Down Down and Towards Whistler....

There's a special alpine ride in the Sea to Sky Corridor near Whistler we've had the privilege of riding over the years. Only a select group of riders have had their hands on this well guarded piece of alpine single-track gold. That will all change shortly with a super cool WORCA project that is well underway.     Sunday morning we headed north to perhaps get one last lap on this gem before the crowds arrive.

I dropped Juneau, Danielle and Mike off on the highway where the branch road starts towards the climb and continued with the vehicle to the Whistler Brewing Company where the trail would eventually spit us out. As I approached Function I realized that the Whistler Ironman was already underway and the cyclists were already on the highway. At 8:30am I zipped right past the volunteers and was now on the road with my Norco Range Carbon LE sporting a very large camera pack. On route I had a pretty cool conversation with an Ironman Triathlete from Chicago. We compared our epic day in front of us and agreed he had the bigger challenge in front of him. After an hour or so I caught up to my crew and joined the 1200m sufferfest climb.                              

We took a few breaks on route....

The heather was in full bloom....

We reached the alpine after about 3 hours and took a dip....  

It's hard to get a more spectacular view of Rainbow Mountain....  

No words necessary....  

Unfortunately there are way too many idiots mostly on sleds shredding this area every winter. This is Whistler's drinking water supply! Stay out!  

The Metal Dome....

And amazing views of the Tantalus Range towards Squamish where we found ourselves only a couple of weeks earlier.... Alpha is the pyramid shaped peak second from the right.        

We gotta go there!  

Wedge and the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain dominated the view as we dropped in....  

And after another epic 1200m descent we found ourselves indulging in a $10 Beer and Burger!    

Back in Squamish the crew was spent. I sense most blogs with now end with variations of this photo at our own Squamish pub.

Tenquille Salad Bowl....

Last Sunday Brett and Calum joined us for a ride up and rip down of the classic Tenquille trail. The nutrient rich burn soil is certainly creating quite the salad bowl. Weed-eater!

Another awesome summer day out....        

Alpha to Amblepath....a Peak to Paddle adventure....

In an attempt to keep the "Living in Squamish is awesome" week-end series going we decided to pay a visit to the Tantalus mountain range. Lake Lovelywater and the peaks surrounding it are just a stones throw from our house on the Squamish River. This area is a special one and sees much less traffic than nearby spots due to the challenges of the Squamish River crossing. Many parties head up by means of mechanical bird, but in my opinion the only real way to experience these mountains is by your own power. It had been over 20 years since my last visit and Tantalus had been calling my name since we moved to Squamish over 2 years ago. Kathia and Danielle devised an idea that would truly make this a memorable one. Tom would drop us off at the Squamish River with a canoe and the rest would be up to us to get home.

We searched everywhere for a red canoe to match Kathia's car. When we picked it up we could clearly see our next days objective of Alpha Mountain.    

We crossed the Squamish without too much trouble in high water.

This was a HOT day. Temps were breaking records in the entire Sea to Sky corridor. With fully loaded overnight / climbing eq packs we got up the steep trail and landed at Lovelywater 3.5 hours later.

     
I took this photo of the lake across the valley from Brohm Ridge in January. What a spot!

When we arrived the girls and I quickly took to the beach life and escaped the heat in Lake Lovelywater.    

 

 

What a beautiful evening in the Tantalus Range....  

We awoke early to a spectacular coast range sunrise and set off for Alpha. It's a pretty iconic Squamish peak and can always be seen when we playing in the valley.

It possesses a beautiful pyramidal shape not unlike the mountains I used to draw as a child.  

     
We always see it from Whistler on our alpine epics as well.

The Russian Army camp was scenic.  

As was most of the route to it's base.  

We crossed a section of glacier and made out way to the rock sections above.  

Serratus, Dione and Tantalus filled our background....  

Tantalus is a spectacular peak!  

The climb was in perfect shape and the views only improved as we made our way skyward.

Views of Squamish and Howe Sound outstanding from the summit!    

There's Lions Bay....  

Squamish....

Garibaldi....  

Friends and Tantalus....

The Sky Pilot....

Serratus and the Jim Haberl hut to it's right.

The only think left to do was rap down to the lake.... The day took 10.5 hours.    

And this was waiting....

In the morning we packed up for the trips REAL adventure.  The hike down was fairly brutal as our legs and feet were punched from the previous day. The river that flows from Lovelyewater made the trip all worthwhile.      

We reached the river and got to witness a group of climbers doing it the other way. Super cool.  

We loaded the canoe and pushed off into the Squamish!

And enjoyed some scenic sections of the river on route.

Patrons of the Watershed Grill enjoyed watching the only canoe pass by.  

We scoped a spot where a solid 5 min portage was necessary to get onto the slough that runs into our backyard.  

Nice fit!

Once again we were water-bound....

Only a few months ago we enjoyed a special couple of weeks where we were ice skating in this spot!   

Then with only an 80m portage we loaded the canoe onto Kathia's car in our front yard! Alpha to Amblepath was a done deal. Living in Squamish rules!           

                   
The only thing left on the schedule was trying to put a dent in my kegs!