Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Awesome August


The second half of the summer has whizzed by, but if I remember correctly, it was fantastic!

I spectated at the crazy Spartan race in Calgary, squeezed in a bit more hiking out in David Thompson Country, and had some lake time in good ol' Montana. And if all goes well, the fun and games may continue for a few more weeks yet!

Hard core!

Not sure if this is my kinda fun.... eeek!

Lots of smoke in the Siffleur Falls area.





Love the incredible canyons and the color of the water!

Found this relic, and left it, as instructed on the tag. Huh??

Might be exceeding the maximum capacity??
I waited until they were off the foot bridge before I crossed!






Believe it or not, I am going to brave the upcoming long weekend in Canmore.... oy.... wish me luck - it has been ages since I've subjected myself to such chaos! But it will be well worth it, as my long lost friend Sheila is joining me on a ridge hike - yippee! And Toni will be making her way out for some sort of slogging adventure as well.

I can't wait!

Cheers!



Tuesday, August 8, 2017

New Places!


This past few weeks I've traveled from the high elevation Rocky Mountains to the sea level deep south, and back again. Now while that sounds somewhat exciting, part of the gallivanting was for work purposes - I spent roughly 72 hours in and around New Orleans learning some mad new skills.

Rural (swampy!) Louisiana

The French Quarter




My fave - a voodoo shop!

Bourbon Street


Just prior to my departure for Louisiana, I lucked out and was able to zip up to Consolation Lakes on an almost crowd-free trail. If I do say so myself, this has got to be in the top five best bang-for-your-buck walks out there.




Best reward for effort in the Rockies!


Upon my return to our fair province, I immediately headed due west, where I explored the Abraham Lake area. I've read about and heard tell of several beautiful hikes in David Thompson Country, but I have yet to check many of them out. I figured that the combination of a long weekend and fabulous weather would render Kananaskis and the Bow Valley virtually inaccessible, unless of course I felt like battling for parking and path space with hundreds of other people. Which I didn't. And I was not disappointed in the least with the choice to avoid what is normally my favorite place.

No traffic!

Scenic hiking along Coral Canyon.


More canyon views.

Dreamy Coral Creek

See-forever vista from the trail up to Allstones Lake.


Allstones Lake

Another activity that I enjoyed more than I imagined I would was paddling along the Red Deer River. The flow rate is low and the waterway is moving fairly slow these days, but drifting along from Fort Normandeau to Three Mile Bend was a really great way to spend a warm afternoon.





*SIGH*  The more time I spend away from work, the more time I want to spend away from work.... Is that so wrong?? LOL! It was moderately challenging getting my carcass to my office this morning, but thankfully it is a short week - so just a few more sleeps and I will be free again. Yeah!

Cheers!