I happily write this blog from the inside of a small, bright yellow tent perched high in the mountains, typing on the tiny screen of my iPhone, awkwardly drinking a mocha (aka instant coffee with a packet of expired hot chocolate… doesn’t “mocha” sound better?), and trying to wake up both my brain and my body enough to venture out of my sleeping bag. It will still be a long time before the morning sun reaches our camp, positioned photogenically next to the icefall above Joffre Lakes. The closest town is Pemberton, British Columbia, about 45 minutes North of Whistler.

We are not alone. In the bivy site next to us sleep two amazing individuals we have known for approximately 72 hours. It’s one of those crazy “small world” stories for how we ended up here with them.

The Band Shot. Oh yeah.

From Tillamook, we ignorantly set out to drive through three major metropolitan areas and across an international border on a busy summer Friday to meet our very good friends and traveling companions, Matt Ellis and Kelsey McFarland, for rock climbing in Squamish, British Columbia. It took twice as long as Google maps suggested, but we eventually made it and luckily managed to secure enough square footage for our tent in a campground overflow field in the thick of night.

Silver lining: the blackberry bushes around the field were in season. With the aid of our headlamps, we had a lovely midnight snack that made paying $33.50 to camp in a crowded field slightly easier to swallow.

“MattSanity!” Matt Ellis shows his true colors on an enjoyable route in Squamish, British Columbia

Squamish has miles of easily-accessible granite walls that stretch along the famous Sea to Sky highway. From the base of one of the many climbing areas you can enjoy the vibes of climbers from all over the world. After some warming up, Michael and Matt ventured for a more challenging wall while Kelsey and I practiced leading. A male-female team took the line next to us and we struck up a conversation about climbing in Wyoming. After a long time talking, a light bulb suddenly appeared in my head: this person was Jason Yeatman, best high school friend of my very good college friend, Noemi Johannson-Miller. Noemi had introduced us by email and we had checked out each other’s travel blogs. Without any intention, we found ourselves side by side. Good beers were in order! That night, the six of us boisterously shut down the brewery in Squamish. The group chemistry was awesome and I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in years.

We climbed together the next day while sharing climbing beta and travel stories. Unfortunately, Matt and Kelsey had to get back to the real world, but Jason and Karina had one more week left in their post-PhD program and pre-job travels. We decided to head up to the Joffre Group. After a hike past several beautiful lakes, a very, very cold river crossing, and some sketchy slab climbing up the side of an icefall with full packs, we established basecamp and had just enough time to climb a glaciated peak called Slalok for a colorful sunset.

The day after writing the first part of this entry was a great day in the mountains. We eventually left the comfort of camp to climb up the South Ridge of Mount Matier. The route looked stellar but hard to protect and, frankly, a little more than the group wanted to tackle at that moment.

We opted for a scramble up a neighboring peak instead, after which Michael and I tackled two other peaks (Matier and Spetch) before heading back to basecamp late in the day. Joffe was the only peak in the group that remained unclimbed. Our conclusion: Joffre is an impertinent bastard (any Game of thrones fans out there get that one? Anyone? … No? Never mind.)

Jason and Karina on the summit of Hartzell in British Columbia

Michael gettin’ his groove on at the summit of Spetch with Matier in the background

A night of good conversation under brilliant stars followed, and the next day we hiked out and reunited with our newly-named Periwinkle the Prius (“Perry” for short; name credit goes to Matt and Kelsey) and Marge, the creepy yet comfortable campervan that Jason and Karina have been living out of for the last few months. With smelly hugs, we parted ways, Jason and Karina joining the real-world back in Seattle and Michael and I continuing on our meandering path every which way across British Columbia.