I'd like to talk about how great the Yellow Aster Butte trail is, and how great Sunday was...  but as today marks the end of a recent spate of busy-ness, and as I have baked oatmeal just coming out of the oven, some beautiful alpaca yarn to swatch, and a few things on my to-do list before meeting up with friends later on, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  
The bottomline?  Any hike in the Glacier / Mount Baker area is bound to be pretty spectacular.  What better way to work up an appetite for a glass of pinot grigio and a mammoth bowl of pasta puttanesca?

Last year I went to Garibaldi Lake for the first time, and thought it was about the best hike ever.  But in some ways, this Saturday's Cheakamus Lake trail was even better: it incorporated the best elements of the Garibaldi Lake hike (not surprising since the two lakes are quite close to each other) with a fantastic effort:reward ratio (this trail is basically flat; Garibaldi Lake has about 800m of elevation gain).

The most difficult part of the outing was driving to the trailhead on a dirt road with some potholes.

The trail is flat and well-maintained, and goes through a lovely forest and alongside a glacier-fed lake. 

The campgrounds - about 3 km in - were definitely filling up on a Saturday afternoon, but would probably be fairly vacant on a late-September weekday.  We had the beach at the end of the trail all to ourselves. 

Trees, trees, and more trees.  Lush green everywhere.  A perfect fall day.

Yesterday Sian and I took our bikes out to the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve Road - a 10km paved trail through the woods (for walking, cycling and roller blading; no motorized vehicles).  This was my first time on a bike since my accident, and it was the perfect outing.  Nice smooth road, 20km in total (plus riding to and from downtown), no traffic, pretty scenery... 

At the end of the trail, there's an old growth loop through the woods, which was just icing on the cake. 
The other great thing?  This trail is accessible by transit - either take the 210 bus from downtown, or the 228 bus from Lonsdale Quay. 

Now that my bike and I have been reunited, I can start planning my summer cycling trips.  This route looks particularly inviting...  Something to work up towards.