Travelogues

Vancouver - Rock climbing and First Birthdays

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When Lora, Garth and Jinshan all flew to their respective homes, I was left alone with the rental car. I explored Seattle a bit, finding a very interesting used bookstore where I bought a book about New Zealand. The owner showed me some other books on New Zealand and let me use his internet to check my e-mail. I sat in a coffee shop for a while, writing and then started to long drive to Richmond, BC.

I arrived in the afternoon, and was happy and nervous to see my new baby cousins. I don't really have a lot of experience with babies. But they warmed up to me immediately. Alexandre, the boy, ran and gave me a big hug when my aunt introduced him to his "cousin Pat." Isabelle was a little more shy, but allowed me to hold her hand while she learned to walk.

Aunt Arlene and Uncle Matthieu took me to a bar/restaurant on the bay, where we drank Sangria and I had a delicious dinner of dungeness crab. After dinner, my aunt and uncle let me give Alexandre his milk before bed, he would suck on his bottle and play with my hair. His chubby little form fit almost perfectly in my arms. I went to bed early since I was climbing the next day. The babies woke up one in the nigh to cry, but were otherwise well quiet. I slept just fine.

I woke up at 6am the next morning to drive to Squamish to meet Andre Ike of West Coast Mountain Guides. The traffic was somewhat backup up due to a ferry accident the night before. It was also Canada Day. When I arrived in the tiny town on Squamish, I couldn't help but ignore the giant rock formation that loomed next to the town. This was the Stawamish Chief. I was going to climb it today. I gulped.



The weather was bad, so Andre said we would do a six pitch climb up the apron and then see how we felt. The apron had an interesting 5.7 climb with a mix of slab and a dihedral with a crack, called Diedre. Andre always checked my knots and kept an eye on me, but otherwise did not treat me as a beginner. We both flew up the first six pitches. When we reached the top, I was eager to continue.

I struggled with the next pitch, a 5.9, called Calculus Crack. Although my czech made shoes were great on the slab, they were horrible in foot jams. I could feel the rock through the thin rubber. It was agonizing, but I made it to the top. Between cracks there was a lot of scrambling, but the cruz pitch was a 5.10 thin crack. I had already climbed 12 pitches and although I started it well, I began to flail helplessly in the middle. Andre said I had the technique right, but my legs were just too worn out.

The final pitch was easy, and we came over the top together. I was amazed at the crowd at the summit! Several tourists had hiked up the less steep backside and were sitting enjoying the sunshine that had burned through the clouds. They were amazed that we had climbed up the face. Fourteen pitches. I felt very proud of myself.

We hiked quickly down the backside, my legs ached when we reached the bottom. We did stop once to drink real mountain water.

The next day was the twins' first birthday party. I woke early-ish to help my aunt prepare party favors. The weather was beautiful and my aunt set up a fun little party in the backyard. There were many babies and young children. I stuck with my cousins, playing games and helping them explore the yard. Isabelle was particularly interested in practicing walking up and down the stairs. Up and down. Up and down. But it was adorable that she enjoyed the challenge. Alexandre and the other kids had discovered a water table and they were all soaking wet and laughing within minutes.

After the party, I was as exhausted as the babies. I was still super sore from the climb and I collapsed in a chair with a glass of wine. Isabelle was put to bed, but Alexandre was too comfortable in my lap. I was happy to have him there and let him take a little nap with me. That night when we put them to bed, I gave Alexandre his milk again. He was a little restless, so we read "Fox in Socks" together (with my little embellishments) and let him play with my hair a little more. If he wasn't such a good climber, I'd want to turn him into a hairdresser. My aunt wants him to be a rocket scientist, though. (Not so farfetched, my aunt is a Satellite Engineer).



When I left the next day, it actually broke my heart when I kissed my little babies goodbye. I am trying to convince my mom and dad to let me come back over Christmas. The whole family should come!

posted by Patricia @ 4:10 PM