Post Industrial Disease

You'd never know that there's a recession going on if someone dropped you off in the Lower mainland of British Columbia. Every time I venture into the region from Chilliwack to Whistler, I am constantly floored at the amount of development going on and at the pace its going up. High rises in Surrey, Burnaby, New Westminster, North Vancouver, and West Vancouver sprout like mushrooms after a deluge. And the deluge feeding this development frenzy is an unrestrained population boom fueled by immigration and migration. New residents need homes, roads, places to work and places to conduct commerce. The conversion of farmland and woodlot to high density urban development carries on in a frenzy. And along the new and improved Highway 99 thanks to an infusion of Olympic-inspired investment money, former gritty mining towns and timber towns are being transformed into tony vacation towns. All those folks generating new wealth need places to play. Squamish is rapidly becoming an urban exclave for the mountain biking, backcountry skiing, wouldn't it be nice to own a condo here in the wilds folks. I once lamented the loss of old growth trees that fueled the timber mills of Squamish. The mills are long gone-a victim of the WTO. Now I lament the loss of the former cut over timberlands-where once regeneration was possible to productive woodlots and viable wildlife habitat-now forever lost to golf courses, second homes, high density homes, shopping malls-sprawl. In 20 years Squamish has gone from a somewhat isolated small industrial town to yet another high density urban mess emanating from Vancouver. But, hey the folks who come here are "green." They ride their bikes and cross country ski and recycle. But their homes and business and continuous numbers of them use up incredible amounts of power lighting up their city-and powering their gadgets-and fueling their rigs to get them to the trailheads and back and forth to the city. And there's nothing green about unnecessary developments devouring wildlife habitat.

Yep-(sarcasm here) I'm glad the evil timber mills are gone-I much prefer to see them replaced with 1000s of condos sprawling across the valley and up the ridges to Garibaldi Provincial Park. Yep-that's the new economy-recreation based-and fueled by unsustainable and ecologically disastrous immigration and a whole lot of new wealth that does nothing but consume. And its not just happening in Squamish-this is playing out all over Canada and the states. Have you been to Bend, Oregon lately? Good thing those resource-consuming sawmills are gone, uh? They've succumbed to post-industrial disease.

(photo-a giant logger greets you in Squamish, BC. Loggers are all but gone from this town-and so too are the sawmills -replaced by a post industrial world of condos, shopping centers, golf courses, sprawl, and an endless supply of folks looking for the good life)

Climate Change is good for the Winter Olympics

This just in from Whistler, BC, Home of the 2010 Winter Olympics:

Whistler, B.C. - With 11 days still remaining this month, Whistler has already surpassed the record for November snowfall, as more than 430cm (172 inches) of white gold slammed the mountains by Thursday afternoon. The previous record, set in 2006, was 416cm (164 inches).

Of course it is an El Nino year, so anything can happen come January. Get out there and enjoy the skiing now!

Lions and Bears and Owls-

Oh My!

Well, it finally happened to me. It was only a matter of time before I would be attacked by a wild animal. After all I spend an inordinate amount of time in the woods-and it was bound to happen eventually. A bear? Nope! A mountain lion? uh-uh! A randy moose? Nah! How about an owl! Yep! I was off on a trail run in Alice Lake Provincial Park just north of Squamish, British Columbia, when a large barred owl flew onto a nearby limb. Gorgeous creature indeed. I tried to photograph him with my small point-and-shoot that I was running with. Watched him for awhile-tried to focus on him- (her actually) when she swooped down at me! Yikes! I have heard of this happening-now it is involving me! I started running down the forested trail and she came down at me a couple of more times. I start running faster- and that blasted owl kept flying down the trail at me. I picked up a stick and started singing in as a I ran- this would have made good video coverage- a crazy Italian lancing at the air with an alder limb! After about a third of a mile or so, the owl let me go! It was exhilarating and a bit unnerving. Of course there are bears and cougars in this park and I was out on an evening run all alone-but it was the owl that got me! Trust me- her chicks have nothing to worry about-I will not be returning anytime soon to look for them. Be careful out there-its a jungle outside!

Howe's the View!
From atop of British Columbia's Stawamus Chief-Howe is the view! Howe Sound that is, the southernmost fjord in North America. And to the north the view includes the city of Squamish, the Squamish River Delta and the massive glacial covered volcano, Mount Garibaldi. Named for the great Italian Patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi (from whom Giuseppe Gattino is named after), the mountain's presence is indeed liberating!

I was up in BC for a couple of days talking to retailers about carrying Green Trails' great new Whistler map. Good news- I got to go to Whistler! Bad news I couldn't afford to go skiing while I was there (hey I'm a writer!). Good news-it was a beautiful spring day yesterday. Bad news- I had to go to Vancouver to talk to retailers. Good news- I got to sneak out early for a hike up the Stawamus Chief. Bad news-the hike is brutal- its all on granite (just like hiking in the White Mountains) steep (2,000 feet of elevation gain in 2 miles) and my patellar tendinitis was painful! Good news- The view! Unbelievable- a cure to all of my mine and the world's problems.

If you haven't hiked this landmark-the second largest granite monolith in the world you owe it to yourself the next time you are heading north to Whistler. The hike is tough, so plan accordingly. And be prepared to socialize. The Chief welcomes over 50,000 hikers in the summer alone. People come from all over to hike it. I met people from Louisiana, Montreal and Lyon, France on the rock yesterday (a little of a French Connection!). The whole area is protected within a provincial park and it'll cost you $3 Canadian to park to hike it. What a deal! And guess what- even with a recession in British Columbia, they're not talking about closing their parks. Washington state-listen!

The Goose is Loose

Cyclists, hikers and runners looking for a superb long distance rail trail that blends urban and rural settings need to set their eyes on Victoria BC's Galloping Goose Trail. Extending from Victoria's Inner Harbour to the Sooke Hills, the trail travels for 60 kilometers through the gorgeous British Columbia capitol city and its spectacular surrounding countryside. But there is even more! The Lochside Trail branches off from the Goose to travel to Sidney and Schwartz Bay adding another 30 kilometers. I recently had the opportunity to do some running and walking on these two trails and now I can't wait to return with the bike to do the whole Goose! There is a reason why Victoria is ranked as the fittest city in all of Canada. With such an amazing trail system coupled with the mildest weather in the country, how can it not be? There were plenty of people out running,walking, and cycling while I was there and despite the fact that the city had just received a rare snowfall and the temperature was hovering at 0-Celsius! Anyhow take a gander at the Galloping Goose's website and perhaps I'll see you on the trail this year. And check out the upcoming articles I'll be writing about Victoria's running scene including its glorious marathon in Northwest Runner this year.

Heading to Victoria

On Wednesday February 25th I'll be doing a talk on Day Hiking the Olympic Peninsula and Day Hiking the North Cascades for Club Tread in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. If you live on Vancouver Island, come on down and say hello. I always enjoy giving book talks in BC, because so many of the province's residents love the outdoors. I also love doing talks in BC because I get to stop at one of Canada's greatest institutions-no not Parliament, a curling rink, Brian Adam's or Celine Dion's home-but Tim Horton's! They better have some blueberry fritters ready for me!