Biking 2009 - Lethbridge to the West Coast
In 2009 Ron semi-retired, to 1/3 paid time, and we celebrated with the purchase of a couple of new touring bikes - Co-Motion Pangea Co-Pilots - and a 6 week tour from Lethbridge to the West Coast via Highway 3 and the Columbia and Western and Kettle Valley rail trails, with lots of pauses for good food, good wines, and visits with family in Vancouver and Poulsbo. The bikes were wonderful...in 1200 km of rough trails and broken bottles not so much as a flat tire...and they packed as advertised into checkable luggage for the flight back home. The rail trails left a bit to be desired in terms of the surface...too much soft sand and too many big rocks...but the scenery and the style of travel were great, and we came back with next year's tour already frontmost in our minds.
Saskatchewan 2008 - William River and Lake Athabasca
Our canoe trip in 2008 took us down the William River from Hale Lake, through the Athabasca sand dunes, into Lake Athabasca, and finally to Cantara Lake, flying in and out from Buffalo Narrows. As usual in northern Saskatchewan we enjoyed warm water, sunshine, solitude, beautiful scenery, nice campsites, and not too many bugs. This route required lining or wading quite a few long, big rock, very shallow rapids and river-wide ledges over the first few days, and later offered some very interesting runable rapids as well....one of which wasn't, but the swimmers survived the adventure. The 2,000 square kilometers of the Athabasca sand dunes are stunning, and we enjoyed total solitude for the length of the river.
Waterton
Our favourite place in Southern Alberta is Waterton National Park, a gem that extends northward from Glacier National Park in the US. Most weekends in the summer find us exploring its scenic trails, and some of them we also ski in the winter. The park trails are not heavily used - outside the peak summer season we'll often spend a day without meeting another party. Here's a selection of views and flowers.
Lethbridge
Lethbridge has been our home since 1997. The scenery is a bit more subtle than the rockies, and the palette is more gold than green. However the open skies and the surprises of the river valleys have made us converts, and mountain valleys and forests now feel quite closed in....trees really do block the view. Of course Waterton and the Rockies are always on the horizon, and just 90 minutes away, so when we need a change of scene it's easy to arrange.
Family