Author Archives: Cassandra Elphinstone

Garibaldi Lake 2022: blizzards, boats, plants and paint

People have been asking for a trip report summarizing the work that has been done up at Burton Hut (fieldwork/workhikes) this summer so I figured I would combine a few short trip stories since they all happened in roughly the … Continue reading

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Cadwallader Range Traverse

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/C8oyUPU9RWHq6wZU6 Map (GPS route): https://caltopo.com/m/RL1LN Back in August, Tom Curran and I wanted to do a trip that was simple (no glacier travel) and involved minimal planning since we were both exhausted with no capacity to organize a group, … Continue reading

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North Joffre Creek Horseshoe

Participants: Lucy Buchanan-Parker, Alberto Contreras-Sanz, Ross Campbell, Tom Curran and Cassandra Elphinstone Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/x7ZMmrnDcFa8RgUb6  Our route can be found here:  https://caltopo.com/m/A74TG  I have wanted to try the North Joffre Creek Horseshoe traverse for a long time (4+ years) but conditions … Continue reading

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Bella Coola – Bears, bush, and backcountry bliss

Aug 28th – Sept 6th, 2021 Participants: Haley Foladare, Tom Curran and Cassandra Elphinstone All summer Haley and I had been discussing a road trip to Bella Coola. I have wanted to see Bella Coola for more than a decade. … Continue reading

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A week in the mountains

March/April 2021 The idea of spending a week in the mountains alone had been tempting me for nearly a year. I had heard about Sam Viavant’s two weeks at Phelix and a week at Burton alone. After his trips, Sam … Continue reading

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Switzerland (Sept 15-21)

Photos: Cassandra Elphinstone, Esther Frei, and Martin Heggli After a week at the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) Meeting in Parma, Italy (Sept 9-14), I had a free week (Sept 15-21) before I needed to visit a lab in Vienna, Austria. … Continue reading

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Exploring South Creek

Context Harrison Hut is a spectacular alpine hut, situated in a beautiful glaciated valley at 1725m. It provides access to the Pemberton Icecap in the spring and numerous mountaineering opportunities in the summer and fall.  The hut was built in … Continue reading

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Mount Frosty and the Golden Larches

Oct 5th and 6th, 2019 Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/8KLnhDh6YA63m9Ru5 On Oct 5th a group of 20 VOCers headed up to Manning Park in search of golden larches. After a few hours of hiking up to Frosty Camp and setting up camp in … Continue reading

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Scotland, Bell’s Bothy, and the Inaccessible Pinnacle

At the end of April, I had the opportunity to visit Scotland for a conference on Arctic plants. At the time, Ross Campbell was in Scotland as well. He was waiting to return to Canada and eager for a VOC-like … Continue reading

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Athelney Pass

Photos:by Cassandra and Caroline I had never heard of Athelney Pass before Caroline suggested doing a trip there over the Labour Day long weekend. Strangely, I noticed that there were no VOC trip reports from the area so I thought … Continue reading

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