The Grouse Grind: what doesn't kill you only makes you sore,wet, and cold.

(Me nearing the top of the Grouse Grind and soaking wet!)

Hello family and friends,

This past week has been busy! I really miss the farm and the family, and am sad to have to leave this beautiful city. NOTE: This is my last post until mid-January when I'll be writing from Hong Kong and Southeast Asia! Stick around for more...

Today was my last day in Vancouver and I decided to end it with a bang! This morning I hopped on the seabus to the city of North Vancouver (just directly across from downtown Vancouver) and then bussed up to Grouse Mountain, in the Capilano region. I wanted to take the Grouse Grind trail, which is this ridiculously strenuous, steep, and intense hike up to the peak of Grouse Mountain where there's a ski lodge and resort-type thing. The elevation gain is about 3,000 ft. over about 2 miles almost straight uphill. It's about 45 degrees incline the entire way up.

So it was raining when I began the trail. That should have foreshadowed the suffering to come, but ignoring that, and the fact that at the trailhead there was a large group of Canadian Army soldiers about to ascend probably for training purposes, I began. You immediately start climbing. And climbing. And climbing. At about the 1/4 mark, I felt like I just ran a marathon. Water was pouring down and clinging to my soaked body, and I'm not sure if it was rain or sweat. I think both. At one point I was panting and trying to breathe and a few guys passed me on the way downhill and they had said they were giving up and that up ahead a few big guys were barfing.

But I continued. Slowly but steadily. I felt that I could turn back at any point if I couldn't take it anymore, but in actuality I knew I wouldn't let this trail best me. Quite a few people passed me, especially a few old men wearing running tights that told me they did this regularly. One guy as we rested told me he was a smoker and couldn't continue on up, so he started descending.

Over all, I had a hell of a time going up, and finally when I began to see pockets of sky creeping among the leafy foliage overhead, I saw fresh powdered snow everywhere, and it was lightly snowing! So here I am, drenched from head to toe from rain and sweat, and here comes this added snow.

When I reached the top I got hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin, and then took the gondola down the mountain (which took 8 minutes, damn it!). I was squeezed in with a bunch of the army guys who were pretty obnoxious, I ain't gonna lie.

I'm about to head off to a nice hot shower and get ready to spend a great evening enjoying Vancouver!! Ciao. Here I come, San Jose!


(At the Chinese garden just on the periphery of Chinatown.)


(Me on the bridge planks hiking in Lynnbrook Canyon.)


(Here's Christine, the wonderful lady I'm staying with right now who is wonderful company and an inspiring person!)


(In the summertime teenagers jump/dive off the canyon walls into this water! But when I went it was freezing.)


(On the suspension bridge!)


(By the roaring canyon river)


(After I climbed up Grouse Mountain! My backpack weighed like lead.)


(Snowy paradise!)


(Burrrrrrrrrrrrr)


(At the start of the trip trailing the Army guys)


(At the beginning of the trail. That large yellow sign is a disclaimer of responsibility and "go at your own risk" type of notice.)


(Fireworks outside my window on Halloween!)


(from Prospect Point at Stanley Park while I was doing my seawall trail hike. I really fell in love with that 8km loop and did it twice!)

Say Cheese!

(A site plan I drew up for the Maynards' newly acquired apple orchard.)


(Day 1 of the school kids coming. There were 60 little boys running around kicking pumpkins!! It was a tornado of fun.)


(Assembling the cider press...shipped all the way from Kansas!)


(Making signs, signs, and more signs!!)


(Part of the back vegetable plot!)


(Dessert: chocolate cake with yogurt, pumpkin honey, and crisp watermelon slices. SO GOOD!)


(Pumpkin, curry dahl lentils over coconut, raisin rice. Jordan's mom is a great cook.)


(Bonfire out back!)


(Monique and I picking pumpkins on the patch.)


(Bowen Island- a thick, Seville hot chocolate at an organic chocolate cafe. Perfect for a rainy day.)


(Nearing the lake at Bowen.)


(At the salmon ladder. Two weeks ago fishes were jumping straight up from the water!)




(Welcome to Bowen Island, a quaint, beautiful island north of Vancouver Island).

Southlands Farm

Hello family and friends!

It's been a while since I last posted. Since then, I've traveled around Vancouver to Bowen Island and to UBC Farm before coming here to Southlands Farm, a farm tucked away on the outskirts of the city center owned and managed by a family, the Maynards. One of the sons, Jordan, is showing me around and I'm basically helping them out with whatever is needed. I've washed pumpkins, climbed ladders to pick apples, made signs for their pumpkin patch for kids, helped build a cider press, and much more.

I enjoy it here. There are a lot of people coming in and out of the farm. They also own a tack store, and a riding center (they have 4 horses out back). I basically trail Jordan all day and he gives me things to do and asks me for help in design ideas for their new apple orchard, and he answers questions I have on my research. All in all, I feel nicely tucked away in a hidden corner of the world where I am placed in a family that hardly notices when a new person comes to volunteer with them for a few days because it's so common. I'm basically WOOFing (Working on Organic Farms).

Tonight I'm going to a haunted house with Jordan and some friends. He said that later we'll just "ride there." For those who don't know me, I don't know how to ride a bike. Sad and embarrassing, but nonetheless, true. So I had to tell this poor guy and so he immediately gives me a scooter and tells me to go practice since his theory is that whoever can use a scooter can also ride a bike. So for the past couple of hours I've been practicing on a scooter and gotten pretty good, until an old man drove by and waved at me and I waved back and that was when my whole body fell off the scooter and onto the road. Pretty embarrassing when the old man had to slow down next to me and ask if I was alright. That ended my lesson for today. Now is considered "time before dinner when I can read, go on the computer, or sit around," and is the most relaxing part of the day.

Sorry, no time for photos, but will make it up next post. I miss California and all those in it that I love. Ciao.

Visiting Victoria: British Colombia's Capital

(The waterfront in Victoria, with the "Underseas Garden" in that boat on the left)


(The wide variety of goods at the Dutch bakery. Mmm!)


(Here this was, hanging out in downtown Victoria...)


(And then I realized it's along most of the lamp posts in this part of town! Just rows and lines of stretched bras weaving between historic buildings! Let's just say somewhere a large group of women are missing their support systems!!)


(Nice big bowl of chili on a rainy day)


(Parliament building in Victoria)


(This chocolate, hazelnut tart at a cafe called "Death by Chocolate")


(Me in front of a wall of flowers at Butchart Gardens)


(The sunken garden, one of their several gardens, at Butchart Gardens)


(The ferry taking me away to Victoria on Vancouver Island!)

Dear Family and Friends,

These last few days I have been in Victoria, BC's capital, exploring the city and visiting interesting sites. I decided to take a few days off from my research to make this side trip, although to be frank, my research is quite fun and does not involve a lot of work. I visited the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, an ex-quarry site that's been transformed into a hugely popular tourist destination. The flowers were blooming despite the dark skies, and the perfectly manicured and trimmed plants gave me an eerie feeling. Beautiful it was, but maybe I am more in favor of wilder, more natural surroundings. But the trip was fun nonetheless! I also meandered through the Parliament buildings, various shops and stores, and the gorgeous James Bay and waterfront. Victoria is supposed to have an old English feel about the town, but I totally did not get that vibe. Did go into a Dutch bakery this morning and had a delicious chocolate eclair with fresh whipped cream inside. I like to indulge myself, of course not every day (but almost).

Taking the ferry from Vancouver to Victoria is about 1.5 hours, but the total commute, including public transportation, is about 5 hours! I just arrived back in Vancouver this evening, and I'm worn out! One thing I've noticed and suffered greatly because of it: I've completely and utterly over-packed!!! "Light-packer" is not my middle name, fosho. This helps me though because for my next trips I'm seriously going to do the whole take-only-half-of-what-you-think-you-need, because as I'm learning the hard way, you do not need extra clothes for those "just in case" moments, like if you're invited to a fancy ball or decide to go skiing out of the blue.

Oh, another interesting thing: I went to a city council meeting this last week, and got to sit in for their discussions on making Vancouver the greenest city in the world. They're taking this very seriously! They already have most electric buses, which is amazing because I'm not used to being on a bus and having it stop and it being COMPLETELY silent without the sound of an engine running! Anyway, at the city council meeting I got to see the mayor and the council members interacting. Crazy. I've been to planning meetings in the states before, but I never saw the mayor anywhere! He's a pretty young guy, too!

As you all know, the Olympics is in Vancouver this Winter, and the city is buzzing! Literally, construction sites are all over the city, and downtown is a chaotic hard-helmet zone. Many locals have told me that they hate that the Olympics are taking place here. I guess not everyone is enthusiastic about having millions of people invading their city for two months. I had a totally unenlightened conversation with a guy who explained why having Olympics tourists here would slow down and decrease airline tickets, not contribute to the city's economy, and is making the city a worst place for the locals. He gave the explanations in painful detail but I still didn't get it. Oh, and all this while he was smoking in the car, and I kept thinking, "this fool is stealing precious minutes from my life for smoking and forcing me to inhale this poison," so that may have had to do with me not comprehending all that he said.

Tomorrow I'm heading out to the University of British Colombia's farm and farmer's market. Exciting stuff! Miss you all still. Cheers!

I want to become a vegetarian, or at least eat all organic

(the city in the distance with the Lost Lagoon in the foreground)


(Plants growing out of a car at the co-op garden. neat way to reuse an abandoned car!)


(on my rainy trip to Cottonwood/Kitsilano Maple community gardens alongside a railroad track)

Hello my family and friends,

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be around for a food film festival (Stone Soup Film Festival) right at the high school down the street from where I'm staying. I saw many food documentaries, including MAD CITY CHICKENS, FOOD INC., ALL JACKED UP, THE GARDEN, and more. Each film was really inspirational for how we could all work to improve our food chain and eat more naturally, organically, and intelligently. Videos of cows being shoved into the grinder when they were still kicking and moving, chickens that had their beaks and crowns cut off or broken and without its feathers running around, and pigs standing in their own shit all day long, day after day, before being slaughtered were just some of the horrific realities of our food industry today.

I really don't want to participate and contribute to that mess and unethical practice. Did you know that a hamburger bun from a fast food chain can contain bits from 1,000 different cows from all over the world? Or that hot dogs are made from sinew, muscle, fat, and skin that's left over from machines that take off all the "real" meat off animals?

Anyway, enough of that. I'm going to commit to trying to consume local foods and meats that are organically raised and grass-fed, or not at all, which wouldn't be a bad idea.

Today was a clear day. I went to Chinatown today (2nd largest in U.S. after SF) and strolled around and bought some buns. It's a lot different, and I much prefer the one in SF. After that I walked in downtown Vancouver and visited some urban garden sites and talked with locals and saw some cool things. Vancouver is so magical because it's so advanced and focused on urban agriculture, a concept that most Americans aren't used to or even heard. They have freakin' tomatoes, pumpkins, and squashes, just to name a few, growing in plots on street corners and ex-gas stations!! It's definitely refreshing to see.

On Wednesday I'm taking the ferry over to Victoria, British Colombia's capital. Should be fun and interesting to see parliament and the capital buildings and other sites.


(Benny with spinach, cheese, and ooey goodness with potatoes for brunch)


(Atop the SPEC and City Farmer building roof garden, but more like a container garden)


(A ladybug joined me at City Farmer's urban garden right outside its offices)


(A kiwi trellis at Strathcona garden! I've never seen kiwis grown before, so this was really cool!)

I may have been on the set of a Twilight movie

(bird eating starfish)

(nanaimo bar)


(black squirrel? what are these darn things--they appear all over Stanley Park)



(the first glimpse of a set in the park. i then look over and they are creating smoke with a machine, and marking x's on the ground, i'm assuming for the actors)

Hello family and friends,

Yesterday was a gorgeous day (i.e. it was not raining!) so I took the opportunity to visit Canada's biggest park- Stanley Park. I walked the Seawall loop (about 6 miles) and got 360 degree gorgeous views of North Vancouver and West Side. But boy was I tired! I also saw a movie set in the distance and got really excited to see someone famous (I know, I know!) I walked past a huge group of set employees and directors/people on director chairs and basically weaved through the crowd, since it is a public park and they were taking up part of a trail. Anyway, alas, to no avail. No celebrities to be seen. I did hear, however, that Eclipse (one of the Twilight books) is being filmed in Stanley Park.

(On Granville Island in the huge public market with TONS of baked goods, breads, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, bagels, so much delicious food!)

(Pizza sold by weight from downtown Vancouver at Sciue. Was delish!)


(at Stanley Park- the maiden is supposed to represent Canada's dependence on its water. that's a seagull on her head...)

Today I awoke to downpour. I was not too enthused to set about the day traipsing throughout the city in my thin parka. I made my way out to Granville Island to the bountiful marketplace that has all of Vancouver's residents gathering and shopping for their fresh, local groceries. It was delightful. I bought a salmon roll (puff pastry with a salmon mixture in the middle) and a nanoima bar (a Canadian specialty with a layer of dark chocolate over a layer of custard over a coconut, chocolate crust).

I also visited the Vancouver musuem, rode an aquabus (mini-ferry), window-shopped in the hip, rich Kitsilano neighborhood, and much more. I'm pretty physically tired.

Oh, for those who wonder how my research is doing, it is going well.

A few pieces of good news:
1. I got my official job offer for the NPS in Oakland and I accepted.
2. I'm going to be living for a few days on a family farm in Southlands in a couple of weeks and helping them, and in exchange i get my own room and bathroom! yay.

Miss you all. Ciao.