Right after the CHI conference was over, Tre came over from Victoria and we went on a hike to the Stawamus Chief.

I was in Vancouver for CHI 2011 where Bill Buxton showcased his collection of devices;  providing a crucial hands-on lesson in the evolution of computing devices (he has the Simon in his hand). Tre was able to chat with his former boss (yup, Bill B. himself) on the last day as well.

Tre and I went for a walk in Stanley Park, where was Rob was supposed to come pick us up and drive us to Squamish, where we’d hike up the Big Chief.

Stanley Park, gorgeous old trees

Dating back millions of years, the Chief stands as the 2nd tallest freestanding granite monolith in the world, after the Rock of Gibraltor. Most popular activity seems to be the  the steep hike - a solid 7-10 kilometres - up it’s side to any one of its three peaks.

on our way to Squamish

Rob picked us up in a truck with 3 of his friends (Katelyn, Andrew and Carolyn). This was after Tre and I were almost run over by a mad cyclist! He was cycling at 40mph on the sidewalk and we didn’t see (or hear) him coming. Crazy!

Anyway, here are some photos from the hike. Quite picturesque.

In the last photo: Caroline (I might be mistaken), Andrew, Carolyn (fairly convinced this is correct), Katelyn, Rob, Tre, Lake and Mountain.

This hike made me realize again how easy it is to meet nice people on a hike. I only knew Tre and Rob, but by the end of the hike, it seemed like I was among old friends.

A salute to the Stawamus Chief!