Enough politics and bickering already..

I managed to get out a few times in 2015 despite being stuck in North Van with school for six months and spending two months on the East Coast. I’ll post some pics my 2015 adventures, starting with this quick one nighter up to the North Island during the May long weekend. Enjoy!

Little detour to break the drive up.

Valley view.

The top!

Bonanza Peak and Mount Ashwood.

Old crew bus for the mine.

End of the road.

Car camping at its finest.

There’s the summit.

Above the clouds.

Looking down from the summit.

Oh thats awesome Fraser! is that the Woss lookout?

Yes, we stopped at the lookout on our way up. It’s about a 25 min hike up to the fire tower (recently rebuilt) from where you park and 15 min down.

I managed to get out for a few hikes while in N Van. Being on such high use trails crowded with people is quite the change. Did a last minute jaunt up the West Lion in June. Turns out the view was decent.

At the start of July we headed out to explore an old mine near Squamish before I moved back to the Island.

Okay, I'll play. Unfortunately, I don't have anything good that's recent, so here are some photos of a day hike I did in the Drakensberg Mountain Range in South Africa, just over two years ago;

The approach, Drakensberg range in the background;

Our welcoming committee;

Start of the hike - steeper than it looks!

Views;

The hike took us to a "cave" at the top of one of those green bands. Everything was wide open grassland, except the green strips along rivers and creeks. The green strips were some of the thickest forest you've ever seen. The locals called it a cave, but it was really a massive cliff overhang.

Heading back …

just waiting to hear back from a friend about doing a last minute trip to Grand Canyon natn'l park for a week leaving this weekend. Fingers crossed….

just waiting to hear back from a friend about doing a last minute trip to Grand Canyon natn'l park for a week leaving this weekend. Fingers crossed….

Oh man that'd be epic. Stuck at work and jealous.

Got up here yesterday… sun came out at the end of the day

Rewoga - Cain’s looking good! Here is a quick trip we did up to the North Island at the start of July. Took a friend from the mainland who had never been north of CR. It is amazing what we have in our own back yard.

OK Ill be a twat and ask.. Who's got an awesome instagram account? Mines @nowakeric if any of you want to add me

Awesome pics Fraser, Love little huson caves, we should go out for a rip sometime!

I'm planning on going camping at raft cove for valentines.. should be a good time.

Thanks, I try to snap a few pics when I’m out. I don’t have an Instagram account due to my lack of interest and laziness when it comes to social media. I may be headed up to Raft and area this weekend.

Some relatives from the interior visited in July so I took them to some easy caves relatively close to town. I always find it difficult to capture the underground world due to the lack of light and never carrying a tripod.

Before heading out to the East Coast at the start of August I wanted to hit up a few mountains. My goal is to summit all the peaks over 6000’ (about 52) and being away from the island so much has really put a damper on my efforts. I decided to do Maquilla Peak (6001ish feet) as a short day trip. Turned into a solo mission due to my friend bailing the night before.

Into the alpine.

Rugged Range.

Sutton Peak on the left.

This ridge looked to be good access, but I parked on a different road.

Warden, Vic and Sutton.

Little bit of a drop.

Two young Ptarmigans.

A couple days later Mount Ashwood was next. It is under 6000’, but the view from the Woss fire lookout inspired us to head up.

Rugged Mt from where we parked.

Nice tarn.

Beautiful plateau.

Summit in sight.

Woss Lake.

Bonanza.

Wheres that?