Anni Adventures

It's been a while since a post. This year was not a great year in terms of hiking. With weddings and other things, I got caught up and before I even realized, the season just flew by. Originally set for late August, but changed at the last minute, We conquered the Lions on September 10 2016. 


It was a huge battle, physically and mentally. Just imagine 1200 meters of elevation change over 8 km route. Add another 2 km for the distance it took to walk from where our car was parked to the trail head. At the top, there is more hiking to be done as the trail extends further and we just went with it. That day I hiked a total of 43 thousand steps or roughly 29 kms. 


The planned hike had ended up on a day that a roller coaster of ups and downs. I had gotten cramps that morning and didn't want to have to postpone the hike once again. I pushed through and met up with my hiking friend. On the way to Lions Bay, we got caught in traffic due to a bike race from Vancouver to Whistler and got detoured. We didn't end up arriving until 10:30 am. We were already behind by 1.5 hours. As previously mentioned we parked over 1 km away because there was no parking available at the trail head. Good warm up I guess. Once we hit the trail head the trail was a gravel uphill climb for the first hour or so. This for me was the most difficult portion of the entire hike. I had to fight myself not to turn back and just keep telling myself to take a couple more steps. The trail eventually leveled out and was easy going. This didn't last long because as soon as that was over, the hard steep decent followed shortly thereafter. We made our way up slowly. When we finally made it through a section of landslide area into a clearing and finally saw the majestic lions towering over us for the first time, we were in awe. Excitement and Relief were a couple of the emotions. We continued thinking we must be almost there. We weren't. Far from it. Along the way we ran into a lot of hikers heading back down. Asking each of them, everyone would say how hard the actual summit was and how far we were from it. We had to traverse over a rock slide until we reached a plateau before the lions. By this time it was already close to 3 in the afternoon. We were cutting it pretty close in terms of time. We decided that since we had come all this way, we wanted to take a stab at summiting the actual lions. Sadly it wasn't meant to be as we ended up getting lost and going the wrong way, continuing along the Howe Crest Trail getting to the portion between the East and West Lions. We decided to turn back as we were now battling against time to head down the mountain before nightfall. I didn't want to be the one that Search and Rescue send out a team for. 



The descent was a lot worse than I expected. The jagged rocks and fallen trees added to the difficulty and as we were in a rush, we put our knees and body through a beating. We made it back to the gravelly sloped section of the hike near the beginning when we were enveloped in complete darkness. This made me glad I was totally prepared for this hike. So many firsts on this trip included making sure I had my headlamp, more than enough water and food, extra layers for warmth, spare battery, whistle and actual hiking shoes! We made it through the last hour in complete darkness with the help of my headlamp.



I was never as sore as I was after this hike. It took an entire week for my body to fully recover. But the views and the feeling of accomplishment for getting as far as I have far exceeded the pain and suffering.

This recent Canada Day weekend was an absolute blur. It came and went so fast, I was grateful and sad at the same time. Weekend started early as I got off work early to help out at the Ronald McDonald House, making and serving food to the families living there. It was a true blessing to be able to do so. That was quickly followed by a rehearsal for the wedding that same weekend. Finally getting home around 9 pm I had a quick dinner before heading to bed. Canada Day was about to start early courtesy of Chasing Sunrise.

When I woke at around 1:40 am, I almost didn't want to get up. I thought that oh what the heck, why not just skip the hike and enjoy my sleep? The adventurer won out and I got up and raced out the door. I literally flew to the mountain, arriving at 2:20 am. There was already a crowd by this time. You read that right! I volunteered for waiver duty and before anyone knew it, it was 3:15. The official start time to the hike. Now see if you can imagine 800+ hikers up on a mountain. Now picture that before light out. Can you imagine what that's like? It's amazing. There were stragglers so we didn't start our hike till 3:45. We managed to catch up with the crowd and make it up the mountain for the sunrise. Something we didn't think was possible given the amount of people on the mountain. That moment when you watch the sun break through the mountains and everyone on the mountain joins in for O Canada is surreal. I've never been part of a better Canada Day celebration. I'm so glad to be part of such an amazing community. People that strive to do more in life than just pay bills. People who go for what they want in life. I encourage those in the city to try a Chasing Sunrise hike at least once. You won't regret it.





My day had just started and I went from being on top of a mountain to picking cherries in Kelowna in a matter of hours. While the weather wasn't with us we certainly had lots of fun.


To end the day, I was fortunate enough to see the sunset on our way home. How many can say they watched the sun rise and set in the same day?

Peace <3

We had some really nice weather over the weekend and decided to ease into our climbing season with something simple. after much deliberation (not really), we chose to hike to Norvan Falls! It is a relatively easy hike, with minimal elevation change. It is about 14 km round trip. Vancouvertrails website estimated it to be about 5 hours round trip. Since I had work in the afternoon, We decided to meet up early (7:15 am early) and carpool up. after delays here and there and getting lost without my GPS, we arrived at Lynn Headwater around 8:50. The boards around the start of the hike estimated the hike to be 6 hours! That set some nerves off, as we were worried we may not make it back in time, however, we took it with a grain of salt. Since we knew these are always horrible estimates.

























The hike starts off as part of Lynn Loop and since we were headed north along the water, it was easy with minimal elevation. We reached the top of the loop in about half an hour to 45 min and took a short water break before continuing on to Norvan falls. The latter half was more technical with 3 or 4 small ridges/valleys to traverse across. It was a lot of roots and rocks but still, I would consider it easy. We made it easily to Norvan falls in an hour and a half. We spent about half an hour or so taking selfies and having a snack. The falls was breathtaking. It is not as big as Shannon falls, however locally, this is the next best thing, and you can even get close if you wanted to. 



The hike back was just as fast, however we were starting to notice the fatigue and hunger kicking in. Besides enjoying the hike, it was a nice opportunity to catch up with close friends and having interesting conversations, such as who would last the longest in a battle royale situation. Hint, I would probably be the first to go. Hahaha. 

Now that the first hike is checked off, I'm looking forward to a season full of interesting and technical climbs. My goal is to at least do the Lions Binkhert this year as well as Black Tusk up in Whistler. Stay tuned!

So remember how I said that Crown Mountain was my last hike of the season? Well I lied. Last week I was having some bubble tea with a few friends when I got an email from Chasing Sunrise. An impromptu sunrise hike on Saturday due to the last potential of nice weather. It was also a good opportunity for me to test out the SJ CAM that I bought. The last time we did this, the skies were very cloudy and we had maybe an inch of sky between the mountains and the clouds.  The good thing about sunrise climb so late in the year is that sunrise comes later. We started our ascent at 6:20 this time around, whereas last time we started around 4:30 in the morning.

The weather was great this time round. My friends and I started earlier than the group so for a good portion, we were able to stay ahead of the pack and avoid the crowd. In doing so, we managed to summit at around 7:30 am. We were part of the first group to summit and in doing so we got decent seats that gave us good view of the impending sunrise. The view was amazing. Take a look for yourself. The pictures don't justify the view you see though.

The only downside to this, was the crowd at the top of the mountain. It kind of took away from the beauty but, it was also an adventure in itself to be up there at 7:30 in the morning with other people.

I'm very privileged to live in a city where I am minutes away from the ocean and the mountains. There are so many options for a nice sunny day. As I've mentioned before, I've really gotten hooked onto climbing this year. I've made a huge list of climbs I want to accomplish. There are so many choices here in beautiful BC that one year just wouldn't cut it.

I went on a hike with my classmate to Buntzen Lake in Belcara. There are lots of trails in this region and because it's such a popular destination, on a good day, you can expect to see a lot of people on the trails. We opted for the Diez Vista trail which is one of several trails that makes a loop around the lake. The only difference is, this one shoots up the mountain. It is a 15 km trail that has a 4-6 hour RT time.

**warning if you opt to do this trail, there is horrible reception up here**

We started around 10:15 am at the south end of the parking lot and made our way down on the trail going clockwise. This trail can be done in either direction and as I learned later on, it is easier to complete the hike in the reverse direction because the incline would be more gradual. By following our route, we reached the very anti-climatic viewpoint in about an hour/hour and a half. We didn't even realize it was the main view point because reading on the trail they said there were about ten view points along the trail. The view, while beautiful, wasn't spectacular. And because it happened so early on in our trail, we had nothing really to look forward to but the long descent down. The rest of the trail, which was more than half the trail was longer and more taxing on the legs. There were roots and loose rocks that made the hike more difficult. Once we completed the descent, we weren't completely done though. The descent ended at the top of the loop, meaning there was still half the loop to get back to the parking lot. While I thought it would be all flat on the remaining trail, I was proved wrong. The trail along the beach was full of ups and downs, which weren't particularly difficult, however after a long hike, it felt difficult.

As I've said before though, even though the trail was long, having completed it made it feel so rewarding and satisfying. The food we devoured afterwards was that much more delicious too.

Have you hiked the Diez Vista trail? What did you think?

We had yet another weekend of beautiful summer weather this past weekend. I was invited by a friend of mine to join her and a friend for a hike up dog mountain. For those who don't know where that is, the trail is just off of a run at Mount Seymour, about a 45 minute drive from home (Surrey). Its about a 5 km hike roundtrip, which is about a 2 hour hike.

We met up on the mountain and started our hike around 1:45 pm. The trail is not particularly hard altitude wise, as you're already fairly high up in the mountain. However, it is rather technical. There are lots of rocks and roots on the trail that makes stepping very difficult. There was also a LOT of mud too. Just before we reached the first lake, which acted like a checkpoint, my friend and I both managed to slip on the same rock and fell in mud. We managed to clean ourselves off somewhat at the lake and witness some fellow hikers playing on the half frozen over lake. One of them decided to run across the lake and, as if I really needed to explain what happens next, without warning he falls through the ice. Luckily for him the lake is very shallow and he is alright, albeit a bit wet.


We continued on our hike and finally reach Dog Mountain after hiking for an hour. The view was amazing. Although we didn't have a unobstructed 360 view, the weather was so nice and clear we could see the entire lower mainland and as far away as Mount Baker. The feeling of climbing to the top really was amazing. It wasn't as crowded as Quarry Rock a week ago, which was awesome. You could just sit and relax and soak it all in.



The descent was equally long as the ascent. You would think it would be faster but because of all the technicalities on the trail, it took just as long. We made it back to our car dry but muddy. So a word of advice if any of you ever decide to hike to Dog Mountain. DON'T wear your nicest, cleanest sneakers/runners/shoes. You will get them dirty and they WILL be hard to clean. I learned that the hard way.

It has been over a month since I've returned from my trip to Japan and Korea. Things have been just so busy that I hadn't had time to share. The trip was a three week vacation that I embarked on solo. It being the first time that I was doing so, I was frightened and didn't know what to expect. Had I prepared enough? would the language barrier be an issue?  Is it safe for me to travel by myself? All these questions and more ran through my head. Especially because the highlight of my trip would be my desired Mt. Fuji climb. I really wanted to climb to the top of Mout Fuji and watch the sunrise. Crazy I know, but as they say in Japan, "He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool."

The official climbing season for Mount Fuji is July and August but because I wouldn't be around. I pushed my climb to the latest date possible, June 29/30th. I had brought along my winter jacket and headlamp pre-trip. Everything else I planned on buying at the fifth station. The few days leading up to the climb was nerve-wrecking. Weather forecast for Mount Fuji for the chosen day was considered poor for climbing, especially for a night climb. At such high altitudes, weather was a key factor to the climb. But because my accommodations had been set already, I had to go and figure things out from there. I caught a morning bus in Shinjuku that took me right up to the Yoshida 5th Station. 

I arrived around noon and went straight to the information center to get as much information as I could regarding the climb. The man there recommended against doing the climb. 
There were so many things that could go wrong, such as the weather, the key component. It wasn't looking good. He also said even if I made it to the top, the likelihood of seeing the sunrise was small because of weather conditions. He recommended that if I absolutely had to do it, to book a stay in one of the huts on the way up. But for staying just a couple of hours, it would cost 80,00 yen. 

In the end I decided I was going to try and if weather didn't cooperate, I could always turn around. As luck would have it, another lady came into the center asking about the climb as well. We ended up talking and it turns out that she and her boyfriend, who were both intending on doing the night climb, were also Canadians! What luck that the only Canadians I would meet on the trip would be when I needed it most. We decided to do the climb together as on a climb like this the more the merrier. 
After we bought a bunch of food and supplies for the climb we prepared to set off. We ended up running into a European who was also planning on doing the climb. He had a lot of experience under his belt and agreed to climb with us. It was a good thing he did because he ended up being a lifesaver. 
We set off around 6 pm, even though it would still be 10 hours before sunrise. The climb would only take about 5-7 hours. As we started our climb, we could see a mixture of clouds/fog. As we made our way up, we encountered many that were coming down. They shared their experience with us and gave their encouragements. as we made our way past the sixth station and towards the first of many huts along the trail, the sun started to set. We stopped at the first hut that would sell us hot water for our instant noodles. As luck would have it, it starts to rain as we waited, so we took shelter inside the hut. We ended up waiting out there until 9:30 pm when they were closing for the night. By then, the rain had subsided and we could see the night sky. With seven hours still to go, we made our way up, taking small breaks at each of the huts we came along. Once we were above the clouds, we got to see the most amazing of views. The sky was filled with stars as far as the eyes can see. Because we were so high up, there were no light pollution to ruin the view. You could see the milky way and the occasional shooting stars. We sat in awe just taking it all in. You rarely get to see such a spectacular view. As we moved up higher and higher, the wind picked up, but we managed to stay above the clouds and any possible rain. If it wasn't for the European with us who had brought extra jackets that were windproof, I doubt I would have made it. But not only did he lend me his jacket, he was a great motivator. As we reached the ninth station, we found a few huts that allowed us to take shelter as long as we purchased some merchandise/food from them. The Japanese at the huts didn't give us the best impression of Japanese people though, although the language barrier would be the huge factor. They were very strict on time spent in their space and wouldn't allow us to do things the would seemingly be OK here in Canada. The final hut we stayed at, just below the ninth station, we stayed til an hour before sunrise. Climbing up to the summit, we could see the daylight breaking through the darkness. 
We were the first people of the day to reach the summit, and we made it with moments to spare. The clouds were low and we caught our sunrise that simply took our breathes away.
The wind at the summit was so strong could literally blow you away. But other than that, we were very fortunate. We trekked around the crater which was still half covered with snow and ice. We wanted to get to the highest peak of the summit but because of the snow and the route we took, it made it difficult for us to reach.
We started our descent at around 7:30. It proved to be a lot more difficult and painful on the legs. Climbing down in the daytime felt endless compared to the climb up. Going up it was dark so we couldn't really see how much more we had to climb, but on the way down, you see an endless path that makes you think how you made it up. I went on and on wondering to myself when it would end or when I could finally see the 5th station. We finally made it after 3 hours. 
On our bus ride off the mountain to kawaguchiko, even though we were all hungry and sore out of our minds, everyone was so exhausted we all fell asleep. Once we got to the train station we had a quick lunch before we parted ways. The climb up and down and all the breaks in between took a total of 16 hours. It was the longest 16 hours I ever went through but one that I won't forget for a long time.