The next day we saw online there is plenty of climable rock on the nearby Mount Erie, just north of Deception Pass. Following the ambiguous directions we find a few bolted routes near the lookout at the top of the mountain. With beautiful views of the surrounding lakes and shoreline, we jump on the easy yet energizing sport climbs. Only at the bottom of the mountain looking up do we see that we were climbing just around the corner from a massive amount of climbs. Ah, well, next time.
We drive to Vancouver, BC for a few days and stay with Chris, a friend I met in Hampi over New Years. He encourages us to spend a day hiking on the Big Chief in Squamish. We take his advice and spend an afternoon scrambling up the intense Class 4 trek. The bare top of the first peak scares us as we both slip at the same time, our imaginations full of images of us sliding over the edge. Luckily nothing happened and we get off the mountain in time to meet Kevin, another friend I met in Hampi. The climbing community in this area is great, and I cannot wait to be closer.
Speaking of, I am unofficially planning on moving to Portland within the year (or so) to pursue my refocus of adventure sport photography. I love India and I would love to stay longer, but my passions are pushing me towards adventure sports,and the availability in India is...limited. The Pacific Northwest has almost everything I could ever want to pursue. And it doesn't hurt that many of the companies supplying gear to these sports are based in Portland.
Meeting with Phil Borges was a definite highlight of my trip, and encouraging for my plans to move into this area. I do not know what the future holds, but whatever it is, I sure am looking forward to it.
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