The Accidental Hiker

Middle Joffre Lake She moved gingerly across the log bridge, her silver hair dispersing flecks of sunshine into the air, tossing starlight in the shadowed realm of the trees. Her two grandchildren cheered as she came across to the side of the small creek that I was waiting at. A couple with humungous backpacks followed. "Planning to spend the night up there?" I said cheerfully, realizing that it was more a statement than a question. "Yes," the grandmother replied, with equal cheeriness. I smiled, wished them well, and hurried down the trail to the lowest of the three Joffre Lakes where my wife Margaret and our dog Baby waited. I had left them an hour earlier to quickly hike up to the Middle Lake. We had driven a long way from Richmond, stopping briefly at Shannon Falls near Squamish, and were absolutely blown away when we set eyes on Joffre Lake, barely five minutes' walk from the car park. Its blue-green beauty was enough to take one's breath away...

Satyabrata Dam looked at the rear cargo section of my Honda CRV incredulously. "I must take a picture of this," he said. "All this stuff for a weekend hike!" He could barely conceal the shock that was written all over his face. Baby is all set to travel. (Photo courtesy Satyabrata Dam) Our dog Baby gave him a No Comment look as she made herself comfortable amidst the luggage. She was used to my travel habits, which were a far cry from the spartan norms which my friend Satya was more accustomed to in his extreme adventures to the far corners of the world. Satya has climbed Everest four times, skied to the North and South Poles, climbed the highest peaks on all the seven continents, commanded submarines in the Indian Navy, is a TED Fellow and was now visiting with us for a couple of weeks. He girdles the globe seeking hard climbs in remote and dangerous locations (Afghanistan is a case in point), runs an Everest guiding service and delivers motivational talks...