Bendy Biscotti

Lucas popped out of Biscotti on February 5. Eight and a half weeks after that momentous occasion Biscotti went snowshoeing for the first time since last March. She summited Hollyburn Peak in just under an hour and twenty minutes, and she celebrated that athletic feat with another athletic feat:

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

05:44 - Wake up.
06:12 - Leave the house, and put gear and dogs in Tracker.
06:38 - Take Cypress exit off the highway; learn that the road up is closed until 07:00. D'oh.
07:01 - Stop at Cypress road viewpoint to take pictures.
07:20 - Begin snowshoeing.
08:23 - Reach the peak! There's no wind and it's sunny and clear. Nobody else around.
09:26 - While descending, see first person since Cypress road viewpoint.
09:55 - Return to car.
10:34 - Pull into carport at home.

A week later - upload 97 photos and 3 videos to a flickr set.

Here's one pic. Click it to enlarge it.

A Dog's Mysterious Prompting

As Biscotti and I snowshoed towards Hollyburn Peak on Wednesday, the behavior of our dogs reminded me of a specific passage from Jack London's "To Build a Fire". The short story is about a man, new to the land and experiencing his first winter, walking a Yukon trail with his dog in conditions colder than fifty degrees below zero.

Our outing, while not in the neighborhood of fifty degrees below zero, had similarities to this paragraph:

In the course of the next two hours he came upon several similar traps. Usually the snow above the hidden pools had a sunken, candied appearance that advertised the danger. Once again, however, he had a close call; and once, suspecting danger, he compelled the dog to go on in front. The dog did not want to go. It hung back until the man shoved it forward, and then it went quickly across the white, unbroken surface. Suddenly it broke through, floundered to one side, and got away to firmer footing. It had wet its forefeet and legs, and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice. It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs, then dropped down in the snow and began the to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes. This was a matter of instinct. To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet. It did not know this. It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being. But the man knew, having achieved a judgment on the subject, and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped to tear out the ice particles. He did not expose his fingers more than a minute, and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them. It certainly was cold. He pulled on the mitten hastily, and beat the hand savagely across his chest.

MEC vs CMS

In a recent post I wrote that I'd be buying snowshoes and that I'd most likely buy them at Coast Mountain Sports with a hefty gift card I'd received . Well, I did buy snowshoes, but not at CMS. Here's why.

My three snowshoeing compadres, Biscotti and L&G, went to Mountain Equipment Co-op to browse and talk to a staff member about the different types of snowshoes. I tagged along. After half an hour or so, the three of them purchased the exact same type of snowshoe, as well as snowshoe bags for convenient transport and storage purposes.

Later that day, Biscotti and I found the exact same type of snowshoes at CMS, but at a significantly higher price. On the way to the store, we had agreed to ask them to price match if they were more expensive. So that's what we did, telling a staff member that MEC was selling the exact same snowshoes for a lot less. The staff member's response: we do 5-15% off, with proof that it was cheaper at a competitor's store. We had proof with Biscotti's MEC receipt, but 15% off still didn't come close to what MEC's price was.

Also, MEC has a far superior return policy and guarantee than CMS, which we pointed out and might as well not have for the response it got. Even with a hefty gift card, why would I spend more money on the same product while receiving an inferior return policy and guarantee? As you already know, from reading the first paragraph, I wouldn't.

I still had the gift card though, so I set off in search of snow pants and found a really good pair. I used them for the first time yesterday when Biscotti and I went snowshoeing at Hollyburn (Maui no, don't jump up on that snowshoer, down boy) and they were excellent.

The next day we were back at MEC and I finally bought snowshoes and a bag. I recommend buying a $5 lifetime membership (if you haven't already) and doing all your relevant shopping at MEC.

Snowshoeing to Hollyburn Peak

A few days ago, Wednesday the 23rd to be exact, Biscotti and I went snowshoeing with L&G. We had planned to do Cypress Mountain's trails, as the four of us did last year, but rather than repeating last year's up-the-east-side-down-the-east-side, we would go up-the-west-side-down-the-east-side. At least, that's what we originally wanted to do. Instead we snowshoed too far west, and were well into our ascent when we were informed that we were backcountry on BC Parks land, headed towards Hollyburn Peak, and that the Cypress passes that we had each spent ten dollars on were unnecessary. Oh well, it was the best mistake - and overpayment - we ever made; the day was perfectly clear and instead of being surrounded by trees the entire time, we were treated to billion dollar views. The Cypress trails allow dogs, but because they have to be on-leash at all times we had left our fat donkeys at home. The BC Parks trail to Hollyburn Peak, however, is off-leash, so we plan on going back real soon with our two four-legged canine companions. We're also planning on buying our own snowshoes. Mine I'll probably buy at Coast Mountain Sports with the help of a gift certificate that G&T&G&E gave me for my birthday - thanks! Click on the above pics to enlarge them, scroll down for three more pics, and click here to see more pics of the trek.