It has been many days of no real activity ( of the exercise variety) with the long haul across some of the mountains. One night stops leave little time for much other than driving, hitching and unhitching…… so….our first trip was a bike ride up to Abandoned Rail brewery. ( https://www.facebook.com/Abandoned-Rail-Brew-Co-103319455245059/ ) 30km round trip….seemed like a plan.
Its a new brewery on the north east side of Penticton with connections to the Paris brew. …..( the head brewer Peter Schultz, is a protégé of head brewer Christian Von Der Heide at Paris brew. We met Peter helping out at the Paris Brewery stall at the farmers market in Lions Head…a lifetime ago )….it seemed like a plan to bike to somewhere we might be able to get a beer….!!!!
From the campground at Wrights beach we can jump right on to the KVR (Kettle Valley Railtrail )….so we were able to follow the beach line around the south shore of Lake Okanagan…and then the trail continues up through the vineyards to where Abandoned Rail brewery is right on the trail.
The trail wends its way through a Japanese garden, historical ships and many sculptures along the way.
….and then up through the vineyards and apple orchards on the north east side of Penticton.
Turned out the brewery is still under construction….ah well….we may have to bike back up there another day…!!! Beautiful trail…!!!
Abandoned Rail brewery.
We followed the bike path down through the town of Penticton and were rewarded with another find…………Tin Whistle brewery…….not to be cheated out of our beer. They have a patio but don’t serve food…instead they encourage you to bring your own. The owner directed us to the Thai restaurant (the Joy..) where we picked up very delicious take out to go with the beer. It was a good find…….and good beer…!!! Turns out the owners are from Ontario….so may be visiting the Paris brew on their next trip to family…!!!
Next bit of the road….again…long haul up….then unbelievable steep switchbacks down in to Osoyoos……its impressive…..my legs were totally cramped up from braking all the way down…and I was not even driving….!!!
This might become the subject of a future post……the symptoms this cramp created and the solutions I found were…..enlightening…!!!
The road winds ever downwards into Osoyoos and is both spectacular with the views of the valley and the lake….and terrifying….. a steep winding road with impossible seeming switchbacks and hairpins….the pictures just cannot do this road justice.
Osoyoos is a little Shangri-La in the valley between the mountains. It’s definitely more temperate…and orchards and vineyards as far as the eye can see.
We had not managed to secure a campsite in Osoyoos so we were headed another 20 minutes north up the valley to Oliver and Gallagher Lakes campground. A very beautiful campsite….but one of the tightest spots we have had to squeeeeeze into so far…man they pack them in. Looking around at many of the other RV parks in the area….for such a vast landscape….the campgrounds sure rack ’em and stack ’em.
But another tick in the positive box was that we were in a site right next to a cute little Airstream Bambi.
Oliver continues the theme of BC we have seen so far….fruit and produce in abundance. The road is quite literally lined with grapes and apples. Wineries every hundred yards it seems.
The late summer weather is starting to fade a little and fall is quite definitely in the air. The US border is still not open and so it looks most likely that we will try and winter here in Southern BC and head back to Ontario in the spring if we can drop down in to the US to swing back around……and so the hunt is on for a spot…many of the campgrounds are fully booked…with the border still closed many regular US bound snowbirds have snagged all the spots in Osoyoos….
We might have found one on the southern end of lake Osoyoos from the beginning of December…
In the meantime we will head up to Penticton. Like many of the roads we have travelled…this one is tough to drive…..cos the driver has trouble NOT staring at the scenery instead of the road…LOL..
A winding road up the side of Lake Skaha to Wrights Beach campground. I was not hopeful for this one….but the site they put us on was just spectacular…..
We decided to stay for a bit and have a bit of a home base here. Penticton is a good sized town with everything we need and 4 craft breweries, what’s not to like ? There are also a ton of great trails and walks close by….great spot to be…
Its windy here ..but its a south wind and warm…..Lake Skaha is beautiful….I cant stop staring at it as I walk to the laundry….I’m going to injure myself one of these days from not looking where I am going.
Pulling out along the valley was very pretty…..then……..we got to the Kootenay pass……1800 metres at the top of the pass…….its a long haul up……..and seems like an even longer haul down…..Oh Boy….its a road….. Kicking horse had one runaway truck lane…..Kootenay had at least 12….I stopped counting…….!!! The haziness is not smoke…its pouring rain…..!!
Just to make the point there are avalanche gates as you approach the top…… a breathtaking journey….both beautiful……and terrifying with signs that said 6% grades for 8km…….8% for 4 km….and it seems to be a never-ending down as you gaze down into the valley…and up ahead to more mountains.
I don’t think I had ever really appreciated the scale of these mountains…….not just the size of them but the scale of the landscape they cover.
We did a one night stop at Country Hideaway in Grand Forks…….lovely little spot…….would defo return in the summer…
The park is tucked in to one of the meanders of the river, far enough off the road to be really quiet….but close enough to still be convenient. Best showers so far….the owners were super nice …lovely park.
Mike…the owner said we still have some big hills before we get to Osoyoos……..my eyes are wide in apprehension of what’s next………the trip over even more mountains to Osoyoos.
We stopped for a sandwich break in Greenwood. There was a convenient spot to pull off the road and we were getting hungry. (As soon as we stopped…two other rigs pulled up beside us…….LOL…it was a good spot…!!!) It turned out to be a very fortuitous stop. Greenwood was a little gem.
Turns out….unbeknownst to us …Greenwood had a big role to play in the internment of Japanese Canadians in wartime as the first town to offer to take in those forcibly removed from the coast. The town imparts a real reverence for the relationship it developed with the Japanese families it homed in a mutually beneficial arrangement to repopulate the town. https://www.greenwoodnikkei.ca/page7.html
It had originally been a mining town….but its smelters were shut down and the town was dying…….the xenophobic actions of the Canadian Govt towards the Japanese living on the Pacific coast and their forced removal saved the town it would seem.
…..and the town has this fascinating ‘American west’ vibe…even in its currently run down state. I’m not sure how much of its recent disrepair is COVID related……but what a great little stop….
Next big score in Greenwood…..a trailer friendly gas station at the other end of town…..so quick gas fill up and then next stop will be Gallagher lakes in Oliver BC
And so…..we pulled out of Lost Lemon a little reluctantly…..it would have been good to have spent a bit more time here, but we also need to get a bit further west so that…if we can’t get across the US border for a milder winter….we can find a slightly warmer spot in Canada. We have already given up on getting back to Ontario before the winter hits. The original plan was to arrive in the west in time for the border opening so we could swing south and back around to Ontario. Latest news is not optimistic for that to happen anytime soon. So we continue west.
The drive through the Crowsnest pass to Creston is as we expected low rolling grades…..and we dropped quite a bit of elevation……..it felt like we were going mostly downhill to Creston.BC… (apparently the best place to retire according to surveys in 2015.)
The weather is definitely milder here and there are so many fruit stands…every second driveway had a sign selling fruit and veg.
Arrow Mountain rv park…not the nicest one we have ever seen…….its attached to a Ramada hotel…..the free hot showers were…….rustic….I was going to take a picture….but that would have meant going back in there. It was clean enough ….dont get me wrong….but ….it was a concrete block building…inside and out…..Inviting it was not……!!!
No security, no gate ….water sewer and 50 amp sevice……lady was keen for us to winter there…….mmmmmmm….nope…We did stay for a couple of days since…once we were there and unhitched…we still wanted to see a little bit of Creston.
Pretty little town with lots of fun sculptures scattered around…..and an abundance of local produce…
..Time for a hike…….this one was quite different…..very little elevation and very different landscape, ….a very beautiful walk…..Creston marsh trail….
Creston Marsh trail.
We met a couple just finishing up the walk as we were starting…we had just been discussing whether or not we needed the bear stuff…….the chap we met said there had been bears sighted on this trail in the previous week….so….valley floor….with bear spray and bells….!!!!
Turns out Creston Marsh is also a birding spot……there were a family of pelicans on the water…but we were too far away to get pictures……we did spot some turtles popping their heads out of the water……no bears…!!!!
Very different to our usual…but a super walk……
As lovely as Creston Valley is…we were not sorry to pull out of the campground here….So off we headed for the next part of the trek across the bottom of British Columbia through the Kootenay Pass………..and then came …..the Kootenay Pass…….!!!
Don’t ask me why….but we felt the need for something a bit more challenging for this last walk from Lost Lemon .
The North York Creek Plane Crash trail is a 20km hike according to Alltrails…..we found it to be a bit more….!!!but it seemed likea worthwhile effort….
The plane crash happened in 1946……but apparently still has quite a bit of evidence/debris around the site. ………and of course….now we have our bear spray and bear bells…!!!….so a longer walk/hike seems like the order of the day.
As we have come to expect…..the drive to the trailhead was an ‘interesting’ road. Alltrails suggested you could get your vehicle further up the trail than we were comfortable with (even with the ground clearance and 4 wheel drive….and dry road conditions…!!)……and the whole trails is used by ATV’s and scrambler bikes…so its an easy trail to follow (by easy I mean that you can easily see where it goes……the hiking part gets a bit more challenging in places…)
I have to laugh as I edit my way through these pictures…….none of them are posed…Scott does a lot of racing ahead of me…or up a side path or hill…..or lagging behind to take these shots……I just keep plodding along……grumbling a bit on some of the steeper hills….it has to be said…!!!
Again…as I have said so many times on this trip….the views are spectacular…….
…and once you actually make it to the top……(its a looong way…..!!)….it is truly amazing……..The view itself is spectacular….but once you get to the site…it is amazing how much of the debris is still very evident…..this happened 75 years ago…!! ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GaCXQgR9Iw )
Its also quite surprising how much colder it is at that elevation…….time to go back down…….making lots of noise as we go……cos…again…lots of bear prints….!!!!
….and of course……..some fungi along the way…….!!!
We were…….tired..( Editor. Could it be the 5 hours of fun ? )…at the end of this one……Kind of the opposite end of the scale from Turtle mountain….but just as rewarding…….
After a day off to recover from the Turtle Mountain shenanigans….the day coincided with the Blairmore farmers market….a small but well attended market. Not a lot of vendors but enough to get us restocked with some Mennonite eggs and veggies ( and some Okanagan fruit ) so worth the trip…
Next hike…
Trail map
Coal miners lake.
The trailhead was in Livingstone (park?) right on the boundary between Alberta and BC. Another challenging road to drive up…….(slowly, cautiously and thankful of 4 wheel drive…!!!) Once we got to the parking area……it looks like a great spot for wild camping….if you have a tent…or an RV with some ground clearance..!!!
…the trail was a fairly wide path obviously used by ATV’s…..but still not an easy one to walk. Lots of loose rocks, a couple of creek crossings that resulted in clean shoes…..and some mud puddles demonstrating both adult and baby bear footprints……
This yielded some pretty serious discussion about acquiring some bear spray…….We did not see any actual bears…and …ironically did not see much wildlife……you take the trail that is recommended for wildlife sighting….then have to make a bunch of noise to avoid surprising any bears…!!!We are pretty sure we saw moose tracks, definitely some bear prints and either a big dog…or something of that ilk had trekked through the mud spots also.
It was also a day of my favourite little guys…..in many varieties
I really need to get myself a good mushroom book……or an app or something….cos Im pretty sure at least some of theses would make good soup….!!!
The top of the hike was at the lake (Coal Miners lake..!!) a little man made lake that must have been part of a coal mining operation at some point in the last hundred years……It would have made a lovely camp site……but I’m sure we were there at the right season to NOT be eaten alive by bugs…!!!!
Next couple of days we were forecast for rain….and with some of the hikes we had been doing……it seemed like a better idea to drive to Fernie for a look around…..
Halfway along the valley….we just had to stop in Sparwood…after seeing the signs for the’ Worlds Largest Truck’…..!!!!
Sparwoods claim to fame…!!!
Fernie is a lot like Paris in many ways……lovely little town with lots of small stores on a main shopping street…….but with the addition of some spectacular mountain scenery around it……
There are some really lovely buildings…and a couple of good outdoor stores….that sell bear spray……Yes…we did purchase some…!!!
Bear spray
….and then we came home and watched multiple vides on how to use it……!!!!
All ready for the next big hike…..Plane Crash trail…..!!!!
It seemed like a good idea at the time….it was close to the campground…….
The first Alltrails map is the planned route…….the second is the hike/climb we did. ….and yes…it really did take us 2 hours to do 3.4 kilometres……and we turned back at the lookout in the interests of getting to the bottom again alive. My legs were shaking with fatigue the last bit of the climb down …..it was such a challenging climb.
Good fun tho……
Turtle mountain trail …craaaaazy trail….defo the hardest we have done….we did not cover a lot of distance but the elevation was serious…and the path on the way up was hands and knees at some spots. It was one of those hikes where its hard to tell if you are more apprehensive about the climb you are undertaking or the certain knowledge that you have to , somehow, get back down….!!!…..But the view was totally worth it.
The climb up……..
You may have noticed that I did not take many of the pictures on this hike….nope….I was too busy clinging on to the rocks and tree roots….trying not to die…!!!!
But again …the views ….and the experience were spectacular…..
The route guide said this was one of the best views of Frank Slide…….it was…but lots of trees there also made it difficult to photograph…that and feeling like you were hanging off a cliff edge by your toenails……
We had kind of decided that we were going to turn around at this point, and the wind picked up enough to solidify that plan….so back down…eeeek…!!!
It was also quite smoky again that day…….
Big relief to be back down safely….glad of the proper footwear…!!! ….and pleased to have done it….hindsight, safely on the ground again….yes it was fun…….
How are we going to top that one…
We had a long chat with Tanya and Jordy (our Lost Lemon neighbours and local hike experts ) about some of the local hikes. Among the recommendations they made…the strongest one was to get bear spray……there are not just black bears here but also grizzlies……..(erp…!!)
We finished the day with a walk out in the evening to the local hotel/bar/pub. Wednesday night was supposed to be jam night at the Greenhill……..
Trip advisor describes it as ….’dated’…….!!!! (Editor, Dated comes somewhat close. The staff were only partially warmed from the permafrost and the band played a wide variety of ‘classic rock’ numbers all at the identical pace of pouring cold molasses. )
After six days of boondocking…it was time to head west again,,, destination this time was the Lost Lemon campground in the Crowsnest Pass. We had decided that, having already been through the Kicking Horse pass on the trip to Golden, that it might be an opportunity to travel a different route through the mountains…possibly an easier pass for hauling Xolo….as beautiful as she is….she’s no delicate featherlight flower when you want to pull her up hills…….
Alberta is generally pretty flat. A fact accentuated by that most wonderful horizon that is the Rockies.
The other problem we found travelling this road south of Calgary……its not a particularly densely populated area….so there are not a lot of roads to choose from…..but…intrepid travellers….we wound our way down to 3a west…..
First sight of Crowsnest Pass……..quite beautiful scenery as we approach the mountains again…..
On steep downhill sections there was no need for the engine brake to kick in as the incredible wind coming straight at us actually slowed us down.
.Breathtaking……again……
…and then unexpectedly…the landscape changes again….
and the road passes through this incredible rock field…lots of road signs for Frank slide. A history you Canadians may know of but we were completely unaware of…..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Slide .
In 1903 the town of Frank, a mining town, was hit by a massive rockslide (110 million tons of rock fell off the mountain…!!!) half the mountain collapsed wiping out part of the town and burying 70 people in 100 seconds with no warning. They only recovered 12 bodies…….its quite the thing.
view from the Frank Slide centre….
The rock landscape remains….they dug out the road and the railway, you can see the channels through the rocks from the mountains around….but the rest of it remains…this unbelievable bare rock lunar landscape…..even though its been over 100 years since it happened……..a sight to behold for sure…..
Lost Lemon Campground in Blairmore….is by far the prettiest campground we have stayed in…..the views, 360 degrees of mountains….it is spectacular…….its also a well run, tidy clean campground…a credit to its owners. ( https://lostlemon.com/ )
First order of business when we arrived was laundry…and showers….We originally intended to only be here a couple of days….but it was so pretty we decided to stay an extra few days…..and according to Alltrails there are a lot of great looking hikes in the Crowsnest Pass….
Blairmore is a stones throw from the border between Alberta and BC……the local brew pub is the Pass brewery, touts itself to be the last craft brew before BC…..
We met some lovely neighbours in Lost Lemon, Tanya and Jordy…according to them the Lions bingo night at the Pass is a riot. We did not make it….maybe next time…..
First hike we picked from the many available was Lille ghost town…..still on the hunt for that ghost town…!!!
Lille Ghost town trail
The hike itself did not start out too promising…it was a long drive up a very bumpy (full of mega potholes) road……and then the walk itself is up a trail used primarily for ATVs………it was a bit of a slog on the way up…it has to be said…..
But still beautiful
………with some interesting ‘sights’ along the way
very old, who knows how it got there…sedan…!!
The Alltrails guide suggests photographing the map at the trailhead to find the various bits of the town. We totally bombed on finding the cemetery.
There are so many bits and pieces still there, bed frame, water pump, barrel rings….these things are over 100 years old and have been laying out in the open….but still quite evident as to what they are. It was a worthwhile walk to get there…..
The coke ovens were built in Belgium……every brick was hand numbered….they were disassembled, shipped to Canada, carted up the mountain and reassembled in Lille….only to be abandoned a few years later…….
A testament to the structure itself….over a hundred years later it still stands…..
We also managed to find mine no. 3
There was also a wonderful array of my favourite little guys….fungi…!!!
Couldn’t find mine no. 2…….even with a bit of trekking back and forth with the satellite image to compare to the map….but it was a lovely walk down……
Mine no. 1 is the easiest to find….
Cool walk…… Scott spotted a black bear on the drive down……briefly, as it ran across the road……I was way too slow on the camera.
It was a long walk and the rocky road is hard work climbing up and climbing down…..but its a hike worth the time and effort cos the stuff at the top was so interesting.
Where will the next hike take us….many to choose from……..
Ever since our first trip to Patricia when they told us about the rodeo we were pretty keen to come back for this….they promised it would be fun…they did not lie…..
Pulling out of Spring Hill
When you forget to fill the truck before hooking up . We take up a lot of real estate in the gas station. (guilty…editor)
Super excited, we were told we could arrive at the campground anytime after the 1st of September……so you better believe we were there with bells on……on the 1st…..!!!
Back at Badlands Mercantile in Patricia, AB
We found a spot at the bottom of the grounds next to where the ag weigh scale is……essentially we scored a level pull through spot. We were not the first trailer there…and talking to a few folks gave us what we needed…..ie stay away from the back fence… where the young’uns camp….and where the all night party (noise..!!) happens.
This meant getting a couple of meals at the legendary Patricia hotel before it got too busy.
All day we watched more and more trailers pull in…groups that pulled their trailers around in circles so 4, 5, 6 big trailers in a circle with the party spot and camp fire in the centre. At the other end of the grounds, huge tractor trailers carrying mostly horses were pulling in and setting up little electric fence pens for their fancy race horses…
What an amazing atmosphere in this place….
Thursday night at the hotel (for supper again…!!!) we met up with the guys from one of the chuckwagon/chariot racing teams…Jim O’Connor…the Fighting Irish..!!…and his team Greg and Wayne. They kindly invited us to come over, see the horses and the set up and get some pictures….really nice folks….
Friday night kick off with these shenanigans……classic start with the chariots and chuck wagons……essentially the chariots run with two horses and the chuck wagons with four…….its crazy fast……..
Then they have the mini chucks…….chuck wagons with mini horses…..it sounds like an exhibition event….but these little guys are giving it just as much as their full sized compatriots…..the girl in the green shirt in the first picture is 8 years old…..!!!
Bull riding under the lights.….interestingly….its a lot more skillful than if you have ever seen it on tv……and the real stars of the show are the pick up guys. They are the cowboy guys on horseback whose job is to safely calm down the horse/bull once the rider is bucked, and to return them to the gate without any more fuss….These guys were absolutely amazing. We were too far away in the stands to get any decent pictures with just phone cameras, but one of the official photographers ( Scott was chatting to her for a while..!!) posted a selection of hers on her facebook site. http://lindapierson.photography/ ……I have used some of her pictures in the next section.
Bull Riding
Pick up guys
Girls arrive Saturday…woo hoo…another visit from Bronagh…….this time we got her from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon….
In between a lot of the events, the field has to be evened out again (harrowed….) they have a guy in a big tractor doing a lot of the work….but they also had teams of heavy horses doing it the old fashioned way.
Saturday morning was a lot of the skill stuff….barrel races, roping and such like things.
Saturday afternoon kicked off with the wild horse race…wow this is a thing….apparently Patricia is one of the very few rodeos that still does this…..and once you have watched this train wreck unfold …..its easy to see why….
Teams of three (there were 6 teams) a wild horse is (haltered) released from the chute……with all three guys hanging on to the rope…….once the horse crosses the line…they have to reel it in, put a saddle on it….get a guy in the saddle and he then has to ride around the track and make it back to the arena….its sheer unadulterated crazieness…….
Bronco Riding….as if the wild horse race crazieness was not enough…!!!
Saturday night dancing. The live band was the Patricia Chicks….they were reeeeeaaalllly good.( https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2914783991870593 ) . Tracy Millar is the main artist that sings in a trio every year for the Patricia Rodeo. We actually got to dance a bit…….Great thing about rural Alberta is……everyone can two step it would seem….great fun on the dance floor with lots of peeps up dancing.
Mutton busting ….now this was a whole new thing we had never heard of before……little kids…4 to 7 come out of the chute on the back of a sheep……they pretty much just have to stay on…..most of them don’t. Bronagh was highly entertained….fully understanding that if she had grown up in Alberta….she (and her siblings..!!) would have totally done this. Kids are pretty hardy round here…it was fantastic to watch these tough tough kids.. (boys and girls) play hard, fall down and get up……get filthy, get kicked, stomped and dragged through the dirt….and get back up and get on with it…..
Sunday morning was the heavy horse log races…….(not really a race….but an extreme skill challenge driving the heavies around cones pulling a log…..quite the demonstration of skill…..as expected…the old guys totally had it down….but there were also quite a few kids competing….)
Sunday afternoon is the Little Britches rodeo……so most of the kids events happen on Sunday. …OMG these kids……little kids on huge horses. just giving it. These kids are amazing…..
This next kid managed to rope his calf, but did not have the rope to tie it…….so his horse held it while he sprinted across the arena to get it from his trainer…then back to the calf, dump it over and tie its feet…to win….cos he was the only one to actually complete……..just shows….never give up….!!!
Cow pie bingo…hilarious……there was a 50/50 that we missed out on on the Friday night…but we managed to get a spot in the cow pie bingo……essentially the arena is measured out in a grid…..you buy a square for $5……….and in the intermission on Sunday afternoon, a cow is released in to the arena…….if she poops on your square…you win $1000……..at $5 a ticket……love this…..total redneck coolness….!!!
Little britches wild pony race…some of the teams were girls….and they were no slouches…..unlike the wild horse race, the kids just have to get a hold of the pony and get one of them onto its back. Some of the kids were just too little to get up there….but it did not stop them trying…amazing…..
All good things must end tho….
End of the rodeo for this year……
This trip was 6 days of boondocking…..the longest we have done so far with no services…….it worked out tho…and a few things learned. Next time we will do a bit more food prep and be sure to have an extra case of bottled water.
Monday….pull out to Lost Lemon…..a campground in Blairmore at the beginning of the Crowsnest Pass……
Lastly I’m going to add a gallery of some more of the pictures Scott snagged during the chuck and chariot races…..
Still at Spring Hill /Cochrane…….the search for a hike took us a little further afield , still in Alberta just slightly south of Canmore.
Grotto Canyon Trail …..be warned ..there are going to be a lot of pictures on this one…..
The area around Calgary itself is relatively flat (for anyone that has not been there..) which gives you this fantastic vista of the mountains as far as you can see to the north west…and to the southwest…..so as you drive west towards the mountains all you see in front of you is this spectacular landscape….
……..and sometimes the view behind can be quite interesting……we almost ran in to these loose horses…..
Grotto Canyon Trail
Starting out on the walk…..from a very busy parking lot…..we downloaded our Alberta Park pass for the day and set out with diminishing hope for the walk. There were so many cars and people in the parking lot, and the beginning of the trail was wide, smooth and followed the power line. Many people in sandals…….not a sign of a good hike…..!!!!
Once you get to the bottom of the canyon it gets a bit more interesting….
According to the reviews…most people walk up to the waterfall and then turn around….and indeed it is a very pretty walk. Before you get to the waterfall there are even some pictographs on the canyon wall.
The further we went up …the higher the rock walls became…and then…..there were fleets of young things scaling the rock faces…….fabulous climbs….if you like that sort of thing…!!!!…and you could see lots and lots of pitons driven in to a lot of the walls as we proceeded.
There is a corner you turn (as you climb ) that leads you into the inukshuk garden. Its a rock field where everyone seems compelled to build little figure with piles of rocks…..its strange moment of…actually a bit impressive to see so many ranging across the canyon…to a little bit creepy with all these little people-like things surrounding you…!!!
…and every corner we turned made the next one a little more compelling…as the view of the mountains behind just got better and better. It was a perfect day, low 20’s, no humidity, no bugs…..
Eventually we had to stop….as we decided we still had to get back down safely…and too tired legs might not do that too well…!!!!
So…..back down we go……..and just to illustrate how unprepared people are for this typ of hike…….not only were there people out on the early part of this walk with sandals…….but just below the waterfall we met a family with a weiner dog……three inch legs battling this rocky terrain……..Sometimes you just can’t acount for folk…!!!!
Al trails failed us a little in the middle of this hike and paused recording through part of it……Scotts phone measured us at about 9.5 km…..this was my favourite hike so far…we will see what the editor has to add…!!! Editors note. Fabulous place, we had the bulk of the walk to ourselves and around every corner a new vista, was difficult to turn around …. last corner…ok after this one we’ll head back.
Next trip….we have to go home and pack up to go back east a little to Patricia for the Patricia rodeo…….sooooooo excited……!!!
oh…and here is a little aside…..not sure where else to put this…..and be warned…its gross…..we had been having a little trouble with the bathroom sink draining (or not..!!) an getting steadily worse…..the longer stop over at Spring Hill let us do a few repair and maintenance jobs (like how I call it we…!!!)…….I did provide some assistance in this instance…by passing some rags to the worker…!!!
In my defense…this is NOT my hair…….!!!!
We are presuming the previous owners…or at least one of them had long hair……
OsteoPraxis on the road 