About three weeks ago I went up to Squamish BC to do some climbing with my friend Dane. Unfortunately he had to to go to work and so I found myself alone in Canada. The good thing about being in a campground frequented by climbers is that you are bound to meet some really awesome people, which I did. I spent a few days climbing with a really cool 6th grade teacher from Washington named James. When he took off I met Nigel and Chelsea, a great couple who are living on Vancouver Island. We did some climbing and made plans to have an adventure on Vancouver Island a few weeks later. I met them on the island, rented some backcountry ski gear and we set out for Mt Myra. We hiked up to the snow line the first day and camped out out a beautiful little lake, waterfall view included. We woke the next morning and started climbing/bush-wacking until we reached enough snow to put on our skis. My first time skinning went well, except for adding a few more expensive items to my gear wishlist. The last push to the summit was a fun little scramble. Looking around it as hard to believe that I was on an island, surrounded in every direction by snow covered mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous. The ski down was great, but really who an complain about skiing in July???
In other news, I was offered a TA position through OSU which means my tuition will be waived in exchange for teaching Spanish 101. I am ecstatic that going back to school is not going to put me in massive debt (although i did manage to convince them I was an Oregon resident...Ariel the Oregonian). I am looking forward being back in an academic setting and being forced to use my noggin a little more.
