Yesterday I had to return my car rental to North Vancouver by 11am. I was on my way back from the Pearl Jam concert in Seattle which was just amazing. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to explore I drove to Lynn Canyon for a hike which involved a lot of stairs with my camera equipment on. I loved the park (what I saw of it) and wish I had brought a bathing suit. There was a little grotto with swimmers and some low level cliff jumping which looked like a blast. I saw a couple who were trying to set up a camera phone on a tripod and so I offered to help out.
As they were getting set for the photo a cliff jumper went for a belly flop behind them. I caught the shot on their cell phone but don't have a copy myself. It was very cool and I wish I had it! Of course I offered them a few shots from my camera too which I hope they will be happy with.
Next I returned the car and jumped into a McDonald's for a coffee and to charge my cell phone. As I was sitting there minding my own business a student at the next table using broken English asked me to kill a spider for her. I did, I'm a hero!
With a full charge I hopped a bus to Grouse Mountain for a trip to the top. Not thinking too much about weather I bought a ticket in the lift and quickly found myself in a dense foggy cloud on top of the mountain. Yikes! Poor choices! Too late to change my mind I disembarked the lift and explored a bit. I saw the distant back of a grizzly bear and a few cool carvings in a white haze of cloud. Then I went to sit and wait for the lumberjack competition. This show made even a cloudy visit to the mountain top well worth it! Funny and entertaining and exciting I loved it! What a great show. I would love to go back and catch photos again because, as you will see, there was a lot of action happening in the haze.
Part of the show involved a chainsaw wood carving which ended up as a child's chair. The youngest one in the crowd was given the chair as a souvenir. I offered my photos to the family after the show and they were very happy for them because they didn't get a chance to take photos of the moment from where they were sitting.
The blue team's lumberjack was upset over losing one of the events and came out with dynamite! After a struggle he fell into the well leaving the green lumberjack holding the dynamite. The announcer panicked and yelled for him to throw it into the water, meaning the pond. Green tossed it into the well instead. Uh-oh! Climbing out of the well is the result for blue.
Hope you all enjoy the stories and I'm going to get ready to explore GasTown and maybe a little of Chinatown this afternoon in Vancouver.
Keep on keeping on ya'll,
~The RPG
