We hiked hanes valley last weekend: a 16km wilderness trail leading from lynn headwaters to the top of grouse mountain. The first 11km were easy; then we hit the infamous scree slope: 400 vertical metres of loose granite rocks and boulders. The slope was at least 40 degrees, and Richelle and I stopped numerous times on the way up. When we reached the top we were disappointed because we had been told to expect an undulating, forested ridge line, but instead it was mostly just a steep uphill--so steep that you had to pull yourself up using exposed roots, and the provided fixed chains as handholds.
We saw some russula, some kind of cup fungi and maybe a queen bolete (not a mush expert) plus some false solomon's seal, rosy twisted stalk and parsley fern. No real wildlife, of course.
For the whole 16km I had brought exactly 800ml of water, or about a quarter of what I needed. Richelle and just about everyone else was in the same boat. When we finally got to the chalet (the Grouse Nest) we were desperate--I mean DESPERATE--for water. I ordered two jugs and six glasses.
It was nice to finally meet Genvieve (Mark's gf whom we've heard so much about) and kind of funny to have Mitch along (Mark's friend and fellow Irishman). Apparently some of Mark's workers started calling Mitch "Mitchgieve" because, while they hear all about Genvieve, they only ever saw Mark with Mitch.

The other night we went out for dinner at our local; they have a fantastic pot roast dinner and a decent beer and wine list (Semour Pub in North Van). Richelle and wanted to just take it easy a bit, because ever since our friend P & T got back from Thailand we haven't really stopped drinking and carousing. as it were. Anyway, phone rings during dinner and Richelle actually picks it up. It's Paul and he wants to go out, so we say why don't you join us for a bit, but we're not going crazy or anything, ok? He says, "No prob," and comes right down. His wife Tracy joins us a little later, they order dinner, so we stick around a little later. Pretty soon Paul and I are in deep discussion about something; Tracy and Richelle are having a great time; and suddenly the beer and wine turn into martini's and scotch. Also about that time part of the dining area got cleared for dancing. In no time Richelle had made new girlfriends on the dance floor and that was it: another night shot to hell.



To the right in the above pic, is a really drunk guy in a camo hat. We nicknamed him "the Nuge." Later he wanted to pick a fight with me. I have almost no idea why. You know when dudes come up to you and sorta bump you in the chest--that's what he did! It was pretty funny at first, then I thought, "crap, the Nuge is serious!" Fortunately his soccer-shirted friend intervened just in time and fisticuffs were avoided. Later we all parted best single-serving friends.

Went mushroom hunting in Bamfield, BC with this crazy, self-professed professional fungophile named Jim. After we explained that we weren't big on picking mushrooms, but rather just wanted to learn how to identify and then photograph them, he took us to a number of secret places off his regular tour.
He showed us this huge ganoderma (reishi) for which he had already lined up a buyer, some pig's ears which he harvested for himself and this rare and beautiful shroom nicknamed "the blue knight."
We did pick a few mushrooms for eating (no hallucinogenics, mind you). We got a number of big Porcinis, chantarelles and one big one called the hedgehog tooth mushroom. The hedgehog was our favorite. The chantarelles were fantastic too, though.

The best way to cook wild mushrooms according to me and everyone else who knows anything:

1. Preheat iron or stainless skillet to medium high.

2. Chop large mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Leave bite-size mushrooms alone.

3. Throw mushrooms in the pan and dry saute until the mushrooms begin to brown. Keep the mushrooms moving so they don't burn.

4. Add a little butter (just enough to coat the mushrooms) and a clove of crushed garlic. Olive oil would work too, but butter is better.

5. Toss the mushrooms in the butter and garlic for a minute or three, season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot:

0. Um, make sure the mushrooms aren't too buggy. Toss the ones that gross you out.

So I noticed you dug the last bailey set! If you are interested you can read about behind the scenes info in my Oct. 31st journal entry. So did you notice the burning car? Most people mised it. Its our fun little "plant".

Playa del carmen is fun. But don't go there, you wouldn't like it.

There's palm trees and beaches and turquoise waters. It's awful.

Mystery Black Eye or MBE is a condition that exclusively afflicts extreme drunkards with alcohol-induced personality disorders and a propensity for blacking out. It's true, you can look it up. So what I want to know is why I ended up with MBE last Tuesday morning after having consumed almost no alcohol the night before.
I didn't even know about it until I got to work and one of my staff pointed it out. I confronted my wife about this later, and she CLAIMED that she thought she saw some discolouration around my eye when we woke up, but didn't think anything about. Weird, huh? Personally, I think she might have popped me one while I was sleeping, knocked me unconscious before I even woke up, and just didn't want to fess to it.
Anyone else ever had MBE?

One of our cats is driving me crazy.

Hee hee no I didn't make that one up myself, its a quote from the cartoon Futurama.