Phew! We got through the somewhat dull days of November, helped enormously by the very much appreciated end of month snowfall – for us, everything looks better with a light (or heavy) dusting of snow! Once the last leaves drop, it might as well snow, and, for now, it has!
Happy dog dance and an odd gnomish-looking fellow. (Photo: Mrs. PC)
So it’s goodbye November and welcome to winter!
Did someone say winter? Woof! (Photo: Mrs. PC)
I’ll keep it brief for this post and limit things to a few photos taken out and about the past week or so.
A light dusting
We have our fingers crossed that the temperature dip to more seasonal numbers is consistent, and that the promised snowy winter predicted by forecasters this season comes to pass…
Cool temperatures and a layer of ice beginning to creep out from the shore
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I’ll start at the end this week, with a short piece on a day out last week, spent visiting a nearby park under bright blue skies. We’ve been able to enjoy so many blue sky days this fall, we feel most fortunate. The day last week ended with this little beauty:
Small but mighty fall flavour!
I like the big Belgian style beers this time of year, particularly the doubles and triples made by monks, so this one above, a different take, intrigued. A single? A tiny monastery? A baby Belgian? A lot of questions? Why not?! A suitable saison for a splendid season, very good, not too strong, and probably perfect with a picnic lunch if you weren’t going to drive shortly after. We did drive to the park, so this was enjoyed at the end of the day back at home. A suitable saison for a splendid season enjoyed at supper time with soup. Super.
The day started with this big beauty – ranch land park in the the Bow River valley – perfect fall flavours!
No idea what I’m on about in that last paragraph. Let’s get back to the park visit – we were after mountain views without driving all the way to the mountains, so into the foothills and a nearby park it was! We got there mid-morning, parking in an almost empty lot. Scout could not get out of the truck fast enough, likely because she’d remembered this place, a favourite of hers when she was a pup. We did what we could to keep up…
Captivated by her fall favourites
We wandered the trails through tree lined hills, stopping to listen to the last of the leaves rattling and rustling in light winds.
The very last of the leaves
As we climbed to the top of the valley, the trees were almost totally leafless, their tough and twisted trunks and branches quite the arresting sight.
Tough trees
We didn’t spot any of the bald eagles that can sometimes be seen from the top of the valley, but we did enjoy sweeping views across to the Rockies.
Captured in wobbly-zoomarama…
What a day of brilliant big sky Alberta-style fall flavours! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Can you hear the wind sighing through the grass? A contented sigh?
Silly? Silly?! Oh no, dull, dull, and dull… What’s going on? Have you had a vocabulary breakdown, OldPlaidCamper? Silly? Ugh… is silly the new dreary? It’s not a word I use very often – most likely because I’m distantly acquainted with one or two people I’m not overly fond of who do use it (they’d probably say I’m silly if they were being kind, although kindness isn’t really one of their strengths…) Anyway, why silly? What prompted this silliness? Why, because I couldn’t resist this beer:
Reappropriating silly. The new sensible.
We’ve certainly found the weather a bit silly throughout September, in that it was way above seasonal almost every day. Trips along the river and to nearby parks have been pleasant enough, and the planted gardens have certainly held on longer – perhaps due to the silly weather?
Very warm days, but fall is here
In just the last few days we’ve seen more of a fall arrival, and most definitely on our quick trip earlier this week to see friends in Canmore. The cool fall temperatures were a relief, and the dashes of colourful larches on the slopes were very pretty. A deciduous conifer? Is that a bit silly? Not at all!
Very sensible (taken a different day, west of Canmore)
We’re off to K country for a few days of quiet camping – no cell coverage or wifi, some beer, some short hikes, a few good books, and maybe spotting a bear or two in the distance. Not too silly…
On watch – beary sensible
Thanks for reading – I’ll aim for a wider vocabulary next time – and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
It took a week or two, but I eventually remembered we meant to try a beer or two from Ol’ Beautiful Brewing, having seen their delivery van at a nearby beer store. As we were making our choices, we learned that the taproom at Ol’ Beautiful was closed after a fire, but they were still brewing. OK, we’d best do our bit to keep ‘em up and running…
Still brewing
The Japanese-style lager came highly recommended, at least by the enthusiastic vendor, who told us it was the brewery’s biggest seller – well, chalk up another sale! It was pretty good, smooth due to the rice added from left over sake production (it doesn’t taste like a Bud) and fine if you’re after a lightish taste on a sunny day. Decent, but I prefer a beer with a bit more edge – and this leads us to beer number two!
Yum? Yup!
The second beer we tried was their American Pale Ale, and, if you’re a fan of hop-forward flavour, then this beer is a winner. Perfect for a hot summer day, or a mild fall day, or a crisp winter day. Oh, I’d probably (definitely) drink it in the spring, too. Yes, I liked this one!
K-country summer
So, where did you sample these ol’ beautifuls, OldPlaidCamper? Glad you asked – we took them with us on our recent trip to Kananaskis, camping near the Sheep River. The beers were just the refreshing thing after lazy days of reading, short hikes along or above the river and deciding if we needed a campfire or not. (Not, too hot!)
Definitely no campfire needed today – too hot
As for Sheep River Provincial Park, a new to us spot in K-country, how could we describe it in a word or two? Oh, beautiful. Perhaps I’ll share more about it another time.
Oh, beautiful
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful (long) weekend!
PS As I finish up here, writing on an unseasonably warm late August Wednesday morning, a long V of honking geese has just flown over. It might feel like high summer, but those geese and the occasional rust tinged leaf suggest otherwise… Is this farewell pale linens and hello plaid flannels? Soon, OPC, soon!
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how much we enjoyed our stay in Irricana, AB, and that I’d include a bit more, so here it is. I’ll let the pictures do most of the heavy lifting, due to laziness or maybe being too relaxed to scribble very much.
I will say the Irricana campground is a great place to stop a few days. It has a rodeo arena (is that the right term? I’m no cowboy…) and there are a couple of baseball diamonds. Little league baseball on a Thursday night is a big draw locally, and there are often horse boxes turning up with young riders making turns in the arena. One quiet afternoon – no horses – I clambered up above the chutes and snapped a few photos. It’s the closest I’ll get to bronco riding…
Hold on to your hat!
Back to the campground. Clean and tidy, it’s run by Norm, former Stampeder and all round good guy. Zipping about on his ATV in sunglasses and Stetson, he couldn’t have been more friendly or attentive. I saw him help out so many campers, be it assisting with parking a large trailer, lending an axe for firewood, or rooting out a water hose if someone had forgotten it. What a guy!
“Hey, Adam, wanna beer?” “Maybe later, Norm – we just had breakfast!” OK, not strictly true, and I jest time wise (it was always after lunch), but an indication of Norm as a great host!
Eight seconds? How hard can it be?!Horse power
If you’re ever out that way and looking for a quiet (outside of Monster Truck weekend) place to stay, then Irricana might just be for you!
Monster, oops, I mean our modest truck, Irricana, AB
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
No trucks, no monsters, just larks and gophers – a lovely prairie trail to hike or bike Not just for cowboys – and how hard can it be?! Sadly for them, I can think of one or two who struggle with this…
…and we wouldn’t mind if we were still down by the river, but we came home after the third day of rain, and five nights out overall. It wasn’t the rain, it was the cold – it barely hit 10C for the afternoon high. Ok if you’re hiking, less so for sitting around enjoying the fire in between rain showers…
“Mountain” sector tent site – light that fire!
One afternoon we decided to revisit the microbrewery just outside the nearby village of Frampton. It wasn’t too busy, most likely due to the unseasonably chilly temperatures, but we received the usual warm and friendly welcome from the brewer on for the afternoon. We tasted a light lager, pretending it was late May, not mid-March, and it was pretty good, one for properly warm days ahead. For those, we stocked up on the raspberry sour we’d enjoyed so much last summer. It’s not a style I usually like, but this one is really good.
Last summer – raspberry sour on the left – yum!
I couldn’t resist a new NEIPA and bought a couple to savour later – slightly too strong but very tasty if you like a big hoppy beer. The last one we tried was only currently available on tap, so we’ll hope to return and buy a bottle/can or two – a new nut brown that was, for me, a perfect autumnal sipper. Goodness, I only had one sip but it was absolutely spot on!
Absolutely a good spot to be in
We weren’t only tasting beers or sitting by the fire or snoozing or in between snoozes – we also wandered up and down a couple of nearby trails. The vibrant fresh greens and bright new spruce tips were very welcome sights.
Happy trail
The rain and mist cleared from time to time so we were able to see longish views across the valley. The trail winds past a second section of the campground, a few walk in tent sites in the “mountain” sector. These are lovely secluded spots if you’re happy to hike up a steepish short way with all your gear.
Across the valley
One afternoon, mind and body suitably rested from the hiking, the scenery and the all round pleasantness of the Etchemin valley, I fell asleep and had the strangest dream. There was beer, spruce tipped and resinous, growing on trees. Oh, if only…
Can(ned) dreams come true?
Time to wake up! Well, this has been less sunny but not miserable, like a rested OldPlaidCamper during the second and rainier half of a camping trip. Apologies for the ridiculously long post heading this week, no idea how that happened. Sleepy brain?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
After our desert wanderings last week, it’s back to our more usual everyday northern style for this one. No lemons and lots of snow. This means that we were able to get into the woods and plod along – gracefully, of course – on our snowshoes through the deep snow. Splendid!
Splendid
With daylight hours lengthening, and occasional almost warmth when the sun reveals itself, we’re seeing some of the small changes that add up to the approaching new season. Realistically, it is distant yet, but we sort of fooled ourselves that spring is (almost) in the air! Yes, the snow was deep, and yes, we were on snowshoes, but we could see change coming in the hints of new buds, birdsong above, and in the slight thaw after a period of deep freeze.
Not spring – but brighter!
Yes, it all points to the same eventual outcome even if it sometimes seems like it’ll never arrive. Our northern winter will end, in snowmelt, and we’ll begin to enjoy the pleasant anticipation (no matter how much I love a proper winter) of bright green days ahead. No, not yet, not yet, and not until we’ve finished playing in the snow, but spring is coming!
The right direction
Until it does, we’ll continue on skis and snowshoes, and I’ll complain about (but secretly enjoy) shovelling snow, so we can reward ourselves with an almost well earned dark beer or two at the end of the day – they go so well with the season! (Don’t worry, pale ales, I’ll get back to you soon enough. Another small change…)
A cheery beery reward
I think that is a cheery enough note to end on this week. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Spring is just around the next bend? Nope! But maybe the one after?”
I received a WordPress notification earlier this week informing me I’d been blogging here for ten years. Ten years?! Goodness, that’s quite a long time. Curiosity prompted, I went back into the archives to reread the very first post, one entitled “Why Plaid Camper?” It was a not so brief introduction and indication of what I hoped my bright and shiny new blog might be.
Little Bear Sunset (near Bozeman, Montana) – the first photograph on OPC
In the main, I think the vague aims and intentions I mentioned way back when have been met – mostly – and continue to be met all these years later. But then I would say that, even though I am totally unbiased…
Bow Valley beauty, AB – always a happy place for us
Blogging is inevitably somewhat self indulgent, and in that spirit I think I’ll take the next week or two to reflect on ten blogging years and repost a few favourite photographs representing some memorable moments and/or happy places. Like I said, self indulgent!
A fine BC beer in a fine location – thanks for humouring me back then, Wayne!
So here we go, the greatest hits that never were – or, less charitably, just some repeats and reruns. Is it “Why Plaid Camper?” as that first post asked back then, or more “Why, PlaidCamper?!” Or maybe, more simply, why not?
Little Bear Cabin, Montana – tops the list of my favourite cabins!
I’ll end this week (before some more rerun photos) by saying “thank you” to each and every person that has taken the time to read and/or comment here the past ten years. Those genuine connections are the real why. So, shall we carry on for another ten and see where we go? And wonder what that might look like? (Erm, probably like pieces about going for a walk, visits to a campground or two in a pretty setting, and often finishing with a glass of something good by a fire?) Oh, ok – put like that, not too bad, eh? Let’s keep it going – cheers!
Cheers! (Hardknott Bar, Woolpack Inn, Lake District, UK – great beer selection and the best company, even if my brother only drinks Peroni…)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
“Thanks, friends!” (Taken at Dry Island Buffalo Jump, AB)A different AB good mood – oh those prairie days outOne of our very best days – thank you, Jet!Any day out and about with Scout always works for usAlberta river rush! A day on (not in) the water with friends is a good day
Not that much. Certainly not on Monday. An alleged billionaire started a new job, a second attempt at a position he has held before but mostly failed at. Maybe he’ll do better this time? I’m not sure he really wants it, since he keeps going on about Canada, something about wanting to join? I can understand that, as it’s pretty great here for all sorts of reasons. Maybe he can apply for citizenship after he’s finished/washed up once more? Don’t tell him – he’ll pout – but I doubt he’d get the warmest welcome…
Pretty great
Speaking of warm – what’s so great about the True North that causes the tangerine hued chap to cast covetous eyes on it? Could it be our wonderful winter? Maybe! We certainly have real winter at last – woo-hoo! Cue a Scout-like jump for joy – the end photo this week, one of our favourites!
A wolf in real winter (Scout, but you knew that)
Last Monday was quite cold, the sort of day that could frighten a wannabe strongman, send him scurrying indoors. (It takes more than a bit of chill to keep a real Canadian from heading out, so if he’s so keen to be a part of Canada, he’s going to have to toughen up…)
Troll hideout
Anyway, enough of avaricious/needy populists, wherever they might be lurking. On to more pleasant things. We enjoyed our Monday excursion into the woods, the first properly cold day of the year. Other than pausing for a photograph or two, we kept perfectly warm by keeping moving. It helped that the sun was out, with the winds fairly calm, so we could concentrate on admiring a sparkling white and blue day.
Winter! Woo-hoo!
The cold snap, or real winter, has stuck around and promises to be with us through the weekend and beyond. The windchills will diminish enough to make xc skiing a comfortable prospect – I like the cold, but didn’t want to let winter scour a layer of skin from my face as would have happened if we’d tried to ski this week. I’d end up looking like I’d had work done, some sort of weird face peel requiring orange makeup to plaster over the cracks. I don’t know about you, but I can’t quite imagine the necessary vanity to attempt that failed strongman look… Perhaps I could ski later today, another cold one, see what happens? Nah, we’ll stick to hiking speed for now, and embrace the bracing conditions.
The peeled look – ouch!
A big thank you to Jet for reminding me of the woo-hoo feeling winter can provide – it’s more than a simple distraction from what’s (not) going on more widely in the world – it’s actually the real stuff, the everyday delight that is there when I look for it, right where we are, right now. Shall we say it one more time? Why not – woo-hoo!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
We’ve enjoyed a few more sprinklings of snow and the temperature has stayed reliably low, so there’s still a white carpet out in the woods. With luck, and if forecasts are accurate, we should have received a sizeable amount more by the time you’re reading this. Please, please, please…
At the start of the week Scout and I had the local woods pretty much to ourselves. Other than the chattering squirrels still at work, and the occasional woodpecker and numerous small brown birds I’m unable to identify, it was mostly quiet. Tracks told us of hares and rabbits, and dogs and walkers out earlier than us, but we didn’t see another person each morning. (Mrs PC remained indoors at the start of the week, under the weather and recovering from flu shots, etc. On the mend now and she’ll soon be back keeping an eye on the children…)
The air was still, with fallen snow balanced precariously on even the most delicate of branches. As morning progressed and a bright sun rose, what heat there was caused snow to tumble, miniature crystal cascades shimmering down. A tiny bird flew across the trail in front of us and into the trees on our left, almost faster than my eye could catch it. Threading through the lattice of tiny branches, wing beats dislodging snow, white puffs betraying the flight path – that was some sight!
With her half curved tail a happy question mark, Scout is most definitely a snow dog, leaping ahead or nosing into snow banks or trying to catch a snowball. I can barely keep up. If there’s a downward slope, she’ll pull hard, trying to get ahead, reach the bottom – and see if I’ll fall? Sometimes I surrender on the steeper ones, putting one foot forward and then sliding down gracefully (you weren’t there, it was graceful) as if riding an escalator, disappointing Scout as I remain upright.
“There’s a good steep slope just over the rise that’ll get him, hehehe!”
Goodness, a couple of weeks into the new winter season and Scout is yet to see me tumble. Will my luck hold? Scout isn’t a gambler, more of a gamboller, but if she could place a bet, it would be on me being flat on my face, deposited into a snow bank at some point. There is a lot of winter to come, and many more walks in the winter woods, so she’s probably right…
“I’m always right!”
The little things in an outdoor season of wonder keeping us mostly balanced – thank you, winter! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
OldPlaidCamper 