Neglect

Well, I've done it again, I've neglected the news. It's almost December now, which is clearly completely insane, and I've already written and had published the Monday Mag annual Christmas guide. We're making xmas cards, thinking up present ideas, even going so far as going shopping for supplies. Ugh. And this year, we've got much more on our plate - the move to the North. But that's now, and what about then? I never posted a story or pictures from an interlude adventure I managed to sneak in at the end of the hiking season.

In September, I went out to the Rockies - I allude to this trip briefly below - to write an article about one of the Alpine Club's backcountry huts. The article is slated for May publication in Cottage Magazine. My friend Dave joined me for this one. He drove out to meet me in Kelowna, and we continued on together. We stayed in Yoho the first night, camping, and of course the temperature dipped below zero. I lost my voice to a vicious cold I picked up a couple days previous. Fun. That night we talked - or rather, Dave talked, I whispered - to a group on their final night of a Rockies tour. Funnily enough, Gayle Robinson, owner-operator of Robinson's, a popular outdoors shop in Victoria, was on the tour. I stayed up chatting with the tour guide, Tim, until late. In the morning, we packed up and drove to the Marble Canyon trailhead. Amid the tourists, we set off, soon leaving them behind for the stillness of the valley, which was razed by forest fires in 2003. Blue skies kept us warm, as did the exertion. The trail follows Tokumm Creek for about 10 km, until it leads sharply up a gully to the hut. The last 2 km are, as Tim put it to me the night before, burly. We meet a moose by the creek, which is cool, but no grizzlies, which is a relief. I can't do bear calls because of my voice, so Dave has double-duty. The hut, when we finally drag ourselves up to it, is amazing and luxurious. And the stars, when they come out, are startling and intense. We sip scotch and play cards by a fire and sit outside watching the sky for hours.

The article will have more on the hut and the trip, but it was one of those amazing, quick, perfect little adventures. I want to go back and explore the area more - the hut was originally built as access to the Ten Peaks, the easy way up. Suits me.

Check out the pictures from this trip here: Fay Hut