2012 - Washington D.C., Jim Haberl Hut, Lake Louise, Manning, Kelowna, Diamond Head, Golden Ears, Swaneset

My Flickr site for more pictures - 

As Ken and I hiked past the Red Heather outhouse, one of the park guys working on replacing the steps up to it looked at me and asked, "Is your name Keith Rajala?" I replied "Yes", wondering how on earth he knew my name because he certainly didn't look familiar. He said, "Your web site is awesome", or words to that effect. I thought, "My goodness!" After a short conversation Ken and I continued on to the Elfin Lake campground intent of doing some afternoon and evening photography, and if luck would hold out, some sunrise shooting. Even though it did cloud up in the evening and the morning dawn with us thoroughly socked in, it was a memorable overnight trip. What it also did is motivate me to finally get around to working on the Red Lobster Journals for 2012. So with that said, let's take a look at some of the Lobster adventures from my perspective.

One of the significant changes in the winter of 2011 - 2012 was the lack of snow adventures. No skiing. No snow shoeing. There were a number of factors including poor weather, friends whose paths have diverged from mine, and other interests. I hope to do more in the coming winter, but I have many fond memories of past ones to entertain me until the next ones.

Washington D.C. - May
Location of the Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C.

- My slide show of our trip to D.C.

Lynn with the Capitol Reflecting Pool and the capital building behind her.

We took the AmTrack to Washington D.C.. It was our first time in D.C. and we looked forward to the collection of world class museums all in close proximity to the Washington Mall. It was very warm and muggy. I would not want to be in D.C. in the summer. I think it would be intolerable, at least for someone like me with Scandinavian genes. :-)

The museums were fantastic and the side trips to the Washington Cathedral, Georgetown, and Arlington Cemetery were well worth making. The Vietnam Memorial was a moving experience. The tour of the capital building was also well worthwhile. I am very glad to have been able to visit this history rich city.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Jim Haberl Hut - July

 Location of the Jim Haberl Hut

- My slide show of the trip.

Alan, Kathy, Derek, Evelyn, Dennis, George, Les, and Ron

Like last year, my friend Dennis invited me to come along on a trip in the Tantalus Range just north-west of Squamish. We helicoptered up to the Jim Haberl Hut in early July and had glorious weather the whole time. Sunny days and wonderful sunsets met us each day. Alan, Dennis, and Les climbed Dione and all of us did various glacier walks. The north face of Serratus was sluffing itself of snow too much for people to feel safe on it, but we all seemed to have a very good time. The only wrinkle in that was Derek suffering a fall while walking on some rocks and slicing open one of his fingers. Fortunately George is a surgeon and Kathy and Evelyn are nurses! After a minor operation on the hut table, the finger was dealt with.

Keith with Mt. Dione in the distance.

The video accessible in the link above really gives a much better idea of the time we had.

Lake Louise - August

Location of the Lake Louise campground

Keith, Ken, Chuck, Dave

Ever since Ken and I have retired, we have made at least one trip to the Canadian Rockies for hiking and photography. We camped at the Lake Louise campground and made day trips along the shores of Lake Louise and up to the Plain of the Six Glaciers Tea House and along to the very end of the trail. One day we drove up the Parkway and hiked into the Bow Glacier Falls, and we even did some night photographyincluding star trails. Dave was able to do his painting, and we were able to do our hiking. As always, we were able to relax and have a great time.

Manning Park Photography - August

Location of the Blackwall upper parking lot

Chuck

Chuck and I went up to Manning Park at the end of August to do some afternoon and night photography. A room was booked at the lodge, and we headed up to the meadows in the afteroon for some shooting. We had an enjoyable time taking a series of pictures of sunset for a time lapse movie, but by the time sunset was over, it had clouded over. So much for star pictures! We ended up playing with light painting which turned out to be a lot of fun.

Kelowna - September

Location of Kelowna

Jason, Karen, Keith, Lynn

In early September Lynn and I went with her sister Karen and husband Jason to a time share they arranged on the west side of Lake Okanagan near Kelowna. It was a week of mountain biking, walking, relaxing, and wine tasting. It was tough! I even got some photography in. 

One of the things that was rather fun was getting some pictures of the Andromeda Galaxy using my wide angle lens as wells as with my 200mm.

Diamond Head - September

Location of the Elfin Lakes

Ken

I had been thinking more about night photography and the desire for clear air and I thought the 5000 ft elevation of the Diamond Head area above Squamish would be good. It's a beautiful area and not a hard hike. The down side would be the need to lug in our camera equipment. Working with tripods dslrs and the associated lenses and filters is normally wonderful, but the stuff is not light!
We hiked in during the afternoon and while passing some park guys fixing the outhose in Red Heather Meadows, one of them looked at me and asked, "Is your name Keith?". That rather surprised me since I didn't know him from Adam. He said, "Your website is great!", referring to the Red Lobster Journals. For him to know about the journals is one thing, but to remember my name and face? Remarkable! We later talked to him a couple of times around our campsite and while shooting around the Elfin Lakes. Mark, the brightness of your special headlamp was remarkable!
I got some nice shots of Mt. Garibaldi reflected in Elfin Lake, as well as the sunset reflected in it. Low clouds hung around the Squamish valley all day and they made me feel like I was in a separate world. As the last of the light went away, I pondered my time on the Tantalus Range in the distance two months before. As night set in, it became damp and dew settled on the cameras and lenses. We were able to get some star shots, but we quickly learned that we had to repeatedly wipe down the filters to avoid clouded images. About ten o'clock we packed up and walked back down to the campsite, only to find we walked into a very thick fog. No wonder our cameras had water droplets on them!
We got up early in the morning hoping for sunrise shots only to find that things were socked in all over the place. Oh well, a cool walk back down the road passing over ninety people coming up (it was Saturday at this point) and a drive down the potholed road got us to Tim Hortons for coffee and muffins!
Thanks again to Ken for a great time. If only my pack had been lighter! ;-)

Golden Ears Trails

My fellow Lobster, Alan, has spent countless hours creating and maintaining trails in Golden Ears Park partly because our provincial government doesn't consider it important enough to fund, even though it's one of the most used parks in the province. Here are a couple of maps that show some trails and routes as of the fall of 2012. It includes trails that go through demanding terrain.  Do not rely on the maps as things can quickly change in the woods. You are are responsible for your safety.

Click on the map for a larger version.

- southern portions of Golden Ears Park

- eastern side of Golden Ears with route to the summit.

2009 - UBC viewpoint, The Last AGM?, Diamond Head, Rockies Photo Shoot

My Flickr site for more pictures - 

The UBC Research Forest
Location of UBC's Malcolm Knapp Research Forest

The view of the Fraser Valley

The picnic table up at the viewpoint in the UBC Research Forest is a wonderful thing. Here Chris Cooper and Alan Lizee and I enjoy getting above the fog that blanketed the Fraser Valley for part of January. Snow has covered Maple Ridge for over six weeks. It started on about December 18 and decided to stay!

The Last AGM?
Location of the AGM 

Pipes I bought on my first visit to Istanbul.

The Red Lobsters have been having some kind of winter "Annual General Meeting" for more years than most of us can remember but it seems we are getting older.We are no longer single young men stretching our bodies and nerves on rock, snow, or ice. We are married with families and the commitments that come with them. We have also simply gotten older. Our bodies have an increasing number of complaints and it takes more effort to head out to the hills. 

Keith Akenhead's secret recipe?

Keith Akenhead

Besides the long time regulars, the "AGM" and the Red Lobster Club has had enough cache in the past to get a few new friends out for a "One Time AGM", braving the cold winter elements for the sake of being able to say, "I lived through a Red Lobster AGM and am now considered a Red Lobster!" We have seen these "One Time AGM" people for weeks afterwards walking a little taller and their shoulders a little farther back. The sense of pride in their physical and psychological achievement was obvious.

Bob Cuthbert

For the 2009 version of the "AGM" we were able to get a few of the old guard out to enjoy a night in the hills of Manning Park but the numbers were, alas, low. In spite of the low quantity of Lobsters, those of us present tried to live up to the spirit of the AGMs of yore. One Lobster, who shall remain nameless, got into the spirit with very much gusto and showed he thoroughly enjoyed the proceedings by developing a new dialect of English. An audio recording of some of his contributions to this new lexicon is available to Lobsters (in good standing) upon request.

Ken Williams

The morning following the AGM festivities we packed up and just as we were going to ski down, we saw Lobster Ken Willis coming towards us on his new snow shoes. I decided to stay another night and help him drink his wine and enjoy the Christmas lights he brought up with him. We went to bed early and slept a good sleep.

Ken Willis

Was that the last AGM?  If the aging Lobsters want another one, perhaps they will find a way to make it happen again.

Manning Park

Diamond Head

Location of Round Mountain, on the route into Diamond Head

Chris Cooper

It wasn't until March 3 that we made it to Diamond Head. Last year we had been there quite a few times by this time of year. The weather was great and Chris and I had brought our heavy digital slrs with us. For this shot above, I had shot a lot of frames in burst mode. Other pictures from this day are in my flickr account.

Rockies Photo Shoot

Bob Needham, Keith Rajala, Chris Cooper
The Mount Engadine Lodge

Back in 2005, Bob Needham, Chris Cooper, and I made a spring trip to the Rockies where we did a bit of skiing, hiking, and a fair amount of photography. This spring we decided to do something similar. 
Bob had recently retired and treated himself to a Nikon D700, Chris bought a D90 days before the trip, and I had my D80. After spending a night with Bob and his family in Kamloops off we went to the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge in Camore. The first full day we did a hike up Sulpher Mountain. Well, not exactly. Bob had had recent knee surgery and only went part way, feeling good that his knee was as good as it was. I got half way after having to take frequent rests and decided to turn around due to my slow pace. Those evening treats had caught up to me. 
The second day we drove to Lake Louise and skied to the far end. We watched a number of ice climbers and talked to tourists from Germany and Holland. We skied back through a snow storm and then the sky cleared. We gave our SD cards a good workout! 
On the morning of the third day, we had our usual breakfast at the Rocky Mountain Bagel Company, but met with Val Verral, wife of Dan Verral, who along with Chris Espinel run the Talus Mountain Lodge. She suggested we do a drive along Spray Lake and have tea at the Mount Engadine Lodge. That turned out to be a great suggestion. As we drove along the Smith Dorrien Spray Trail, we noticed that below us and next to the lake were some people setting up some dog sleds. We decided to investigate. It turned out to be one of the dog sled companies in Canmore working with British army personel teaching them how to work with the dogs. It was a most enjoyable hour.
We drove on and soon arrived at the Mount Engadine Lodge. We were made to feel very welcome and soon availed ourselves of the delicious soup of the day and numerous cups of coffee. We spent some time walking about, and taking photos. Outside on the patio, we set up my flash on a tripod and took numerous pictures with Shark mountain as a backdrop. (see picture above) After talking to the owners and soaking up the ambiance for over and hour, I would love to go back and stay there.
On our last night Chris had arranged to meet with some people who had done the 2008 David Thompson Brigade canoe trip. They wanted to learn more about large canoes and what Chris had done on the B.C. coast and about his recent canoe trip along the south coast of England. They generously invited us for dinner and we had a very good time.
We drove home via Radium as the highway was blocked by a fatal accident between Field and Golden. We dropped off Bob in Kamloops, and except for the hill down from the Coquihalla summit being a skating rink in the dark, it was a long, but fairly easy drive home.
A great trip with good friends. Exercise, new experiences and people, lots of photography talk, and being in the Rockies. Who could ask for more in a "Rockies Photo Shoot". :-)

More pictures from the trip can be found in my flickr account.

2008 - Diamond Head, "Photo Shoot", Battery via Evan's Valley

My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Diamond Head in March

Location of Round Mountain, on the route into Diamond Head

Red Heather shelter

Chris Cooper and I walked from the chain up spot because of a "road closed" sign partly blocking the road, but after walking up to the normal parking lot, I think I could have chained up and taken the CRV up the "closed" section. As we approached the big lump in the snow which is the Red Heather shelter now, I sensed smoke! Yea, a warming fire! As we ate and drank it snowed harder and harder. Note the lack of view out the window.

We actually had to pole numerous times on our way down. For those of you who are familiar with this ski, you know how unusual that is! A little Ebrake and ABS to deal with the slippery road on the way down, and it was Tim Hortons for us! My fifth time to Diamond Head this season, and another enjoyable workout in the hills.

Manning Park Photo Shoot
Location of Manning Park Lodge

My home for two nights

Well, it was early April and the weather forecast was great, but nobody was able to go to Manning Park with me. What to do? I realized that if I didn't go by myself I would regret it and later consider myself a whimp. Besides, I wanted to learn more about photography and my new digital slr and Manning Park offered a lot of picturesque terrain to practice on. I was finding it very enjoyable to learn more about photography. I wanted to get beyond the "snapshot" stage and had recently joined The Clear Focus Camera Club and they had been very welcoming. I had also enjoyed talking with my friend Les Raskewicz about photography and wanted to try to put theory into practice.

Manning Park downhill ski area looking at Mt. Hozameen.

I made it up to Manning Park by the early afternoon and the lifts were shut down for the season, so I hiked up to the top of the orange chair to get a view of Mt. Hozameen. It was cold and windy and the lift shack at the top provided welcome shelter. It was clouding up a bit and since I wasn't happy with the colours I got, I converted the pictures to black and white. 

Mt. Hozameen

I have a vibration reduced18-200 zoom and I was curious what I would get hand held, especially since I was chilly and it was windy. The picture above was taken at the full zoom of 200mm and was hand held. I guess the vibration reduction really works!

frost

milk and red

Reaching

The next day I went for a walk on the trail that heads to Windy Joe. It was a treat to be able to go slowly, looking for interesting things to pay attention to. One of the more interesting things was the shapes and colours created in the partially frozen streams crossing the trail. 

After the Windy Joe trail, I took a drive to the Monument 83 trail head. I walked to where the trail crosses the river and found the colours of the river and bridge interesting. Although the picture above is fairly standard, I found the shadow pattern on the river interesting.

Growing Crystals

On my third day, I took a walk up the Fat Dog trail that eventually leads on the Three Brothers area. About a kilometer from the parking lot, you cross a stream. Here I found a few interesting shapes and colours. Yes, I know the picture is in sideways. I find it more interesting this way. :-)
Three days and two nights in a tent by myself. Minus 12 in the morning. Listening to podcasts and sipping brandy to while the evening along all snug in my down sleeping bag. Learning more about the features of my Nikon D80, learning more about editing in camera raw, and learning more about Photoshop CS3. It's all good. 
I had a good time and look forward to my next "photo shoot".

Keith

Alouette (Battery) Mountain via Evan's Valley - a solo trip by Alan Lizee
Location of Alouette Mountain

Alan Lizee makes a solo trip up Evan's Valley, then up a north facing gully between Battery and Evan's Peak (Sugar Loaf to some of us).  

In Evan's Valley with Blanchard Peak in upper left from the west branch of the creek.

I don't know why I always choose the options that take a few days of recovery. Anyway, after waiting-out the big snow dump over the last few weeks, I was chomping at the bit for some punishment. I hiked up Alouette on Wednesday by way of Evans Creek and the North gully to gain the North-East ridge above the big buttress. I went home, over what John Hume calls, false peak, then on down the Viking Creek rib to make a loop around Evans Pk. It was extremely tough going up the gully, and there were times when I had to rest after only 15 steps - and some of those had negative elevation gain. It took 4 3/4 hrs to summit, going down took less than 2 casual hours as the snow was nice for downhill on snowshoes. Avalanche activity was extreme. Edge roared continuously. The buttress beside me dumped four times, and there was an all-day, continuous hiss of graupel cascading down its flank. Sometimes it flowed around me as an inch-deep, whizzing river - it was awesome! 

The friendly gully and the big, hissing buttress

The bottom gulley

Half way up the gully, I used the ski pole like I was cross-checking with a hockey stick to keep from sinking too deeply, I knew that if I stopped to take a photo, things would start happening, sure enough, the buttress dropped its first load, notice that I took the fall line on a rise far away from the buttress

Looking west towards Battery.

Two blurry gullies on the buttress are the remnants of the first dump, notice that I am well away, and I have good terrain protection above.

2002 - Diamond Head Ski, Biking Golden Ears, Biking Rockies, Harrison Hot Springs Bike, Chilko Lake, Battery Mt., Manning Park

Diamond Head Ski

Location of Round Mountain - high point of the ski
My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Mamquam Mtn.

I skied up the old road to Diamond Head with my overnight pack another time. I have done it so often the route feels as familiar as a well worn hat. Sandy Briggs, Chris Cooper and I spent the first night in the Elfin Lake shelter, and the second night on the very top of high point.

Sunrise at high point.

The weather had been cloudy, but as we started the second night on the ridge top the clouds parted to expose a wondrous landscape. The morning dawned with a spectacular sky.
And some people ask why we do these things!

Mountain Biking in Golden Ears Park
Starting point of the ride at Gold Creek

Keith Akenhead

In this picture Keith Akenhead stands on an old east canyon road very close to the rocky beach on Gold Creek that provides a view of the backside of the Golden Ears. It is a good workout as you do a fair amount of climbing on the way up to the high point of the old road. You can also continue up Gold Creek on a trail and do some "rugged biking".


Cycling in The Rockies - July
Location of the old highway

Lynn Rajala

After I finished with my Simon Fraser University Tlite course in early July, Lynn and I packed up the van with camping supplies and our mountain bikes and headed for the Rockies. We spent some time in Kannanaskis Park and then went on to Lake Louise where we spent a couple of days. In the picture to the left, we rode the old road between Lake Louise and the access road to Lake O'hara. It was only about a kilometer to the West Lake Louise Lodge from there for lunch. It was a very enjoyable round trip.
From there we drove to the West Edmonton Mall. We made the drive home in one very long day.

Harrison Hot Springs Bike Tour
Location of Harrison Hot Springs

Chuck, Randy, Dave

Our campsite at Harrison Hot Springs.

Chilko Lake
Location of Chilco Lake

Denise and Robbie Needham

I went on a week long canoe trip organized by Chris Cooper to Chilko Lake, a high alpine area between Williams Lake and the coast. The canoe was thirty-seven feet long and was even rigged with a sail for the trip back from the southern end of the lake.

Chris Cooper

A beautiful area with ten thousand foot peaks all around the southern end of the lake. It's also grizzly bear country, but we didn't see any. The lake is about eighty kilometers long. The southern end is in typical wet west coast mountains that are heavily glaciated, with the northern end in the much flatter and drier interior region. A big change in a fairly short distance. An area not often visited due to its remote nature and the serious storms and associated waves that can build up on the lake.

Chris Cooper at the rear returning us to Tsilos Park. Turtle Island in the background.

- Part 1 video of our trip.

- Part 2 video of our trip

Battery Mountain (Alouette Mt.) - August
Location of Alouette Mtn. (Battery Mtn.)

Eric Rajala

Eric and I did a day hike up to the top of Battery in early August. It's a great view point for the Fraser Valley.
Edge Peak is on the right hand side of the picture, Needle Point is just off the picture to the left, and the top of the Golden Ears is in the distance, just to the left of Eric's right shoulder.
The cairn was originally erected quite a few years ago and has recently been repaired and a new plaque has been cemented in on the north side of it.
A long hike from Mike Lake with no running water in the summer.

Manning Park - September
Location of Cascade Lookout

Windy Joe in the background.

After dropping Dale MacQuarrie and Chuck McCafferty off with their bikes just east of Hope for their ride home, I drove on to Manning Park by myself in the van for a very relaxing weekend in the high alpine.  I spent the night at the Cascade Lookout.
The picture above shows Windy Joe just above the yellow grass.

Looking west.

I did some marking, photograhy, and watching both a sunset and sunrise. Most enjoyable.