Goldilocks and The Three Hikers on Cypress Glacier

Cypress Glacier via Roe Creek
Dates: July 27th – July 28th, 2024
Participants: Sean McKay, Stefanija Rekasius, Kathleen Griffin, Goldilocks the bear (non-VOC member, special guest)

Once upon a time, there was a little brown bear whose fur sparkled gold in the sun. For this reason, she was called Goldilocks.

One hot day, Goldilocks went to Roe Creek for an adventure. She followed some footprints down an old FSR & after a while, she came to a large boulder field where she had never been before. She climbed up, & up until she got to a glacier where it was nice & cool.

Soon, she came to a campsite, which was completely secluded at the bottom of the glacier, & because she was tired & hungry, she looked around. She hoped that there were good people staying there who would give her something to eat & that she could rest for a while.

Goldilocks didn’t know it, but this campsite belonged to three VOCers. The three hikers had headed to Cypress Peak, to practice their glacier rescue. So when Goldilocks came to the campsite, nobody was around.

She waited for a while, but nobody turned up. She looked around, there were three packs in a row. & sitting on a rock were three bowls of steaming ramen. & in the tents there were three beds. Goldilocks pondered, “surely the people will come back soon to eat their ramen.”

She decided to try on the packs while she waited. So first she tried on the small pack, but it was way too tiny. Bears need a lot more storage capacity than Stefanija does. Then she put on the big pack, but this pack was ridiculously heavy, Sean must have been collecting rocks in it. After that, she tried on the middle-sized pack, & that was just right. Kathleen must be the exact same size as a small grizzly bear.

The sun was nearly setting & there was still no one around. After all that pack lifting, she was hungry looking at the bowls of ramen on the rock. “They probably aren’t very hungry hikers,” thought Goldilocks to herself, “or they would have come back already to eat their dinner.” The noodles in the bowls smelled so delicious with mushrooms & spinach, that Goldilocks decided she would taste it.

She took Sean’s spoon & tasted the noodles from the blue bowl, but the broth was much too spicy. Then she took Kathleen’s spork and tasted the noodles from the yellow bowl, but this broth didn’t have enough flavour. After that, she took Stefania’s spoon & tasted the noodles from the last bowl. This ramen was just right & tasted so delicious that she ate it all.

After eating, she felt sleepy, so she inspected the tents. There was a Durston X-Mid with one bed, & a MSR Hubba Hubba with two beds. Goldilocks first climbed into the X-Mid, but Kathleen had forgotten her poles & used sticks instead. Goldilocks didn’t trust the stability, so she went to the other tent. She lay down on the comfy Big Agnes pad, but the sleeping bag was way too cold. Stefanija must have forgotten she was sleeping on a glacier & brought her summer-rated bag. After that, she lay down on the big bed that belonged to Sean, & it was just right. The bed felt so good that she stayed there until she fell into a deep sleep.

While Goldilocks was still sleeping in the big bed, the three hikers came back down to the glacier. As soon as they looked around, they knew that someone had been in their campsite.

“Someone has tried on my pack,” said Stefanija.
“& someone has also tried on my pack,” said Sean.
“And someone has tried on my pack & taken it with them,” said Kathleen.

Then the three hikers went to the cooking area to get their ramen.

“What’s happened here?” said Sean “Someone has tasted my ramen & spat it out”
“& someone has also taken some of my ramen & tipped it over,” said Kathleen.
“& someone tasted my ramen,” said Stefanija “& they tasted so much that now it’s all gone.”

Then the three hikers went to check on their tents.

First, Kathleen looked at her tent. “Someone has been in my tent & left the door open”. Then Stefanija looked at her bed. “Someone has also been lying in my bed & left the bag open”. Then Sean at his bed, and there was Goldilocks, wrapped up cosy like a teddy bear. “Someone has been lying in my bed,” Sean exclaimed, “& she’s still there!”

“Oh, dear me!” cried Goldilocks. She tumbled out of the sleeping bag & into the vestibule. The fly was unzipped, & she jumped out before the hikers could stop her. Then she ran as fast as she could back home, all the way down the boulder field & back to the forest.

P.S. just kidding… partly.

Sean, Kathleen, Stefanija. Thanks to another hiker we met for the photo.

Sean & Kathleen eating berries along Roe Creek – photo by Stefanija

Stefanija on Cypress Peak – Photo by Sean

Stefanija & Sean roping up for the glacier – Photo by Kathleen

Eating a Maccas pie with a view – Photo by Kathleen

Sean’s excellent cooking – Photo by Kathleen

Kathleen & Stefanija ascending – photo by Sean

Sean on a water bottle rescue mission – photo by Kathleen