We mostly had a spring in our step, enjoying the fresh greens as we hiked in the foothills through stands of aspen and spruce.
It’s sunny now, but just you wait…
Most days started sunny and finished cloudy, with temperatures below seasonal. Cooler conditions, fewer bugs! The big show was on our last night, featuring several thunderstorms with heavy rain and some hail, rolling through one after the other. We don’t mind that weather, but Scout isn’t a fan, trembling more than those aspens.
Good for hiking
One morning, at second coffee o’ clock, a bear wandered by, just a few metres from where we were sitting. Scout, who always lets the deer and squirrels know who’s boss (don’t tell her, but they are) didn’t even look up. All that time she spends playing at being a wolf, and she couldn’t be bothered with as little as a token growl.
Bear territory
The bear wasn’t bothered, not by Scout, nor by us, and off it went in search of more wildflowers, perhaps hoping to be a step ahead of the many deer in the area. We finished our coffee and enjoyed a short loop hike above the Sheep River, close to our campsite, where we saw the clouds building up over the mountains nearby. We just made it back before getting a soaking. Phew!
Striking
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We’re back on the road for the next little while, in fact we have been the past week. We trundled through the prairies for a few days, before heading into Kananaskis at the end of the long weekend. As we ventured in, we saw quite a number of campers leaving early. We wondered why?
Was it the weather? Maybe!
It grew distinctly cool as the weekend progressed – more snow anyone? Yup, that happened. Thank goodness we didn’t have to worry about keeping our evening beer chilled. Who needs ice or a cooler?!
Alberta cooler
By the time this is posted we should be somewhere in BC, searching for some warmth and a little less snow…
“Snow? Behind me? I don’t believe you!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We do! If you ever have the opportunity, traveling the Hoodoo Trail in the Drumheller, AB region is an interesting way to discover some amazing geological formations in an arid location.
Near Drumheller, AB
I imagine it gets pretty busy – and very hot – in the summer months, but we were lucky enough to stop at the formations shared here on a relatively quiet and pleasantly warm midweek spring day. Early in the season as it was, it felt hot after the long slow start to spring – no complaints!
“Hoodoo? I do!”
It always amuses me that the area is known as the badlands, and I understand why, but they are some of my favourite lands to visit, with such a different geography and geology. Dinosaur territory if that kind of thing interests you…
Spotted this one roaming our campground
We ended our morning with a fine lunch and cold pint at the Last Chance Saloon in nearby Wayne. As with the rock formations, if you ever have a chance to visit, it is great place to stop and cool off.
One of my finest photographs ever, taken through a dusty windshield
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
It’s mud season when it isn’t ongoing snow showers season, and, in April, I just can’t get excited by that…
So let’s skip the remainder of April – blogging-wise – and then, when mud season is over (by the end of the month, he says, hopefully) we will be out and about because the last of the snow will (surely?) have melted and most of the mud will have dried up! Goodbye brown grass and hello greenery? Maybe. Camping here we come.
The last of the last of the last of the snow? Maybe…
Tomorrow is forecast to be the first double digit sunny day of the month, so I’ll say we’re heading in the right direction! Enjoy the rest of April, and let’s catch up sometime in May!
Apparently, this is the good stuff? (Yes it is! Mrs. PC)
I’ll keep it brief this week, and confess we’ll be having two out of three of the above this coming long weekend!
Apparently, this is the good stuff? (Yes it is! Mr. PC) A wee heavy (a Scottish beer style) and what I’ll be after too much beer and chocolate.
If you choose to celebrate Easter this weekend, enjoy, and even if you don’t, perhaps you’ll have a beer, some chocolate, or maybe even enjoy some spring sunshine where you are?
It is sunny, and it is calendar spring! Taken earlier this week – technically, three for three?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Yes, I know dogs can’t have chocolate. No, I’m not sulking…)
PS:
Nope, two out of three! Taken yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
When it comes to mountain or forest accommodation in winter, a cabin is just about perfect. I’ve slept (or not slept – that wood stove needs regular tending) in a yurt, and enjoyed pleasant tent slumbers in rainforests (winter-adjacent rainforest camping isn’t so cold, but a bit damp) but nothing beats the comfort of a cabin. (I can hear one brother spitting coffee on his keyboard at the use of “comfort” and “cabin” in the same sentence. It was many years ago, I still choose to believe he had a good time, not that he’ll admit it, and anyway, of course he wasn’t going to get a great night’s sleep if he spent all his time throwing shoes at a mouse. The mouse was fine, if you were wondering…)
Blaeberry bliss – this way to the cabin
I did once construct a quinzee just for fun, after a heavy snowfall in Yoho, but did I sleep in it? No chance – I knew the builder – and besides, I built it in the backyard of the cabin we were staying in at the time. Cabin or quinzee? No contest!
Cabin or quinzee? Cabin please!
To describe the place we called home for a few nights during our recent trip (to the Blaeberry Valley, BC) as simply a cabin seems a bit of an understatement. It was a mountain palace, and no complaints about that from this travel weary (travel weary? – it was only three hours from home! Mrs. PC) princess, happy to arrive, unsaddle and stable the horses, after brushing the road dust, er, I mean snow, from his clothes. Or something.
In realtor-speak, is this vaulted, or cathedral? Or upside-down boat interior? I liked it.
I’ve included a few photographs taken in and around the “cabin” to share some idea of what splendid accommodation it was. It did snow plenty while we were there, so was I tempted to try and make another quinzee? Nope! Too comfortable, and I was far too busy trying to figure out the fancy coffee machine. Like I said, not the usual cabin, and that was absolutely fine by us.
“Somebody going to light this thing?”
This week’s post was sponsored by overuse of the word quinzee. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Here you go, Scout!We’re well supplied, Scout, don’t worry!The weary traveller, unsaddling the horses, brushing off the snow… (Huh? Is he ok?!)
Longer daylight hours, the soft warmth of springlike days, and the promise of a cold drink on a sunny patio – sure, let’s spring forward!
Oh.
Might have to wait a little longer for some of those springing forward benefits around here?
“Who ordered the 310-DUMP of snow?”
In the meantime, we don’t have to dream of the beach to visit the beach, not here!
Oh.
Oh well! Glass half full, it’s almost spring, or soon will be, and in the meantime, we’re off to the mountains for a few days, to enjoy the rain, and maybe even the snow, if our cabin is at a high enough elevation…
Ready to spring forward! Oh.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
…of the city, there is a small wilderness area squeezed between the southwest city limits and the boundary of the Tsuu t’ina Nation. It’s mostly a wooded wetland, located on the north side of the Elbow River, with pathways weaving along and between narrow waterways and tiny ponds.
Edge of the city
We were there this week on a bright March morning, enjoying blue skies and temperatures that quickly climbed above freezing. There were hardly any other park users – a few other dog walkers and a jogger who jingled past laden with bear bells. I imagine the bears appreciated the heads up, delighted to hear lunch was approaching? We didn’t see bears or any other big creatures, but there were many geese overhead, and chickadees were our almost constant companions in the sunnier spots. Every now and then we heard the distant tapping of a busy woodpecker.
Cheeky chap
There was some snow on the ground from a heavy fall a few days earlier, but it was melting away in the strong sun, and, in these bright March days, it feels far more like early spring than late winter, so I guess we’re headed in the right direction!
Farewell winter?
The park isn’t huge, but it’s more than pleasant enough to be in the almost wild for a couple of hours on a midweek morning. We’ll revisit again when it is spring proper, check out the new greenery, smell the sap, and give the mosquitoes something to feed on.
Not quite spring…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Day care? Yes, somewhere to go when the weather doesn’t cooperate and there’s no xc skiing in the nearby parks to be had. So, what to do? Visit the “day care” of course! A new to us – it’s been there years – coffee shop that roasts on site, and they have a wide range of dark beans. Just the thing!
Adult day care – Mrs. PC likes the cappuccino here!
Most of January we’ve enjoyed (endured?!) a series of chinooks, keeping temperatures way above seasonal and eating all the snow in the city. This morning, we were able to have our coffee (beans from the place above) outside, shirtsleeves and sunglasses. Is it really February?!
Strangely warm…(the weather, not the coffee – that was just right!)
Here’s hoping winter returns soon. In the meantime, espresso it is.
I’m with this guy:
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
…and a tale of adventure and bravery. (One that ended in a fall, tee-hee! Who said that? Not those squirrels again?)
Don’t listen to them, it’s not true. The fall, if it could even be called that – it was more of a graceful tumble or delicate descent – came at the midpoint of the trip, but it is fair to say it was the end of the outward leg. And the end of a fully functional left leg, but that happened later. Goodness, does this all sound mildly cryptic? No? Just confusing, then? Stick around if you want – it gets less exciting.
Mighty (old photo)
I thought I’d try an easy cross country ski trail, one with a trailhead a short walk from the cabin we were staying in. The trail runs along a flat (almost flat – I’ll get to that shortly) valley, one overlooked by the mighty Castle mountain in the Bow Valley. I’d been on this trail before, more than ten years ago, and I remembered it as a fairly gentle there and back again outing.
Plodding
Once I’d found my steady plodding xc ski rhythm, the going was pretty good. I was upright, balanced, and making steady progress along the trail. I paused to allow one or two skiers on the return part of their outing to get by, nodding a greeting and agreeing on the perfect conditions. That was about right, given the cold but not too cold afternoon, and the very light snowfall – barely falling in truth, mostly flakes floating on a light breeze. “Why,” I thought to myself, “why hadn’t I been out here sooner this winter? I’ve clearly cracked this xc skiing lark at last!” With that, on I went, a happy and jolly super little skier.
Gentle slope
After about 45 minutes of gentle skiing and gliding, it occurred to me that I’d have to turn around at some point, head back to base before it got dark or I got too tired. It’s when I’m tired on skis that I (very occasionally) fall over, and I didn’t want to get to that point. I slowed to a stop and started to turn around, carefully lifting one ski out of the tracks, then the other. Then I fell over.
“But I’m not even tired yet!” I thought to myself. Nearby squirrels laughed as I fumed silently, untangling my legs and pushing myself back to my feet. Other than the squirrels, there was no one around to witness this embarrassment, and I’m certainly not about to tell anyone, let me tell you.
You can’t see them, or hear them, but they were in there, laughing
Oh my, the long slog back! It turns out maybe I haven’t conquered xc skiing after all. And I haven’t got the same mighty legs I had ten years ago. Goodness, it was hard work. That 45 minutes of gentle gliding must have been more than an hour of very steep uphill return struggle. (Erm, if it was a gentle glide down, it can hardly have been a steep slope back, right OldPlaidCamper? What’s that? Have you been talking to those gossipy squirrels? Anyway, I’m not taking questions right now!)
“Has he mentioned his legs yet? Wake me when it’s over…”
The most important thing about it all was that I was a very brave boy and I didn’t complain for days and days after about my poor aching legs. Just the left one. And only for one or two days. Oh, ok – three!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 