Winter Wonderland

It's easy to see why we live in B.C. All it takes is one sun-soaked afternoon on top of a glistening local mountain and you feel completely rejuvenated. When we set out to go snowshoeing at Mt. Seymour, I honestly thought it'd be a glorified walk. I should have known that my partner in crime had marathon-sized lungs with a penchant for climbing. While sitting having a water break at a breathtaking viewpoint, Smiley pointed up at the peak and said, "look at those people climbing up there." At first, I thought they were trees. But, with a lot of squinting, I could see tiny dots slowly moving up the steep incline. I knew by his smiling face that we were on a mission. I have to admit, I was excited by the prospect of pushing myself physically and attempting to overcome my fear of heights. On the way up, we were told that it was best to remove our snowshoes as someone had fallen down the slope earlier, miscalculating the ice steps. Climbing up the steep face on all fours, I was on a mission, like a driven mountain goat. I carried my snoeshoes in my hands and used their blades as ice-picks, digging my feet into the side of the hill, one step at a time, never looking down. Smiley got a bit nervous at one point, but with his clown-sized feet, it took him a lot more effort to carve big enough steps into the hillface. During some harrowing moments, I was muttering to myself, "remind me again why we're doing this....." but when we reached the top, it wasn't just the vistas that made it worthwhile, it was our sense of accomplishment. Over four hours of hardcore exercise, fresh air, gorgeous scenery and sparkling sunshine - it doesn't get much better than that. Click on this link if you'd like to see more photos: Mt. Seymour pix