What gets us Stoked, IV
BOOM! A few more videos that inspire us to get out and experience the Wild. What’s inspiring you lately? Comment and let us know. ...
What gets us Stoked, III
Check out this weeks selection of video clips that we’re loving here at Pebbleshoo. They really motivate us to get outside and moving. ...
10 pieces of Gear we love when in the Wild
We’ve been meaning to put together a list like this for a while and here it is. Being in the outdoors alone is usually enough in and of itself but sometimes well made gear can just make the experience better. Great gear to us is when it doesn’t detract anything from our experience in the wild and only complements it, taking away little inconveniences that would otherwise distract us from enjoying our pursuits. When you’re exhausted, hungry and maybe a little scared dealing with poorly made gear can be the straw that tells us to turn around and give up, whereas exceptionally made gear that takes a burden off our shoulders can give us the motivation to push onward. This list will likely change over the years so we will update with new posts as it does. It’s also not in any specific order. Note: We have personally chosen and purchased all of these products. We receive no sponsorship to use them. 1) Arc’teryx Alpha LT Jacket: Our first Gore-tex hard shells (Our review here). Whether it be a day hike or an overnight trip through all 4 seasons these jackets are in our packs. On sunnier days they act as a wind breaker and when the weather turns for the worst, an all too frequent occurrence in the PNW, we use them to keep us dry and warm. Their bright colors would also aid in getting the attention of SAR if we were to get injured and call for help (I also like the color as it stands out well in photographs). It just works. There are so many little features in the design of this jacket that it would be hard to give a quick synopsis of all of them, from the little pieces of sponge in the hem that stop the jacket from riding up when we have harnesses on to the multiple drawcords on the hood that allow it to be reshaped and configured on the fly depending on the conditions, needs and our activity. We love them and feel naked in the mountains without them. They’re light, comfortable, functional and have never let us down. Some people comment that the price is too high, to them I say “you’ve likely never owned and used one of these jackets”. We’ve put ours through the wringer for close to 3 years now and I expect to get probably another decade or more out of them, at least. That kind of durability and reliability, coupled with Arc’teryx’s bomb proof warranty is why we love these jackets. 2) Marmot Quasar Down Jacket: I reviewed the Marmot Quasar...
Wedge Mountain: North East Arête
On the first weekend in June, 2013 myself, Spring and our friend Ben decided to try a classic Alpine Mountaineering route in Garibaldi Provincial Park called the North East Arête of Wedge Mountain. Myself and Spring had been to this peak before. Two years previously we had reached the summit of Wedge Mountain as a day trip that took us over 15 hours and required thousands of meters of elevation change. Back then we were still pretty green in our Mountaineering abilities so we didn’t even consider the NE Arête as an option to reach the summit so we took the West Ridge, which is considerably less classic as an ascent route due to it being a long, tedious slope of loose scree, talus and general Type 3 fun. Still, on that trip I took the following picture, possibly my favorite picture of all time so Wedge Mountain has a special place in my heart. We planned a revisit with Ben to attempt a more aesthetic route, but this time we’d do it in a more Mountaineering style by splitting the trip over 2 days, and getting an early alpine start from a base camp near the foot of the peak. We set up our tent at Wedgemount Lake and introduced ourselves to some other parties staying in the modest shelter nearby who had intentions to climb the North East Arête also the following morning. We had dinner lazily and turned in early for the coming alpine start which would have us up and ready well before sunrise. The next morning we awoke, and after getting some calories and caffeine into us we were off. We moved briskly but immediately I noticed something different to this start than other alpine starts I had done before. It was no later than 4am but it was warm out and the snow underfoot did not have the satisfying crunch that I expected. Usually, snow in the alpine in the Spring softens up through the day and then hardens up again overnight as the temperatures drop. This snow had clearly not gone through this cycle as there had been no winds overnight and the freezing level had stayed high. It was a bad sign about conditions we might face higher on the mountain but we pressed on. There was still the chance that conditions higher up on the mountain might improve as it was less sheltered from the wind and more likely to be within the freezing level. Shortly thereafter we met up with the other parties that had started earlier than us as we roped up for glacier travel. We would need...
Welch Peak: Photo Essay
On the last Saturday in July, 2013 myself and Spring and two other likely companions, Ben and Cody, reached the summit of Welch Peak in the Cheam Range of British Columbia. The scrambling is airy and exposed but fun. There is just enough solid rock to scramble on to make you forget the crumbling piles of choss or as I decided to call them “death skittles” which is all the loose sand and pebbles atop otherwise good rock (definitely inspired by the fact I was munching on actual Skittles all day). On the Friday night we decided to camp on an old Forestry Road near the trailhead. This proved to be the mental crux of the trip. An overactive imagination and past negative experiences leaving a vehicle overnight in the vicinity coupled with having to camp at a pullout littered with shotgun shells, broken glass and shrapnel embedded trees made for a somewhat restless nights sleep. The next day we reached the summit of Welch Peak. It was a long day, with moments of sheer bliss, pupil dilating terror, brow furrowing frustration and pure comradery in the face of tribulation. At times it felt like we were struggling and wrestling against the mountain but ultimately, as we departed from the summit, and toasted stream chilled Ale back at the trailhead, we felt that the mountain had given us far more on that day than it ever could have taken from...
