The Elfin Lakes hike has been on my bucket list for a few years. It is a well-known and very popular overnight trip near Vancouver. The winter has been a long one in Vancouver but I finally bit the bullet and reserved a Friday night at the shelter, with the forecast promising a mix of sun and clouds. It would do.

Yesterday was the first day of spring and the forecast was for sunshine! I decided to head for the North Shore mountains and do a trail that I try to do every winter: Mount Seymour summit in Mount Seymour Provincial Park.

Last week I had the ridiculous good fortune of being able to take a trip to San Diego. One day of our trip we drove out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to hike and see the amazing mass bloom of wildflowers.

This week a callout came through the Wanderung Group for a hike into Manning Park, a provincial park about 2 hours east of Vancouver. I replied to the email right away and offered up my chauffeur services. I was headed to Manning Park, and more specifically to Windy Joe Lookout!

This past weekend was a long weekend in British Columbia known as “Family Day”. The weather was getting better and better, so I made plans with a hiking buddy to get together and head up a newer local attraction: the Sea to Sky Gondola. We would then have access to some great mountain snowshoeing.

After successfully beating off early-season colds, it was time to get back out on a serious trail. Last weekend we…