Skip to main content

Posts

Comox Range Traverse Attempt: Strathcona Provincial Park, Raven Lodge to Ralph Ridge

Last week my wife Meaghan and I attempted to hike the Comox Range in Strathcona Park, from Raven Lodge to Flower Ridge via Mt Harmston. Trip reports gave the impression of a tough yet doable mountaineering trek. Things did not go according plan... We dropped one car at the Flower Ridge parking lot Sunday Morning and drove back to Raven Lodge. The first day it started to rain and we spent the first day at Circlet Lake.  On the way we met our friend Brianna at Battleship Lake, who was excited for our trek, but warned us that she had attempted it and turned back, and had heard of friends of hers who had to get evac'ed from Icerberg Peak on Reese Ridge. At Circlet Lake we met a nice and experienced lady named Susan (and a couple friends), who warned us that you need to be 'tough' for the Comox Range Traverse, and that she (too) knew people who recently got evac'ed from Reese Ridge, as well as people who decided to turn back. So, we knew it was going to be challenging. (Than
Recent posts

Better 1 Year Late Than Never

Can you believe it? ONE WHOLE YEAR since my last post! How the time flies. Currently I am living in Nanaimo, British Columbia, working at Coastal Resource Mapping (CRM) doing cartography and GIS work as a GIS Systems Analyst. Work has proved satisfying and rewarding. My next major project for work will be a teaching position through CRM at the University of Northern British Columbia teaching short, 1 to 3 week introductory GIS courses on contract at different campuses in Northern BC for different audiences. I am  very  excited! Well there has been a whole lot in the Life of Matiss. Lets start at the beginning, at this time last year... In October 2012 I was in Seaforth, Ontario, working on and off for the good folks at Lawn Master Landscaping doing carpentry and landscaping. I built a cabin and a sauna, and even got to use 'em! It was hard but rewarding work, and was enjoyable spending the fall in Ontario. I got a new mountain bike and enjoyed riding it around, especially usi

6000 Kms of Glory

Leaving Beaver Creek behind, I set off on my journey back to Ontario. Along the way I would be stopping in Whitehorse , Edmonton , Winnipeg , Thunder Bay and Wawa . Joining me on my cross country journey was my buddy Ryan Johnny, a Beaver Creek local. Here he is at the start of the Alaska Highway, which winds through Beever C 1800 km later. Before setting off there was a little send off in town. We sang karaoke at a border guard's house. It was really ingenious: you just hook up a guitar amp to a mic and then look up on Youtube a karaoke version of a song and BAM, you have a karaoke machine! And customs officers are great to celebrate with with Youtube karaoke! The next day we set off, two hours late, just after Beaver Creek Coffee. The trip to Whitehorse was uneventful except it was gorgeous outside. Pulling into Whitehorse we ended up going to Walmart and RJ ended up meeting a couple friends and he went his way. I met up with Tanis and her room-mate Deaner. Tanis an

Yukon Gold, pt. 2

So, for 90% of my time in the Yukon is found in a place called Beaver Creek I talked about in my last post . The town has about 100 people in it and is waaay at the north west end of the country - the westernmost community in Canada in fact. Like I said I worked at the hotel here doing maintenance on top of other voluntary duties for extra money - things like baggage and bus washing. Since coming back here that is mostly what I have done - work, usually 10 to 14 hour days. But its had its fun times too. Some of the activities that have happened day to day, like campfires or just hanging out a bit and seeing something local like Sid's oldtime-y museum or going to the pool.. There were the Beaver Creek Olympics. I won the hoola-hoop contest and the balloon toss with my bro RJ. Events such as the Talent Show, I got up and sang Bedu Manu Lielu Bedu, but I only remembered the first two verses and so I just repeated the second one. There was Beat's 80the birthday (more on that