. Thor's Well is a large hole in the coastal rock that looks as though the sea is draining into it. If you ever find yourself along the Oregon coast, I highly recommend the stop.
Carrying on down the coast, I found myself at the "Biggest Sea Caves in America." While the stop was a little touristy for my liking, complete with a gift shop and an elevator leading down to the cave, it was worth it. Getting to observe the sea lion colony with new pups and a juvenile whale was fascinating. After that it was a leisurely drive with plenty of beach stops before reaching the days destination in northern California, the redwood forest.
The end of this leisurely day ended up being a race against the clock to get a camping permit from the Redwood National Forest park office in Crescent City, California. Sneaking in 6 minutes before close, I managed to get the permit and find the trail head. I was able to make the short hike of about 45 minutes to the campsite and set up camp before dark. I could not have asked for a better end the the day than falling asleep to the sounds of waves crashing against the cliffs below the forest of ancient trees.
The next day was spent hiking through the massive redwood forest, then it was on to San Francisco.
My next camping spot was definitely one to remember. It wasn't as quiet as the others, but it did have a spectacular view.
Day 6 was another early morning for photos followed by breakfast with my parents in Sausalito.
After a quiet morning of wandering around, it was time to get some climbing in. Down by the water on the San Francisco side of the bridge there was a massive climbing gym called Planet Granite with some stellar route setting. If you're ever in the area it is definitely worth checking out.
That night it was off to Napa Valley to meet back up with my parents. The following three nights staying in a hotel were the weirdest part of my trip. I missed the coziness of my van-home. However, it was worth it to get to explore the outdoor bouldering found throughout the city of Berkley, wander the hills of San Francisco, and take in a Giants game.
On the ninth day, it was time to point the wheels south again and head for San Diego. My wilderness first responder course began the next day so time was beginning to get a little tight. Thanks to my mighty procrastination powers and lots of side stops, I arrived well after dark at what google maps was telling me was the campsite at which my course was taking place. After wasting about an hour driving around narrow dirt roads in the dark and nervously waving at the boarder patrol officers wandering the bushes with flashlights, I decided to postpone my search until the morning and headed back toward San Diego to find somewhere to sleep. The following morning was yet another early start as I drove the hour and a half back to where I thought the campsite would be. Luckily it was much easier to find in the daylight and I made it just in time for the start of my course. The next five days are what made every long hour of driving worth it. The only description that comes close to capturing the experience is adult summer camp.
The second night of Camp, several of us decided to embark on an adventure to Ocean Beach where we attempted to capture photos of the sunset through the overcast and ate some of the best Mexican food I had ever had.
Once the course wrapped up I decided to take a couple of days to explore a bit more of San Diego (mostly the zoo). They were a blur of walking, beaches, 50's dinners, and zoo animals.
On the sixteenth day it was time to head back north. Now the time crunch was on as I had three days to cover 3455 kilometers (2148 miles) to get to Worsley, Alberta for work. I spent one night at a truck stop just north of Las Vegas, one night at a trail head in Montana, and one day in Calgary frantically replacing my camping supplies with my work uniform.
Wicked Gravity Training Week 2
Week 2 of training to lead climb wicked gravity.
Read MoreWicked Gravity Training Week 1
Week 1 of training for leading Wicked Gravity.
Read MoreIt's a Dirtbag Camper, Not a Minivan
I have recently purchased a Kia Sedona dirtbag camper. It did not come as a dirtbag camper, I had to put it the work to get it to that point from its original minivan status. So here is how I converted my Kia minivan into a dirtbag camper for all seasons.
Going into this, I knew I wanted to be able to fit my skis underneath the bed platform and still have plenty of storage. I also wanted to avoid taking out the middle row of seats because, after watching a number of YouTube videos on how to, it looked like a royal pain in the ass. Plus, the seats could still be used if needed. So I needed to come up with a hinge of some sort that would allow the platform to shrink down to the size of the trunk should I need to use the middle seats.
1) With a rough plan in mind I ventured off to Home Depot for a piece of 3/4 inch plywood, 2x4, 4x4, and hinges.
2) After flipping back and forth between building a real frame for the platform and just letting it sit on top of Tupperware bins, I went with the Tupperware support system. I went with this option because it would be easiest to beta test and change as needed, whereas building a frame was all or nothing.
3) Having decided to use this much less labour intensive method, all that remained was to measure and cut the plywood into 2 sections, and connect the 2 using hinges. One section is sized to fit over the area of the middle seats, and the other fits over the rest of the back.
4) In order to reduce the amount of splinters received while sleeping, I stapled some old, itchy fleece blankets to the plywood.
5) With the hard part done, all that remained was to throw some soft stuff on top of the platform and hit the road.
It may not be the fanciest camper but, it gets the job done. Here's hoping it has a long and well used life. Long live Bodevan.
How to Speed Through Hospital Emerge
(Please read the following as saturated in sarcasm. Do not attempt this.)
Sick of long wait times in hospital emergency departments? Here is how to skip the lines and fast track your ED experience.
Step 1: Ride your bike around a very dusty corner at moderate speed.
Step 2: Fall off your bike. Be sure to fall onto your break lever in a way that it becomes lodged in your leg.
Step 3: Be taken into the hospital by EMS still holding the handle bars.
Step 4: Have break removed from your leg and be discharged.
Step 5: Proceed to the nearest ice cream establishment.
This is how I made it in and out of the busiest hospital in Calgary. The incident, from fall to being discharged, was 3 hours in total. I was working as a bike patroller and we were closing the trails at the end of a very epic and very dry day. I was responsible for closing Safari Planet, a local favourite due to the flowing table top jumps and burms. While riding down, I went into the first burm and hit a pile of dry dirt causing my bike to slide out from under me. I was a tangle of dirt, limbs, and bike. Embarrassed and glad no one was around to see, I attempted to push my bike off of me. It didn't budge but I felt a strange tugging on my leg. Thinking nothing of it, I tried to move again with the same result. It was then that I noticed my left break lever was missing. I looked around the crash site for it, but found nothing. I slowly began to realize that it was not missing at all, it was in my leg.
I briefly considered pulling the lever out, which was lodged in the same vicinity as my femoral artery, and riding down. After what felt like hours of deliberation, I finally decided the best thing to do would be to call for help. After sending out the patrol signal, my coworkers rushed back up the hill. After much protest on my part, EMS and Fire were called. My bike was dismantled and I was dragged out of the trail, still holding my handlebars.
Now, if you are ever riding down Safari Planet at COP, there is a set of handlebars, with the left break coloured red, mounted to a tree on the first corner with a sign reading Breaklevr Burm.
The Story of Chinaman's Peak
Just outside the town of Canmore, Alberta sits a towering mountain by the name of Ha Ling. Though breath-taking in its own right, Ha Ling, sandwiched between the legendary Mt. Rundle and Three Sisters, is often over looked. His story is not often told. So today I will share the story of Ha Ling and how it has become known as Chinaman's Peak.
On a late night, back when the valley in which Canada's highway 1 sits was being taken full advantage of by the mining industry, a small group of miners were enjoying a few drinks in a Canmore bar after a long week. It was about two in the morning and each member had had his fair share to drink. Glancing out the window at the peak of Ha Ling, one miner of Asian descent boasted, "I could climb that!" Not about to let him back down from his claim, his friends bet him another round that he couldn't. To the happily drunk miner this sounded like an easy way to earn a free drink, so off he trudged into the night toward the mountain. He wandered up the steep southern slope in a nearly perpendicular path through the trees and scrambled up the scree right to the very top. Having completed his challenge he headed back to the bar to enjoy his reward.
Since that night, Ha Ling has been granted the nickname of Chinaman's Peak.