Canada – OldPlaidCamper

Winter mountain hush

What a relief it was to arrive at Baker Creek, check into our little cabin, and smile when we were told internet was spotty at best due to limited satellite uplink capacity (or something) and cell phone service was basically zero. Imagine our disappointment…

No cell service?! Oh our disappointment, teehee…

It was hard to see who was more gleeful to be out in the mountains, and to be running helter skelter through the deep snow, but I think Scout edged it. She was able to make slightly faster progress with four leg drive than we did on two. And yes, instead of dumping bags and heading straight out the door to explore the immediate surroundings, a short pause to don snow pants and snowshoes would have been sensible. Sensible? Nope, no time for that!

We stumbled and postholed around the perimeter, trying to stay in the middle of snowmobile tracks, but with Scout leading and pulling, we weren’t able to keep from drifting into drifts. Mother had mentioned, before we left, not to fall into any deep drifts. Good advice! (We saw, from the road on the way home a few days later, an elk caught in a deep drift and bulldozing – elk-dozing? – it’s way out. Hope it made it…)

Poorly equipped for even a short walk as we were, we still enjoyed how silent and still (our mad stumbling aside) everything was. The blanket of snow was so pretty, muffling most noise. Winter mountain hush! Blessed quiet! We could just about hear the tinkling chuckle-gurgle of the creek, and, luckily, see it in a few places where it hadn’t been snowed over. Scout desperately wanted to get closer, odd for her, given she doesn’t enjoy the water, but we resisted her efforts. Sorry, Scout – wet feet and minus fifteen don’t mix!

Eventually, slightly wet legged due to snowmelt on lower jeans, and ready to admit we should have put on snowshoes, we returned to our cabin to unpack, find dry pants, and get warmed up by the fire. Oh, and crack open a red ale we’d been saving as a fireside sipper. It was just the thing as we planned a proper snowshoe adventure for the following day!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Foggy

We thought we’d head out for a brisk walk in the park, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of the year, continuing a week of walks enjoyed in bright, if a tad chilly, conditions. Oh:

A lovely view of downtown – it is there, honest!

The view from where we live looks out over the downtown, and at night we can enjoy the lit up Calgary skyline, even if the waste of electricity makes us wince a bit. Yesterday, it was as if Calgary had disappeared!

Bright on other days, low winter sun and all

We’ll be disappearing ourselves for a little while, as we head out into the mountains for a short stay. Looking at lots of snow, quiet trails, and a warm cabin at the end of the day! New year, same old us…

Essential cabin supplies. Dry January? Nope.

Thanks for reading, happy new year, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Lights

More daylight hours are coming as we pass the solstice, and no complaints about that here. That said, winter is probably my favourite season when there’s snow on the ground and nostrils freeze when you breathe in. I know, enjoying that is slightly odd…

Hadn’t even had a beer… maybe try again?

Anyway, here are a few photographs to share, mostly of lights and sights we’ve enjoyed in the neighbourhood the past little while.

It might be minus a gazillion degrees, but here’s a warm glow!

Keeping it brief, so I’ll end by wishing you all the very best for the coming year!

“We’re light on our feet!” (photo: Mrs. PC)

Belgian style

Style – if you haven’t got it, then there’s no need to worry about it. That’s what I tell myself. Belgian style? Not sure what it is exactly, but having investigated, I think I could get to like it?

From up on the bluff, and it really was a bit chilly

Oh, ok, this isn’t a fashion thing, you’ll be relieved to know. It’s a beer thing, you’ll be shocked to read. We set off on a quite chilly late morning last week to discover for ourselves a nearby microbrewery promising beers in a Belgian style. Given the properly seasonal weather, we were hoping for a glass (or two?) of strong, dark, monkish beer, and we were not disappointed!

A strong golden, and a strong dark, my strong recommendations

Should you be in the area, and you like a well made big beer, then Two Pillars could be for you. We liked it! If we were feeling the cold and had to move fast to keep warm on our walk over, we were well insulated (or even ever-so-slightly inebriated – those were some mighty big beers in small glasses) and taking extra care in the slippery conditions walking home. We might have dozed off for the rest of the afternoon – must have been all that exercise…

We bought a few fireside sippers home with us in preparation for a couple of winter cabin trips we’ve got coming up soon, and they’ll be just the thing after an hour or two of snowy playtime. Yum!

Imperial porter and a Christmas red ale – yum

Let’s keep it short and sweet, not unlike a shared after dinner winter porter. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Like looking in a mirror – is this Belgian style?

Dizzy new heights

As we wait, and wait, and wait some more for real winter, I’ll be up a ladder, trying not to fall and doing some redecorating around our apartment. Since this will take far longer for me than properly competent decorators, I’ll be taking a short blogging break to get things done and be back in December. By then, the paint will have washed out of my hair and be scrubbed off the floor, and there’ll be more snow than I can imagine to go play in. Dizzy new heights up a ladder, and dizzy new heights on xc skis…

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend and rest of the month. Yeah, I know – what hair?

Creaking…

Creaking? Like old bones? Is this an early Hallowe’en piece? Or an excuse for a poor pun later in the post? Hmm, I wonder…

We were camping in a southern section of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park a week or two ago, having set off from Calgary on a spectacular fall day. Goodness, that day – the light was so bright the aspens were shimmering gold and it felt as if you could reach out and run your hand along the mountain top horizon, they appeared so close. Razor sharp!

We stopped in the foothills for a lunchtime picnic, in shirtsleeves and sunglasses. Clearly, the forecasters had got it wrong – snow?! What snow? What a day, bright fall in the mountains:

Oh:

Erm…

Yes, I was cold and creaking, at least until the sun cleared the treetops and most of the snow melted away. A short, sharp shock for sure, but in a good way, it being a reminder that fall is brief out this way, and the brilliance of winter is almost here!

Extra layers on (meaning I wore all the clothes I’d brought, being poorly prepared compared to Mrs. PC) we did a short loop hike, not much more than a few kilometres, up one side and back down the other of nearby Boulton Creek. Creeking, hehehe. Very quiet, with just a couple of other hikers encountered on the trail, bear tracks and scat everywhere, but no bears spotted. Perfect!

We thoroughly enjoyed our last camping trip of this season, sunshine, snow and all, and look forward to the spring – but not until we’ve enjoyed winter!

“Winter, you say? I think it is just ahead – I can almost see it from here!”

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here this coming Monday, and, once again, amongst all the ever increasing madness in the wider world, we’re very aware we’ve so much to be thankful for.

As I’ve written before, thanksgiving weekend more or less marks the anniversary of when we moved to Canada, a move we’ve never once regretted (well, maybe some regret related to my first and probably last slice of pumpkin pie all those years ago, shudder… the horrors of pumpkin pie – apologies to outraged traditionalists – but no, no, never again, I can’t, I just can’t…)

Pumpkin pie aside, each passing year we love where we live more and more. So if you choose to celebrate the coming holiday, happy thanksgiving!

Ok, let’s keep it brief this week – there’s an apple pie that needs our attention! The next photograph was also taken last weekend and I think it signals the end of the brief Alberta mountain fall and our current camping season?! More to follow…

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Silly

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:

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?

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…

Thanks for reading – I’ll aim for a wider vocabulary next time – and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Colour/fall

Fall-ty memory? Forget-fall? (This is bad – apologies…) Yes, quite aw-fall. I’d promised to share some more colourful and less misty images from our recent trip to the coast. The main attraction for us was the foggy atmosphere and early hint of autumn, especially as summer here in the city has held on and on, heat wise, even if leaves are finally turning and falling at last. C’mon, summer, you’ve had your go; step aside and let autumn have a turn!

Mrs.PC ordered fall in a glass when we visited the Ucluelet brewery. A lovely Berliner Weisse style pepped up with a dash of fruity colouring – it was delicious, tart and refreshing, and a can or two might have made it into the back of the truck and all the way back home for enjoying this coming weekend…

We spent many a happy hour at our harbour side campground sitting and staring at the boats and birds, the occasional light breeze prompting some early leaf fall. It was almost autumnal.

The log provided a great foot (or beer/coffee) rest, and once or twice a day a gang of feathered friends came a-pecking and strutting for tasty insect morsels hiding in the wood. Entertaining companions.

We caught up with many old friends this trip, and it was hard to tear ourselves away, but we did eventually find ourselves back on the ferry, crossing the Salish Sea and heading to and through the mountains. We stopped a couple of days in Revelstoke, just to soak up the mountain atmosphere and get wet – finally – in a rainstorm or two, rain that had eluded us the entire island trip.

Now we’re back in the hot city, we’re lining up a nearby mountain trip or two to cool off in the next couple of weeks, and perhaps catch the high fall colour there if the leaves have held on…

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Boats, boats, boats

Spending so much time at the coast can get a person dreaming of owning a boat…

…but knowing a few boat owners helps prevent daydreams turning into reality. They’ll often tell you the best two days of boat ownership will be the day you buy one and the day you sell it! And then there’s the cost or costs – I bumped into my buddy R on his way to fill a few jerry cans with marine fuel, and he just about managed to avoid bursting into tears at the price…

Another friend told of how, when she was growing up, she’d “enjoy” sailing trips with her father. Today, her partner would like to buy a small sailing boat, and when I mentioned how they might enjoy sailing together, given her nautical family background, she laughed (or grimaced?) and said yes, she knows which rope to pull and where to square things away, but sailing is not necessarily fun for her. It’s task, task, task, and then task, task, task.

Oh! Maybe our (Your – Mrs. PC) boat dreams will remain on hold for now? And possibly forever?

In the meantime, we can always stroll around the inner and outer harbours in Ucluelet and admire boats we’ll never own – sailing boats of all sizes, aluminum fishing boats, fibreglass fishing boats, wooden boats, rigid inflatables with enormous outboard motors, small paddling boats for pottering around the inlet, and those vessels that are rusting and flaking away – RIP Tromso!

Old photo – she wasn’t there this visit, sob…

I can, and have, wasted hours hanging around marinas and harbours admiring boats. I love the busyness of it all, the screeching gulls, clanging masts, creaking ropes and splash of water. The aromas aren’t always pleasant, but they’re certainly distinctive; seaweed and salt, fish guts and cigarette smoke, bird shit and marine fuel. Lovely!

Boats, boats, boats! I do have my Small Vessel Operator Proficiency certificate, and the boats I admire are all less than 12 metres long and under 15 tonnes and— (Nope, not happening! – Mrs. PC)

I mean, is it *that* expensive, really? (*Yes!* – Mrs. PC)

We’re away from the coast now, and with each passing kilometre the allure of boat ownership diminishes (You’ve got that right, mister! – Mrs. PC) and common sense returns. Time for something more manageable – now, where are those canoe brochures?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

	Maria on A short trip…
	plaidcamper on A short trip…
	Maria on A short trip…
	plaidcamper on Striding out…
	plaidcamper on Winter mountain hush