What a great day for a hike!

Cheryl, Cody & I went for a hike on the Ripple Rock Trail today! 16 km, and 4 hours later, we were all pleasantly exhausted
For more information on the trail:
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/trails/?id=26

We were shocked to be the only car in the parking lot when we started the trek.  The above picture was taken at around 10 am.  We had a hot day today – it was 15 deg. Celsius when we started! We went well equipped ~ sound horn, bear spray and bear bells, in addition to water for us and Cody.

The trail is really well maintained. The first part of the trail had stairs and bridges where necessary. Even though we were hiking under the forest cover, the heat was there!

There was a suspension bridge over Menzies Creek … Cody was so good going over it!

Our first rest stop was at a beach. Across the way was a log sort area.
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Our next stop was on a viewpoint, a bluff facing the same way as the beach.


Below is a picture of Cody, wet after chasing a seagull at the next beach rest-stop.

The last big climb to the end of the trail.  There were stairs!

The view from the end. Straight ahead is Maude Island… to the right is Race Point.
We watched the boat traffic for about 20 minutes before starting to head back to the car.  It was an amazing view, and well worth the 2 hour walk.



Now I can hardly wait to figure out what other adventure to go on… after my nap! (Gosh, we were all so tired after our trek!)

Vacation Time!

Seems like I waited forever for the vacation time we are enjoying now!  All is not so rosy though, the first week of my vacation, my husband had to go to the eye surgeon for a check up for his last surgery, and ended up having two office procedures - laser surgery to remove the cloudiness of his lens, and another gas bubble put into his eyeball because the pressure was not strong enough to stop any problems (his problem was a hemorrhage that happened in his eye, and did not allow the surgeons to check on the condition of his retina).  So, after all of that, we had to go back to Vancouver for another checkup this week.  The one way trip travelling from where we live to Vancouver is approximately five to seven hours when you include the ferry travel. Traveling like that just doesn't appeal to us anymore :-( -  especially in the summertime when you have to wait at least 2 hours in the parking lot to catch the ferry....  The best news about the last visit though, was that his eye is OK, and we won't have to go back for another three weeks (yippee --- sarcastically speaking) There has been a good side of my vacation.... we have been able to enjoy 4 nights camping so far. Two nights at friends, and another two nights at Gray Lake.  Tomorrow we head out for Twin Lake, and plan to stay three nights! Bringing our fishing gear to hopefully catch some dinner as well!
Other news....My computer is at the "shop" getting repaired (hard drive crashed), so until I get it back, I won't be able to post much. I'm hoping I will be able to salvage some pictures from the old hard drive, but fear that all is lost on that drive. Serves me right for not committing to do regular back ups Grrrrrrr.
So, please look forward to some posts with vacation pictures in the near future!