Travelog for: Squab

Hi Mum,

the weather was not so good this weekend, but today we tried to go for a quick hike in the morning anyway. While we were in the trees we could occasionally see the sun, so we took it as a good sign .



Nevertheless, once we reached the summit, the clouds were closing in from all directions .





Only in the east and in the south it seemed to be still a bit clearer...




...but since it was starting to snow very lightly we decided not to linger and headed back down the trail.

Hi Mum,

guess what? Today we had the first proper snowfall of the season . However when smaug came back from work it was too dark to take any photos , so the main reason for this update is that we have a new guest here in Calgary . smaug came back with an interesting envelope...



...and when we cracked it open a new TV came out, Arn Wes Wilde, a nice tiger from China .



As it always happens when someone new arrives, story telling went deep into the night .

Hi Mum,

After a week of fairly inconsistent weather, today we headed to the mountains keen to find out how much snow , if any, we were going to find. As it happens we found it from the very start and the first hour went by walking on a large snow-covered trail in the trees.



Eventually we came out of the tree cover and started enjoying the wind .



Once we reached the top of Pigeon Mountain the view was great in most directions .





Only in the west the clouds were very dark.



Anyway, smaug was having a hard time taking photos while making sure that we did not accidentally fly away in the gale force wind . So he eventually shoved us back securely in the backpack and we did not see the outside world again until we were back in the car later in the day .

Hi Mum,

We had a new arrival in Calgary today . smaug came home with a new envelope and, as usual, we were tasked with opening it .



And a new TV came out, Matcha a nice frog from Japan . And he brought some lovely chocolate with him .



As it always happens in this cases, the night went by chatting and eating .

Hi Mum,

winter is definitely here and today we went checking out the fresh snow outside of Calgary . When we parked the car it was obvious that there was no shortage of it.



As we moved up the trail all the forest was clad in white ...



...and occasionally we could see that the it looked pretty much the same all around us.



When we reached the highest point of the day the clouds were really nice and opened up to let us enjoy the view .





However they were not nice for long , and soon we could not seen 10 m away, so we slowly headed back home.

Hi Mum,

We had a bit more snow this week, but today it was quite clear, so we went for a nice walk in the foothills . Well, actually there was a bit more snow than we expected during the first part of the walk, which caused smaug to be a bit grumpy . Anyway, eventually we reached the top of Eagle Hill, where we had a great view of the valley we just followed…



…and of the Bow Valley gap into the Rockies .



As it happens, the wind was pretty much gale force , so smaug was having some trouble keeping us from taking off and after a couple of near misses, we decided that the inside of the backpack was the place to be in these conditions .

Hi Mum,

Guess what, we are going on holiday ! Today we finished packing our suitecase and headed for the airport .



See you soon from somewhere else !

Hi Mum,

I’m in Italy ! Well, at least so I have been told . Anyway, time to have a hearty breakfast and when I recover from the jetlag I will investigate further .

Hi Mum,

OK, sammino explained us that we were planning to do some skiing , but not a single flake of snow (or drop of water for what it matters) has appeared around here in almost two months . As a result, skiing, despite a lot of artificial snow been prepared and a good number of runs available, does not sound as great as it normally would , so, to avoid those breakfasts turning us in little barrels , we are doing a bit of hiking instead . Today we went close to town and we soon stumbled in what seemed to be a pit with stone walls.



As it happens, it appears that in the past it was an oven used to make lime that could eventually be turned into quicklime .



After that it was mostly uphill going without any “cultural” excuse for catching our breath , but at last we reached the summit from where we could enjoy great views west ,…



…, north…




…and east.



We assumed the south looked great too, but the sun is a bit low this time of the year and it was parked just there. So looking south just ended in a few burned retinas .

Hi Mum,

Today we went to a nice peak close to town . Early on we found this lovely tiny house . We knocked at the door and peeped through the windows to see if someone was home, but no one answered so eventually we moved on.



Much, much later we reached the summit where the view was, of course, great .




We could also see this lovely lake…



…and Trento in the distance .



We found a summit log too! It was kind of hard to get it out of its case …



…but we eventually managed to take it out and left a sign of our presence here .



On the way down we even found a lovely and quiet spot where we could enjoy a little snack .

Hi Mum,

Today we went out for another short walk near town . As we were walking in the forest we came by this boulder. As it happens, it is not just a boulder sitting in the forest . Well technically it is , but it is also an erratic boulder, that has nothing to do with the rocks found in this area and that was probably dropped here by a glacier at the end of the last ice age .



Later on we found another interesting item. This was a rain shelter used by shepherds working in this area a long time ago . It looked frightfully uncomfortable, so we decided against waiting for a rain shower to test how waterproof it is .



On the way we found a summit log, despite the fact that we were barely over halfway to the summit (this is a strange trail indeed ). Nevertheless we decided that, of course,  we should sign it .



At last we reached the actual summit. There was no summit log here, but we found a lovely spot to rest and enjoy the sunshine while eating a little treat .



Back home in the afternoon we had a surprise: Landroval and Sigfrido had just arrived home for the holidays . As usual, a long night of chatting followed .

Hi Mum,

Merry Christmas !

Tonight we are celebrating Christmas Eve . There was quite a lot of food on the table , but our attention focused mostly on dessert .

Hi Mum,

Today we are heading to the airport to fly back to Canada, so this morning we said goodbye to Tatanka and Sigfrido who will stay in Europe .

Hi Mum,

We have quite a long connection in Frankfurt, but luckily we managed to convince smaug to get a few supplies that will help making the wait less boring .

Hi Mum,

Happy New Year !

We are a still bit too tired and jet-lagged to engage in big celebrations, but at least we still have some of the tasty supplies we grabbed yesterday at the airport .