Great Inclinations

» How to weatherproof your hiking attire

Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager

Great Inclinations is your go-to source for diving into the world of casual hiking in and around the Lower Mainland. Because

hiking’s not just for assholes anymore.

Mt hikers would agree that summer is the best season for hitting up trails. However, don’t leave autumn out altogether; there are some sunny days left before the shroud of winter takes over, so get out and enjoy those last fragments of frost-free weather!

On those days when it does rain on the trail, don’t get caught unprepared. Slight alterations to your hiking gear can help keep you snug—and more importantly, dry—during the wet months ahead.

Before diving in, I want to familiarize you all with your new, hyphenated best friend: Gore-Tex. Gore-Tex is the go- to material for anything waterproof.

A patented material, Gore-Tex has a semipermeable exterior, allowing heat to escape from the interior. This keeps the wearer dry without causing them

to overheat, which makes it the perfect material for active outerwear.

The most important thing to consider is what kind of hiking boots you'll be using. There's a big difference between boots that are water-resistant and those that are waterproof. Waterproof boots have an inner boot sewn inside to keep your feet totally dry. If something is water-resistant, it’s generally coated in silicone to prevent water from seeping into the boot. Water- resistant boots are more breathable and more flexible to wear, but they won't keep you 100 percent dry, so it’s up to you which best suits your hiking style. Remember that the silicone layer can wear away over time, so you'll have to regularly apply silicone sprays or waxes to keep it water-resistant. If your hiking boots are only water-resistant, you might want to splurge on some waterproof socks. Gore-Tex has several models which run between $40 and $60. They're likely to be the most expensive pair of socks you'll ever purchase, but they'll also be the most useful.

In terms of keeping your body warm and dry, remember that the start of a hike is the coldest you'll ever be. Oftentimes people will instinctively bundle up, but as

Community and creative writing

coming together in the afterword.

» ‘AfterWord’ women’s literary event review

Roshni Riar Staff Writer

QO: September 30, a room full of people settled into the Native Education College in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver. Chelene Knight—managing editor of Room magazine—took to the microphone to welcome us to AfterWord. She explained that AfterWord was a literary celebration of all women—including queer people and women of colour—and stressed the casual nature of the event, with snacks and drinks for all, and no pressure to stay for the full three-and-a-half-hour reading sponsored by Room.

AfterWord was initially meant to be a part of the Word Vancouver festival line- up, which took place in Vancouver from September 24 to 30. The Facebook event page explains that due to “undisclosed financial issues with the [Word Vancouver] Society,” there was no longer an option for the event to be part of Word Vancouver and so AfterWord, a post-festival celebration, was born.

AfterWord featured 14 local writers. The lineup included Isabella Wang, an emerging 18-year-old Chinese-Canadian poet; Sara Graefe, a playwright, Creative Writing faculty member at the University of British Columbia, and editor of Swelling with Pride: Queer Conception and Adoption Stories; Amber Dawn, Douglas College faculty member and author of Sub Rosa, How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir, and the 2018 novel Sodom Exit Road; Andrea Warner, author of the newly released Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography; jaye simpson , an Oji-Cree Anishinaabe Two-Spirit warrior and member of the 2018 Vancouver Slam Poetry team; and Ivan Coyote, the author of u books, including 2016’s Tomboy Survival Guide, and Simon Fraser University’s newly named Writer in Residence for 2018/2019.

While 14 readings may seem like a lot, every writer who shared with the room provided a different, fresh perspective on what it means to be not just a woman but a human being navigating society’s biases and obstacles. While not everyone had the same shared experiences, the concept of

Have an idea for a story? Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

life & style // no. 9

¢ Three ways to use pumpkin at home ¢ Fan Expo guest list: Arts and crafts

¢ ‘AfterWord’ women’s literary event review

e ...and more!

soon as they're hiking they overheat. Try to dress in layers for your hike: A T-shirt, followed by a fleece or sweater, and then a Gore-Tex rain shell overtop. I guarantee that partway through the hike you'll shed the middle layer. With two other layers and your blood pumpin’ you should be comfortable.

Surprisingly, backpacks are the trickiest things to keep dry during a hike. Ordinary backpacks lack the waterproofing material that hiking brands boast, so they’re at a disadvantage here. Many hiking backpacks also come with built-in pack covers—like a small poncho, except specifically for your backpack—but these can be cumbersome, since you have to

womanhood, and the othering that stems from it, was the commonality that touched everyone in attendance. The room was brought to laughter, heavy silence, and even tears throughout the night.

Sara Graefe read from her own story in Swelling with Pride, a harrowing yet hilarious tale of the struggle of a lesbian couple who desperately wants a child. People sat around the tall, wood-burning fireplace in the middle of the room and listened intently, feeling her experience as if it was their own. Amber Dawn made us all laugh in the preamble to her reading, alerting the audience: “Trigger warning: UBC? Following that burst of comedy was a powerful, resonating response to her memoir How Poetry Saved my Life. Dawn truly performed the piece, gripping the microphone with strength and intensity as she captivated the listeners.

Ivan Coyote closed the reading, thanking everyone in the room for attending and thanking all of the writers who shared their words and their stories.

undo them anytime you want to access your backpack. Most outdoor equipment stores sell pack liners, which are waterproof bags that you slide into your backpack

to keep the contents dry. Ultimately though, the amount of rain coming down is inconsequential for shorter hikes. My advice: Unless you're embarking on a multi-day hike in a monsoon, just use your regular backpack and make sure your valuables are tucked away in the inside so they'll stay dry.

Garbage weather outside is hardly an excuse to not hit the trails. With a few extra steps to waterproof your hiking getup, you can easily hike into late October and even early November.

Photo by Roshni Riar

They fanned themself, explaining that their menopausal hot flashes were acting up, which made the audience laugh and hum in understanding. Coyote read their own “literary Doritos,” a term they coined to describe the short anecdotal stories they often write. Their stories centered on their own trans experience and took listeners through feelings of anger, sadness, hilarity, and understanding in just a few stories. The night closed with a thunderous applause for everyone involved in the event, the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Isabella Wang, and the sharing of a special birthday cake that Knight and Meghan Bell (publisher of Room and Knight’s partner in putting together AfterWord) brought to celebrate Wang's belated 18th birthday. The sense of community was strong as people stood with their slices of cake, chatting and perusing the writers’ books on sale. People slowly filtered out, smiling at each other, and I think we all felt proud to have been a part of such a meaningful night.