Summit of Eastpost

 

Summit of Eastpost

 

K on the bridge

A handy dandy bridge crossing a glacier-fed stream. Snowpatch Spire, the last climbed of the Bugaboos (1940) is in the background. 

Bugaboos hike-in

A handy bridge with Snowpatch Spire in the background. Snowpatch was the last of the spires to be climbed in 1940. 

Hiking into the Bugaboos

Wow. This is impressive. After setting up a barricade of chicken wire around the truck to protect it from porcupines, who seem to find rubber tubing quite delightful., we set off on a hike to the Boulder Camp below the Conrad Kain Hut. Given that it was K's stag and all, we dropped an additional weight in his pack - 32 cans of beer. At 355mL, that's roughly an additional 25 pounds - on top of the usual camping accoutrements of tent, sleeping bag, stove, gas, clothes, water and food.
The hike to the Conrad Kain hut is very short - roughly 3 miles up - but seriously steep (map here). There's 2200 feet of elevation gain to the hut, all of it attained in the last two miles. In places, the trail uses bolted cables, and in one spot, it utilizes a vertical metal ladder. However, the trail is in great shape and views are inspiring.
The prominent rock in the midst of the glacier is the Marmolata, about which more here. Suffice it to say that it's the smallest peak there.

A painful flashback

It's somehow odd to hear this, when it sounds both familiar and far removed. I've had conversations with someone who was in a familiar positions about courses of action, what to do, "what's he thinking now?", "does he think of me?" and "if so, what does he think of me?", and so on and so forth. And it's tough. Because you want them to be proud of themselves for themselves - not in order to prove something to someone else. Especially when the proving isn't necessary in the first place. And because they have so much to be proud of. And because the telling of the proof affirms and confirms to the villain of the piece their importance in the narrative of the other person's life.
But it - the confronting, the honouring of their truth and moreover the affirmation of survival and success - is still, at the end of the day, still important to the former victim and current survivor. So. What to do? What to suggest?

So You Wanna Be An Olympian?

Awesome idea. Man, would I love to be part of something like this - even if it were only as a journalist in the Canadian context.

Sito's trip

Keeping up with sito's trip through Cambodia.

Grassi Lakes

Grassi Lakes is a moderately short hike, up a good path to a popular climbing area for Canmore locals. It's named in tribute to Lawrence Grassi, who by all accounts, was a great individual. More later on the Lake O'Hara section of the trip. 

Dove's Evolution Campaign

Brilliant.

Where Sito's At

Off doing good things for people.

Sediment, Lake Louise

Lake Louise's unique turquoise color water is created by the glaciers at the head of the valley. The movement of glacial ice continually grinding away the bedrock creates rock flour (silt). This fine silt drains into the lake and much of the silt is suspended in the water. When the sun strikes the water, these particles absorb all the spectrum of colors except green and blue. 

Stanley Glacier

Apparently named for the same Governor-General as hockey's greatest trophy, the view atop the Stanley Glacier hike is well worth the run/hike/slog. An easily approachable hanging glacier, multiple hundred foot waterfalls, and a series of peaks are your reward. 

Stanley Glacier hike

Continuing the pattern of "Seeing the Rockies when You're Always Late," we opted to run the Stanley Glacier trail. Key word being "run." It runs roughly 5 km due south of the highway, and gains 1200 feet - the majority of which we found to be in the first and last kilometres. It starts at the highway, and immediately rises through the remnants of a major burn. The forest is slowly regenerating with fireweed growing through the blackened lodgepole pines. You pass a few vistas of falling creeks - which provide a great excuse to stop and rest your burning lungs & legs.

Paint Pots

As the Park says,

"The Paint Pots and the associated ochre beds form an area of unusual physical and chemical activity and have a history of use by both Aboriginal groups and Europeans. The Ktunaxa (formerly Kootenay), as well as the Stoney and Blackfoot tribes, collected ochre here for important ceremonies and for
trade. The yellow ochre was cleaned, kneaded with water into walnut sized balls, then flattened
into cakes and baked. The red powder was mixed with fish oil or animal grease to paint their bodies, tipis, clothing or pictures on the rocks. These paintings depicted many objects from day to day life as
well as more abstract drawings that may have originated in dreams or represented supernatural beings."

Another cool shot 

Glengarry Glen Ross meets the Grits

Put the coffee down. I come from downtown, gentlemen. I come from Mitch and Murray...
Paul Wells has some analysis of the Liberal race, but David Mamet got there first...

Kootenay was burning

If you look carefully, you can see the helicopter

Entrance to Kootenay National Park

Click for Things to do in Kootenay

Oh.

What the chains were about...
Hiking on Snake Ridge.  

Hmm

 

Hiking up at Fernie

Looking back down at the Great Bear chairlift. 

Fernie's Snake Ridge

Seemed like a good place for the first hike of the trip... 

Fall Colour Report - Ontario Parks

Egads, Algonquin's already turned...

Fernie's Fun

In the summer, mountain bikes are everywhere. Big, heavy mountain bikes with ridiculous shocks. Wow - idiot-proof and fun. 

Burmis Tree

On the way through the Crowsnest Pass to Fernie, you pass by this striking dead Limber Pine. More here 

Congrats!

 

Kevin and Sylvia's wedding

I'll be gone for a bit as it's time for the first wedding in our immediate family. Looking forward to good times in Canmore, and also to welcome the Watson's to our family.  

Family

Lighthouse, Peggy's Cove

Paddling Animations

One day I'll get the Indian stroke downpat, but for now, I always catch on the inwater recovery.

Peggy's Cove

 

Stop - It's Making My Head Hurt

Stats meet ultimate. Ultimate - looks confused and runs away to throw more discs.

Phoenix: about to turn it over

 

Nats recap

Borrowed largely from WarTank:

In the firebird game, down a couple of breaks before half, GT takes a timeout and Smolak gives a classic speech. To paraphrase, he said "your coaches and captains come to tournaments like this with a limited handful of stirring and motivating speeches. I can't f**k**g believe we are about to waste one on firebird."

Half an hour later, we waste yet another speech on firebird.

15-20 minutes after that, we go on a 5-1 scoring run to win on universe point. Early on, Warren sent a 40 yard zippy backhand huck down the line to wide open ekers. We tie the game up later, and i screamed so hard i swear i burst a blood vessel in my brain. I had to sit back down while the team celebrated, while my white blood cells took care up business upstairs. For the final score, Peyton fires off a beauty backhand put that settles into the endzone for a streaking cam malcolm, we're already celebrating on the sidelines when a firebird convict piggyback sodomizes cam for the no-catch-foul-no-contest in the endzone. An easy flip from there to Kieran (?) for the final score. 13-12

The firebird guys, while disappointed, took it as a major positive for the rest of the weekend. Afterall, they came a lot closer to beating us than Phoenix did on either of their two attempts.

==

Rest of the day was just as nail-biting. Up 8-2 at half against blackfish, we almost gave the game away in the 2nd half, chucking out turnovers like they were turds while they sharpened up their game. 13-11 (after a 8-2 start!?!?!?!)

Day finished with a close start against Mephisto, but couldn't keep the nerves out and our turnovers lead to efficient Mephisto scores. A disappointing way to end the day, one in which we may have been lucky (or just slightly too good) to come out 2-1 instead of 0-3. 5-15

It was a rough day. We definitely had some belly fires to ignite and some gelling to develop.

==

Stomping Roy on the friday morning game set the stage for a dominating day. They were shorthanded as well, but we crushed their spirit right away. Efficient offence that we hadn't been able to achieve at all in '06, and stifling defence that caused countless turnovers when they had to play the disc on their own cone. Peyton had a callahan, i believe? (Actually Smolak, playing on the D line?!?). 15-2

Followed that game up with a strong game against magma. Some bickering but honestly, who can take them seriously with their porn staches and silly accents? The fucked up thing was that one of their guys was featured in the half-page sports section picture in the Halifax newspaper, mouth agape like he was hunting for p3nis. As a mephisto guy later proved, he was a spitting image for Ben Stiller in Dodgeball. Just the hippy reinforcement our sport needs. We crushed them in this game for just that. I think i spent most of the game thinking about poutine. 12-7

Finished off the day by gutting out a win over Phoenix. In two moments that nigel mentioned -- Arjun dominated one of their handlers on D while he made squirrelly cuts all over. The bail pass finally goes up and arjun is all over it. he gets called for a "your defence is too good for me" foul. Arj spends the rest of the game fired up and sitting in this guy's shorts right next to his left testicle. The guy can barely get involved for the rest of the game and GT is fired up.

Then, their hearts must have just collapsed when they saw The Ficko Layout. Ficko was on the call for a kermit, just as he takes off a pick is called. he stops. bird lets fly. ficko sprints a 4.1 40 to layout grab to save the possession. Two Roy players on the sidelines orgasm and cream their pants.

Smolak told us that after we beat them at No Borders (?) they wouldn't beat us again. We were fired up and took it to them. GT was on a f**k**g roll. 12-9

Nobody remembered (or cared) about our offensive efficiency in the Roy game, but I seem to remember that the O-line scored on all but one possesion in the final two games. D-line did their job by pitching in with some stops, so Magma and Phoenix went home to lick their fiery wounds.

==

Magma had some heat left for the saturday quarters, but there was no way we'd let them win. Things were a little sloppy, but we gutted out the win. On to mephisto. 10-7

A strong start has the defence applying good pressure and Warren striking twice on bombs from smolak and bird to keep the game tight in the early going. Then warren goes on to his statistically worst game of '06, being a part of 6 or 7 turnovers. I know that at least some of those weren't my fault, but it was simply too many to be coincidental. Wartank chokes in a big way, the fire is there but we can't maintain our efficiency as high as theirs, and they cruise to a very intense and hard-fought but mathematically safe win. Somewhere in and around this, warren goes on a screaming profanity-fest and parents hide their children from the scary minority who knows kung-fu. later, feeling remorse for the frightened children (and maybe the game too), he wants to cry.

3 hours later, after some moping, team napping, recollection, Phoenix eats the fired-up and efficient fist of Grand Trunk. Bronze for the good guys. 13-11 after being up 11-7

Other highlights:

• Steve "Showboat" Tam pulling down some stupidly ridiculous catches in traffic
• Lowell using a full DUNK to D on a huck
• Carnes' beautiful floaty pulls
• Peyton screaming after winning a joust in our endzone against Mephisto
• Mike Lane calling the handler strike for a goal against Phoenix

Pictures to follow

Nice balance