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/
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- next stop: Banff
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- bucket list destination — WOW!
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- lovely Lake Louise
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- USA meets Canada — my fave blogger Sarah in the flesh!
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- photo credit: sarahontheroad.com
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- day hike, high in the Canadian Rockies
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- stunning turquoise hue
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- hike destination #2: Lake Agnes
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- high altitude paradise
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- life’s best moments are always better when shared
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- back to Canmore for bib pick-up & a pre-marathon Canadian wedding
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- broom & a stone — my favourite winter Olympic sport
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- look who caught the bouquet — back next year?
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- wedding tradition: it’s not really Canadian without hockey
Lake Agnes, Banff
Memorial Day weekend: unofficial kickoff to summer – and for the past 3 years, summer’s meant summer running.
World’s Longest Floating Boardwalk
Set my 10K PR in 2014 at the Bolder Boulder, last year marathoned in Burlington Vermont. Continuing the streak this Sunday in the Inland Northwest at the Coeur d’Alene Marathon.
Direct flight to Spokane, hotel 40 minutes away in scenic Idaho. Huge towering pines. Massive river-fed natural lake. 3 days of mental download, relaxation 🙂
When I originally booked this race months ago, was supposed to travel with a friend – that fell thru so…splurged & booked a room at the Resort which hosts Sunday’s marathon.
Hotel check in, bib pick-up – done in 15 minutes. Nice!
Popped on a jacket & explored the city’s downtown center (Sherman Street). Walked dockside, down the world’s longest floating boardwalk (3300 ft long) – past shops & restaurants, a fleet of recreational watercraft, up n over a floating bridge, then spontaneously purchased a cruise ticket 8 minutes before the ship set sail. Good timing.
90 minute excursion. Saturated in the smell of evergreen, sat on top & took in the lake’s cool breeze. Solo trip. No talk, no FaceBook – unplugged, first day summer vacation.
Disembarked, took in 2 parks, watched the sunset from my tower window.
First day of summer, complete. Running 26.2 tomorrow a.m. New adventure, new experience – first marathon since May 1st, time to get back on the horse. No regrets life.
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- summer begins in Spokane
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- marina view from my hotel
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- U-S-A wavin’ PROUD!
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- what’s a lake vacation without a lake cruise, right?
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- the Coeur d’Alene Resort, my fancy pre-race digs (for a night)
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- late afternoon shore walk
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- the 2-1/4 mile Mudgy Moose Trail along Lake Coeur d’Alene & through Downtown Coeur d’Alene features five life-size bronze statues positioned at locations where Mudgy pauses in his search for Millie
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- McEuen Park, tomorrow’s marathon start
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- Memorial Day remembrance
Lake Coeur d’Alene cruise
Nearly 1 foot of snow falls on Boulder, more expected through morning
The slow-moving winter storm that developed late Sunday had dropped nearly a foot of snow on Boulder by Monday night, with more accumulation expected overnight and Tuesday morning.
National Weather Service forecasters were calling for several inches of additional snow Monday night into Tuesday, with perhaps another inch after 6 a.m. Tuesday.
LOVE LOVE this time of year – brisk morning temps, pink sunrises…and SNOW. Weather ya’ll know is unpredictable – so a Monday/Tuesday storm, while pretty to watch, does not always mean will still be there for weekend play. Colorado high-altitude sunshine burns snow off roads & west-facing trails within a day or 2 (luckily, ground cover stays deep).
Chose an easy hike in Lyons for Saturday – snow increases the difficulty factor. Don’t log in a lot of miles winter hiking…but the landscape/those views are SPECTACULAR. Precip-free drive on 36 toward Estes, hung a left on Longmont Dam Road (County Road 80). Popped the Jeep into 4WD. LOVE LOVE having a vehicle alternative to the Prius 🙂
Relatively late hike start – quarter past 8 – but found ourselves alone this day. Snow.
Leash-free hiking for Sno’ Ro – good day to be dog. Little guy does a good job of staying close on long hikes but always on wildlife alert, better if hiking with another dog.
Followed a plowed trail to the Ranger Station. Unexpectedly easy hike to the dam. Living in the middle of nowhere, new post-retirement goal: Park Ranger 🙂
The St Vrain gurgled from upstream reservoir release. Sucked in high altitude air, wind bit at my cheeks, listened to the river. Quiet. Gotta do this more often, absolutely nothing better.
Deep snow proved a good deterrent for Ro. Sinking to his neck, Ro loped back on trail, glanced behind (checking in on Dad), then greyhound-galloped ahead again. All smiles.
GO BRONCOS!!
Briefly stopped at Button Rock Dam, water exploding from Ray Price Reservoir into the St Vrain. Thick winter ice formed ’round the pipe release – WOW! Crazy beautiful.
Trudged thru waist-deep snow, switch-backing up remnants of the summer trail ‘til we reached the top. Wind blew strong. Little tree coverage overlooking the Reservoir, which traps snow melt for Longmont & Lyons local water supply. Hugged half the reservoir lip before returning to logging roads, hoping to loop back to the trailhead.
Had earlier averted a herd of deer; Ro picked up their scent but didn’t see them, deep snow further deterred his interest. Hiking down from the Reservoir, 4 deer darted across the road & up the mountain face. No stopping Ro – argh. Thinking the rock face would hold back my pup, I didn’t call him back ‘til he had cleared 500ft+ in elevation. Deer continued to climb. Ro looked around – continue up, or listen to Dad & head down.
Overall – GREAT winter hike. Highly recommended.
Sunday a.m. — Morning run, Ro’s annual vet appointment (yeah, on a Sunday), church, then popped 2 previously prepped dips into the oven for today’s Super Bowl gathering at Ash’s house. Wings, jalapeño poppers, man dip (chili, cream cheese, sharp cheddar) & chicken enchilada dip (whole lotta ingredients).
Two of past 3 years, Denver’s made the Big Game. Long, defensive haul — 24-10 victory for our Broncos. SUPER BOWL 50 CHAMPIONS!
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- layered up, getting my snow hike on
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- water spray & ice – WOW!
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- today’s hike destination: Ray Price Reservoir
Button Rock Dam, Lyons
