wow what a morning. ok, so i wanted to figure out a plan in case my water purifier didn't show up in the mail. so i called the place in victoria to try to figure out a scheme of me getting one from them, then me sending them mine when it arrives and getting a refund. problem is that it's different packaging, and they don't trust ebay, so they wouldn't do it. So I called Steripen and they were very helpful and it took 3 calls to the store in victoria, 5 calls to steripen, and 3 to fed ex, but we've arranged that Steripen will fed ex me a purifier overnight to Vancouver and Ashley will be able to pick it up after work tomorrow. if she misses it, she can still pick it up on saturday. because steripen has a fed ex account, it's only gonna cost me 35 bucks for the overnight international shipping, whereas i think it woulda been 65 normally. so i'm pretty happy. sounds like that should all work out. i'm glad i was up at 8am to figure this all out. ok, now to deal with the other 20 thigns on my list....

all smiles.....

somebody sent me this. makes me wanna hunt the book down...

"The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you're alive
and die only when you're dead...To love. To be loved. To never forget your own
insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar
disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue
beauty to its lauir. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what
is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and
understand. To never look the other way. And never, never forget."

ok, so i just did a dry run with my pack. packed in the equivalent of everything i'll be taking, including 2L of water. 40lbs with extra space. probably have another few pounds at most to add, and any food that i ahve with me, which won't be more than a few snacks worth. very happy about this. extra space to play aroudn with, or to save for stuff i buy and bring back. my pack ton my 2 week queen charlotte's trip was like 50 lbs. so this is less way, 4 months longer, and a much better suspension system on the pack. all smiles. there's only two main things that i'm worrying about right now. 3 things haven't shown up in the mail. my ipod case, but megan gave me hers for free. my ipod travel AC adapter, but i can always buy one last minute. and my water purifier. sketching aout about that, both because of its monumental importance, and its monetary value. i paid $130 including shipping and tax for it brand new on ebay. to buy it in victoria (the only other place in canada besides one place in Ontario), without taxes, is $230 (although the one in Ontario costs only $150). but i'll call them up, explain my situation, and hope that they'll let me buy one of there's and then give them my ebay for a refund when it shows up. and if need be, i'll give em $20 for their trouble. hopefully it's the same packaging, but it should work. also, one of the shirts i was taking to india has disappeared. long-sleeve, lightweight, quick dry, polyester. i got it used, but i have nothing like it and it was perfect. otherwise, everything is going smoothly. i've got a list of loose ends, but i've got at least 2 days to do that. not sure if i'll go to van on saturday or sunday. i spetn $660 at MEC yesterday, bringing my summer total to about $1500. it's crazy, but you ahve to consider that i'd spent less than $100 on any gear before that, and this gear, if it doens't get stolen, will last years and years, and it's primo gear. it's an investment that I'm happy to make, assuming it all makes it back to canada with me. If i didn't ahve such good gear, my weight would probably be over 50lbs and the pack would be a lot harder to manage, plus i'd get sweaty balls. nobody likes sweaty balls.

I took a video of this on my digicam. I'm guessing the height was about 60 feet, give or take 10. Lower Englishman River Falls. Super deep cold pool. Felt like a litre of water went straight up my ass. Very cool though. I've been wanting to jump that cliff since the first time I saw it last year.

i've got pics from 3 rolls of film to share soon. i bought my digital camera. Canon Powershot A530. 5MP, 4x opt zoom, panorama mode, and a 2GB memory card. 250 for the cam, 70 for the memory once I complete the rebate. rebates are so dumb. 6-8 weeks before I get the money back. wtf? anyways, my iPod showed up. iTunes can be a real piss off, but I'm investing a lot of time organizing the music and it seems to be working out. i think I might be able to upload some pics on teh go in India when i get to computers, so i should be able to attach a pic to each email update. hopefully. I bought insurance. Main things to sort out are my documents, money, first-aid kit, and another trip to MEC. my last day of work is tomorrow. i'm not gonna go back to golden. wish i could, but I'm gonna try to connect with everyone on the phone, so if you wanna catch up, gimme a call cuz I've got a lot of people to call and I don't wanna miss anyone. 250 738 0409. I'm gone trhoguh several stages since planning this trip. intimidation, excitement, anxiety, freak out, nervous, and now back to excitement. I didn't realize Singapore was so far south. should be pretty cool, if short. I'll try to sneak in some beach action. 10 days...

Sabac - 1st Amendment

Beverly Creek bushwhack with Kyle












Radar Beach near Tofino














View from Radar Beach towads Tofino














Summit of Mt Arrowsmith














Arrowsmith with Mt McQuillan in the background, the first mountain I summitted on the island












I've got some fresh new pics that I haven't scanned yet, plus a few more rolls still to come in.

sorry for the absence. i've got some pics to share and a few words for ya....

Hiking Mt Albert-Edward was such a long day. 33km. I wish it had been a bit clearer, but it was still pretty rad. Got views of the bigger mountain on the island, Golden Hinde, and the biggest mountian in BC, Mt Waddington, on the coast. Tons of lakes up there on the Forbidden Plateau. only swam in one though, didn't have too much time to dink around. Used my camelback (not the pack, just the water bag) and loved it. only 12 bucks too.

Last night, Emily and I drove to the base of the old ski hill on mt Cokely, hiked up and camped on the summit. it was her first summit, and first overnight hike. we could see the fireworks in parksville, see mt baker, and the stars were really nice. today, we hiked down to Jewel Lake, which was amazing. I've been yearning for a day like this all summer. Gorgeous alpine lake witha view. Waterfall, mountains, ocean, meadows, nice deep green lake. we spent about 4 hours just laying around and jumping in. awesome. Mt Arrowsmith/Cokely are such a cool destination. there's like 5 trails going to different areas, and there's somethign for everyone. easy hikes, hard hikes, views, lakes, meadows, spots to camp.

I have one more week left of work and then another week after that and I'm gone. I had a panic attack the other day but managed to snap myself out of it after about 20 minutes. i'ms till scared though and i'm not afraid to admit it. i'm actually considering the possibility that I'll die there. how weird is that? I probably won't have time to go back to golden either to say goodbye to everyone, which is shitty since a lot of people don't even know i'm leaving. but we'll see. if i can get everything together soon, i might make it out there.

I've been upgrading my computer and it hasn't been going to well, ao althoguh I have pics to share, I'll have to wait to post them. I'm finally hiking Mt Albert Edward tomorrow by myself. 30km roundtrip. It'll be longer than any hike (including 2 day treks) I've done. Sixth highest mountain on the island, and I believe it's the highest one you can hike up. That'll complete my summer summit goals of Cokely, Arrowsmith, and Albert Edward.

Things are prgoressing for India. Still lots to figure out. I'm gonna be honest, I'm pretty scared. Excited too. Very anxious too, about organizing everything. I'm pondering a last minute quick trip back to Golden to say goodbye, but I'll ahve to see if I have time. I'll be done work in about 10 days.

T-minus 21 days....

self-explanatory









Cam and I hiked into Clayoquot Plateau. We camped near the trailhead Wednesday night and hiked in and out Thursday. I'll go into detail later, but I might take Trina there soon, so I don't wanna spoil the surprises for her. IT was good though. Damn good.