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1. A Good Year (2023) & Then Off to Southeast Asia on Our Bikes

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I think it was way back in the fall of 2019, that we started planning our next bike trip, with Morocco, Rwanda and SE Asia all being high on the list of possible destinations. And then the Pandemic hit and everything changed.  So here we are, in late 2023 (with Covid, btw, making a resurgence) soon to get on a plane to Hanoi and a 3-month pedal through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. 

We are currently in last-minute prep mode and feeling a little like headless chickens. Somehow our technology upgrades have all gone array and sorting things out is taking forever! Whatever, we’ll get through it and then, once on the road, we’ll be able to relax. Despite previous experience, I’m surprised at all the many details we need to address and how overwhelming it can be as our departure date looms.  I recently made the mistake of searching ‘traffic in Hanoi’ on YouTube….yikes, that looks hair raising!

This past year has been, on a global level, somewhat of a nightmare but personally we’ve had a year full of adventure, challenges and good times.  We are so lucky to live where we do, are healthy and, with our frugal lifestyle, have the resources and time to pursue our interests. Foremost of which has been our new passion for climbing, but we’ve also managed to squeeze in some back-country ski trips, some kayaking and even a couple of weddings! 

We leave for Hanoi on the 16th.  We hope to maintain our blog while on the road so please follow along, comment and/or share our site with anyone who might be interested (www.overthehillandbeyond.ca). Wish us luck and the wind at our backs!

Some photos from the past year:

The big news – our son Nico married his long time partner Caila this September! It was an awesome wedding in a lovely outdoor setting, with great food, short speeches, lots of dancing and a great time for all attendees. What more could one ask for?

Last winter was a superb snow year and we were lucky to take full advantage, spending many days skate skiing at the Whistler Olympic Park and even more alpine skiing at Whistler Blackcomb. We also managed to squeeze in some back-country touring including a week long, guided & catered trip into the fabulous Kokanee Glacier Hut. By our standards, it was an extravagance but the great skiing and the opportunity to learn from the guides made it all worthwhile.

Some of the stellar back-country terrain so close to home. We managed to book the Watersprite cabin again for a group of eight including daughter Nina and friends. This is only 16 kms, as the crow flies, from our house. Skiing was tricky due to avalanche conditions (persistent weak layer!) and then a huge dump of snow our last night made things worse. Even getting back to our vehicle (a 4-hour, mainly downhill, ski) was a work-out!
Claire returning to the Kees & Claire (no relation) Hut in the Whistler area backcountry, after a late afternoon of untracked powder skiing! That’s the Black Tusk (mountain) in the background. We spent just a couple of nights at the hut this trip. It’s another accessible destination with great terrain and similarly, close to home,

After owning various kayaks, even building a wooden one, we decided to bite the bullet and invest in what we consider one of the best double kayaks (A Seaward Passat G3) for the type of ocean trips we do. Coastal British Columbia offers world-class paddling and we find the experience intoxicating. We managed only a few trips this past year.

The natural richness of the west coast is always surprising!
On the short, 2-day paddle to the Sechelt Peninsula for a family Thanksgiving dinner at niece Jessica’s place. As per the above photo, Howe Sound is not the most hospitable for suitable campsites/put-ins but gorgeous weather and calm conditions made for a lovely paddle and a unique way to travel to a family dinner!
We had a really nice trip with brother Dave and his paddling buddy Ian (way in the background) to the Bunsby Islands north of the remote native community of Kyuquot on the west coast of Vancouver Island. For four of the seven days we were on the water we saw not a soul, not even another boat. This day we did the circumnavigation of Spring Island on foot, exploring untracked beaches, caves and numerous sea arches. A super cool hike!
A driftwood-filled cave, draped in a brilliant orange lichen.
One of many arches. Every hundred meters of this hike brought another feature to behold, something else to explore!
It was a busy year for bears in the backyard! This little guy was smelling Claire’s good cooking and just couldn’t help him/herself. Living adjacent to the forest is one of the delights of our property.

Our new found passion for rock climbing continues. Yes, it is a strange choice of hobby for Claire to take up in her retirement and for me to return to after a four decade hiatus but we’re glad we did. Climbing takes us to such beautiful places, ensures we stay in shape, is as engaging an activity as can be and there is so much to learn. When we started climbing four years ago, I had aspirations of being able to lead 5.9 trad and 5.10a sport – a glossary of esoteric climbing lingo attached ;). These are modest goals but for a couple of old folks (67 & 68 respectively) they seemed a long way off. Miraculously, we reached them this summer. I’m climbing a little harder than Claire but she’s right on my heels. It’s been super fun, sometimes scary and always challenging. Note: Taking good photos while on a climb is both tricky and unsafe!

Claire on a tough pitch at Red Rock Canyon National Monument in Nevada. We spent five days climbing at Red Rocks with some American friends who knew the area well. It was a fantastic intro to climbing in the desert and we hope to return.
Jim leading Open Sesame, a recently developed climb just north of Shannon Falls. Crack climbing the granite of Squamish has a well deserved reputation that attracts climbers from around the world. Meeting these climbers, most of whom are minimally, half our age, is another satisfying aspect of the sport. This particular crack was nice and easy!
The final belay stance on the nine pitch, Long Time No See, with our town in the background. We were both pretty bagged by this point. The climbing had been harder than anticipated with one particularly, sketchy (for me at least) traverse on poor gear. All in all, a big day!
An even bigger day! This is maybe Pitch 7 of the the seventeen pitch, fully bolted route, The Goat, north of Lillooet. It was a seven hour climb on limestone with lots of loose rock on the ledges. We swapped leads and the climbing was well within our skills but the loose rock, remoteness of the route, absence of any other climbers, no communication options and a heinous two hour descent down a steep gully of even looser rock made for a long, memorable day.
And finally……I think my days of building mountain bike trails are over. With the hanging of the sign and building this topmost bridge, our latest trail was, finally and officially, opened to riders. From submitting the application to completion of this almost 2 km long trail, it was a long five years of intermittent effort (a combined +/- 3000 hrs of volunteer labour). The trail name (on a cut-out, rusted, steel sign suspended between two trees) is a nod to how Don and my backs suffered during it’s construction.

And that’s all folks! Hope it wasn’t too long and a reasonable read? Our next post will be from somewhere in northern Vietnam.

13 thoughts on “1. A Good Year (2023) & Then Off to Southeast Asia on Our Bikes”

  1. Ah Jimbo, the man with the magic stylus returns and enlightens his tribe with the anticipation of the next awesome Claire & Jim adventure (aka “Punch & Judy” show or should that be “Cheech & Chong” sequel?).

    The trip preamble begins with Jim scrambling to perfect their “must have” wish list containing every latest adventure travel device combined with his usual luddite tech knowledge- a dangerous combination indeed, but no doubt ripe with potential fuel for future entertaining posts throughout the trip. (NB. I can literally see Claire smiling reading that sentence as Jim swirls around his garage workshop, cussing at confusing directions on how to operate said equipment and find room for it in his brand new personalized waterproof leather sling bag he bought at MEC last week).

    And so the journey begins…

    Have fun (duh), stay safe (Uber is super cheap in Hanoi), and don’t forget the lip balm…

    ENJOY THE ADVENTURES. I look forward to your lengthy tales and fabulous photos along your journey. Oh, and if you discover any new craft IPA’s along the way can you slip a 6-pack in your fanny pack and bring it back home for me if it’s not too much trouble?

    Cheers,
    Stevie Wonder

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  2. Hi Claire & Jim, good to read that you guys will be on the road again! Catching up from our side: Jan still works…2days/week… and Frances busy as ever with library, writing-courses and choirs (2), and our new role as grandparents of 3 week old Pieter, son of Anouk and her partner Jorrit. Our oldest daughter Milou lives/works in Lombok/Indonesia since >3yrs with her Australian partner Steve. Everybody healthy and enjoying life.
    We will visit them in Jan/Feb/March during our trip Australia and Lombok…escaping part of European winter.
    More news/updates to follow.
    Good luck with all the last-minute stuff, whatever it may be! Good travels, Frances and Jan

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    1. Good to hear from you guys and congrats on becoming grandparents. Enjoy your trip south. November is always a grim weather month in Squamish so we’re also glad to be away but we’ll have to get back for the ski season sometime late January.

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  3. Hey Jim and Claire, I am loving living vacariously through you guys. Happy to see you’re doing well. Congrats to Nico

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  4. Allo Claire et Jim

    On vous souhaites un beau voyage! Un nouveau défi avec du vent dans le dos pour facilite votre escapde. S’amuser en vélo tout en visitant c’est super! On va vous suivre sur votre site!

    Martine et Ghislain xxxx

    Envoyé de mon iPad

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  7. Bon voyage, plein de découvertes et assurément dépaysants car dans des régions tropicale et chaude….attention aux serpents et moustiques, vous aurez sûrement besoin de bon filet pour dormir tranquille. On veut des photos, on va voyager à rabaits à travers vos photos, merci à l’avance, faites attention à vous deux, mes voyageurs préférés….
    Jocelyn et Sylvie

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  8. Merci Jocelyn. On part lundi et on est tout prêts. Je suis heureuse que tu nous suives et que tu nous passes tes commentaires. C’est autant un plaisir pour nous de vous lire. A bientôt.

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  9. I love reading about your adventures in places that we know in B.C. and also ones we don’t know, like the cracks up the Chief!
    I admire you both so much!

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