Category: canada

Categories
canada general hiking moosling

Grassi Lakes

 

The upper lake

 

 

Moosefather and Moosling enjoying the sun

 

 

Logs hang out gathering moss

 

 

On the way back down again (Ha Ling Peak in the background) – the Chariot handles the rocky track pretty well, although we take it slow on the bumps

 

Categories
canada general

More of Autumn in Canmore

 

 

Categories
canada general moosling

A Chariot for the Moosling

An adventuring Moosling needs a sturdy form of transport (when he’s not hanging out snug in a sling). And so we have this:

 

Chariot by the Bow River, set up in jogging mode

 

We’ve got the attachment to turn it into a bike trailer, and we just found the kit to turn it into a snow trailer too. So now we just have to wait for him to grow a bit, and for the snow to arrive.

(Oh, and it collapses into this snazzy travel bag)

 

 

Categories
bikes canada general

The perils of mountain biking in the Bow Valley

 

 

Categories
canada general

The Grand Canmore Duck Race

The Grand Canmore Duck Race is a fund-raiser for the Bow Valley Wolverines football club. Two thousand brave and valiant yellow rubber duckies race along the segment of Policeman’s Creek between the 10th St and 8th St bridges. They are each numbered, with tickets sold for each duck, and the first three ducks across the line winning their owners a great bounty in prize money.

We arrived, and joined the throngs of spectators lining the river. And then wondered how on earth they were going to launch all the ducks – and where were they anyway? The race was due to start about now…

 

Aha, so this is where the 2000 ducks are going to come from! It’s the lesser known “throw the competitors in the water from the scoop of a front-end loader” method of starting a race.

 

 

Ducks start pouring into Policeman’s Creek, and the race begins

 

 

More cascading ducks. Some just land straight onto the rocks at the edge – bad luck ducks.

 

 

Ducks away!

 

 

And they’re off and racing!

 

 

Expectant spectators wait at the finish line… bridge

 

 

About half of the ducks make it through the first half of the course, and are racing along the far side of the creek. The seagulls and non-plastic ducks studiously ignore them.

 

 

After some wind issues in the doldrums, with the race going backwards for a while, the mass of ducks make their way towards the finishing line.

 

Our duck did not win. Sadly I don’t even know if he managed to finish the race – many didn’t.

 

The race over, everyone scrambles about on the far side of the bridge trying to collect the escaping ducks (handing 3 teenage boys a canoe and a net was probably not the most effective way to recapture hundreds of ducks)