Dropped Ro at Divine Canine & vehicle-loaded Thursday after work – weekend destination: Utah. Monday, Colorado Springs; Saturday, Salt Lake City – count it, 5 days between marathons. FAAANNNTASTIC!
8 hour drive to Salt Lake. Well that’s no fun – breaking it up over 2 days however, no problemo 🙂
Lived B-I-G and slept Thursday nite at the historic Hotel Colorado (scored with mid-week, off-season pricing). Presidents Teddy Roosevelt & William Howard Taft plus multiple governors & early-20th century celebrities adorned hotel walls in black-n-white photographs – super cool…unfortunately, little time to browse. Quick ‘express’ hike planned.
Hanging Lake.
Crystal clear water, emerald green hue, and a mountain waterfall. SPECTACULAR view!
That’s the way I described the hike in June 2012. 4 years later – same SPECTACULAR view.
Quick UP & down trek – returned coated in a thick layer of human salt. No wish I woulda. Absolutely no regrets.
Lunch, 3 hours of desert, then north an hour – greeted by the backside of the Colorado Rockies. “Welcome to Cottonwood Heights” and the beautiful Wasatch Mountains. City slogan: “City Between the Canyons”, flanked by Big Cottonwood Canyon to the North and Little Cottonwood Canyon on the South.
Tomorrow a.m. – marathon #70, my third in 13 days.
-
- world’s most irresistible toy — the teddy bear — received its birth at Hotel Colorado
-
- 1.2 mile vertical climb
-
- W-O-W!
-
- clear, clean & emerald green
-
- behind the Falls
-
- life is meant to be LIVED
Hanging Lake (Glenwood Springs CO)
Last time I saw Sarah, she set up a sweet hike above scenic Lake Louise in Banff Nat’l Park. Hike day culminated in a high-altitude tea aside an alpine lake, Lake Agnes. Set the bar mighty high, huh? Well…she IS Canadian after all.
Early morn hot air balloon, diner breakfast – next up, one of my hike faves, Brainard Lake.
Alpine lake, lodgepole pine, glacier snow on the peaks – all at 10,300ft starting elevation…pretty SPECTACULAR. Ever Google the elevation in Toronto? 249ft. True flatlanders. Whatta sport – thin air, little oxygen, yet not a peep of negativity outta Sarah. Hiked to Long Lake – pic I use as my website cover art. LOVE LOVE this place. Sharing the experience with friends, no words. Full heart.
Anything any better? uh…Cue, wildlife. Chipmunks, pika, black squirrels, elk – easy. How ‘bout MOOSE? FAAANNNTASTIC! Shower, change of clothes, night trek up Boulder Canyon to Gold Hill Inn. Fine dining at 8,000ft. Kinda hard to match Banff but folks – an alpine hike, 2 moose & a 5-course meal at 8,000ft – I attempted to reach that bar. WOW, whatta day!
(whole lotta photo credit: sarahontheroad.com)
-
- 5000ft higher than my Colorado home
-
- perfect day for a hike
-
- lodgepole pine & glacier-fed water
-
- Ponderosa pine
-
- thin air & cool temps – LOVE it!
-
- Aspen yellow, the beginning of Fall
-
- photo credit: sarahontheroad.com
-
- website cover art revisited (Long Lake) — my blog’s now 5 years strong
-
- Ro’s a smilin’ — sign of a mighty good hike
-
- FAVE shot of the day!
-
- alpine pallet, so much colour
-
- wildlife alert: MOOSE!
-
- a drink & a soak before heading home
-
- photo credit: sarahontheroad.com
-
- high-altitude fine dining
-
- a rare non-hike, non-marathon, freshly-showered dinner pic 🙂
Sunday: [marathon] bib pick-up day in Colorado Springs. 10 minute chore – check, done.
Garden of the Gods. Monolith red rocks curtained by mighty Pikes Peak in the background. 2 ½ hours from home, but I visit this Park at least twice a year. Any excuse, friend/family visit to Colorado – Rocky Mtn Nat’l Park to the North, Garden of Gods to the South. Both treks highlight every itinerary. AWESOME amazing acts of God.
Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Something old, something new – well, at least new to me. LOVE history, LOVE everything Native American. Visited the three-story Pueblo-style Cliff Dwellings, descendants of the ancient Anasazi (existed 1100-1300 A.D.) Honestly not a ton to see & do, but happy to have gone once. Museum’s a bit dated – more walk-thru placards than actual artifacts.
Dinner & a short tourist walk downtown. Highlight: the healing waters of Shoshone Spring & a random local releasing their pet sugar glider (small, nocturnal gliding possum). Startling, unexpected but pretty cool experience.
Night sleeps in Manitou Springs, tomorrow another 26.2.
(even more photo credit: sarahontheroad.com)
-
- Colorado road trippin’
-
- next stop: Manitou Springs
-
- Pikes Peak — LOVE this shot!
-
- whole lotta folks had the same idea
-
- this Canadian is crazy STRONG!
-
- photo credit: sarahontheroad.com
-
- super FUN day
-
- feelin’ all Native
-
- surprise, surprise — it’s a sugar glider (an omnivorous, nocturnal gliding possum)
-
- small body, crazy long tail
-
- room with a view
-
- tomorrow morning: marathon #69
Labor Day 2016 (Colorado mix)
Ticket in hand, Friday night flight – next stop: Calgary, Alberta.
Sunday would be my first O’ Canada marathon, first race outside the U.S., my first in kilometers. Hold on, rewind – that’s still 2 days away. BANFF! Bucket list destination. Similar to Montana’s Glacier Nat’l Park last July, sometimes the marathon run is only a small subset of life’s Master Plan. I’m going to Banff Nat’l Park – heart of the Canadian Rockies. YES!
Rental car pick-up, hour drive to my Canmore lodging (short 20 minutes from the Park). Struggled motoring in kilometers. Gave up holding 80 on open highway, opted to stay with traffic – cruising 120 kph across the flat prairie landscape.
45 minutes in, the Canadian Rockies towered ahead – HUGE, spectacular. WOW!
Hotel check-in, quick bite to eat. Most amazing part of the evening? Met – in person, in the flesh – my favourite blogger OF ALL TIME.
Started reading Sarah’s Nunavut-based blog posts while trapped in my NYC metro-train commuter life, 5+ years ago. Sarah left behind her comfortable Ontario home, took a job in the Canadian Arctic & shared her adventures online: sarahontheroad.com HUGE fan. Ice fishing, polar bears, Inuit narwhal hunting, the Northern lights – telling ya, hooked.
KISMET. Booked my marathon spot last Fall. Meanwhile, Sarah took a professor position at a Toronto area university & left Nunavut. FaceBook messenger mid-May: Sar’s heading West for a cousin’s wedding. Just outside of Banff…in Canmore, Alberta. On the same EXACT weekend as my first Canadian marathon. Folks, can’t make this stuff up. KISMET 🙂
Saturday a.m. – curbside pickup. Banff in Sarah’s Jeep Liberty. [You didn’t think that kinda lead up was gonna end with late nite burgers? Come on. Kismet, remember?]
Towering snow-capped peaks. First stop: Lake Louise.
Clear, pristine, turquoise hue. Mountain reflection on the lake reminiscent of Colorado’s Maroon Bells. Quiet. No words. Just WOW! With as much solo trekking as I do – gotta say, life’s best memories are much better shared. Full heart.
Next stop: Lake Agnes. Back in Sarah’s rental? Heck, no. 2-mile hike UP. My kind of day. FAAANNNTASTIC!
UP UP UP thru towering lodgepole pine. Iconic views of Louise below. Mirror Lake. Waterfall. AND…a tea house.
An iconic Banff & Lake Louise experience, accessible to hikers of many abilities.
The Lake Agnes Tea House was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1901 as a refuge for hikers. Climb steadily on a forested trail, past Mirror Lake and the waterfall that cascades out of Lake Agnes, before arriving at the idyllic alpine waters of Lake Agnes and enjoying speciality teas and delicious homemade baking.
The family-run Tea House has no electricity or running water. Some supplies (such as flour and sugar for the baking) are flown in by helicopter at the start of the season, but all fresh food is packed up the trail by the staff.
The hike to the Tea House starts on the shores of Lake Louise near the Fairmont Chateau Hotel and climbs uphill on a wide switch-backed path for 3.6 kilometres (2.2 miles). It is rated as a moderate trail and takes most people around 1 to 2 hours, more or less depending on fitness level. The elevation gain is 400 metres (1,312 feet).
The Lake Agnes Tea House is open from early June to October (Canadian Thanksgiving).
Added a jacket & ordered a pot of herbal. Long soak of my alpine surroundings while the tea seeped. How many times in life is THIS gonna happen, right? Amazing life. Just WOW. Mountain weather turned ‘round the noon hour (just like the American Rockies) – light rain, lower elevations…snow on the peaks (but no lightning 🙂 ). Quick [downhill] hike return.
Bib pickup at Banff’s Curling Club – my favourite winter Olympic sport. Ok, maybe not top-top favourite…but always crazy intrigued when they bring out the broom & stone. Kinda like watching bowling on ice. Go Team Canada – gold medalists past 3 Olympics.
Early shut-eye before tomorrow’s first 42.2? Heck no.
What’s a marathon without a pre-race Canadian wedding, right? LOL> Wee bit weird attending a wedding party not knowing either groom nor bride. No regrets though – learned how to properly hold a hockey stick…it’s Canada, eh? 🙂
He said, she said — check out Sarah’s version below.
https://sarahontheroad.com/2016/06/the-american-rockies-meets-the-canadian-rockies/
-
- next stop: Banff
-
- bucket list destination — WOW!
-
- lovely Lake Louise
-
- USA meets Canada — my fave blogger Sarah in the flesh!
-
- photo credit: sarahontheroad.com
-
- day hike, high in the Canadian Rockies
-
- stunning turquoise hue
-
- hike destination #2: Lake Agnes
-
- high altitude paradise
-
- life’s best moments are always better when shared
-
- back to Canmore for bib pick-up & a pre-marathon Canadian wedding
-
- broom & a stone — my favourite winter Olympic sport
-
- look who caught the bouquet — back next year?
-
- wedding tradition: it’s not really Canadian without hockey
Lake Agnes, Banff
