With a large storm predicted, a month of time spent and a dwindling hit-list, it was time to leave Squamish. The atmosphere is so relaxed that realistically if we had stayed any longer we mightn't have left at all.
Toby had been suggesting that it'd be remiss of us to not visit Vancouver before leaving Canada. Although it's less than 2 hrs from Squamish, we still hadn't 'quite' managed to fit it in on a rest day. Stopping briefly in MEC to pick up our new (super skinny, super scary) 7.5 mm half rope, we continued on into the heart of the city, letting the satnav app plot our route. This ended up with us taking the 'scenic' route through one of the supposedly most notorious streets for drug abuse and homelessness. Arriving at the coast, we parked up at 'Second Beach' and began the stroll along the waters edge to Granville Market (via a taxi boat).
Inside the market we both indulged our inner fat kid by enjoying as much of the great looking food as we could manage (there was far more worth testing) before it was time to leave for the CA/USA border.
Arriving at the border we faced the usual questions and all seemed to be going to plan. We were re-directed to gain a 'Visa Waiver' as ours had expired and this is where things began going awry. We happened upon a rather officious border control employee who was following the rules to the letter. From what I understand the Visa waiver programme basically requires you to fly back to your continent of residence between your 90 day stay allowances. Exiting to Mexico, or in our case Canada, isn't deemed acceptable and is technically classed as an 'overstay' (a dreaded word and one that misses the point that you actually left the country of jurisdiction). The next few hours weren't fun, although having read of similar stories we were prepared with enough documents to support our case (mortgage statement, sabbatical letter, proof of finance, return flight etc.). In the end a supervisor was summoned and after he had (quickly) ascertained that we hadn't overstated our initial 90 days in the states, we were issued another 90 days. Phew!
On the way up to Canada many of our 'tourist ticks' failed due to weather and this time Nat was adamant that we'd be going to see the picturesque Oregon coast line so she could relax on a beach. A suitable town just south of the appropriately named 'Seaside' was chosen and predictably we arrived to thick, low hanging fog. Local by-laws make staying there incredibly difficult and thus we were moved on for the first time in this trip at 1 AM by the local Sheriff. Thankfully he pointed out somewhere he deemed acceptable for us to sleep (a mere mile away). We awoke to yet more fog and finally concluded that we weren't meant to see the seaside.
The rest of the drive was fairly boring, ploughing down the I5 stopping only to change over and fuel our V8 (repeatedly). On finding a large white rabbit underneath a picnic table in a rest stop which belonged to a local couple who appeared to be living there, we concluded the states must be extremely bizarre if you ever dare venture to the deep Southern states.
Arriving in Carson city we stopped for the standard dinner and a movie before carrying on to Lake Tahoe. Unlike last time the lake wasn't shrouded in mist and rain and thus Nat finally managed to enjoy a day on the beach.
The next climbing destination was in the 'High Sierras': 'The Incredible Hulk'. With a 6 mile approach which gains around 3,000ft in altitude (finishing at 11,120') logistics and altitude prove the main stumbling blocks. The latter causing us both to be seriously out of breath when climbing even the relatively steady pitches of 'Red Dihedrals' (the day was spent with a very light head).
The walk-in is in fact a little over-hyped (Nat may contest this) and thus we took bivi gear, approaching on day 1, sleeping (with great views of the 'Milky Way') and then climbing and descending on day 2. In reality a long day car to car would probably just about have been feasible.
Just outside of Bishop (our next stop-over) is 'Cardinal Pinnacle' (a recent addition to the SuperTopo guidebook) which is described as mini-Hulk (with a mini approach to match), a great warm-up for the real thing (oops). The granite on our chosen 'West Face' route was some of the highest quality we've encountered and in typical High Sierra style, we topped out as the thunder and lightening began its show.
Coming down back into Bishop we both became aware of the sound of metal on metal. Our brake pads had totally disintegrated which made for a 'fun' 12 mile descent back into the town (ruining the discs simultaneously).
Stranded back in Bishop waiting for a local garage to open we opted for yet another dirtbag dinner and a movie. Thankfully we were saved from our terrible choice of "Red 2" due to the storm escalating and starting a fire (lightening strike) which took out the local power.
The next days were spent either lounging in nearby coffee shops or the local hot springs before the van was fixed and we could carry on with our journey.
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