Strathcona hiking

After many years of planning, E. and friends are on a multi-day hike to the Forbidden Plateau area of Strathcona Park.  For my eastern family & friends, this is no regular walk in the park.  They are hiking in pristine alpine wilderness terrain, far away from roads, dwellings, and cell connections.

The group departed from Paradise Meadows at Mount Washington on Friday around lunchtime.  Their first day was a 5hr, mostly uphill-hike to the base camp Circlet Lake.  After a cold night in a tent, yesterday they hiked to Mount Jutland then back to base camp for dinner & sleeping.  Other day hikes from Circlet Lake might include Mount Albert Edward or Mount Castlecrag.

On Friday, J. & I drove the group up and proceeded on our own alpine day-hike in Strathcona Park.  We started from the Paradise Meadows parking lot and took the western trail to Kwai Lake, then looped back by Croteau & Battleship Lakes.  

Unfortunately, our hike was overcast and wet so we were unable to see the mountain views.  If we return one day, we might be surprised with views of snow-covered alpine peaks.  Ours was a wet 5hr, 15km alpine hike (read:  muddy up & down).  We had planned on picnicking but decided to just keep going because it was so wet.  Despite the rain we were still greeted with amazing alpine beauty.  Here are some pics of what we saw:

Ruffed Grouse?

J. by the ranger station near Kwai Lake

Alpine Meadow

Nothing beats fresh alpine air & meadows.  Rain or shine, I look forward to my summertime alpine hikes every year!

Westcoast Spring

Fresh air

     blue ocean

          unpredictable weather

                no cell or internet, it could only mean ... a day trip to the West Coast of Vancouver Island!

Aah, the beach ... 

 Interesting finds

                                                       

                                                     New gumboots

And above all, the promise of Spring to come!

On My Needles - a sweater ... finally!

Socks & gloves are practically all I've knitted in the past few years.  Funny, because I used to think that they were so complicated.  As a teenager I knit many sweaters and even a long jacket.  Some were colour work, others cables.  I probably stopped knitting sweaters because wool is expensive and you need a lot of it to make a sweater, sweaters are difficult to fit, and take a long time to make.

Despite these major drawbacks, after a multi-year sweater-knitting hiatus, I started a new sweater project right after Christmas.  The pattern is called I heart Aran by Tanis Lavallée.  I'm also using Tanis' Green Label in Chris Grey , purchased on Etsy before Christmas.  At purchase time this shade was a One-Of-A-Kind colour, but has since been added to the regular colourways.  I love this colour because it's so shiny.

Unlike earlier sweater creations which followed patterns to the letter, I have changed a few sizings in this one to hopefully make it fit perfectly.  So far the front, back, and most of one arm are done.  Although the cable pattern looks complex, it was easy to remember. Ploughing through cables again was very satisfying.

Confession time - I have never blocked a sweater.  I will have to research whether to block it prior to piecing it together, or afterwards.

Here's the sweater so far: