Old Man Bastard Hike.

Man Old Man. That was a seriously tough hike. We had our back packs loaded with food, water, extra layers and a whole lot of enthusiasm. This is him. You can really see his nose quite well. If you can't quite see him, I'm sorry and I wish I could help you. In Dianne on the way to the trail head. We're actually looking forward to it at this point.

At what we thought was the trailhead. We walked up it to discouver it was a dead end. Didn't dampen our spirits though. Had it been the middle or the end of the hike we would have been swearing and totally pissed off that we'd wasted effort going down the wrong trail.

At the real trailhead! Oh baby! We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. Before heading out we stopped at the Information Centre to get a trail map. Well, there isn't one. But Know-It-All Paul helped us out. He kept us there for like 10 minutes telling us that we have to go down the same way we went up and that there wasn't much of a trail. Well, There was a trail all the way up. This is the "creek" we were told we would follow for most of the trip. I imagine it's a little less dry in the spring time.

A seriously obvious trail. It was steep. I wish the pictures did it justice. Brenda taking a picture of the "creek" I think she annouced that she "fucking hates hiking" soon after this picture was taken.We were still really excited at this point and wanted to document a lot of the trip. We had to be creative if we wanted both of us in the picture. Self timer, tree branch, perfect.

First attempt at picture with camera on branch. Nice thumb, Brenda!There we go! We're not really impressed at this point. But we were told (Know-It-All Paul) that the first hour of the hike is the hardest. And while it's true that it is pretty difficult, the last stretch to the treeline is definatly a lot harsher. This kind of shows how steep it was. It was steeper in some points though. View from the log we were sitting on. It was pretty amazing. Whenever I got tired, which was pretty often, I'd turn around and check out the view. I think it's what kept me going. Just us. Both our heads are probably pounding at this point. That passed after a while though. Orange moss. We also so some lime green moss on a tree. We decided that all the moss was the Old Mans body hair. Gross.

Bloop! Hullo! I'm still having fun! :DThe creek! There's a waterfall in there but you can't really see it. This was the only time we saw any sort of water in the creek. Some rough-ish terrrain. We encountered much worse closer to the top.Beautiful wildflowers in the new growth area. There was a fire that took out a good patch in 1985. This was the most enjoyable part of the hike. We sat by that log in the right hand side of the picture and had a bit of a lunch.

Us on said log. We thought we had to crouch down. The camera looked like it was pointing downwards.Try number 2. Brenda couldn't get it to stay in place and hit the self timer too early. I was making a face to state how unimpressed I was. According to Brenda I look drunk. So cute. They remind me of home :)Orange mushrooms in the new growth area.

This is just after the new growth area. It lookes like we don't have much further to go. But we did. And it was quite possibly the hardest part yet. I think this was taken right after Brenda stated that she "is sooo over this" and that she "really really doesn't like me very much anymore" I just kept going.Harsh. Brenda was a head of me for much of this part and at one point I find her sitting and saying that she's done. Seriously finished. I pushed her and told her we had come this far, we have to finish! Out of the trees! Good Job Brenda!Out of the treeline! Great success! We're feeling pretty great about ourselves at this point.My celebratory carrot. I was fucking tired and hungry.

View of the town and Whistlers.Pyramid! We're doing that one next week.

Lounging at the top. After we sat and ate for a bit we decided we'd climb up a bit further. This is a good example of how steep it was. Brenda kissing the Old Man.I climbed up a little bit further. I was so impressed with myself. Such a great feeling.

Then I went a little bit higher, looked down and got scared. One last picture then down to our bags for more food and lounging. Food.Lounge.

Part way down it was time for another lounge sesh. We were both so comfortable here. Getting up was hard. The moss we were laying on was nice and cushy and great. Car ride home. Time to crash. I think there was something on the lens.

Up and down in 8 hours. Old Man is not something I would reccommend to many people. My body is sore, bruised, scratched and tired today. The end reward was well worth it.