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!

Mosaic Fun!

1. A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words., 2. Rhubarb Splendor, 3. Steller's Jay, 4. I stand on the beach alone,and gaze at the misty blue... I wish I could pause this moment forever..., 5. The ancient pleasure of a cuppa, 6. frosty, 7. Moturakau, Aitutaki, Cook Islands, 8. Long Slice of Pie Ala Mode 4 of 4, 9. Steamboat Ski Resort blue-bird day, 10. incurable laughter, 11. Lovely Lola, 12. Yarborough Arch.

I saw this photo mosaic as self-portrait today on a friend of mine's blog and I thought it was really neat! You answer 12 questions and type your answer to each of the above questions into Flickr’s search. Select only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker (3 columns, 4 rows).

Here are the questions and my answers that generated the mosaic above.

1. What is your first name? (cait)
2. What is your favorite food? (rhubarb)
3. What high school did you attend? (steller)
4. What is your favorite color? (blue)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (daniel craig)
6. Favorite drink? (eggnog)
7. Dream vacation? (cook islands)
8. Favorite dessert? (pie)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (ski bum)
10. What do you love most in life? (laughter)
11. One word to describe you? (lovely)
12. Your Flickr name? (Yarborough - it didn't pull anything up under my real Flickr name)

It's fun!

I used to really hate moose when I was living in Alaska. They scared me, and it was inevitable that I would run into them almost every day when I was out on the trails, both summer and winter. I think I saw more than 10 one day at Kincaid. Now I live in Calgary. We have rabbits. Thats about it. They have elk in Banff but its not quite the same. I found this picture on a friends blog today, and realized that I miss moose walking around in the city. I think both Edmonton and Calgary might be a bit too civilized for me.