Travelog for: Chino

Hi Mum,

Today someone picked my envelope up and dropped it on something that felt like a floor .



As I tried to get out, I noticed that someone was helping from the outside. Eventually I saw the light again and found a duck welcoming me in Canada . She explained me that my host sammino was busy packing at the old house and wasn’t going to be here for a few days, so she came in advance to welcome me, how nice . I showed to her the lovely card and sweets that I brought with me and she was very impressed .



As there wasn’t much to do in a empty house, we just spent the time chatting on the window...



...and watching the TV, there was some rally yummy show .

Hi Mum,

Today eventually two TVs appeared here , Shooga, another TV from Germany and sammino, who introduced himself as my host here. They explained to me that they have been busy packing...



...but they agreed that now that the boxes were here they could get some rest and we found a quiet spot near the window to chat about our travelling .

Hi Mum,

Today we went for a short hike near Calgary . Most of the trail was between trees but we had the occasional view of the Elbow River...




...and of the mountains.



Eventually we reached the top were we could see the prairies in the distance...



...and mountains in every other direction .





Still, it was very windy , so we quickly jumped back in our bag and headed home.

Hi Mum,

Back home we were about to start fixing something for dinner when we heard a knocking at the window and when we checked who it was we found an eagle waiting outside .



sammino quickly talked with him in "eagleish" , explained to us that he had to go on a rescue mission for a couple of days, and then they both flew away .

Hi Mum,

Today was another lovely sunny day, so we went hiking around Lake Louise . As we emerged from the trees we had the first glimpse of Mount Richardson, our destination today,...



...and of Mt Temple in the opposite direction.



Later on we reached the lovely Hidden Lake .




As we gained elevation we had a better view of Hidden Lake, not so hidden from up here .



We could also see Kicking Horse Pass...



...and the summit of Mount Richardson, getting closer and closer.



Eventually we reached the top from where we had a great view of Merlin Lake and valley (but no round table knights ),...



...of Mount Hector in the north, ...



...and of Lake Louise and Mt Victoria .



We could also see the backbowls of the Lake Louise ski area. According to sammino, the area just behind my head has the best runs in the whole western Canada and it’s called, of course, Eagle Ridge .



On the way back we stopped to take a final photo of Mount Richardson from Hidden Lake and then headed back to the car .

Hi Mum,

Today we went hiking again around Lake Louise. Our destination was a nice little lake called O’Brien Lake .



As we were feeling energetic we went up the slope at the far end of the lake and found a couple of lovely little tarns .




We asked sammino if we were going all the way up the valley  but he explained that, despite the blue sky, the forecast called for rain and we didn’t want to get soaked higher up the valley...and guessed what, we were not even halfway back to the car when it started pouring down .

Hi Mum,

Old man winter might arrive at any time so sammino said that we have to make the most of every decent day while we still can and this morning we found ourselves at a trailhead near Lake Minnewanka at a very ungodly hour of the day.



So after taking that photo we decided to get another short nap (just over a couple of hours ) and woke up when it was time to leave the trail and follow this gully.



As it turned out, the gully was way steeper than we first thought...



...but once we reached the top we could see the lake again, this time far below us .



From here we could see two peaks that seemed easily accessible and asked sammino which one was our destination...



...but he told us that we were actually aiming for the bigger one covered by the clouds .



So we started walking again and after a few more long hours we reached the top and the clouds had been kind enough to open up for us . Of course, it was freezing cold and the wind was almost gale-force , but the view was incredible . We could see Banff,...



...Lake Minnewanka,...



...the Ghost River valley and even the prairies in the distance ,...



...and some very dark and concerning clouds in the north.



So we decided not to linger and quickly headed back. We reached the shore of the lake just when the sun was setting over the trees in their fall colours ...



...and by the time smaug brought us back to the car, the night had fallen and we were deeply asleep . What a day !

Hi Mum,

The weather is turning cold at an alarming speed , but today we were very brave and decided to go hiking anyway. Early in the morning it was a bit dark, but we still had a good view of the Three Sisters...



...and of Mt. Lougheed and Mt. Allan in the south .



As we gained elevation we started seeing Canmore...



...and the Bow River below us .



Once we reached the summit the wind strong enough to chill us to the bone . Still,  before strategically retreating to more a sheltered spot along the summit ridge , we managed to take a few shots. We could see almost as far as Banff in the west...



...and countless peaks in the south .



On the opposite side we had a great view over more piles of rubble ...



...and we could even see the prairies in the east .

Hi Mum,

smaug has been a bit too busy at work over the last couple of weeks and has almost abandoned us , but over the last few days we entertained ourselves watching the first snowfall of the season . Hopefully we’ll soon be out there playing snowballs battles .

Hi Mum,

It did snow most of the week, but just in the time for the weekend the weather was kind enough to get better and we were able to go for a short walk on the mountains .



This side of the ridge was well exposed to the sun and the wind so the snow had already mostly gone .



On the way we stopped to check where we were on this map.



Eventually we reached the nicest panoramic point of the day from where we enjoyed the view of the Rockies in the west .





As we crossed to the opposite side of the ridge, it got colder and the trail was still covered with snow...a good time to go back in the backpack and find something to eat .

Hi Mum,

It’s been snowing again this week, and quite a bit, so when today we went to the mountains we were not surprised to walk between trees loaded with snow .



And the mountains in the distance were clad in white too .



As we moved on, it looked like the snow was getting even deeper making progress slower and slower...



...so we decided to rest a bit under this tree .



Eventually we reached the summit . From there we could see the prairies,...



...the ridge that we just climbed...



...and beautiful mountains covered by snow in every other direction .

Hi Mum,

After a few freezing, very freezing days, today it was suddenly well above zero degrees, so we made the most of it and headed to the mountains . After a bit of walking in the trees we reached our first viewpoint from where we could see Powderface Ridge (where we were just less than a week ago),...



...Nihahi Ridge...



...and the Rockies in the west .



With another little effort we reached the summit. From there we could see the Elbow Valley making its way north-east,...



...the prairies in the distance,...



...and the Big Elbow and Little Elbow valleys .




Near the top we found this impressive cairn .



As it happens nobody told the wind that it was supposed to be a warm day and up there it was actual freezing cold . So when sammino suggested that the cairn was probably taller than smaug, we took his word for that and, rather than engaging in a proper survey to find out if he was right, we quickly found some shelter .

Hi Mum,

Today we celebrated Tatanka’s birthday . First we blindfolded him and lead him to he kitchen...



...where we sang Happy Birthday for him and partied all day with a delicious cake .

Hi Mum,

Today we got excited as a smaug came home with a little package saying it was for us .



And as we opened it, a nice turtle came out of it: Pepita , one of smaug’s TVs who has come back to spend some time at home. She showed us the lovely card that her last host gave her and then we spent the night up listening about her travels , it’s been over two years since she last was in Canada .

Hi Mum,

We got even more snow today ! So we went for a walk around the river where all the trees were covered in frost .




Later we found this nice trail...



...that took us close to the Peace Bridge, where the river was mostly frozen .



On the other side of the bridge there was open water. sammino explained to us that it has not been cold enough yet for everything to be frozen solid .



At that point we decided that maybe the river wasn’t going to freeze completely very soon, but we were about to , so we quickly went home where we enjoyed the afternoon looking at the snowfall from the window and sipping a delicious cup of hot chocolate .