Up the Duffey

One of my favourite things about living in the Whistler area is the fact that it only takes about 20 minutes drive to get away from the crowds.  Don’t get me wrong, Whistler is awesome.  It’s a lot of fun with an incredible amount of things to do in some of the best scenery around but lets not kid ourselves, it can get crowded.  That’s where a short sneaky drive north comes in handy.

A couple of weeks ago we headed into the Duffey Lake area and we were planning to do a bit of a hike and a scramble and then chill out for the night.  There was an old decommissioned road which, fortunately for us, we could drive a decent way up.

This cut our hiking time down considerably which was good news as it meant we could justify carrying in a couple of extra beers! Crucial! The views were amazing from the get go!

It also meant we had a bit of extra time to scramble up some scree and see some pretty stunning views high about the lake!

It was steep and possibly a little sketchy…

It was incredible being in such isolated and enormous terrain.

During the course of our scramble we dislodged a rock or two and it was impressive and somewhat intimidating to see the path they took down the hill.  Definitely a no fall zone!

Scoping out the terrain, I cannot wait to get back here in the winter.  Some excellent skiing to be had, that is for sure!

We had a mixture of weather as well.  Three seasons that day at least.  We had a nice little downpour during dinner.  Gave us a good excuse to have some drinks and then in the early hours of the morning the skies cleared which was perfect!

An awesome overnight trip!

Crankworx – Enduro & Garbo DH

I can’t believe Crankworx has come and gone so quickly.  It has been a few years since I have been in Whistler for this amazing mountain bike festival and it seems as though I spent all summer looking forward to it and it just blew by.  Although I was working long hours during the week, I did manage to get out and catch a couple of events.

I definitely haven’t got biking/sports photography dialed, but I suppose it’s all about getting out there and practicing.  So here are a few photos from the Canadian Open Enduro (Stage 2) & the Garbonzo DH races.

Click a thumbnail to flick through photos!

Enduro Pics:

 

Garbo DH Pics:

I’ll try to get my photos of the always epic “Joyride” and “Canadian Open DH” events up asap!

Back to Semaphore

Well, summer is most certainly here.  With the mercury rising above 30°C, things have been getting a little warm, the sun has been doing it’s best to melt everything but that didn’t stop us getting back to Semaphore Lakes (click link for my first trip up there) for our first hike of the season.  It’s a good trek to start the season with as it is a fairly mellow trail.  It’s only about one hour and a half in, a little steep in parts as the trail rises 300 odd metres in a short distance.

Along the trail there is a beautiful creek, a beautiful forest and as you get closer to the top the trail opens up into a stunning clearing.  Once the 300 metres has been conquered an incredible view of the top lake and the main backdrop of the landscape, Locomotive Mountain, burst into view.

My favourite campsite is down by the lower lake.  It still offers fantastic views of Locomotive Mountain and is near to amazing little ‘stream rapids’ and views down the valley.

The lower lake is where we camped. It was a short scramble to this view looking down the valley.

There was barely a cloud in the sky so the night time photography was promising.  Star trails were at a risk of seeming a bit dull due to the near  full moon… …however I think the foreground ended up coming out pretty well.

I spent the rest of the night playing around with the night sky…

Let me know what you think!

 

 

 

Callaghan’s Night Sky

Last Wednesday we decided to take a trip into the Callaghan Valley to a cool little campsite by Callaghan Lake.  We  stopped in at Alexander Falls along the way which is always an impressive sight and then headed up the rough dirt road to the lake.  The road was interesting with some big rocks and huge potholes and ditches to cross.

When we arrived at the lake it was a glorious day.  The campsites are set by the lake, but amongst trees so we set up and then took our chairs down by the lake to relax.  Our sun soaking was foiled by a very rude and large cloud that decided to follow the sun on it’s path towards the mountains.

Naturally, once the sun set, the clouds all disappeared.  Fortunately, this gave me a great opportunity to capture some shots.  I tried playing around by raising the ISO setting on my camera.

Let me know what you think!!!!

Fantastic Phat Wednesday

Last week saw the fourth Phat Wednesday of the year in the Whistler Bike Park. As always my general goal is to ‘not’ be on the last page of the results. Sometimes I achieve this goals, sometimes I do not. Here is my race run from last week. Perhaps not the most exciting course but it was a lot of fun all the same.

Blackcomb’s Night Sky

I just missed the sunset and orange clouds

Last night was another incredible night in Whistler.  The sunset meant the clouds were showing a stunning golden glow.  My original goal was to head out and attempt another ‘cloud trail’ style picture like this picture that I took in the UK.  I was just a few minutes late getting set up and missed the glow so I decided to wait a few hours and try a star trail instead.  I think it turned out pretty well!

It was a beautiful night over Blackcomb

Hippy Lake

A couple of weeks ago we ventured just south of Whistler to a campsite near Hippy Lake.  The campsite was set right by the Cheakamus River amongst some amazingly tall trees.  It was a full moon which gave an amazing feeling as the glow shone through behind the trees.  It was an absolutely stunning night as you can tell by the shots below.  I also tried a new editing technique which I haven’t quite got dialed but I am working on it!

We arrived in time to attempt some ‘flowing river’ shots…

Before heading out for some night shots it was time to fire up the charcoal BBQ…

Then it was time for a wander to see what we could produce…

These next photos were taken just before midnight…

And finally it was back to the campfire for some rest and honey Jack Daniels…

Bungee Bridge Night Sky

Last Wednesday was the full moon.  It was an excellent night to go camping as it was warm, dry and incredibly stunning.  We headed to a campsite near Hippy Lake just south of Whistler.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to take a decent star trail as the stars seemed a little faint however, fortunately, it turned out fairly well.

Cut Yer Bars

We have been blessed with some incredible weather in Whistler the past few days.  This time of year is amazing.  A great mix of people wandering through the village.  Skiers, boarders, bikers, hikers, you name it, they are all strolling about.

A mate and I ducked into this awesome trail near the village and played around.  Cut Yer Bars is a short but fun trail with some fast fun descents, a couple of cool rock rolls and a little bit of pedaling for good measure.  It was a glorious day.

 

Alta Lake Time Lapse

A little time lapse video of the star trail I took at Alta Lake the other night.  I am still trying to figure out how to keep the image sharp as I seem to lose a fair bit of quality in the image processing.

If anyone has any advice let me know!