The Best Little Daypack in the World

When I travel, I usually take both a small purse and a small daypack with me. The purse makes an appearance on short urban jaunts and travel days, and the daypack comes out whenever I plan to be out and about all day.

The Northface Flyweight Pack has quickly become my favourite daypack and I wanted to share the reasons why I love it so much. I don't know why I have this burning desire to evangelize about gear that I really like. But blogging about it is a great way to get it out of my system without annoying my family and friends!

The Flyweight Daypack at rest

The Flyweight Daypack in action

My criteria for a good daypack is pretty simple,

Must Haves	Nice to Haves
Packs down small	Light-weight
Comfortable to wear all day	Small pocket for phone/wallet
Big enough to carry water, an extra layer, lunch, phone, wallet etc.	Easy access to my water bottle
Strong fabric that can take a beating	Clip for keys so they don't fall out accidentally

The Northface pack meets all requirements except one -- the key clip.

Hidden Lakes Loop

We managed to sneak in one last camping trip before winter by heading up to the Lassen Volcanic Park area for the Canadian Thanksgiving/Columbus Day long-weekend. We had a wonderful, albeit slightly chilly, time!

The Hidden Lakes Loop in Caribou Wilderness proved to be a super easy and relaxing one-night backpacking trip. This would be a great route to do with kids, or a first-time backpacker, as the distances are reasonable, the trail is mellow without being flat and boring, and there are spacious, well established campsites around many of the lakes.

One of the Hidden Lakes

And did I mention that it was really pretty and serene? The pin-drop silence in the middle of the night was amazing; just what we needed after a busy few weeks at work!

	Posey Lake	Hidden Lakes Loop
Distance	5.3km one way from the Hay Meadow Trailhead	12.3km loop from the Hay Meadow Trailhead
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Scenery	Nice, 6/10	Nicer, 7/10
Elevation	~1900m	~2100m
Elevation Gain	~50m	~200m

Twenty Lakes Basin

We have our friend Kelsey to thank for introducing us to this gem of a hike hiding in the shadows of Yosemite.

Saddlebag Lake is just a few kilometers from the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite, and it doesn't really look like much. So it is a total surprise when the barren trail suddenly opens up to reveal a whole string of picture-perfect alpine lakes and meadows!

Greenstone Lake

	Twenty Lakes Basin
Distance	11km loop 8km loop if you take the water taxi both ways
Difficulty	Easy
Scenery	Awesome, 9/10
Elevation	~3000m
Elevation Gain	~100m

This is a great hike to sandwich between more strenuous endeavours, as you have the option to take a water taxi to/from the far side of the lake if you're feeling tired. The boat ride shaves off 1.5km (each way).

Gibbs Lake

A wiser person would have been more suspicious of how easy it was to get an overnight permit for Gibbs Lake over the Labour Day long-weekend. But I thought we had just gotten lucky!

Sigh.

Don't get me wrong, Nick and I enjoyed our 2-night backpacking trip very much. The scenery was amazing and we had the entire lake to ourselves for most of it...but it wasn't *all* fun and games. Getting to the trailhead wasn't straight-forward, the first part of the trail was definitely designed by a sadist and the winds were so ferocious that we hid in our tent in the evenings!

Gibbs Lake with Mount Gibbs and Mount Dana in the distance

Our ascent was also more difficult than it had to be as we got off the main trail and ended up in a giant boulder field that was not easy to navigate with a heavy pack! Hopefully you won't make the same mistakes we did!

	Gibbs Lake	Kidney Lake
Distance	4.8km one way from the trailhead	~2km one way from Gibbs Lake
Difficulty	Strenuous for 1km Moderate afterwards (if you stay on the main trail)	Strenuous
Scenery	Awesome, 9/10	Equally Awesome, 9/10
Elevation	2879m	3176m
Elevation Gain	534m	297m

Mammoth Lakes

I have no idea why the Mammoth Lakes area isn't as world famous as Yosemite. The scenery is just as stunning and it's only an hour or so from Tioga Pass. I have been there four times now, and I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what the region has to offer!

Perhaps I should be thankful for its "girl next door" status, as it means that we can actually find campsites here without booking a year in advance!

Site 7, Lake George Campground

The crystal clear waters of Lake George

My favourite campground is at Lake George where sites 6 - 10 are so beautiful that you don't even need to leave your tent to get envious views! But if you do, you have dozens of world-class hikes within a 30km radius.

On this particular trip we took it easy and only did a few,

	TJ Lake	Ruby Lake	Mono Pass
Distance	1.2km one way from the Lake George Campground	3km one way from the Mosquito Flat trailhead	3.5km one way from the Ruby Lake/Mono Pass junction
Difficulty	Easy	Moderate	Strenuous
Scenery	Amazing, 8/10	Awesome, 9/10	Top of the pass, 5/10 Partway up, 9/10
Elevation	~2800m	~3400m	3648m
Elevation Gain	~80m	~300m	714m

Cathedral Lakes

We just got back from a week long camping trip in the Eastern Sierras that was a perfect illustration of how people who move to California "for a few years" get lured into staying forever. Yosemite National Park may be the bait, but the treasures beyond are what reel you in permanently! I'm not sure if I'm a lifer yet, but boy am I tempted!

On this particular trip we hit up Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite, Mammoth Lakes and a few places in-between; a mixture of old favourites and new (to us) trails. And we wrapped up our week by driving home through the incredibly beautiful Sonora Pass.

Yosemite's high country is actually my favourite area of the park. But somehow, I never got around to hiking one of its most popular trails: Cathedral Lakes.

Lower Cathedral Lake

	Lower Cathedral Lake	Upper Cathedral Lake
Distance	5.2km one way from the trailhead	~800m one way from Lower Cathedral Lake
Difficulty	Moderate	Easy
Scenery	Amazing, 8/10	Equally Amazing, 8/10
Elevation	~2800m	~2900m

Flashback to Iguazu: Brazil vs. Argentina

We were in Brazil for our friends' wedding over Christmas and were lucky enough to have 3 full days to explore both the Brazilian and Argentinian side of Iguazu Falls.

The scenery here is absolutely stunning! Even with all the people and the tourist infrastructure, it felt like we had stepped back in time somehow. If a dinosaur casually strolled into view, not only would I not be surprised, but *I* am the one who would feel out of place!

Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side

When we were originally planning our trip, it looked like we would only be able to spend 24 hours in Iguazu. So we asked a bunch of people who had been to both sides which they would choose if they only had 24 hours. To a man (or woman!) they gave us the diplomatic answer that "both sides are nice".

While this proved to be perfectly true, I found it really frustrating at the time, as it didn't help us make our decision! Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor and the rest of the internet also made it hard to choose.

Flashback to Hua Shan

Mount Hua Shan, with its famous Plank Path, is billed as one of the most dangerous hikes in the world. And I've been itching to climb it since I first heard about it 10 years ago!

However, since that time, a few things have changed,

1. There are now stairways all over the place with railings
2. They give you harnesses at the start of the plank
3. I had taken up rock-climbing in the intervening years

So the entire experience wasn't as scary as it would have been even a few years ago. But even without the element of danger, Hua Shan was my favourite experience in China, edging past some tough competition from the Great Wall and Tiger Leaping Gorge!

The Plank Path may be safer these days, but it's still a looooong way down!

Looking down on West Peak from the trail to the South Peak

Information about hiking Hua Shan (in English) was a little difficult to come by when we were researching our trip. This blog post on tynan.com was the most informative at the time, and it answered a lot of my questions about the Plank Path.

In addition, here's what I'd share with anyone who asked me about Hua Shan. No one actually has, of course, but that's never stopped me from preemptively chiming in about anything...

The iPad as a laptop replacement: The Misses

This is a follow-up to my last post about the add-ons that make the iPad a viable laptop replacement. Although it does so many things well, there are still times when you need a computer.

For me, the biggest stumbling blocks are,

1. Photo Backup
2. Blogging
3. Web Forms

The iPad as a laptop replacement: The Hits!

When Nick got me an iPad 2 for my birthday three years ago, I was obviously, super excited! But I didn't think I really needed one and I never imagined that I'd use it for anything more than browsing the internet or reading eBooks.

Boy was I ever wrong!

Within 6 months, it was 95% iPad and 5% desktop/laptop. The Acer is now peacefully living out the rest of his days in my parents' home as a backup hard drive. I do still need a computer at times (especially now that I have started blogging), but I'm pretty close to being completely laptop/desktop free!

Looks like a mini laptop, eh?

There are a few add-ons that have made the iPad a more viable laptop replacement. As well as some limitations that still force me to use a proper computer. I'll go over the successes in this post and cover the limitations in my next one.

Good Add-Ons	Still Missing
Bluetooth Keyboard	Photo Backup (from iPad to USB key)
PDF Expert	Full-featured blogging
iPhoto and Skitch	Ability to upload documents on web forms
Pages

Lyons Lake and Mount Price

I am ever so slowly coming back down to earth after a relaxing and refreshing long weekend in the woods. We spent two nights camping at Lyons Lake in Desolation Wilderness and had a wonderful time exploring Mount Price and Sylvia Lake (very briefly).

With a relatively gentle hike, stunning views and a pristine lake to cool off in, this is a perfect beginner-level backpacking trip!

Lyons Lake from above

	Lyons Lake	Mount Price
Distance	8km one way from Lyons Creek Trailhead	~4 km one way from Lyons Lake
Difficulty	Easy for 7km Moderate for 1km	Strenuous because of our chosen route. (i.e. class 3 scrambling). A more moderate route is possible
Scenery	Awesome, 9/10	Equally Awesome, 9/10
Elevation	2557m	3038m
Elevation Gain	~550m (from trailhead)	~600m (from Lyons Lake)

Flashback to Lijiang: The Misses

To balance out my last post about all the things we loved about Lijiang, I wanted to share some of the disappointments and a few of our screw ups as well. This is a normal part of travel, of course. But hopefully our "oops" moments will help others make better decisions. So here are a few things that didn't go exactly as planned...

Flashback to Lijiang: The Hits!

Lijiang has a bit of a bad rap for being crowded, expensive and overly commercialized. All of which is totally true. But that doesn't mean it can't be a whole lot of fun as well!

Nick and I spent 4 days in Lijiang last year after the earthquake in Shangri-La delayed our Tiger Leaping Gorge trek. It may have been more time than we had planned, but we had a wonderful time and felt it was a great start to our adventures in China.

Mu's Residence in Lijiang Old Town

It helped that we were there at the start of the low season (such as it is). So while the crowds were large at times, they were not impossible to navigate. But we were also able to avoid some of the tourist traps and really enjoy ourselves. Here's how were able to make the most of our extended stay in Lijiang...

Herbivores in China

China has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult for vegetarians. The words for "meat" and "seafood" seem to mean different things in different parts of the country. And even when language isn't a barrier, not everyone understands how strict we are about the "no animals" rule.

Before my first visit to China, I resigned myself to the fact that I would probably have to eat Western/Indian food the entire time and miss out on this particular aspect of travel. But when I arrived, I found that it wasn't as difficult to eat vegetarian as I had feared!

Here are the strategies that worked for me...

My Favourite Travel Purse

In the past I viewed purses as a necessary evil. Women's pants don't have a lot of pockets and since we can't go around wearing cargo pants every day, you gotta have one. But I didn't have to like it. In fact, I went through a phase where I gave up on purses all together and just took my MEC Pika Plus daypack everywhere!

Then one day, my Pika Plus and I wandered into Powell Books in Portland, and we spied the most interesting purse on sale.

This compact little Baggallini:

I had never heard of this brand before, but now I love them so much that I go around telling everyone who cares to listen (aka my sister) all about its awesomeness!

Here's why this particular baggallini made me give up the backpack...

Better late than never?

I may be a little late getting on the blogging bandwagon, but I think the internet has room for one more wannabe travel blogger!

Mostly, I want to have a personal record of my travels because I know I'll forget the little things over time. Like the name of that awesome restaurant in Beijing or what I thought of the hike to Cathedral Lakes. But I also want to share my experiences with family, friends and the travel community in general. I have learned so much from other people's travel blogs over the years: Amazing places to visit, useful travel hints, great gear recommendations and handy packing tips. I may not be as witty, worldly or organized as others. But I can still chime in with my 2 cents :)