A very belated video of Summer 2013. Lots of bike trips, the Moosling riding Get In, Get Out and Baby Beluga at the Nordic Centre, and some general shenanigans. Sorry about the quality of the footage, for some reason all I had was dodgy phone videos from the summer months – lazy, lazy videographers we are.
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Emerald Lake ski trails
The original plan was to ski up to Lake O’Hara. But there was TOO MUCH SNOW! And so we kept driving to Emerald Lake, where there was still a lot of snow, and it was snowing, but at least it all seemed a bit more manageable, and we had never been there before, in summer or winter.
At first we headed out into the trees, along the Connector Trail.
It was pretty, but uninspiring skiing, and we turned around when we reached the part of the trail with avalanche danger.
Then after a snack we scooted out onto the lake, with the Moosling on his skis too. That lasted just a couple of hundred metres, then he started falling into the snow and complaining about being stuck, so we threw him into the Chariot, where he screamed and complained the rest of the way around the lake, which rather put a damper on the enjoyment levels for all concerned.
And so after our loop of the lake, as it had finally stopped skiing, we drove back home again. A nice little exploration.
The day after Boxing Day, we headed to West Bragg Creek to go exploring. It feels like a long drive, but that’s just because these days we’re outraged by having to drive a whole hour to do something apparently. There’s an absolute nest of rideable snowy single track out there, good for running and snow-shoeing too, as well as groomed nordic ski trails.
We only had a few hours there, but the conclusion was that we really need to return with more time up our sleeves. And on a less windy day (we were both blown off the bike a few times).
I went for a snowshoe while Alex was out riding. The Moosling was unimpressed with the wind, but held on while I stomped about. I don’t really feel like I see the point of snow-shoeing, as it seems to largely be done on trails that you could just as easily run on.
And then the next day it was out to Lake Louise, and my first time skiing the Telemark and Great Divide trails. It was a painful day on classic skis, with far too much grip wax on making everything hard work – on top of me being a little tired and sore after so many consecutive days of activity. On the plus side, after working at it for a few hours, I may have marginally better technique now (thanks Lincoln).
The Great Divide trail isn’t terribly inspiring, particularly when you’re working just as hard on the downhill as you are on the up, but it was still a fun day of exploration, with bonus sled dogs.
Christmas Day followed the by now fairly traditional pattern of Alex being at work, and the Moosling and I hanging out at home opening a few presents. The difference this year being that no-one was sick, and the boy was actually keen on the whole presents thing. Although when I told him that the Ho Ho had brought some presents, he was a little dubious. On arriving upstairs he declared: “Where is the Ho Ho? Ho Ho gone! *points out window* No, was Mama. Mama did presents.” So that didn’t last long.
So there was the donning of the festive apparel (new Toy Story t-shirts, amongst others), and the eating of the chocolate frog, followed by the running-around-getting-ready-to-go-skiing. After driving in with others, we caught the gondola up to Sunshine Village, and the Moosling went to hang out in daycare for a couple of hours (quite happily, as there was scary wind outside). I got a couple of hours skiing in, and was not terribly sad to have to stop at midday, as it really was a bit windy and miserable despite being theoretically fairly warm.
The afternoon was spent cooking, and being sprayed with the water pistol which the unthinking Mama had gifted the small child. And then came the eating of the tasty food, the setting fire to the pudding, and the going home early to bed, as it had been quite a long day.
The next day brought about the testing of the full body climbing harness, and the discovery that it certainly works quite well for swinging at any rate.
Aha, finally finished! Here is the little video/slideshow from our trip down to Moab in April this year. I miss my bike. Well, I miss riding my bike in warm weather on red rocks and dirt. Riding on snow just isn’t the same. But this is a nice little taste of the awesomeness of Moab. I’m amazed I managed to take as many photos, and as much footage as I did, the riding was so nice it was easy to get distracted.
Mountain biking around Moab, Utah, April 2013. Featuring Megan, Alex, Finn, Brendan, Jeremy, Jackie, Chad & Michelle, and a lot of very awesome red rock.