Gothic Basin
8/27/2005 Sat. Overcast in the morning.
~15 Km RT / 900 m gain to the basin.
The first 1.7 miles is completely flat on Monte Criso Rd, along Sauk River. Then the grade picks up. After 2 miles or so, the trail leaves the zigzag in the forest and you encounter the first waterfalls (a trickle now). From here on, the trail becomes rocky and not as steep, but sometimes up and down. Gothic Basin is ideal for camping, surrounding by rocky peaks that can shelter the wind, a couple of tarns to supply water.

A further half mile / 200 ft up to the right (northeast) over a low ridge leads to the beautiful foggy lake. More camp sites.

If you are not tired yet, it's possible to climb up the STEEP hill on the south side. On top of that ridge, you can see Rainier and Olympics. We came down directly to the basin. It was quite dangerous. So steep that most of the time I had all my limbs on the stones. My pants ended up with purple blueberry stain. Yes, lots of blueberries.

Intimate Apparel at Intiman Theatre
2005.8.25 7:30pm

Opening night. Full house. It started at least 15 min late.

A new play, by Lynn Nottage, directed by Jacqueline Moscou (whose previous production the Crown last year was such a bore).

It's a story of an illiterate but independent African seamstress in early 20th century New York, earning her living sewing "intimate apparel" for wealthy socialites and women of ill repute. Esther, who's in her mid-30s longs for companionship. After some months of correspondence with a Panama canal digger, she marries him as soon as he arrives without getting to know him. She finds warmth with a man she cannot touch, a Romanian textile retailer.

It's well written (quite humorous at times) and well acted, especially the lady who plays the prostitute. Stage design is simple but sufficient.

The odd thing is that after the show, they served fried Chicken with Coleslaw, mashed potato and sweet rolls (donated by Ezel?).

2005.8.20-22 Vancouver Island

It started out drizzling. Only the last day was sunny. Didn't enjoy much of the mountains, as the views were blocked by the clouds. I have underestimated the size of the island, plus the foul weather, the whole trip was ill-planned (the hotels do not allow cancellation). Long wait for the ferry coming back on Monday night. My favorites of this trip are lower Myra Falls and Chesterman Beach.

Day 1. We started with Strathcona Provincial Park. Visited the Buttle Lake area. The drive was very pleasant, although, long. It passes several lakes, some quite large. The upper Campbell Lake is very pleasant. Should have stayed here in the lodge (decent menu). Buttle Lake is utterly peaceful. Huge, and almost no one around.

We did a couple of short hikes along Buttle Lake to see some waterfalls. Lower Myra Falls is a must. The kids (me too) enjoyed it immensely. Very interesting rock formation, and one can climb back and forth along the cascades.

Day 2. We stayed in the Mt Washington Ski Resort. The kids loved their bunk beds, but they were not made, and there's no where I can find extra sheets (and the woman who is in charge of these rental vacation homes didn't want to make the trip to deliver the sheets). That was quite annoying. However, the view from the mountain top was nice, if it's not cloudy. Ski lift is in operation. We spent half a day walking the Paradise Meadows and visited the two little alpine lakes near by: Ann-Mckinzie Lake and Battleship Lake. However, the lakes are quite boring. The meadow is very pleasant, well preserved, wide board walkways, still has some flowers left. I can imagine coming here maybe two weeks earlier and the flowers should have been splendid.

As the only restaurant that opens in the evening is quite lousy, we drove down to Courteney for dinner (the Old House @ 1760 Riverside Lane. Easy to miss.) A very old house indeed, beautiful garden along a creek. Food is quite good, the waitress was helpful. She didn't make a face after my nephew made a mess over the table (he threw up, as sometime he does after gorging in cold food). On the way there, we stopped by Saratoga Beach and Miracle Beach. Very close to each other (I prefer Miracle Beach, also a park). We saw a heron at Saratoga Beach. On the little residential street that connects these two beaches, we saw two deers!

Day 3. Visited the beaches in the Pacific Rim National Park and Tofino. First stop is Wickaninnish Beach. There's an interpretive center and a restaurant here. Sea stacks on and off the beach, yet, the sand is ultra fine and smooth. Quite some people here.

2nd stop, Long Beach. Same, but no facilities. Nice. Quite a few surfers here. The kids followed me to get wet, playing with the waves.

3rd stop, Radar hill. Good view to Tofino and countless little green islands in the sound.

4th stop, Tofino (at the north tip of this peninsular). Small yet bustling. Quite a few groups going in and out of the harbor. Very commercialized.

Last stop, on the way back, Chesterman Beach. Beautiful. Other than its fine sandy beach, views go both north (islands) and south (Long Beach), AND thousands of sandpipers.

Mt Rainier
2005.8.14. Sunrise.


I was hoping to see a profusion display of flowers. It was not even as good as last year at the end of Aug, when we did Fremont Lookout trail. Apart from the alpine asters, not many other flowers are in bloom. Probably too warm this year. Very dusty and dry.

We did Burrough's Mt this time. About 6 miles r/t, and 1000 ft gain. We went by Shadow Lake and came back by Frozen Lake. On the way up, we saw 6 mountain goats negotiating their way on a cliff. At the end of the trail on the 2nd Burrough Mt, you'll find the best seat in the world: a semi circle stone bench facing Mt Rainier. Wind is blowing hard here. Almost chilly. Mt Rainier seems within an arm's reach. Steam is coming out of the ice on one spot. A photographer is waiting for his right moment.

Aug. 13. 2005
Tried to catch the annual Perseid shower, a bunch of us including a 10 year-old went to Green Lake's Star Party. Even though we parked right next to the rdv point, we didn't see it. Ended up walking along the lake and backwards for 20 minutes. It's really pleasant. On the way back, we saw one shooting start. We we got to the right place, the guy is taking down his telescope for fear of the sprinkler system coming up in half an hour. We did stayed there for a little longer. But only caught a couple of meteors more. It surprised me that there were actually people walking, jogging or walking the dogs at midnight.

Dimitriou's Jazz Alley
2005.8.12
Even though I've heard of this joint for years. This is the first time I'm here. It's not really an alley. You come in from the back door of a semi-modern building. It's the lobby. Quite airy. Acoustic-wise, it's not an ideal setting. Curtains were drawn. Sound is partly distributed by amplifiers. Waiters walk around often, taking orders and dishes. So quite a distraction and noise, even though they try hard to keep it minimum. If you are here for dinner or drinks, with a live music stage, it would be nice (however, we didn't try their food). Still, this place always seems to get some reputable artists. So, if you want to see an artist playing up close, this would be perfect.

Vancouver (8/6-7/2005)

Aug 6, Another fireworks night. This time, we parked at Jessica's apartment. It's only a block to Beach Ave. 5-10 minutes walk got us to a very nice spot for the fireworks. We even remembered to bring a radio this time. Another feast for light and color. This was the finale, so every country shot up what's leftover. I got a flavor of what we missed. Louis Armstrong with Canada's fireworks, and a female traditional solo with the Chinese. However, I prefer the display of single country. There's a theme to the show.

Aug 7. Spent half of the day on UBC campus. There were about a dozen visitors to the Museum of Anthropology, made famous by some movie, and few going to an afternoon concert at the Chan Center for the Performing Arts. I encountered a foreign visitor (well in her 50s, alone) at the Student Union Building asking for directions to the housing facilities, (which I, of course, am ignorant of). From a brochure there, I learned that it's possible to stay for $25 in the student residence (with private or twin accommodation) in summer. Apart from them, there seems not a soul on campus.

The Main Mall is one wide avenue, ending its north tip a rose garden on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Buildings are of various sizes and style, mostly modern, and not very good looking. The most handsome building is the main library.

We descent next to the Anthropology museum to the beaches. Very cool and narrow walkway. Wooden stairs. Not many people on the beach, and most of them completely naked. It took me a while to persuade my father to get down to the water. We carried our shoes and wade through pebbles and sands. Nice and cool. But only 10 minutes further west, around the corner, it was hustling and bustling. Hundreds of people there, reading, tanning, showing off their body, or drinking. Yes, there's a bar on the beach, and a store selling cloths to wrap around your bare bottom in case you want to venture up to the campus. The sand is awfully hot around the stores. From here, another wooden walkway lead up to the campus. However, there was a traffic on this trail.

We ended Sunday by going to the Stanley Park. Vancouver Symphony Orchestra was doing an outdoor concert here at 7pm. Conductor Bramwell Tovey arrived in horse carriage (two beautiful white horses) lead by two royal mounted police. He made funny comments before every piece. It was fun. A pleasant venue, shared with babies and dogs. As expected, somewhat poor sound quality. (The amplifiers were in full power.) They played popular yet classic tunes like Rossini's William Tell overture, Dvorak's Slovanic Dance in G minor, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, Lehar's Gold and Silver Waltz, introduced a 14-year-old violinist Christel Lee (who played Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso), ended with Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture.

The Night of the Iguana. 8/4/2005.
Opening night @ ACT Theater. The lead actor of the defrocked Episcopalian minister, was excellent. Nice stage design. Like other Tennessee Williams' plays, it's again poetic, but a bit grim.

Also saw Mar adentro. Based on a true story of a Spaniard who fought for his right to die in dignity. Despite of a morbid subject, the film is moving and uplifting.