I recently learned about a great adventure being undertaken to fund raise and create awareness for inflammatory bowel disease. 16 year old Clinton Shard of Squamish will be joining a team of 6 to tackle Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.
Thanks Jeremy, for sending this info in:
This September, 16-year-old Clinton Shard of Squamish, B.C. is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as a part of a team of six people led by Crohn’s patient Rob Hill, who is the founder of the Intestinal Disease Education and Awareness Society, or I.D.E.A.S. Both of these adventurers have Crohn’s disease, and have overcome tremendous obstacles in order to be able to take on this challenge.
While they are on their journey, they will be posting updates on Twitter (#roberthillclimb, #weneedideas); blogging, posting photos and videos (IBDAdventures.com); and even answering questions via video from their fans on the web while they are climbing!
Clinton and Rob would like to invite you to their North Vancouver send-off event to learn about mountain climbing and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with them at The Edge rock climbing gym on Thursday, September 3.
Here are the details:
Who: Clinton Shard (Squamish) and Rob Hill (Vancouver) – Crohn’s disease patients and adventure athletes
What:
·Try your hand at rock climbing
·Hear the amazing personal stories of Clinton and Rob
·Take photos, Tweet, blog and conduct video interviews as you learn to climb with Rob and Clinton!
·Healthy snacks will be served
When: Thursday, September 3, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Where: The Edge Climbing Centre, #2-1485 Welch Street, North Vancouver (5 minutes from Lions Gate Bridge) Google map directions
If you’d like to attend, or schedule a separate interview, please contact Jeremy at 604-688-2505 or Jeremy.Twigg@fleishman.ca. I’m also on Twitter: @JeremyTwigg.
Alice Lake Provincial Park is located just north of downtown Squamish. There are 108 vehicle accessible campsites (55 with electrical hookup) and 55 of them are reservable through Discover Camping. There are also 2 shower stations within the campground with electrical outlets. Campfires are permitted, and there is a nice playground for young ones. If you’re looking to go camping with your kids in a family friendly environment, this is a great camping destination. If you’re looking to party with your friends and get rowdy… not so much.
Alice Lake itself has two nice sandy beaches, plenty of park benches, and a large grassy area to spread out on, soak up the sun and play some frisbee. Kayaking and canoeing are also permitted on the lake. Rainbow trout can be fished for at Alice Lake, along with the 3 other lakes within the park (Stump, Fawn and Edith).
There are also more hiking and cycling trails than can be explored in a one or two day visit.
The Four Lakes Trail is a nice 8km (~ 2 hour) hike that takes you in a circular route of the park around all four of the lakes. This is a great hike through dense forest and has little elevation change so its fairly easy to complete. A more strenuous hike, DeBeck’s Hill Trail, can be accessed from the southern parking lot at the beach. The trail is only 3km return-trip but rises 274m to the peak. The peak offers a nice view of the Tantalus Range and Mount Garibaldi (except for the massive communications tower/ equipment at the peak). Also on the way you will pass “an old steam donkey once used for yarding logs”, pictured below.
You can view a nice map of the park here to get a sense of some of the other trails and park layout. To get there drive just north of Squamish on the Sea-to-Sky and follow the signs, turning right on Alice Lake Rd.
Remember, Squamish is bear (and cougar) country so take the necessary precautions on trails and around your campsite.
More reports of cougar encounters around Squamish. One involving a toddler in Brackendale (info below), and one related to the above footage. The amazing video, showing a cougar unfazed by the presence of humans, was taken a few days ago on the Stawamus Chief in Squamish. (Is it just me or does the guy seem awfully calm being so close to this animal, and considering the fact his dog may have just been torn to shreds?) This article was put out by the local newspaper, the Chief:
Squamish – A couple of hikers ignored a trail closure at the Stawamus Chief Saturday morning only to come face-to-face with a cougar that brazenly carried off their small, leashed dog.
A two-minute video on youtube.com taken by the unidentified husband of the couple showed the cougar moments after the attack as it sniffed its surroundings, seemingly unfazed by the presence of people just metres away.
The dog was not in sight and its condition was unknown, as the husband explained from behind the camera to another unidentified man.
“[The cougar] attacked once, went up the tree, dropped the dog, and then unfortunately my wife just went nuts. And then the cat decided to attack the dog again,” said the man. “I think if we just calmly backed up then we might… if we still have a dog that’s alive, we might be lucky.”
The incident occurred the day after nine encounters involving an estimated three cougars were reported from Hospital Hill to Valleycliffe to the Chief. The dog survived the attack, according to conservation officer Chris Doyle. However the day before, the cougar killed and ate another dog off its leash, which was the reason for the trail closure.
“Friday there were a few reports of cougar activity and encounters at the Squamish Chief. That cougar later that night attacked and killed a dog on the Squamish Chief trail,” said Doyle. “The trail was closed that night as it was quite late, we planned to go up the next morning, which we did.”
The cougar was treed and killed three quarters of the way up the trail after the second dog attack. It was tracked by two cougar hounds, two conservation officers, a park ranger and a dog handler.
In another frightening incident on Friday, a mother and daughter were approached while in their yard on Hospital Hill. The mother threw rocks at the cat, which turned it around, said Doyle.
“What’s more unusual is a cougar approaching people,” he said. “And to have that many in that short a period of time is quite unusual as well.”
Squamish currently has the highest number of reported cougar encounters in the province, said Doyle. There may be a number of reasons for the heightened presence, he said, however it’s mostly just speculation.
Also a toddler in nearby Brackendale was attacked but is OK. The cougar was tracked and shot. From CBC:
Conservation officers in Squamish, B.C., have shot and killed a cougar suspected of attacking a three-year-old girl who couldn’t understand why the big kitty didn’t want to “play nice.”
Five conservation officers aided by two dogs and their handlers tracked the cat through several yards and eventually shot it just off Depot Road in the Brackendale neighbourhood, about 60 kilometres north of Vancouver, four hours after the attack Tuesday evening.
DNA samples taken from the cougar will be used to determine if it was the one that attacked the child, they said.The cougar is the second killed by conservation officers since Saturday. The other was shot after two dogs were attacked on a popular hiking trail on Friday and Saturday.
Mother fought off big cat
In the attack on Tuesday, the cougar pounced on Maya Espinoza from behind as she and her mother were walking their dog in Fisherman’s Park near the Squamish River. A neighbour said the mother, whom he called Mo, pulled the cougar off the child and got her to safety.
“Mo turned around and there was a cougar that was kind of on top of Maya, so she picked it up, threw it off, picked up Maya, and ran,” Wade Rowland told CBC News.
The toddler ended up with puncture wounds to her left arm and head. Rowland said the girl will be fine, but didn’t entirely understand what happened.
“Everyone’s taking it well. They’re in good spirits. The little girl, her big comment was, I guess, ‘Why didn’t the kitty play nice?’” said Rowland.
Pablo Espinoza, Maya’s father, told CBC News his daughter thought the cat was playing.
Alright, I’ve been a bit lazy lately and have just been posting interesting stuff I’ve come across instead of actually writing any new material. So guess what, here’s another interesting article!
SQUAMISH – Cougars showed unusual interest in cyclists and children last week, alarming recreational area users in three separate incidences.
On Wednesday (June 3) at 9:30 p.m., a couple cycling the Farside Trail in Valleycliffe’s Crumpit Woods had to call for help when a cougar blocked their path during a half-hour “stand-off,” according to a message posted on the Squamish Off Road Cycling Association (SORCA) website by the residents who drove to the area to save the couple.
“The cougar sat in the crouched position on the gravel pad between the car park and trailhead staring at [them] with head low, hind raised, and tail flicking aggressively while they stood on the concrete blocks yelling at it,” wrote Tammy Shore. “It remained there in that stance until I drove up in my car.”
Shore went on to warn trail users not to ride in the area alone.
Conservation officer Byron Andres confirmed three reports of cougars approaching people, including an incident on Friday (June 5) at Evans Lake in Paradise Valley that involved children.
“This is an animal that exposed itself to a group of people, including children, and then was scared away but then came back,” said Andres. “So that’s not something we would consider normal behaviour for a cat. They’re supposed to be in the woods hiding where no one ever sees them or hears from them.”
The third sighting occurred at Alice Lake’s Jack’s Trail, making it “highly unlikely” the incidents involve the same cat, said Andres, adding that a trap has been set in the area of the trail.
The behaviour indicates the cougars may be experiencing circumstances, such as food stress, that cause them to ignore their own caution warnings, said Andres.
“That’s not necessarily to say that it was looking at people or children as a source of prey,” he added. “And we’ve never had an incident where a cat has actually attacked someone. But we have had an incident where a cat will chase or appear to chase someone on a bike, which is obviously disconcerting for a bike rider. It may or may not actually be a dangerous situation, but it’s certainly not something that we take lightly.”
Andres said there’s no evidence yet to suggest more cougars are in the area, however anecdotally, more calls are coming in compared to past years, and the reasons why remain a mystery.
“That could be because there are more cats, or that cats are less afraid of people or that there’s just more people out there seeing cats. We’re coming up on the Test of Metal, so there’s a lot more people on their bikes in the woods right now.”
The conservation office is not warning people to stay away from recreational areas, however Andres said people should be aware they’re in cougar country and get educated on how to deal with their behaviour.
“he traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin
I recently learned about a great adventure being undertaken to fund raise and create awareness for inflammatory bowel disease. 16 year old Clinton Shard of Squamish will be joining a team of 6 to tackle Africa’s tallest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.
