Oktoberfest, Leavenworth

28 Oct

I couldn’t afford the flight to Munich this year so I decided on the next best thing, Leavenworth! The drive to Leavenworth was amazing as you come down from Stevens Pass and start to follow the Wenatchee River. Fall was in full effect with stunning pockets of yellow and red amongst the evergreens. We eventually arrived in the Bavarian themed town and checked in to our hotel for the weekend. It took us all of a few minutes to get into our Lederhosen, fill our steins and start the festivities. As the rest of the team showed up we went on a big pub crawl and showed that town how to party!

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

The next day we all woke up feeling a little slow but slipped right back into our Lederhosen which smelled a little more of mustard and beer than the previous night. After a good breakfast we headed into the festival and got our steins filled for round 2. The festival works on a ticket system with each ticket costing you 1 USD. A beer will run you 7 tickets and a bratwurst costing 5 tickets. Tickets are non-refundable so make sure you do the math before you start tying one on!

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

With all the admin out of the way we posted up at a table and began what we came there to do, drink beer! We danced to the Oom-Pah-Pah bands and chugged back our steins while meeting some great people along the way.

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

It may not have been the same as Munich but Leavenworth sure kicked some ass and definitely won this round…

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

Until next time my friends,

Foggy

Photo cred: @drubu

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Crown Mountain

22 Oct

Before the rainy months of Vancouver kicked in we decided to get out for one more summer hike. Brian, Adam and I jumped into my trusty VW and headed out to North Vancouver. We elected to take the BCMC trail up Grouse Mountain instead of taking the famous Grouse Grind where seeing high heels is not out of the norm. After getting to the top of the trail we continued to the start of the real hike out into the back-country. It was a gorgeous day as we trudged further away from Grouse Mountain Resort. We hit a very steep downhill section with some chains and I couldn’t help whistle the Indiana Jones theme in my head. We got back down the valley and started the accent of Crown Mountain. It was a touch slog but we finally made it to the top of Crown Mountain and were blown away by the view(yes of Brian).

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Looking south was a view of the city and then north was a sea of endless peaks.

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With Jello legs we managed to drag ourselves back to the pub at Grouse where the ice cold pale ales were exactly what the doctor ordered to nurse our legs back to health.

Until next time!

Foggy

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Adam taking in the view.

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Elfin Lakes

30 Sep

Itching to get out of the city again the boys decided to take a Friday night off drinking to get an early start Saturday. With coffees in hand Alex, Cormac, Mike and I were on our way to Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Just over an hour later we were at the trail head with back packs on ready to roll. There wasn’t much to look at the first half of the hike but it soon opened up to great views of Mt. Garibaldi.

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We eventually got to Elfin Lakes and set up camp on one of the wooden platforms.

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With some extra gas in the tank we continued on to Opal Cone to get a great view of the glaciers.

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After the long hike back it was time to dip into the beer rations for the night and enjoy a swim in the lake.

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The next day we woke up and enjoyed breakfast with one of the best views nature has to offer.

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After breakfast we hiked up to The Gargoyles these great lava formations above Elfin Lakes.

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On our way down we shared the trail with a black bear but luckily it was more interested in the foliage than 4 handsome young men.

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We packed up our gear and it was time to say goodbye to another great weekend spent in the British Columbia back-country.

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Until next time!

Foggy

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Black Tusk

29 Jul

Three weekends of partying in a row is pretty usual in the summer months but I needed a break. I called up my buddy Luke and we decided to get into the back country. Luke picked me up at 5am Saturday morning in his Jeep Cherokee and we were out of the city by the time the sun came up. 1.5 hours later we were at the trail head with our gear strapped to our backs and started up the path. The trail up to the Lake is nothing to write home about with countless switchbacks for the entire 9km. We got to the end of the trail and I was blown away by Garibaldi Lake. It was a gorgeous turquoise blue without a single ripple on it.

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Garibaldi Lake

Luke and I set up our camp and went right to the lake to cool down from the mornings hike. We made a make-shift cooler in the lake to cool our beers down and spent the day relaxing in the sun and jumping off the dock.

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Garibaldi Lake

We got up early the next day and started out on the trail up the mountain. Black Tusk has always been a bucket list item for me and to quote Sir Edmund Hillary today was the day I was going to knock the bastard off. This part of the hike was stunning as you are surrounded by lush meadows, wild flowers, streams and the back drop of the coastal mountains.

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Taylor Meadows

As you get near the top all sign of life disappears as a warning that the Tusk is not to be taken lightly. The terrain turns to shale and every step forward you slide a little back. Before you know it you are starring the last obstacle in the face, the dreaded chimney.

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Just below the Tusk

My heart was pumping with adrenaline as I started the climb knowing that any loose hold would send me barreling into Luke and take us both off the side of the mountain. We both managed just fine and were left speechless at the top. We took our time taking it all in, then came the obvious question of how are we supposed to get down?

 

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Black Tusk Summit

 

Until next time my foggy friends!

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Arctic Adventure

10 Nov

An outdoor adventure to Canada’s great white north.

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Coachella 2013

3 Jul

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Professional Babes

14 Jan

I touched down in Brussels and it was a little colder than I was accustomed to in Africa, luckily I had my trusty beard to keep my face warm. After a little confusion I met up with my friend Claire who I had met in University. Claire is in Brussels playing professional volleyball for Barbar d’X-Elles. Claire gave me a tour around the city that hit the main sites including Grand Place, St. Machael and St. Gudula Cathedral and then famous Manneken Pis. We then hit the true sites of Brussels and stopped for some frites and beers. No stop in Brussels can be complete without *moules frites so we wrangled up Erin and Britt from the team and went out to a place called Au Vieux Bruxelles. The restaurant has been serving plates since 1882 so you know they weren’t going to mess anything up. The girls were all amazing in taking in this bearded bum even though they were a little nervous about having a hippie in the house. A huge thanks to them all and here is a quick story on the girls from TV Brussels.

http://www.tvbrussel.be/fr/node/21916

Foggy

*A big bowl of mussels with fries on the side.

Britt and Erin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dollar Bills

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Nairobi Nights

5 Dec

Nairobi gets a bad rap as a dangerous city that you don’t want to spend a lot of time in but if you know the right people and places you can have a pretty wild time. I was lucky to make friends with a great local that loved to party so we naturally got along like a house on fire. Nairobi has something for everyone from cheap local shot bars to glow stick trance parties. Westlands is a great area to go out in as you can hit up a lot of bars all in one strip. All that being said Nairobi is still dubbed Nairobery so always have your wits about you as you can still get yourself into unsafe situations. Always take a taxi after dark no matter how short the distance as I learned from experience even the police can be out for the money in your wallet. Guys, also remember no matter how into you the girl seems to be make sure to ask if she’s a hired lady as it can make for an awkward night.

Foggy

$1 shots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Diamond Bar

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The Iron Snake

3 Dec

The train from Mombasa to Nairobi costs more than a bus, takes more time and is frequently delayed. One might ask why anyone would take it but it’s all about the experience. Make sure to not have a tight connection on the other side as the train can take an extra 8 hours on some trips. Once on board head to the dinner car and enjoy some ice cold Tusker beers. The stops will be frequent and long and you will never know when the train will start up again but it’s all apart of the fun. Also remember to bring toilet paper as 18 hours on a train without any can get interesting very fast.

Foggy

Photo Credit: Jonathan Fontaine

Mombasa Train Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kenya Train

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Train compartment

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The Backpacking Trap

3 Dec

Sometimes on the road you run into a place that it is very hard to leave but Mombasa Backpackers is a whole different animal. People arrive here expecting to stay a few days and end up staying months. I was supposed to stay here two days and ended up staying two weeks. Within the massive walls you have a very family feel as the backpackers itself is in an old family mansion. Don’t let the family atmosphere fool you though as bathing suits are forbidden after dark in the pool (for some reason only the guys follow this one). Beers are cheap and a few sunrises on the beach are always in the cards. Brush up on your beer pong skills as games are a nightly occurrence. I managed to finally peel myself away but I have the feeling I left numerous brain cells and a large chunk of my liver there.

Foggy

Mombasa Backpackers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beer pong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't lose beer pong

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