Summer in the Mountains, Canada 2021

2021 was a summer that dreams are made of! The fun began at the end of June with an exciting adventure for Josh's birthday. We took some days off from work and drove up to the beautiful mountains of Whistler. It was midweek which meant the roads were empty and we got the sea to sky all to ourselves. I'll say it again, the sea to sky highway is probably one of the most beautiful drives in the world and I don't think we'll ever get tired of seeing it in the sunshine. There were lots of stops along the way to see some stunning viewpoints, look at the mountains all around us and enjoy the glistening bright blue ocean lapping at the shore. We did a couple of hikes by the sea and then carried on towards Whistler. It was Josh's birthday on our first day so we took the car to our camping spot, which was north of Whistler in the mountains. We then made our way into the town using the walkways in the woods, and went to a Mexican restaurant in the plaza. We sat with margaritas in the sunshine and ate some tasty tacos, thinking why don't we just live here? Well this nearly became a reality as we started chatting to the manager who told us how desperate they are for hospitality workers because of the pandemic. We'd be lying if we didn't consider it, but we love Vancouver and value our jobs too much to say yes. Finding a place to live in Whistler isn't an easy task either, I mean it is one of the best ski resorts in the world! 

We couldn't stay out too late as the next day we were climbing to Wedgemount Lake. This was a big day of hiking up 1,200m to see a glacier! The weather was absolutely glorious and we ended up not needing our layers as the sun was out in full force. It was a 12km return so we started early and prepared for our highest climb. Let me tell you it was a grind. Even now after we've spent the last couple of years hiking non-stop, we still refer to Wedgemount as a beast. The hike was beautiful though as we climbed through the forest and arrived at a series of gushing waterfalls that we had to clamber up. Eventually we got to the lake which was mostly frozen and snowy, even in June. Luckily it had started to thaw so you could see the brilliant blue and green colours of the water which made for some beautiful pictures. We sat and enjoyed the views whilst eating out lunch and saw a fluffy fox-like marten dashing around in the snow. It remains one of the nicest hikes we've done and the first glacier we got to see up close. A core memory was seeing the weird wriggly glacier worms that Josh dared me to eat, to clarify I did not eat them. A mountain hike usually means that the way down is the fun part. This ascent had been so steep that it actually took us a long time to carefully climb down, especially through the waterfalls, and it left our calves aching. We got to the end having absolutely loved this hike and settled our exhausted selves into camp. 

On the Friday we decided to explore some of the local lakes of which there are many in Whistler. Lost lake is a nearby popular hike and mountain bike trail which in winter is a cross country skiing trail. If there is one thing we have learnt, it's that people who live in the mountains have a variety of sports they can do year round. We hiked through the forest to the lake, lucky again that the weather was so perfect as the lake glowed in the sunshine. There is another massive lake in Whistler aptly named green lake as it it shines a beautiful olive green. I had taken Josh here for a special surprise. We walked around the lake towards a boardwalk when I told him, we're going on a seaplane over the mountains! We were both super excited and the weather was perfect. I think we're both pretty used to flying but this was a very strange experience. It was just us two, another couple and the pilot in the plane and the ride was a stomach flipper for sure. The tiny seaplanes feel like they're made of paper in the air. They gently glide around and then jolt at every bump. Eventually we were high enough where it got a bit more stable and we could enjoy the stunning views. In June the mountains are still covered in snow so we had a spectacular sight ahead of us. We flew over the Whistler lakes, as well as Cheakamus and Garibaldi which were so bright blue in colour it looked like a painting. The pilot even flew us around Black Tusk, a famous pointy rock on the top of a mountain that people love to climb. We finished the flight with smiles on our faces.

It was time to leave Whistler, but just before we drove away I decided to go for a morning run on the walking paths into town. I was concentraing on running and enjoying the views which means I wasn't really looking where I was going. That was until I suddenly stumbled to a very urgent stop. Right in front of me was a very big black bear. He was walking along the pavement, probably because it was the most direct route, and luckily wasn't too bothered by me. I felt pretty safe but he kept side-eying me as I tried to run around to get back to camp. A couple of cars drove by and beeped to get him to move, and I took my chance to race back to Josh and excitedly explain what had happened. We quickly packed up the car and drove out so Josh could see him too. We came around the corner and there he was, by the berry bushes still padding around. Our trip to Whistler was a real birthday bonaza and we loved it! On the way back we had a short visit to the beautiful Alta lake, where we sat in the sun and enjoyed the stunning weather until it was time to go home. 

We really do feel so fortunate to have such a lovely Vancouver family. The birthday celebrations didn't stop with Whistler thanks to these amazing people. Josh and James actually have the same birthday, although James is a year younger. Libe, Emily, Andre, Cam, Alex, Lucia and I planned the loveliest party for them. I should note that most of the credit goes to Emily and Andre who hosted in their garden, made some stunning decorations and even baked some homemade pizzas. Gracious hosts don't even do them justice, the drinks and food were flowing! There was a hilarious moment where I'd brought a massive gelato cake from Dolce Amore as a surprise. We didn't anticipate the temperature of the heat dome and even after being out of the freezer for 5 minutes the cake started to slide around and melt from the bottom. We all laughed as we tried to cut slices of the half solid, half puddle of gelato and ate as much as we could before it slid away. It was such a fun night that ended with us looking at the stars and eating peanut butter Nanaimo bars. 

One of our favourite places to hike in the Vancouver area is Mount Seymour. It is the gift that keeps on giving as we ended up visiting in winter, spring and summer. We had a beautiful day hiking up Seymour, but this time with no snow around. It was lovely to enjoy the fresh green plants and flowers that were searching for the sunlight. We were halfway up the steep climb to the peak when we decided it was lunchtime. We picked a lovely spot on a log looking out to the mountains, and were just about to sit down when we heard a rustle. We jumped back as a black bear appeared, nose first. We quickly gave it some space and stepped back. Luckily it was completely unphased by us, similar to the bear we saw in Whistler, but very keen on eating up all the berries in the bushes. The bears have a tough time as they hibernate and starve for a lot of the year, and then have to make up for it in spring and summer. This means they focus on eating as much as they can during the seasons when berries, nuts and salmon are plentiful. This is to gain as much weight as possible so they came survive the winter hibernation. It was a joy to see the bear and we watched him from a safe distance nibbling at the berries. The rest of our journey to Seymour peak was beautiful. We'll never get tired of those views out across the mountains north of Vancouver which look like they stretch on forever. It was a surprise to us that even at this time of year there's still a lot of snow on the peaks, a reminder of the adventurous place we get to call home.

The amazing weather we experienced in spring ended up following us into the summer. I am the sort of person who loves the sun, but the heat dome that impacted the Pacific Northwest was brutal. The temperatures soared to 48C in Vancouver and over 50C in the interior. We had no rain during this time which lasted for weeks. This led to some intense forest fires across the province, and all the way down the west coast. In BC the town of Lytton was engulfed in flames causing thousands of people to evacuate and lose their homes, permanently. It was a true travesty. The city had to put in special emergency measures to cool people down. This included sprinklers, cooling stations in public buildings for people to seek refuge and temporary shaded areas. Despite this there was a weekend where hundreds of people died because of the heat. This city just isn't made for hot weather, most people do not have air con or cool buildings. It was extra harsh for Josh, James and Alex out working in the sun, and I even found myself showering five times a day just to cool down. This severe weather did ease up eventually but it was a stark reminded that climates are changing. 

We were committed to having the most authentic BC experience by going camping as much as we could. In the heat we decided it was a good idea to visit Squamish again. It's nestled in the mountains so we were sure it would be better than the city. We were wrong! We stayed in a strange little campground called Mamquam in our tents. It is a local run endeavour which means it's very simple. We got a big double camping spot so had a lot of room to set up our tents. Sadly due to the heat and drought there was a fire ban but that didn't stop the fun. We enjoyed running around the campground trying to fill up one of those inflatable chairs that are shaped like hotdog buns. We decided to take the opportunity to complete another amazing hike beneath the sea to sky cable cars. It is a solid grind up, with beautiful views, and then at the end you get the cable car down. The heat was high that day and we all struggled up. Libe admitted to us that she doesn't actually get any sense of satisfaction completing a hike, she just does it because we love it. She is the sweetest human. We stopped at one point to rest and James and Josh went for a dip in the cool running water. I took a delightful picture of the three of them, photobombed by a man who looked like he was having a mental breakdown whilst washing his face. It's one of my favourite pictures and I get it out for a laugh whenever I'm sad. We enjoyed the peak and enjoyed the cable car down even more, the sun was shining as we went down the mountain overlooking the Howe Sound. The Sunday we were due to drive home was the Euro finals where England had somehow made it to face Italy. We were keen to watch it so stopped at the amazing Watershed Grill, great reccomendation from my friend Char G. Sadly it went to penalties where England lost, a strange thing for me to say as I was brought up by my Irish/Scottish dad to never support England in the football. Hilariously we lived in little Italy in Vancouver so came home to an absolute party in our street. The roads were closed and the music was up. We walked along our street and enjoyed the fun, the Italians really know how to celebrate.

The summer weekends felt like they were slipping away. We had already booked up our next lot of camping adventures and were excited to see more of the province. Josh told me one weekend that we should save a weekend just for us two which was super sweet. He said to keep the weekend free and we'd do something nice together. I was excited as Josh is the best at planning things, he really is just so kind. It got to the day before we were due to leave and Josh was adamant about sorting all our things that night so we were ready to go ASAP on Friday. This meant him ferrying some stuff as he left for work at 6am on Friday morning. I had my work day and got ready to jump in the car, double checking most things but with so much already in there it was a hard task. We arrived at our surprise destination, the ferry to Bowen Island. This little gem is right in the Howe Sound and is known as the island of deer and relaxation. We enjoyed the short ferry over and got to our Airbnb called Love Story Farm on Hummingbird Lane. It was so nice, with beautiful sea views. In fact that night Josh marched me down to the beach and cooked up my favourite dish, pineapple fried rice with Bundaberg ginger beer from Australia. What a treat! He told me we were going to hike Mount Gardner the next day, which wasn't too strenuous so we'd have some time to chill. I popped back to the car to grab my hiking shoes and could only find one. That was a little weird, so I told Josh and he looked super upset. We searched everywhere but it wasn't to be found. We figured that it must have rolled out the top of the bag in the early hours when Josh packed the car. I had my old ratty running trainers so it was fine, but Josh was gutted. 

Luckily the next morning we had the weather on our side. I took myself out on a run in the morning, coming back to Josh all jittery. He'd overindulged in the coffee machine and had the equivalent of 4 cups. I laughed at him pacing around and we set off in the car. He was insisting on carrying the backpack, which I didn't mind at all. We made our way up the mountain, stopping at the beautiful views along the way, until we got to the peak. It was absolutely gorgeous up there, with big platforms for helicopters that we could sit on. Josh told me he wanted to take some pictures on the GoPro, so set it up with the view in the background. He was being a bit weird, a bit quiet and frightened which was strange. I kind of thought he was tired or needed some lunch. Little did I know he had planned this weekend with an important question in mind. I turned around as he said some beautiful words to me and got down on one knee. In my haste to not inconvenience him I quickly dragged him up, hugging him and saying yes to the loveliest question I'll ever be asked - to marry my best friend. He was absolutely desperate to show me the ring which was a blue Montana Sapphire framed by ethical lab diamonds around it. He told me the story of it coming from Yellowstone, being ethically sourced from the river and not mined. He also shared how he had spent the last few months personally designing it with the ring specialist, even adding a beautiful leaf engraving. I couldn't stop looking at this truly magical gift from the most wonderful human I've ever met in my life. It feels like the biggest honour in the world to love Josh, let alone him feel the same way about me. We sat and ate the packed lunch he had carried up, all my favourite things from sweet cherubim, and popped open the prosecco he had stashed away. 

If you were unsure whether Josh is an absolute diamond of a person, this engagement surprise proves how kind, thoughtful and lovely he is. We were in complete bliss for the rest of the day. We hiked back down, had a shower and went out to dinner in a little pizza place that did us a special vegan option. There were lots of photos, lots of loving words and lots of enjoying this precious moment. We decided not to tell anyone until the next day so we could just enjoy our loving bliss a little bit longer. The sun was shining so we took a hike around the island to see the stunning water and take endless pictures of the ring and us together. We went up to a little cafe to ring our parents, to tell them the good news. They were both unbelievably happy for us, probably not that surprised considering we'd been together for almost ten years, but elated that there was something so lovely to celebrate. We made our way off the island full of smiles and love, and couldn't wait to tell the Vancouver family too. We made the journey home and rolled back to our parking spot in Vancouver full of happiness and on a real high. I got out the car and what did I find, my other shoe! It had been runover, but in true Canadian style someone had saved it and left if on the path. It was a hilarious end to a perfect weekend. 

We had fun announcing the news to our incredibly lovely friends in Vancouver, who were so over the moon for us. We had a busy week scheduled, and trying to get a weekend for us all to meet up was hard. We arranged to see James and Libe the next weekend for some drinks to celebrate. It got to the Saturday and everyone was being a little weird about their plans, normally Alex and Lucia are so chatty but we'd barely heard anything from them. It wasn't until we were walking down to the bar at the end of commercial drive that things clicked. We looked over and saw everyone crowded around an outdoor table with balloons and decorations. They yelled congratulations and we all hugged. It was one of the sweetest things and we were truly surprised. We drank some beers and ate some very minimal dinner snacks. This is an important fact to note for later. Whilst at this table a couple of weird things happened in true commercial drive style. Firstly a lady walked up to us and handed us a bag full of clothes. She mumbled some words which we assumed were to take the bag. We looked inside and there was a weird assortment of items, all with the tags on. We realised she'd stolen it from outside one of the vintage shops. Libe and I tried to walk up to see which shop it could be from, but couldn't figure it out, so I said I'd give it back tomorrow. The next weird visit was from a man who came over to our table to ask us if we'd buy him a beer. We politely all said no and he then started shouting at us, getting louder and more aggressive as we ignored him. Then our comes our saviour, a tiny waitress called Sarah who is super tough. She came over and told this guy to leave us alone and do you know what, he did! We had a tequila shot with Sarah and carried on to our next stop, the vintage bowling alley.

The bowling had a been planned by our friends which was so sweet. We got there and bought some more drinks, beers and vodka cans, but still not much food. We played a few games of bowling and I have no idea who won except that it wasn't me. We stumbled towards another bar to get a pickleback, this is a Canadian favourite where you do a shot of whiskey followed by pickle juice. We were all feeling so merry, we'd had very little food remember, that we toddled back to our flat which was just up the road. We welcomed everyone in, Josh made the strongest gin and tonics and margaritas that we definitely didn't need but enjoyed nevertheless. We danced, sang, shouted, and jumped on the sofa until about 4am. It wasn't until the next day when I had a hangover that nearly killed me did I wish we hadn't done that last shot. I'm not joking about the hangover, I nearly lost consciousness. The ill feelings didn't last long though and this night will be one of our favourites forever!