In a Parking Lot in Squamish…

It’s May Long weekend in Squamish, and the dirt-bagging crowd is in full effect here. The sun is shining, the rock walls are dry, and it’s go time!

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Overall, May was not the ideal month to be Squamish dirtbags. In the Sea-to-Sky area, the shoulder seasons (between winter and summer, so essentially fall and spring) are the rainy, overcast, wet seasons, and this May was exceptionally “moody.” We managed to squeeze mini sessions between rain clouds, and did several hikes up The Chief on those torrential rainy days. You gotta work with the coastal weathers bipolar ways, and overall, we nailed it.

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June, July, and August are rated the best rock climbing months with promises of unending sun…mind you, with fair weather comes the hoards! So (overall) we’re glad that our van dwelling Squamish fate fell on the month of May, with way less climbers. There are rumours circulating among the van community that the parking regulations will be cracked down soon, including the issuing of tickets for overnight parking (and sleeping in one’s vehicle). We get that, but we’re grateful that we seem to have dodged that particular bullet.

We love this van dwelling community and culture, so we like to see more of “them” arriving in Squamish. When we do decide to leave this lifestyle behind, it will be hard to let that go. Just this morning, while Dan was off climbing a major multi-pitch with Kyle, I made coffee for several parking lot dwellers and sparked up the usual conversations – climbing, van dwelling, and overall cheap living. There’s so much more to “my people” than where we sleep at night. A lot of them have full time professional jobs (flashback to me managing a store whilst living in a vanagon!) and they often live simpler than average lives. They are intentional with their money, their time, and their conversations. They are quick to say hello, they are easily engaged in conversations, especially pertaining to adventure, and yes, they shower less frequently than the average North American person (save water…right?)

So, like so many others crazies, we forgo the daily shower (“just one more day”) in priority of the plethora of rock faces.

Where to today Hun?

Climb on.



1 thought on “In a Parking Lot in Squamish…”

  • Great photos Tara! One of them had me holding my breath for a moment. Does your mother know you do this? And of course I am kidding. I think a lot about tiny house living. I could do it.. My hope is for us to get a small trailer someday, but with four cats it might be more of a hassle.. Anyway climb on!