Sweepstakes

After we found out that the boathouse was closed and we could not go kayaking, Mark, Shona and I were faced with the task of thinking up another Thursday adventure.

Because of general footwear unpreparedness and Shona's overall human weakness, we decided against a hike.

Walking to the car with our thinking caps on, we were determined not to surrender to defeat.

Mark suggested skim boarding.

And after some discussion about the exact time of peak low tide we set off.

We stopped at Mark's to pick up the boards and at the fruit stand to pick up kumquats then set off to the beach.

It's weird to think that our last adventure was snow sport.

We got to the beach and ditched our shoes and excess clothing.

After the first fall, you've got nothing to loose; you fall into warm water and soft mudsand.

And fall I did.

*I can't do it with my arms down*

Only a few times, then I got the hang of it enough to be able to stay on my feet.

Shona took some pretty epic spills and I was lucky enough be able to document some of them.

*Shona doing summersaults*

She will have sand in her hair for days.

Mark on the other hand decided to be no fun, being quite good at skim boarding and all.

*Cruisin'*

He did however provide for the family in being an excellent teacher.

As the incoming tide put increasingly less distance between our playground and the barnacle covered rocks, we decided to call it a day.

*Shona going out to sea*

Sand covered and soaked (some more than others), we got into the car.

So, skim boarding is quite fun, i will do it again.

I think it would be fun to try on Pah Beach.

Happy Thursday.

The Tallest Man on Earth

I love this guy.

*Photo Credit*

I have been listening to The Tallest Man on Earth's album, Shallow Grave for about a year now.

He has now come out with a second album, The Wild Hunt this month and I just cant get enough of it.

Here is a sampling of some favorites:

The Wild Hunt - from album The Wild Hunt

The Gardner - from album Shallow Grave

King of Spain -released as a single and with album The Wild Hunt

Swedish Kristian Mattson is The Tallest Man on Earth.

He is playing a show in Vancouver, BC next Wednesday, but sadly it is sold out and I will not be seeing him

If anyone has any connections that would make arranging my marriage to him easier, please let me know.

Weekending

Happy weekend end.

Sad. I had another great weekend.

Friday night I went to a Surprise party for my friend George (Lots of the same kinds as the camping trip). It was a wild success and was very fun.

Saturday, I got up at about ten, which is earlier than I maybe would have, had I not had hiking plans.

Skyline Divide was the plan.

Mark and Shona and I set out and drove for about 40 minutes in the direction of Mt. Baker.

Stopped at a friends house and picked up some snowshoes.

Set off up a gravel road that we had to follow for 13 miles to get to the trail head.

It was a pretty rough road.

Whit the snow line and that was fun. There was more and more snow the higher we went.

Then there started being snow on the road in some places.

Then there was about two feet of snow on the road and we couldn't drive any further.

*Family Portrait*

So we parked the car on a little pull out thing and, as Shona had the most appropriate footwear, Mark and I put on snowshoes.

We hiked up the road for a bit, snowshoed around and played in the snow.

It was great fun.

*Mark in the snow*

It was snowing the whole time we were there.

That was my first time seeing snow all year.

*Shona doing a cartwheel in the snow*

Afterwards, a bit soggy and damp, we went to Graham's for lunch.

Good day.

Sunday.

I had a weird sleeping in- stiff neck morning, went to the co-op to get eggs, and had an awesome egg sandwich.

I them met up with Mark and girlfriend Sue and we head down to Fairhaven for the Dirty Dan Day's Chowder Festival. We met up with Shona and Emiko and some other friends.

*Mark and Sue*

$10 to sample 17 different types of chowders from different restaurants and get a bowl of your favorite.

Lots of good food.

My favorite was the Pumpkin and Corn chowder from Avenue Bread but they ran out at the end, so I got a bowl of Skylark's clam chowder, my second favorite.

It was so sunny and there was good music.

The Gallus Brothers played for a good bit and I particularly liked them.

*The Gallus Brothers*

It was splendid to sit in the grass in the sun with my friends and chowder listening to bluegrass music.

Such a pleasent Sunday.

Tonight I made Banana Bread. 'Twas delicious.

Now, I've got a touch of math to do and them have to mentally prepare myself for the week ahead.

Happy Earth Day!

I can't believe how hard of a time I had finding some one to go on a hike with me on Earth Day.

But, in the end, Shone came trough for me.

We did a repeat of our last week's hike, the Pine and Cedar Lakes hike.

This time, we more thoroughly explored Cedar lake as we covered Pine Lake pretty well last week.

Cedar Lake was much easier to explore the perimeter of as it actually had a trail all the way around it.

We saw a few ducks, one of which was doing some sort of splash dance in the water while we observed.

We met a stump and Shona almost took a spill in the lake.

After a few cookies and sufficient photo documentation, we set off for our descent.

The way down was enjoyable.

We saw a huge Wood Pecker doing a number on a tree.

He really was not at all phased by our presence so we took a lot of pictures of him, got very close to him, and talked to him. Not a superb conversationalist.

Next we ran into our friend Emiko. It was surprising and joyous.

After about 15 more minutes of knee jerking down hill fun, we reached the car.

As Shona has never experienced the pleasure of a stinging nettle and has been complaining about it for some time now, we decided to check that off of her to do list.

For support and because she was a little nervous about her first time, I also indulged in some nettle.

I gently brushed the back of my hand on the underside of a leaf while Shona raped her forearm with an entire plant.

It was more nostalgic than painful for me, but I don't think I can say the same for Shona.

All in all, a lovely day for a hike and a happy Earth Day.

Camping!

I love camping.

Last night I set out on a vaguely structured camping trip.

Paranoid about failure or arrest I was a bit wary at first.

There were nine of us. Most of us lived together in the dorms last year and a few we adopted.

Our destination: Oyster Dome.

This is the same hike that I did with Mark and Shona last week.

I was a little concerned about potential freezing, snow and wretched conditions but my fear was for naught as it was a clear, beautiful and dry day.

*Colin preparing for flight at the top of Oyster Dome*

The way up was a bit tough, especially for those who were carrying things like tents and 24 packs. I just had a bunch of pants, so i did not have too much trouble.

*Sunset*

We finally made it to the top and looked for a place to set up the 8 person tent.

But, as there was an abundance of trees, there was no such place.

We resolved to just sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags.

We made a fire, ate hummus and were merry into the night.

*The gang: Kyle, Riley, Evan, Meghan, Colin, George, Nathan, Austen*

We had some small adventures and managed to stay away from the cliff edge for the most part.

The night was quite chill for sleeping, especially in my "warm to 55 degrees" sleeping bag. But I survived, we all did.

*Antics. Austen, Meghan and I*

Saturday we got up and indulged in a little fire, played catch phrase (good thinking Nate), ate what was left of the the little, random food that we brought, packed up and set off down the hill.

We stopped off at the bat caves on our way down. There was a cool view looking up form the bottom of the giant rock face that we had just spent the night at the top of. But i left the jumping around on the slippery rocks and logs to the others.

We got to the bottom happy to see at out cars had not combusted, been towed/stolen or had suffered any other traumas.

It was a highly successful trip and it was really good to see the gang again.

An event to have a sequel for sure.

Pine and Cedar Lakes Hike

I got out of lab today and went, again with Mark and Shona, on a hike.

Today, we did the Pine and Cedar Lakes trail.

It was about 5 miles round trip, except we took a detour circumnavigating Pine Lake which added a bit of time and distance to our stats.

We made friends with some dogs on trail.

We saw some Elk/giant deer tracks, some mystery poop, a blue heron, an abandoned jacket, a toilet and lots-o skunk cabbage.

I don't find the smell of skunk cabbage offensive; it is more nostalgic for me and makes me think of spring time in Preston.

It was pretty vertical for a while which proved daunting in the beginning but was fun for galloping down on the way back.

Overall, good hike, pretty lakes, tons of skunk cabbage and once again, wildly agreeable company.

Good day. Math test tomorrow.

Oyster Dome

I had my first Biology lab today.

It was fine, I'll go back next week.

But lab day means I get out at noon so, I went on a hike with Mark and Shona.

We did the short version of Oyster Dome.

It took about two hours.

*Shona in the snow on the way up*

We started in the chilly sunshine and when we got to the top we were in the snow and wind.

It was a good hike with an awesome view and a wretched cliff that inspired much fear.

*Mark and his success face at the top*

There were many potholes on the drive in (and out) which were kind of fun.

It was nice to do a nice hike on a nice day with good friends.

On a different note- Here is what I am digging lately:

-Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

-Christmas TV by Slow Club

-Edmonton by The Rural Alberta Advantage

-Animal By Miike Snow (not the video though)

-Easter candy

Also, I am rereading The DaVinci Code and digging it.

Thats all for now I suppose.

I have math homework.

-MB

I am a productive procrastinator.

It's Monday.

It is Ryan's and Tel's birthday. So happy birthdays to them.

Got up and went to Biology where I toyed with how to take notes in that class.

Then I went to Math where I struggled through a quiz.

To the bookstore to get my Biology Lab manual.

And home for the 3 hour break in my day.

I went to REI and spent my dividend/coupon/gift card and money on some new pants for all of the hiking I am doing.

Then off to latin.

I came home and did a little of this and a little of that.

I looked in o the homework that I should and will do and the didn't do it.

And then I made vegan chocolate-chocolate walnut cookies.

I like to share them.

Now I am going to swimming.

Bye.

Also, I just remembered, i made broccoli potato soup yesterday. It was fabulous and there is a lot in my freezer for later. Just thought you should know.

Easter Weekend

It was kind of stormy up here in Bellingham this weekend. But mostly just on Friday and Saturday.

Saturday I went on a midday hike with Shona, Meghan, and Philip and Alicia. Shona is my friend/swim coach. Meghan is my friend/ roommate from last year and Philip is Shona's brother and Alicia is his girlfriend. I like all of these people. We hiked to Fragrance Lake. It was 1.9 miles each way. Afterwards, I was on an endorphin kick, so i went for a short run and then went to the rec center and did some weights and then went swimming. But my goggles broke and the ones i borrowed from the lost and found afterwards burned around my eyes terribly so I stopped swimming, went home, showered, crawled into bed and watched Inglorious Bastards for the first time. I liked it.

*Me at Fragrance Lake*

*Me, Meghan and Shona*

*The forest on the way down*

Today, Sunday, Easter, my roommate, Mariah and I hid easter presents for each other around the apartment. So, we got to look for them and have a little easter fun! I went out to Lake Whatcom with Shona and we went kayaking for about two hours in the violent wind. This was my first time kayaking. I really enjoyed it and cant wait to go again but would love it if it were maybe not as wet and windy. Now, I have just gotten home, had a lovely sandwich for lunch and will now go for a quick swim and then do math homework. Thats all. Happy Easter Day.