Squamish, we love you

Well, it turned out to be more than one rain day. More like three, from Friday to Saturday. I guess it was much needed and we made the best of it. We did lots of hikes through the, errrh, rainforest, around many pretty lakes and rivers. They also have a sweet little farmers' market going on Saturdays, where we sampled some strange but very delicious Chinese Canadian food, had extremely yummy smoothies and pastries and listened to the local musical talent. And we were eating, all the time. We had breakfast and "linner" at Crabapple, very recommendable, even though we don't have any tattoos. ☺ We also went to pepe & gringo, which is not a Mexican place but pretty much everything else, good food, great service, nice place, decent prices. The reisebegleitung is still raving about the ribs she had there. They also have some delicious home made smoky spicy sauce. Essence of India, also very nice and spicy. The watershed, great location, slow service, average food. But their fish is supposed to be great, we didn't try it though.

On Monday the weather finally turned around and we went for a really long hike, up to the Black Tusk and back via Garibaldi Lake. Beautiful scenery, especially Taylor Meadows in the cloud, while it's just clearing up, the sun pushing through in a few spots only at first, and then gradually taking over. Wildflowers in bloom, glacier views, Lake views. It doesn't get much better than that. 30+ km, 1700m elevation gain. On the way down I'm very happy I bought those black Diamond poles a couple of years ago.
Alas, I also have to report dishonorable conduct on part of the enemy. To me, honor is everything. I learned that first in Korea, later in 'Nam, no matter how hard they torture you, you still have your honor. And there is still this unspoken, unwritten code of honor between most combatants today. But apparently not in Canada. So what happened? I was taking a dump on the camping toilet at Taylor Meadows and just at that moment when you release, when you are most vulnerable and utterly defenseless, a bloody bug struck and bit me. In the ass. YOU DON'T DO THAT! That's against all international conventions. This area is taboo, especially when I can't defend myself. Not nice. Very uncomfortable.

For something completely different. My new code name is now 'Mountain Lion' not 'desert fox' any longer.

On Tuesday the weather was even better, so we drove up to Whistler and hiked up to Rainbow Lake. Again, very scenic, beautiful forest, nice waterfalls along the way. Afterwards, finally found some good hot chocolate at Blenz. Whistler itself is artificial to the bone, for the rich and famous only. But beautiful scenery, lots of hiking trails.

Very uncomfortable hike because of the bug-ass incident the day before. Not pretty. Will seek revenge.

We raided the Purebread bakery before we drove back to squamish, and they make such good pastries etc. Unbelievable. Especially the cinnamon cream bun, which contained this addictive vanilla cream and was covered in cinnamon. Ahhhhh bliss. ☺

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