Successful Royal Roads TrailRider Outing Oct. 4, 2008

We completed our seventh TrailRider outing of the year Saturday, Oct. 4 at Royal Roads, with Jeff in the saddle, accompanied by his son Ryan and a team of nine other volunteer porters. The Trip Leader was Roger Painter.

Click here for a short video clip from the outing, posted on YouTube.

TrailRider First Ascent of Mt. Wells

Nairne McInnis and a team of thirteen porters and supporters, including two kids and one dog, reached the summit of Mt. Wells on Saturday afternoon, September 20, 2008. Karen van Dieren was the Alpine Club Trip Leader for this event.

As far as anyone can determine, this was the first successful ascent of Mt. Wells by anyone in a TrailRider. So, congratulations to Nairne and her hardworking TrailRider team!

Rolling Fall 2008/Spring 2009 TrailRider Hiking with the Disabled Schedule

1. Saturday, 4 October, Royal Roads, Roger Painter, 250-478-7745, morigardens@shaw.ca.

2. Saturday, October 18, Shawn Daniels, 250-595-5932, danielsshawn@hotmail.com.

3. Saturday, November 1, East Sooke Park, Mike Hubbard, 250-370-1096, mhubbard@provincialcourt.bc.ca.

4. Sunday, November 16, Mt. Wells, Karun Thanjavur, 250-383-6252, karun@uvic.ca.

5. Saturday, March 14, 2009, Taining Workshop, Mt. Douglas, Gerry Graham, 250-480-5580, geraldfgraham@gmail.com.

6. Saturday, March 28, 2009, Thetis Lake, Gerry Graham, 250-480-5580, geraldfgraham@gmail.com.

Shaw TV TrailRider Video Presented to ACC/VI Group at Swan Lake and Posted on YouTube

On Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 Gerry Graham, coordinator of the local TrailRider Hiking with the Disabled Program, presented the three minute Shaw TV promotional video to the Alpine Club at Swan Lake Nature Centre. The video is of our August 23, 2008 Thetis Lake outing with Roy in the TrailRider. The video aired on Channnel 11, the local Shaw TV community channel in Victoria, British Columbia.

Gerry would be pleased to show the video, which exists in both DVD and VCR format, to your outdoors group, with a view to attracting fit and energetic porters.

Click here for a link to the video on YouTube.

Sept. 6, 2008 East Sooke Park Outing

We had another successful outing with Kedar today, at East Sooke Park. There were a total of fourteen of us on this outing. We made it to the Petroglyphs along the coastal path, and then inland to Beechey Head, where we had our picnic. After the event we all went back to Kedar's for pizza. This was our second outing with Kedar, the first being an ambitious ascent of Mt. Finlayson from the back, on May 24, 2008.

The plan is to get Kedar out at least once more this fall, on Oct. 18, on a schedule ACC/VI trip led by Shawn Daniels.

August 23, 2008 TrailRider Outing

We had another successful TrailRider outing last Saturday, at Thetis Lake, with Roy in the saddle and Shaw TV filming the event. This was our fifth event of the season, and we are planning another five for the fall Alpine Club schedule.

The Shaw TV profile is part of our drive to recruit more guides and sherpas. So far we have a dozen, and would like to double that. To attract prospective applicants, we are producing a poster and brochure for distribution in local mountaineering circles.

Mt. Work, June 23, 2008

Today we had perhaps our most ambitious TrailRider outing yet, a long slog up Mt. Work and back with Nairne in the TrailRider. To accomplish this feat required a total of seven sherpas, plus Nairne's dad Ian, who tagged along. After the event, we all went back to Ian and Nairne's for a gourmet supper prepared by Nairne's mom, Susan.

The trail up Mt. Work from the Mackenzie Bight parking lot is a long, fairly steep one, and even though Nairne barely weighs one hundred pounds, we were all huffing and puffing, and sweating like crazy. Still, we all enjoyed the outing, none more than Nairne herself. She's our best TrailRider client, bar none, having particpated in at least half a dozen TrailRider events, starting in Strathcona Park in 2002.

Vancouver Island TrailRider Hiking with the Disabled Program

Hello! Welcome to this blog, which documents the activities of the TrailRider Hiking with the Disabled Program on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

So far in 2008 we have had a total of six outings on the Alpine Club, Vancouver Island schedule, plus another one undertaken independently. First up was Nairne at Elk Lake on March 15, followed by Jeff at Thetis Lake on the outskits of Victoria, in the snow on April 19. On May 24 we had Kedar in the saddle, and with the help of his family and friends, we managed to make it up the backside of Mt. Finlayson. Our team of sherpas was rewarded with a delicious Indian meal at Kadar's house afterwards. In June we got Nairne out again this time up Mt. Work; the outing was followed by a delicious meal prepared by Nairne's mother Susan, at their home in Gordon Head. In August we took Roy around Thetis Lake; the event was filmed by James Green of Shaw TV. In early September we got Kedar out to East Sooke Park, and went back to his place for pizza afterwards. Finally, on Sept. 20, we got Nairne up Mt. Wells.

We have another four TrailRider outings scheduled for fall 2008, plus two for spring 2009.