Fall Camping

I spent this past weekend in the mountains north of Golden, B.C. on a much needed, very relaxing, camping trip. We were car camping, no hiking, no biking...no activities other than sitting around the campfire and enjoying the scenery.

We were on the backside (west side) of the Columbia Icefields, which most people don't usually see, and I found it much more spectacular than the front (east) side where the visitors center is. The fall colors on the trees and the fresh snow on top of the mountains made for an absolutely beautiful weekend. 

This is Pascal, myself, and Genevieve goofing around in front of the icefield

Me and Pascal at the campsite

The view from our tent

Gorgeous mountains!

I was told that I had some great pictures from this past weekend and since its been awhile since I've updated my blog...

Vince and I rode our bikes to Lake Louise from Castle Junction (about 35km each way)

This is in the village before we started up the hill to the lake, with Mt. Temple in the background
Vince and I at the lake....it was a beautiful day!There used to be a rowing club at the lake, but they shut it down this summer and took all the boats away. Vince wants to know why...

On the way home

Snowshoeing at Sawmill

This past weekend Riley and I went up to Kananaskis with my friend Genevieve and her fiance Alex and did about a 3 hour snowshoe tour from the Sawmill trailhead. I hadn't been that far into the mountains in Kananaskis yet and it was beautiful! All three of us decided we'd like to spend a bit more time there...

My friend Chelsea got a new camera for Christmas and came out for a walk with me and Riley the other day....

I drove to Kelowna, BC for the weekend to meet up with my Grandpa. I was excited while driving there Friday to see some snow in the mountains (and even more excited that it was dumping snow the whole way home last night, although it made driving a bit treacherous)

I actually stopped just north of Kelowna to cross country ski at Sovereign Lakes (same area as Silver Star). There are races every year there that I always missed going to when I was still racing, so it was great to get the opportunity to just go for a ski there. It was early season skiing, so not perfectly groomed trails, but it was nice to dink around on my skis for an hour before heading into Kelowna.

The whole reason for the weekend was the 80th birthday party of one of my grandpa's friends from Sakinaw Lake. I was there last summer at his cabin, and had heard lots of stories but hadn't met any of the people. There was much eating and socializing, with a big party at the golf club Saturday night. My thought the whole weekend was that if I am worthy of such a gathering at the age of 80 I will have led a pretty darn good life! the best part though was seeing my grandpa and meeting people from the lake, who I will hopefully see out there in the future! (Anyone up for joining me next August???)

Hiking

Tuesday was Remembrance Day in Canada, which meant no work and a visit to the mountains in Kananaskis! I was excited a few weeks ago to meet Genevieve at work who also enjoys hiking, skiing, climbing, and such things, and we finally got together for a little adventure (no pics of the two of us unfortunately). Of course I don't remember the name of this hike, but it started from the Nakiska ski area and was gradual uphill for 6km to this lookout.

Banff Film Festival

I just spend this weekend in Banff at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which is always a great weekend of films about basically anything to do with the mountains. I used to love going to the "best of" tour that they take around the world, but now that I live close by I have enjoyed going to the entire 2 days of films in Banff for the past few years. As usual, all the films were at least pretty good, but this year there seemed to be several good "mountain culture" films. The one that really struck home for me was an hour long documentary on the Pebble Mine project in Alaska. I had heard of the mine, but didn't really know that much about it, but watching the film really made it hit home what they are trying to do. If you don't know, they are basically trying to open the biggest copper mine in North America at the headwaters of two rivers flowing into Bristol Bay. The filmmakers interviewed people from both sides of the argument, the mining company, and fisherman and native people who live in the area. It was shocking to see that the mining company takes the standpoint that the mine will not have any impact on the ecosystem or the fishing industry up there. I don't feel that I can do the issue justice by trying to explain both sides of it here, however the film made me realize how incredibly dear Alaska is to me and how passionate I feel about protecting its "wildness" and leaving it they way it is. I have never seen an audience so passionate about a film at the film festival before, and have also never seen a film get a standing ovation at the festival. More info on the film can be found here (under "the craft"). An environmental point of view on the issue can be found here, and an interesting article on Palin and the mine debate from the New York Times can be found here. (Of note, the grist.org article mentions that jewelers are being asked to oppose the mine. The film noted that jewelers at Tiffany's have committed to not making jewelry from any materials from the Pebble Mine, if it were to open)

I would urge everyone to go check out the Banff Film Festival tour if it is coming to your city! Its got a bit of something for everyone (not just films on controversial mines) and is lots of fun. Check out the website to see when it will be near you!