A Canoe!

Whitewater has been our favored playground for over 10 years (1996-2006) but after taking up paragliding priorities shifted more and more. 2017 was the first year without whitewater paddling and we just got our sea kayaks wet. I thought our boat-buying days were over but our friends invited us on a trip down the Nahanni and its tributary Broken Skull. I found good deal on a Dagger Venture and I drove over to the Olympics and picked it up. We spent some time outfitting the boat for the trip with spraydeck, knee pads, loops and lines. Broken Skull and Nahanni have some class 2 (at normal water levels) which isn't much whitewater compared to what we used to paddle in our kayaks but being in the much more delicate canoe with all our food and equipment for 3 weeks gives it a whole new dimension!

Packed canoe above Virginia Falls

San Juan Foxes

In the 1930 rabbits were introduced to San Juan Island and proliferate wildly. In order to reduce the rabbit numbers foxes were brought in and their population too grew to considerable numbers.

In early May the fox kids come out of their dens. They are not very shy which makes for fantastic photo opportunities. At times we saw more than a dozen little foxes play and chase each other. Extremely cute!

Leipzig Besuch

On this year's flight to Europe I had some amazing views of the coast mountains, my Vancouver backyard, and of the big mine near Kamloops. A friend from olden school days and avid foldboat paddler and his wife took me on an urban paddling tour past fancy houses, old factories and lots of graffiti. Leipzig's waterways have cleaned up very nicely! 30 years ago it wouldn't have been possible or pleasant to do this. Also met with another friend from University who now lives in California for a walk through the Auenwald, full with smells of Knoblauchkraut. Later we had a family meeting at an open air dance show where my niece and her group showed us some wicked street jazz moves. And I had my fill of fresh white asparagus (Spargel), one of the highlights of Germany visits in spring.

Photo: Alex Fraser Bridge

This was a first for me: I had a particular image in mind, waited for the right conditions (a dry night with outflow wind), went out and got exactly what I wanted! Alex Fraser Bridge at Night.