A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

hiking

On the Trail: Bridal Veil Falls

Exploring the world around us is a great way to connect with nature, or other things. And it seems, as society continues to evolve, that people tend to miss a lot of what is out there to see. 

Geocaching can often help with that as it makes you look at things differently, well sometimes anyway. 

What I love about geocaching is its ability to make me see and go to different places – many of which I likely never would have found without the game. 

On the trail logo

Welcome to On the Trail, a periodic feature on the blog where I’ll tell you about some of the places I’ve visited or hiked to. I’ve tried to start reconnecting with the world around me a bit more, and one of the best ways to keep doing it is to get out and hike/walk some trails. 

The first installment of this is from a recent vacation, which took a couple of us through the Pacific Northwest, including heading into Canada and into the Candian Rockies. 

There will be a few of these posts from this trip as it’s a good way to get this feature going. 

When researching this road trip, I realized we would have the chance to see a whole heap of cool waterfalls. And for those who know me, I am a massive fan of waterfalls. 

Bridal Veil Falls is located within Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The falls are quite easy to find and not far off the main road, which made it a no-brainer to stop, even with the jet lag and several-hour drive in front of us. 

Bridal Veil Falls
Bridal Veil Falls in Chilliwack, British Columbia

The trail isn’t too tough, though you do get a little bit of elevation on the way to the falls. The trails are groomed and well maintained. The walk up to the falls was nice and peaceful, as well as scenic. 

Now, I won’t lie – I was a little worried. Being we were in a new area and traveling, we had a lot of things in our car. One thing I read about some Canadian parks (and hell, they may not say it, but the US parks, too) is people getting their cars broken into and all. But nothing happened while we were here, thankfully. 

Once to the top, we didn’t really think about anything other than the falls. They are majestic. The name stems from the 400-foot drop over the rock face, which creates the illusion of a veil. They were pretty amazing to look at. 

Scrambling up to the top was well worth it, too, as it got you close to the falls and you could really appreciate nature at its finest. 

The hike back down was easy, though looking at the map, it seems there was another way to go down that would have circled us to the parking lot. I wish we had done that trail, if not just to see what it had to offer. Either way, we got back without issue. 

Final thoughts: 

Positives: Trail is relatively simple, and leads you to amazing falls. Can be done in less than an hour. Plenty of parking and there are restrooms available. Very scenic. Easily accessed off the main highway. 

Cons: Bathrooms were not clean at all. 

Overall: Well worth stopping at if you are near. 

Geocaching note: There is an Earthcache (GC49JKF) with this waterfall, so that’s fun. Two other traditional caches are here as well: GC1EFDN and GC7BQTF are located just off the trails. Unfortunately, even with using the hints and photos, we came up short on both of them. They’ve been found since, so it was likely just us!

To watch a Relive video of this hike, please see below!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

One week in…

So I’m one week in with this whole trying to get healthier thing.

And … so far, so good.

I’ve had so many people in the past tell me about this diet or that diet; or the sure ways to lose weight, be it no carbs, or something else. The one thing they all seem to have in common? The weight usually comes back and they’ll often tell you that it will.

What’s the point?

If the weight comes off and then comes back on, how does it help?

The reality is this: I’ve always said I know how to get healthier and in better shape — eat better and get more exercise. I never believed it was healthy to lose a lot of weight in a quick amount of hurry.

So, here’s an update a week-plus into this whole new thing.

  • Not sure about weight as I forgot to weigh myself this morning. I am doing it only weekly.
  • I feel better as I’ve gotten out more and mixed things up. I’ve walked, hiked, and gone for a bike ride.
  • Stamina is up.
  • I’m eating better and feel like I am getting full on less, which is good.
  • My blood numbers, pretty much across the board, are down.

Let’s talk about that last part quickly. The biggest point to all of this is to get my numbers down. As a diabetic, I need to make sure I’m not all out of whack as I want to control things.

So, when I started I was in range most of the time, though on the higher side. My mornings were high (and still are out of range, but are lower), and now when I check at other points in the day, things are much better. Even after eating. I’ve been keeping a notebook of everything and that’s helped me look at things better. Even a couple hours after meals, things are way more in line to where they are supposed to be. Now I just need to figure out the overnight thing as it’s usually pretty good when I check before bed.

Overall, though, things are going better and that’s a good thing. I have a few things I’m doing to push myself and keep on the right line, and I’ll blog about those down the line. Hopefully, things can keep on going well! Here’s to a healthier lifestyle!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please Like HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

It’s time to actually fix myself

I’m grossly out of shape.

For those of you who know me, this isn’t any breaking news (despite that being the “in” thing on the Internet).

As a diabetic, this isn’t a good thing. And I know it. And I’ve let my numbers get worse, which is really sad considering my A1C was immensely awesome a year or so ago. Now, not as much. But I know I have to do something about it.

I’ve said that before, right? And there’s never a guarantee things will improve, but one has to keep trying.

I don’t know why, but I decided Monday was the time to start. And by that, I mean I am going to start tracking everything. What I eat. What I drink. How much exercise I do. What my numbers are and how what I’ve eaten makes them go up and down.

Basically, I am going to start taking myself to task.

I need to start utilizing my Fitbit more – especially the web interface and the phone app. I can track everything (food etc.), I just need to make sure I do it. It’s a bit of a pain, though, so I’m trying to figure the best way to do it.

Any of you have an app or web interface that’s easy to log your food and all the other good stuff? I’d love to find a one-stop shop for apps when it comes to this as I think it would be beneficial. I’m also doing it old fashioned — pen to paper.

Which way to go?

Which way to go?

Anyway, part of doing all of this is to try and get me into doing more outside. Whether that’s finding new trails to hike on and challenge myself, going for a walk, or riding a bike. Or, heck, doing something not on that list. Anything to get more active.

So, Monday, I went out after dinner to explore one part of a new set of hiking trails. I won’t lie – I was looking at it twofold: Getting some exercise as well as looking for potential geocache sites. I found many possible spots in the parts I explored and I haven’t even checked all of the trails yet.

First, let me say this, my cardio is awful. The trail goes … well, up. Then it evens out a little. But it’s on a mountain, so there’s going up … and up. And I was winded (I’m being nice about that statement). Now, that’s not a bad thing. It got my heart rate up. I knew when to stop a little. It made me challenge myself. The good part is I know how I felt when I got to the top. I know I want to be able to do that much easier in the future.

I also want to eventually run a 5K. No, I’m not some runner in my past. It’s more of a personal goal. I have the one picked out I want to be my “first” and I have plenty of time to train for it, so this is only a start. But for me to be able to run 3.1 miles, I need to get my cardio up.

With diabetes, I know it can be controlled. I need to lose weight and exercise. I need to challenge my body to get better the best I can and utilizing places in my area will help. I’ll be out on my bike. I’ll be working on it the best I can. Eventually, I’ll hopefully be lowering my numbers and getting my health back in order.

The plan, too, will eventually to start posting my “Living with Diabetes” posts. In the past, they’ve helped me kind of keep on track and hopefully it can do that again.

Reality, too, is that I won’t be able to do this every night. Some nights, I work late. Others I might be pooped. But I need to challenge myself to get out as much as I possibly can to get some exercise in.

Monday was a good start though. I look forward to eventually exploring those trails a tad more and seeing what is out there and, hopefully, getting into better shape.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please Like HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Geocaching season is picking up

This past weekend, I got out on a sunny but cool Sunday afternoon. The goal was simple, to find some spots to place a few geocaches in a local state park.

Several of the spots are for a geocaching challenge the parks in this region are doing this summer (launching Memorial Day weekend). Others are for me to place as there are some good spots.

trail

It’s always nice to get out and spend a day in a park, hiking around and geocaching.

I did this solo, which I don’t always do when it comes to caching. But it was nice, nobody was around, and I needed to get this done.

And it was nice.

But it also made me realize that I want to do some caching soon and take advantage of the expected good weather. So off I went.

For the day, I hiked around the park and logged a bit more than four miles, according to my FitBit. I explored parts of the park I had never really been to, finding good spots for geocaches in each of those spots.

It really is a cool park. It’s great for walking, the elevation changes aren’t bad, and it’s scenic.

Spoiler alert for some local cachers – I also found what I thought would be a good spot for an event and contacted the park today. Though there is a nice picnic area at the parking lot, my idea for this event is to get people out to walk some and see some other parts of the park. We’ll see how it goes.

But it also made me realize I need to cache more. I miss getting out to places like this and finding caches. I am not a massive fan of caching solo, as I think I’ve mentioned here before. It’s just not as fun. Of course, much of that is based on urban-style caching. If there are caches out in the woods, or on a trail and I feel like I can do it without being watched, I’m OK with it. That can actually be fun in a solo capacity.

I’ve been peeking around for some upcoming summer trips. I think I’m going to get the Empire Pass this year (free admission into state parks) and see if I can investigate some, even if it’s a solo trip somewhere. It should make for some good photography and hopeful geocaching. I need to push myself a bit more to hit up more than the quickies. After all, it’s about the journey, right?

How about you? Any spring/summer geocaching plans?

(Note: For those who like certain aspects in geocaching, there should be a couple of “surprises” in the featured photo at the top!)

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Cleansing the mind and body with a day of geocaching

Nature really can be medication for the mind and body.

Being stressed recently with the job situation, I needed to get out. Last weekend, I had the chance to meet up with a friend, Tavis, and head out on a day-long geocaching excursion.

It’s always fun to find a geocache out in the woods.

This went beyond regular old geocaching, though. Let me re-phrase that — it went beyond a power day of caching where the majority of caches found are park-and-grabs.

It was going to be some hiking, which is good as well because I haven’t been as active as I should be since my summer gig ended. Though my weight has remained about the same, I needed to get some activity going as I want it to keep going down, not staying status quo. The plan was to conquer Mine Kill State Park, which had a whole heap of caches among their trail system.

Turns out, this is what my mind and body needed. Though, I will say, my feet were killing me at the end of the day. That’s not just from the walking, though, it’s also from the terrain and because some of the trails were quite soupy and I didn’t have waterproof shoes on!

Anyway, back to the post at hand.

With everything going on in my world, my mind had made my stress level go through the roof. Seriously, for those of you who have battled a long bout of unemployment and such and understand, the stress level is through the roof.

So sometimes you need to find a way to ignore it all. Geocaching is the perfect hobby for that.

(For those who don’t know about geocaching and want to learn more, I’ve done a 101 series on the blog. Click the part you’d like to read: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) 

A place to sit and look at the lower falls at Mine Kill State Park.

The day started out with a quick grab along the way and then we went to the first part of Mine Kill, the falls. There are trails leading to the bottom, so you can see that part of the falls.

After hiking down to the bottom part, it was back up top to the viewing spot for the upper falls. Two caches were in this part of the park. We then headed into the main part of the park where another 13 caches awaited us, and then two more at the connected power authority.

Heck, that’s a day all on its own!

The trail systems in Mine Kill are quite nice. There’s some terrain and most of the geocaches were pretty easy to find, once you got to the area. We saw some wild trees, some great nature and some cool places.

Just what geocaching should be.

The caches in the park took a few hours, but it was a perfect day for it. The sun was out for much of the day, but it had a little feel of fall. Therefore, part of the day required a sweatshirt, which was nice because that meant it wasn’t too hot to hike.

The day was filled with a ton of great caches.

We even stopped at one point to make some lunch and enjoy just being outside. The views through much of the park at Mine Kill is quite beautiful.

I’ve been to this park a couple of times before, but mainly for the falls. It was nice to get out and explore the park a bit, take some photos and see different parts.

We had originally also planned on hiking up to Vroman’s Nose, but with a full day of hiking already under our belts, it was decided that was better saved for another day. Instead, we then focused on a few shorter hikes in smaller town parks and a bunch of park-and-grab caches to finish off the day.

Of those local parks, one ended up being on a trail that was pretty overgrown. To make it easier coming out, we actually walked our way through a cornfield. Now that was interesting.

How’s that corn?

One of the caches we found was a memorial for Old Blenheim Bridge, an historical covered bridge that was washed away when Irene came through a few years ago. It’s sad to see that spot as it is now as it was one of my favorite covered bridges in New York.

Toward the end of the day, we hit up a small town park, where there was a multi and a letterbox hybrid. We found both, but there must have been some festival earlier in the day as there were still people milling around. There was also some tug-of-war competitions going on.

In the end, it turned out to be one heck of a day as I ended with 35 finds (Tavis had one or two more as we found a couple I had previously found), so not bad at all.

And it was good because my mind wandered for the entire day and that was something I needed.

Here are a few more photos from that day:

Colorful nature.

Signing the log.

Found — without trespassing!

Sign we saw at a fishing access. Looked old school.

Sign in Mine Kill State Park. Looked like an old wanted poster.

The lower falls at Mine Kill.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!