December - Snow Shoeing and the Marcothon Begins!

Saturday night Neil and I ventured to Grouse Mountain for some Snowshoeing. It was our first snow outing this winter. The mountain was full of winter activities. Santa and his Reindeer are in the wooden hut behind the skating rink. Good times! More snow for the mountains is predicted this week while we get showered with rain in the city. 

Grouse Mountain has added some very sparkly lights along the trails close to the chalet. Good photo opportunities. 

It was a very clear night that gave us great views of Vancouver below. 

Tomorrow (in 1 hour) is December 1st! Time for the Marcothon (Scottish Event) where you must run every day in December for a minimum of 25 minutes. Sounds easy enough...but my experience at being successful reminds me it takes good planning. It can be a real challenge mid week with the dark evenings and the seasonal parties. It's just what we all need - I become very thankful for our long driveway and property some evenings!  Other activities (Spinning, TRX, Yoga) don't count but do please keep them up! Happy Marcothon...Santa Shuffle next weekend! 

Fall Travels

I

This fall we travelled to the United Kingdom where we spent time in London and Scotland. 

We always enjoy our time in London. 

This trip we attended a World Cup Rugby Game at the Olympic Stadium. Wow what a fantastic stadium. We saw New Zealand vs Namibia. Great night out! 

We always enjoy the sights of London. Especially Westminster Abbey where there is a statue of a relative on my side of the family recognized. He is also honored by the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and Eros. Lord Shaftesbury was a famous Victorian politician and philanthropist.

It was a wet day in London when we visited the memorial and Eros. 

Once in Scotland, Neil and Graeme ran an ultra marathon together. Marathon de 

Ben Nevis, 64km's, a No Fuss Event. Here's Neil and Graeme early on. 

A picture of Graeme along the route. Nice Scottish scenery. 

Here's John Kynaston finishing - well done John! 

Here's Donald finishing. Love his tartan shorts! 

Here's Neil and Graeme finishing! Well done The Ambrose's - 8hrs, 11 mins. 

We also did a family hike up Stac Pollaidh. 

We enioyed the Loch Ness area and dinner at the Dores Inn - the local pub. Always nice! 

Once home we were off again to Banff in the Canadian Rockies. 

Fergus came with us and we all enjoyed the hiking in the Banff area. This photo was taken at the top of Sulphur Mountain, 8,041 feet. We hiked up - most take the Gondola. 

The temperature was cool but fresh! 

The mountains and skies were spectacular! 

Fergus and I kept up the hikes while Neil attended the conference. 

Home now - this photo was taken from Mt. Seymour with Kendall and Chris on Saturday. 

Buddies! Kendall and Fergus.

Happy Halloween! 

Back in Action

I've been a bit out of action with the effects of a virus that not only attacks you when you are young but re-visits you in adult life. There is now a vaccine to prevent it in adults, I would highly recommend it! 

Saturday Neil, Dave and I went back to our local favourite climb up Mt. Seymour. I let the guys go ahead as I really didn't know how I would fair up in the heat. I haven't done any climbing in three weeks. Although I am proud that I managed to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps every day. I really like my new FitBit to measure my daily activity. It gave me something else to focus on these past few weeks. 

Here's me in my new bug jacket - a gift from Dave and Helen. It's a good one that even has a zipper on the hood so you can open it to eat and drink. Something that will come in very handy on our local mountains in the summer months. Although, this year with the hot dry summer there is no moisture therefore minimal bugs! 

Neil and I enjoyed a bike ride on the seawall after our climb up Mt. Seymour. There are clouds of smoke behind us. The winds are blowing the smoke from the serious forest fires in Washington State. There was an air quality advisory warning for the Fraser Valley. 

Here's Neil, Dave and I on the journey up Mt. Seymour. 20,000 plus steps yesterday - nice! 

BC Day Long Weekend - Evans Peak

What a great outing to do on the BC Day long weekend. It doesn't get any more of a "Coastal BC hike" than this one!  "Very Difficult" the sign says on the route to Evans Peak in Golden Ears Park. I have lived in the area most of my life but have never been up this challenging route in the majestic Golden Ears area. So glad Chad and Marla invited us to join them on this local gem of a hike. We started at the West Canyon Parking lot and followed the signs. The trail was very well marked and well maintained. However, it did provide a very steep work out which took us 2.5 hours straight up to the top. 

   Here's Chad - leading the way with a steady pace. 

  Marla and I both took a pole and I was glad I did. It really helped coming back down the steep slope. 

   Once up top of Evans Peak the views were spectacular. This photo is looking down to Alouette Lake. That's North Beach below which was full of people enjoying the hot weather. 

   Here we are at the top. I must remember to take my buff off for photos! I needed the buff to capture      the sweat going up. It was 33 degrees C! 

   We enjoyed lunch at the top and tried to identify all the peaks surrounding us with 360 degree views. We did good - local knowledge! 

  There were a couple of sections with rope closer to the top which always add to the fun factor.    Here's Marla and I on the way down. 

 Height: 3,714 feet. (1,132 meters)

 Elevation Gain: 3,117 feet (950 meters) 

 Time: 4.75 hours (including all stops) 

 Round trip: 12.1 Km's 

This hike starts out very tame and as you climb higher it really kicks up in all aspects. It is never too dodgy though and is a well marked trail the entire way. This was my first day using my new "Fit Bit". I did aprox 23,000 steps. Near the top on a steep section my heart rate was 150. (I was walking!) Thanks Chad and Marla for a great day out on the trails! 

Today I did 18,000 steps with a 1 hour run, 40 minute bike ride, and other household chores. My goal is at least 10,000 steps every day which is the daily recommendation. I can exceed that on non work days but will need to be creative to get my steps in on work days. I think I am going to like my new little purple wrist band that gives me the time, number of steps, heart rate, calories burned, Km's, and number of flights of stairs. I'm not much of a gadget person but this seems to be just what I need for those working days. Happy Stepping! 

A Return Trip to Fork Peak

This weekend Craig was in town. He is trying to complete the peaks in the Bagger Challenge. We managed to help him complete Fork Peak and 1st Pump on Seymour. Here's Neil, myself and Craig's friend Steve on the top of Fork Mountain. Fork is at the far eastern end of the Grouse Range and can be accessed by trail the entire way. The temperatures were hot! 30 plus with no shade! Glad I had my sun visor and sunglasses. 

The selfie at the top - awesome views! Aprox 4 hours round trip. 

I dropped Neil and Craig at the top of Mt. Seymour so Craig could complete 1st Pump. I was concerned about our dear Fergus who had been stung by a bee the day before and had a bad reaction. Lynette and Gillian were able to pick them up after another successful bag of one more peak on Craig's to do list. We all enjoyed the patio in Coal Harbour at the local pub to celebrate the day. 

Fergus is doing well! He now has his own bee sting kit. Sounds very familiar! 

Knee Knacker #10 for Neil

The 27th running of the Knee Knacker (50km) took place this weekend. Here's Neil finishing his 10th Knee Knacker in 7:33. He has been very consistent with all 10 finishes being within the same hour. Well done Neil! Only 56 people have completed 10 Knee Knackers. 

Neil with the other 10 year finishers this year with their prize of a nice piece of aboriginal art. 

Chad, Randy and Neil at the finish line in Deep Cove. Beautiful setting for a race finish. Note the dry grass...for the event it was misting with rain, it was the first bit of moisture we have had for months. 

Congratulations to all those who participated in the 2015 Knee Knacker! Hmmm....will he go for #11? and for myself #5? 

Happy Trails! 

Canada Day

We had a great Canada Day long weekend celebration. 

We started Canada Day with a very hot climb up Mt. Seymour, our new training ground with a consistent climb and good quad training on the way down. 

Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a bike ride on the sea wall to burn up all the lactic acid from the Mt. Seymour climb.  

Dinner and Canada Day fireworks in Burrard Inlet viewed from the roof top of the condo. Great show! 

And a quiet and reflective moment for Neil at sunset on Third Beach on the Seawal! We enjoyed a picnic at sunset on the beach. 

The smoke in the photos is from all the forest fires surrounding Vancouver. It's hot and dry here. Very heavy forest fire smoke and hot temperatures today - 38 degrees at the farm today! 

Another climb up Mt. Seymour with Neil and Dave. It was another hot one! This is an action shot of me trying to swipe that very large black fly - zoom it in and you can see the annoying creature.  Very Dodgy Beasts! That's 3 climbs of Mt Seymour this week, nice! 

And Vancouver had the excitement of hosting the FIFA Women's World Cup Final today between the USA and Japan.  The city was full of American fans this weekend and they were happy as their team won the final 5-2! The competition has been held across Canada with several cities hosting the 52 games played over the last month. It's been a great competition and a huge boost for women's soccer.....and for tourism in Vancouver and across Canada!