Sole Sistas: West Coast Trail Adventure

 

A Photo Diary of our Adventure Hiking the West Coast Trail of the Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island

July 4-12, 2016

“The West Coast Trail (WCT) is one of the most gruelling treks in North America. [It is rated one of the top 10 hikes in the world]. It is isolated, strenuous, physically challenging, and potentially hazardous. It is also extremely rewarding due to the spectacular scenery and unique setting.

Hiking the WCT demands stamina and expertise in hiking and backcountry camping skills. Only competent backpackers should attempt the entire route. You are required to cross deep gullies on fallen trees, negotiate very steep slopes and follow an irregular, slippery trail, [and wade through mud up to your knees, plus bogs.] This is a wilderness area and it may be many hours before help can be obtained should an accident occur.” — http://www.westcosttrailbc.com

Okay, most of us trained for a year. None of us had ever carried a pack that heavy (38 – 52 lbs, respectively). We were all amateurs. What the hell… you only live once. The Sole Sistas hit the trail with Sea to Sky Expeditions.

The Stats:

8 hikers, average age 52; 76 km; 2 guides; 70 slippery ladders; 4 hand-pulled cable cars; 100 bridges; 1,000,000 lbs of mud; 12 teaspoons of tears; 1 wipe-out; 1 bout of flu; one possible evacuation; endless laughter

The Sole Sistas:

 

 

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Our ‘last supper’ for 8 days, at the Cactus Club in Vancouver.
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Our 2nd ‘last supper’ at the Coastal Kitchen Cafe, Port Renfrew, after we set up camp. Great wild salmon and 100 Mysteries Tea. If you want to hydrate before the trip, drink the white wine.

 

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Parks Canada Office at the Gordon River Trailhead

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We weigh our bags in at Butch’s ferry. The winner is Colleen with 48 lbs. Mine weighs 46 lbs. It doesn’t sound like a lot but try carrying it on day 4, climbing 300 ft of a continuous, slimy ladder on a cliff wall, in the rain! Your quads are screaming.
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On Butch’s boat, on our way to the trailhead
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Our first ladder at the Gordon River Trailhead

WCT Day 2

Day 2: Thrasher Cover to Camper Bay, 8 km, 10 hrs, Sunny… just like our mood

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Owen Point’s phosphorescent magnificence

Janis rocks out with giant kelp

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Breathtaking vistas

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Lunch time = nap time
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Day 3 salute to the WCT. We think we are going to have to evacuate one of our hikers but she rallies, thankfully.
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Day 3: Camper Bay to Walburn Creek, 9 km, 10 hrs, Rain.  Here we are at the top of the Sandstone River. We take an off-book, off-trail route to walk the tidal shelf and then up the river. Very cool.

Very unhappy river-soaked camper at 6 am

Night 3: I wake at 3:23 am to find Juli and I are floating, on our thermarests, in one foot of water in our tent! Walburn Creek has risen overnight, due to the constant heavy rain and the surging ocean tides. All our gear is floating in the river. We scramble to strike our tent and move to higher ground. My underwear/bra bag has disappeared. Juli falls out of the fly and into the water, soaking herself. All our gear is drenched. We set up our tent and struggle to get a few hours sleep. Plus, the campsite is full of mice and our bowls and cups are full of poop. Good times!

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Day 4, after a long, rainy night of floating tent and flooded tarps

Day 4: Walburn Creek to Chez Monique, 7 km, 7 hrs, Scattered Showers and Fog. A morning pic as we huddle under the tarp and gobble breakfast. 

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Beth explains how we’re going to wade in the raging Walburn Creek, as a group of tightly locked 10 hikers holding to each other, and slowly make our way across. We try, and fail. Back to the muddy trail we go with soaking boots. It is the right choice as the river is hazardously rough.

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My favourite pic of the whole trip: the team crossing a tidal surge. It really captures of the ruggedness and raw beauty of the trail. 

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Pebbles, who belongs to Carl’s family at Nitinat Narrows, travels with us for a day.
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Happiness is a warm mug of coffee and friends

Day 5: We dine and sleep at Chez Monique’s. You would think we had hit the Four Seasons. International students called Wolfies cook us a gourmet dinner and breakfast under the watchful eye of organic farmer and host Monique and her son, Dan. Her husband, Peter, drives his boat 2-5 hours each way to Port Renfrew to get groceries daily. A new food supply arrives and Beth and Tessa divide it up. Juli and I sleep in the greenhouse with them to try to dry our clothes. It is so smokey, though, that I fear we’ll die in our sleep from C02 poisoning. Ah well, it was a good try and nice to have warm food in our bellies.

Day 5: Monique’s to Nitinat Narrows, 14 km, 9 hrs, Cloudy with Rain showers

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The Nitinat: one of the biggest salt water tidal rivers in the world. The Narrows are 3 km long and the dense old growth forest surrounding it is hemlock and Douglas fir. To cross this river, which falls midway during the WCT, you must take a water taxi from Carls’ Crab Shack. Eat there first but beware the Princess toilet at the back! Ew.

 

WCT Day 6
Getting a ride across and up the Nitinat Narrows in Leon’s boat. Survival coats and life jackets — the water is damn cold. Two grey whales are frolicking in the surf and blocking our exit!

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With each surge, Leon would ram the boat up to the high, mussel-covered reef, and we’d have to jump out, one by one, to shore. They threw up the packs and poles afterwards.

Louise, aspiring guide

Louise has applied to be a Sea to Sky Expeditions guide 12 times and been denied. Why?

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We had to leave this stranded seal pup, hoping his mother would rescue him.

 

Banana Slug

Banana slugs on the path

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Beach walk and the famous hole in the wall

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With my awesome tent mate and cousin, Juli

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Typical mud up to your knees

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Pyramid Time at Tsusiat Falls: Pat, Janis and me

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Day 6: Beth shows us pictures of Pacheedaht longhouses at Tsuquadra Point
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Shipwreck anchor, one of many

WCT Day 7

Day 7: Tsusiat Falls to Michigan Creek, 13 km, An Eternity, Rain, Rain, Rain

WCT Day 8

Day 8: Michigan Creek to Pachena Bay, 12 km, 5 hrs, Cloudy with Rain

img_1544img_1540img_1538Colleen and Connie -- near the end of the trail

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2 flippin’ km to go. If you’re hiking south to north, the last 25 km are long, mud-filled and not as interesting.

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We did it!

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Gear wash at the hotel: 8 days of mud and slime

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Things I’m Too Wise For

I love this list from www.drnorthrup.com …

12 Examples of Things I am Too Wise For

I don’t believe in being “age-appropriate.” I believe that aging is optional.  There is nothing I am too old for. In fact, as many of you know, I feel younger now than ever!  One of the ways I have become younger is by becoming wiser. By eliminating the things I am too wise for, I have increased my value and my competence. You can too!
Here is my list of things I am too wise for:
  1. Believing I Need to Save Others. As a physician, I was trained to rescue others. And believe me, when someone is bleeding or in pain, the tools of medicine are wonderful and amazing. But, my rescuer mindset can go way too far, and can even disempower the very people I have been trying to help. So, I acknowledge that I am not their Higher Power. They have their own. It’s such a relief to allow people to find their own answers and not think that I know what’s best for them.
  1. Weighing Myself Every Day. Like many women, I spent decades allowing the number on the bathroom scale to determine the quality of my day. I’m now far too wise for that. My weight has been up and it has been down. Quite frankly, I’ve found that my happiness is pretty much an inside job that isn’t related to my weight.
  1. Withholding My True Beliefs About My Spirituality.  This past solstice, I held a ceremony and I brought it — full on! I called in the Archangels and the 4 Directions, and I smudged everyone. Then I did Divine Love petitions for all participants. Finally, I danced around the fire. I didn’t hold back. I just allowed myself to officiate in the way that felt best to me. I suspended all concern about “what others would think.”  Of course, this was in my backyard. But, I started the process of being myself and acting on my true beliefs.
  1.  Being Hesitant About My Creativity. This year I took up “process painting”— just taking a brush to paper and allowing my inner self to choose the colors, the shapes, and the timing. WOW! I have loved this process. I realized that everyone – myself included — is born creative. We all have individual styles. And, they are expressed in a way that no one else can possibly imitate. I have found this exhilarating.
  1.  Spending Time with People Who Don’t Inspire or Uplift Me. This includes putting up with negative people – you know, those people who complain about their spouses, their jobs, their kids, their health or their families without being able to tap into their power to improve their situations. I am now wise enough to love my own company. I no longer need to be with people just so that I won’t be alone. In fact, nothing is lonelier than being with people who drain my energy and have nothing to offer.  I now love my own company so much that loneliness is a thing of the past. It’s so liberating.
  1. Caring That I Don’t Fit In. I’ve been an outlier most of my life — in medicine, in college, in my town, in life in general. When one of my daughters was about 7 years old, she asked me if I was a doctor. I said, “Yes, I’m a doctor.” She said, “Well, you’re not what you’d expect.” She was right! I’ve never been what people expect.  I don’t fit into any one group. Though I can merge into almost all of them, I no longer try to be someone I am not.
  1. Being “Appropriate.” I remember that a friend once called me to tell me her daughters told her that they didn’t want to see her dance like she did at a wedding. They were shutting her down by telling her that her exuberant dancing was “inappropriate.”  My friend was far from inappropriate. She was just enjoying herself on the dance floor. What she wasn’t doing was being “dignified” and “shut down.” I am no longer dignified and shut down. I used to be. I have the home videos to prove it.  But I’m wiser now.
  1. Finishing A Book I Don’t Like. If I read 30 pages and I don’t like it, I just stop and give the book away. It doesn’t matter if the book is considered a great classic or ingenious. If I don’t like it, it doesn’t warrant my attention. I feel the same way about television shows and movies. If I don’t like them within the first 15 minutes, they are not going to get better. Every single time I’ve stuck it out thinking that the movie simply had to get better, I’ve been disappointed. And it feels like a couple hours of life have been robbed from me.
  1. Speaking to Telemarketers. When the phone rings and I hear that delay on the other end, I simply hang up.  Yes, I know that there is a human being on the other end doing his or her job. I bless them first – then I hang up.
  1. Watching or Reading Mainstream News. I’m well aware that the mainstream media is owned by special interest groups that want to keep us angry, afraid and unsure. I give my attention to the people, places, and things that are making a positive difference on the planet— not tearing it down.
  2. Being A Fashionista.  Carry Bradshaw put designer shoes on the map for many women.  But even before that, for many years, I felt a little embarrassed wearing my L.L. Bean boots to New York City in the winter. (They weren’t considered stylish then.) And, high-heeled or pointy toed shoes might look sexy, but they throw your body out of alignment.  Over time, they contribute to bunions, hammer toes, and foot pain. Now I will only wear high-heels or otherwise unhealthy shoes for a couple hours once or twice a week – and only as I desire. Instead, I go barefoot whenever I can. I also wear minimal shoes so that walking is like being barefoot. As a result, I have better arches, stronger feet, and more flexibility than ever.  And, not that it matters, but those L.L. Bean boots I was so embarrassed to wear have become a fashion icon!
  3. Worrying About My Age. I have stepped out of the cage of age altogether – I have simply become too wise for ageism. And, as I advise in my book Goddesses Never Age, I don’t state my age. I don’t think about my age. I don’t celebrate “milestone” birthdays. And, I don’t use my age as an excuse for anything. Instead, I think about taking up space, not running out of the time. I feel so strongly that my best years are all ahead.

On & Behind the Stage with the Bedford Park Players

For the past eight years, I’ve had the great fortune to be a member of the Bedford Park Players (BPP), a community musical theatre troupe. Under the amazing direction of Sarina Condello

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Sarina Condello

and inspired musical direction of Sheila Philcox, the BPP have played to roughly over 9,600 audience members. Thanks to the dedicated production of Kristi Herold, our show has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Sarina’s charity, the Big Little Caravan of Joy (www.sarinacondello.com).

While none of us are true triple threats (or even double, at times), our cast of 28 friends has such a high return rate year over year because our rehearsals are a genuine place to freely play, explore our creative selves, be completely goofy, push our boundaries, and laugh, laugh, laugh. Plus, with up to 12 complicated dances to learn each year, it’s a great work out for the body and brain! I think my friend Kevin Sullivan captured the experience best in this Facts & Arguments article for The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/facts-and-arguments/from-bay-street-to-centre-stage/article1373153/.

In short, this theatre troupe, made up of surgeons, investment bankers, teachers, lawyers, chefs, chiropractors, entrepreneurs, tennis coaches, jewellery designers, stay-at-home-parents, and tv producers, is my tribe… I’m so very lucky.

Here are some on-stage and behind-the-scenes pics from all plays (which are twisted versions of originals), and my roles to date:

2016 WONDER IN ALICELAND

Violet and Chorus

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2015 PANDEMONIUM

Tigerlily and Lost Boy

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2014 BEDFORD PARK PLAYERS VARIETY SHOW

Co-Director and Dooneese, amongst other roles

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2013 OOMPA LOOMPA BLOWOUT

Grandma Josephine and Oompa Loompa

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2011 CAN OF CHEMICALS THAT HOLDS HAIR

Motormouth Maybelle

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2012 BAD HABIT

Crystal

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2010 THE BEAST THAT RULES THE AFRICAN SAVANNAH

Rafiki

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2009 OH MAMMA!

Rosie

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West Coast Trail: Preparation

In early July 2016, my friends and I will be hiking the West Coast Trail, in the Pacific Rim National Park on the southwestern edge of Vancouver Island, with two guides from Sea to Sky Expeditions. Our itinerary, map and details can be found at http://seatoskyexpeditions.com/hiking/west-coast-trail-graveyard-of-the-pacific-backpacking/. It is considered one of the world’s top ten hikes and is rated as strenuous.

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The group is made up of eight very different women who share great senses of humour and adventure. My cousin, let’s-just-get-going Juli, is joining us from Denver, Colorado. My cottage friends from Stony Lake — I’m-just-feeding-40-for-dinner Colleen, make-you-laugh-until-you-pee Louise, super-carpe-diem Connie, and I’ll-paddle-you-rest Sue — reside in Toronto, Collingwood, and Whistler. My Toronto book clubbers, philosopher-friend-at-the-ready Pat and I’m-turning-50-and-this-is-my-gift-to-myself nurse Janis, round out the group.

We will start at Port Renfrew and tackle the most challenging part of the trail first as we make our way 76 km north to Bamfield. It will take us 9 days to complete, after which we’re hitting the Willow Stream Spa at Vancouver’s Pacific Rim Hotel to get massages, eat a decent meal, and drink…

Citing Wikipedia, “The trail is still extremely rugged and requires a high level of fitness, knowledge and skill to complete, although in the last 10 to 15 years it has been upgraded to facilitate hiking and safety for those with less experience. This has changed the nature and challenge of the trail somewhat, but has made it easier for hikers to explore the coast. It has been recommended that hikers travel in groups, as a measure of safety, but some hike the trail solo. To cross the larger rivers and streams hikers must ride cable car suspensions, while smaller or slower waterways are bridged only by fallen logs, or may even require wading. There are two waterways that require a boat to cross: the Gordon River, at the southern trailhead, and the Nitinat Narrows, near the midpoint of the trail. A ferry service is operated by the local First Nations. The trail includes some three dozen-ladder structures, some of them 30 feet (9.1 m) high, that hikers must ascend or descend. Approximately 6,000 backpackers complete the trail every year, with one to two per cent requiring emergency evacuation due to injury, illness, or hypothermia.”

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For my fellow backpackers, here is a list of the big item gear that I’ll be taking for this challenging rainforest trip where, besides not slipping backwards, keeping dry is one’s greatest priority:

  • Osprey 75L Backpack (purchased at Atmosphere)
  • Arc’teryx Alpha SL Goretex Pro packable jacket
  • ZPacks Ultralight Rain pants zpacks.com
  • Sierra Designs 3 Season Women’s Mobile Mummy Sleeping Bag 600 Fill with Duck DriDown http://sierradesigns.com/product/mobile-mummy-600-3-season
  • 1 pair Waterproof/Windproof Goretex Socks sealskinz.com
  • Asolo Power Matic 200 GV Backpacking Boots http://www.mec.ca/product/5021-354/asolo-power-matic-200-gv-backpacking-boot-womens/?q=asolo
  • Titanium Pocket Spork & Mug
  • Hiking Poles
  • Goretex Gaters with Velcro
  • 2 Fleece Lined Hats
  • 3 pair KnixWear Air Moisture Wicking Underwear that can double as my bathing suit bottoms knixwear.ca and can handle multiple days of wear
  • Nike Pro Hero Sports Bras
  • Bum Pad for Campsite
  • Inflatable Cervical Camping Pillow (my one luxury)
  • Thermarest
  • Columbia Back Beauty Pants with Omni Shield
  • Mountain Hardwear shorts
  • 2 Quick wicking, Merino-hybrid t-shirts
  • Packtowl Ultralite Towels (Large and Small)
  • Collapsible Plastic Bowl
  • Silk/Merino Wool Hiking Socks
  • 2L Water Bladder (from my Camelbak Knapsack)
  • Nalgene 1L Bottle
  • Swiss Army Knife
  • Duct Tape
  • Band-Aid Blister Packs
  • Ballcap
  • Gardening Gloves
  • Cellphone for Pictures, with small portable charger
  • $30 cash; one credit card
  • Petzl Tikka Headlamp with fresh batteries
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Small notebook and pen
  • Sunblock, chapstick, comb, wipes
  • Glasses; extra set of contact lenses; old Oakley polarized sunglasses & strap
  • Neck fleece bandana/gaiter
  • Stony Lake Buff (which I never took off in Algonquin!)
  • First Aid Kit
  • 1 Roll Toilet Paper w/out cardboard insert & plastic ziplock bags
  • Compression bags, Drysacks, Garbage bags
  • Bear Spray
  • Polypropylene long johns: top & bottom for sleeping
  • Primaloft Light jacket and vest
  • North Face Thermaball Jacket
  • Mountain Hardwear Wind jacket
  • Probiotic & Medication & Advil

The goal is to keep the pack to 30 lb. Sea to Sky advises that we’ll each be carrying 7-8 lb. of food and 3 lb. of tenting gear.

I’ve been breaking in my Asolo boots since September (and loving them), wearing them through the snow, rain, sandy beaches, and mud. Now, I’m strapping on my backpack and starting conditioning, gradually adding weight. Here is the regimen:

WEEK Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
1-2 Walk or jog a course with rolling hills. 30 min. Carry 2 kg/5lb to 4.5 kg/10 lb in pack. Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Rest Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Repeat Monday.
3-4 Same. 45 min. Add 2kg/5lb Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Rest or cross-train. 30 min. Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Repeat Monday
5-6 Same. 60 min. Add 2kg/5lb Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Rest or cross-train. 30 min. Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Repeat Monday
7-8 Same. 60-90 min. Add 2kg/5lb Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Rest or cross-train. 30 min. Strength, Balance, Endurance Training Repeat Monday

I’ll report again once we’ve finished the trail and are in the truck heading back to the ferry!

 

Family Play in Bahamas

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Bahamas Babies

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The Expanding Book List

I keep remembering great books I’ve read, so here are more additions to the list!

Fiction

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture and JPod by Douglas Coupland

Non-Fiction

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin

Laughed Out Loud

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs

Became Great Movies (but I think the books are always better)

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Room by Emma Donaghue

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

Bridge over The River Kwai by Pierre Boulle

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin

The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell (note the book is 1000x better)

Q&A by Vikas Swarup (this is the same as Slumdog Millionaire but has a different ending!)

Little Miss Sunshine by Michael Ardnt

Fantasy

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The Belgariad Series by David Eddings

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

ADVENTURE BUCKET LIST

I think life needs to be punctuated by adventures, big or small, or the years slip by unremarkably. You never know what’s around the corner. These journeys are best when accompanied by good friends, family, and/or groups of women. Aren’t the best laughs unrehearsed and when you are tired, around a campfire? Here is what is on my adventure bucket list:

 

Sleeping in the Bird Nest Treehouse at Treebones Resort in Big Sur, California

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Attending Eoin Finn’s Blissology Yoga Retreat, and Surfing, in Bali

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Paddling the Nahani Reserve National Park in the North West Territories or hiking the area

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Going on an Iquitos Amazon river expedition to the Pacaya Samiria Reserve, Peru

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White water kayaking, and volunteering, in Nepal with our awesome Madawaska River instructor, Laura

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Snorkeling with the whale sharks in Baja, Mexico

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Paddling and hiking Yellowstone National Park

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Volunteering wth my amazing friend and musical director, Sarina, in Ghana with her Big Little Caravan of Joy

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Exploring Vietnam and Cambodia

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Hiking and climbing the Via Ferrata of Mont Blanc

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See the wonders of Chile and hiking Torres del Paine

Torres del Paine, Patagonia

Hiking the Grand Traverse in Yosemite and scaling the Half Dome

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More Reads

My fellow readers have responded favourably to my book list, so here are more that I love. Enjoy!

Laughed Out Loud

The Sisters Brothers and Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick deWitt

Tricky Business by Dave Barry

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

Fiction

The Girls and A Mountain Story by Lori Lansens

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Non-Fiction

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

The Name of Things by Susan Bond Morrow

Fantasy

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

What’s on my Bedside Table

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp by Ben Rawlence

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

 

Best Reads

I love immersing myself in great character-driven, compelling books, with strong story lines, regardless of the genre. Recently, a waitress at Terroni overheard my group’s conversation about good novels and proceeded to take down all our suggestions along with our order! Here are a few of my favourites:

Fiction

Winter Tale by Mark Helprin

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Senker

Three Day Road  and The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Jack Maggs by Peter Carey

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Where Did You Go, Bernadette? By Maria Semple

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski

The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter

Non-Fiction

Open by Andre Agassi

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls

Unbroken and Seabiscuit by Lauren Hillenbrand

Three Moons in Vietnam: A Haphazard Journey by Boat and Bicycle by Maria Coffey

Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger

Explorers of the Infinite: The Secret Spiritual Lives of Extreme Athletes and What They Reveal About Near Death Experiences, Psychic Communication, and Touching the Beyond by Maria Coffey

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

The Places that Scare You by Pema Chodron

Allergies: Diseases in Disguise by Carolee Bateson-Koch

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Fantasy

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien

Memory, Sorrow & Thorn (trilogy) by Tad Williams

The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Grimbold’s Other World by Nicholas Stuart Gray