oregon & northern california

Fleeing the Vancouver "summer", our two week 'vacation' lead us to travel southward to hunt for some much needed sun!
We embarked on a road trip, of which the first stage entailed driving down the US-101 along the coast of Oregon and Northern California. Windswept seascapes, amazing bridges and of-course the giant redwoods were amongst the highlights.



Not an engineering marvel like some others along the road, the bridge in Florence, Oregon has a nostalgic and quasi gothic appeal. Photo taken from our favourite coffee spot "Bill's Auto".



Northern Californian rocky seascape



Giant Redwoods - did you know minute crustaceans live in the tops of these trees?



Leighton in among the redwoods



Ro and the Boy Scout Tree

vancouver burning

A quick reminder of the Vancouver riots some 4 months ago, from which the city is still reeling.
The healing process is going to take a long time, especially it goes against the way the locals like to think of themselves: happy-go-lucky, relaxed and friendly.

Subsequent outrage at the riots has been such that some of the perpetrators (and their families) have had to move house, or take extended summer holidays after being victimised due to their names and addresses were being listed on social networking sites. Oops.

The inquiry is in full flight and the collective nose is being rubbed in the shame on a daily basis on tv, radio and in the papers.

And all over a hockey game.....





































First photo taken from out balcony at around 9.45pm.
The second photo was taken 20 min after the first (note the second plume on the left!)

crankworx 2011

We undertook the annual pilgrimage to Whistler to see the Slope Style competition at Crankworx - a festival of carnage and ball crunching.




This 15 year old kid was a local wild-card entry, and we are thankful that he survived the event to ride another day! A few seconds after this video was taken, he had an almighty crash. When asked how he felt over, he responded "my balls hurt".





















Leighton and ro in amongst the crowd



















A short gondola ride away above crankworx is an amazing panorama of mountains, still with snow....and yes, skiers. A cool summer has meant that the snow is still around in abundance.



















A black bear eating grass - not an unusual sight on the slopes of Whistler.
We did see a much rarer but sadly unphotographed animal on the same trip - a Bobcat: on the prowl, roaming between wooded areas.

tyax - wilderness resort

250 km north of Vancouver in the South Chilcotin mountains
Float plane assisted cycling and fishing in the summer, heli-skiing in the winter, hunting all year round.
We took the opportunity of the BC Day public holiday to make the great escape north to do a bit of adventuring. Our main goal of-course was to undertake the spruce lake riding tour, which included a float plane trip from Tyaughton Lake (at the resort) up to Spruce Lake at a higher elevation.
Once at Spruce Lake, all we had to do was ride home through a magnificent valley surrounded by naturally occuring meadows and snow capped mountains...not a bad ride!
























Leighton attaching the bikes to the back of Gonzo using hi-tech bike rack technology



















Float plane swooping in to collect us and the bikes.
The plane is a Beaver, and is over 50 years old...i wouldn't have got in had i known that!



















View from the float plane of the mountains - absolutely stunning!

























Vista along route





















Leighton in the meadows: native wildflower include: lupins (blue); indian paintbrush (red), native lilly (yellow)



















Lake Duffy on drive home from Tyax