Friday hike

Spent a lovely day in the mountains with H-woman and her friend S. Still a little bummed about my car, but what can I do? Just have to be patient and wait to see what the mechanic has to say. So what better way to do that than to spend a day hiking. I was a little tired, as I was up till 3am getting stuff ready for the picnic, so we did start a little later than usual, not leaving Calgary till about 10:30 - 11. That put us on the actual trail around 2. We decided we were hiking to the Tea House at Lake Agnes and after dealing with some traffic woes on the #1 (they are twinning the highway, so we were stuck at a stop for a while - although it did allow for some nice photos) we made it to the very full parking lot at the Chateau Lake Louise - it's where I want to live for the rest of my life!! Come on Lottery Gods!

Anyway, changed into hiking boots, loaded up the picnic lunch (muffuletta (a New Orleans stuffed sandwich), carrots, hummus, apples, cherries, cosmic cookies and Larabars - quite a feast!) and headed off. Stopped to take some pics of Lake Louise (reportedly the most photographed area in Western Canada) before we followed the path around the lake and started up. And up...and up...and up...it is a 387m climb over 3km, but this was a steady climb the whole way - no switchbacks or level 'breathing' areas - just straight up. It was a warm day too, so we were all sweating pretty good into the hike. Where ever there was a break in the trees, we stopped for a water break, a breather and some photos. The mountains continue to take my breath away every time...I am so lucky to live where I do.

First stop up the hike was Mirror Lake. Gorgeous...and I'm sure cold! A few of the tourists were finding out exactly what "glacier-fed" means! Brrrrrr... And through the trees, you can see the top of the tea house, another .8km away. Off we set to finish the last of it. Nice waterfall surprise just below the tea house, followed by another surprise of a rather large set of stairs. But then it's the tea house...itself rather plain - granted it was built in 1904 - but it's the lake and the Beehive (not a real one, but what one of the mountains is referred to) that really catches the eye. We set out our picnic on one of the tables and chowed down! Worked up quite a hunger...

After catching our breath and satisfying our hunger, we decided it was time to make our way back down. It's not too bad, as it really is all downhill, on a well maintained trail. Think it took us an hour and a half to get up and a half hour to get back down! Quick tour of the hotel and then down back into the hamlet (or is it a village - not sure) to the local candy store for some much deserved ice cream! I only had one scoop (Belgium Hazelnut - OMG!) which was worth every lick. Back into town, taking the Bow Valley Parkway this time (to avoid the construction on the #1), and finally getting back into Calgary about 7:30.

Of course by now I'm exhausted, running about about 5 hours sleep, and breathing in so much fresh air all day, that I was totally lazy about dinner and had a feast of chicken wings (not good at all, taste or otherwise) and pot-stickers. Finally crashed about 10:30 and slept the night through.

Saturday was a relatively quiet day...got up, and picked up H-woman, then met up with C. & E. at the stairs for a quick workout. Did 3 laps, and I did some push ups and triceps dips at the top. Had coffee after with the girls, then off to Walmart to pick up some supplies (before I took mom back her vehicle), then to Coventry (waaaaayyyyy north in Calgary) so that H-woman could pick up the car she's using for the week, and all the way back down south to Mom & Dad's (30km!). H. dropped me off at home and it's been really quiet since.

Got up this morning, had a Green Monster and a latte (first time in quite a few days), a nap, then cut the grass, had a nap, some lunch of salad with some fake lobster (couldn't find any of the real stuff, and I was in a mood), another nap (don't know why I'm tired) and then just sitting around now.

Think I'll get ready for bed, so I can try to get some stuff accomplished tomorrow, before it's back to work on Tuesday. And we're doing boot camp tomorrow as well, which is good, because I'm still regretting missing Thursday's class.

That's it for me...hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Later,