My Life in a Comic Strip

Found this article on the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/29/bill-watterson-advice-to-college-grads-illustrated-like-calvin-and-hobbes_n_3837271.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular) and loved it.  I know I don't lead the most traditional lifestyle, but at least it's mine...  and that brings a smile to my face.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Ha Ling Peak

I met a nice young lady a few weeks ago.  On our first 'meet-up' we went to the Kensington Pub and had a few drinks.  We both enjoyed the company and decided to hang out some more.  On our 3rd or 4th 'meet-up' or date, we went to Canmore to do a bit of hiking.  We climbed Ha Ling Peak.  It's an easy hike with a phenomenal view at the top.  I was rather impressed with her hiking prowess and we had a lot of fun.  Next, we made our way to some Olympic Park where international ski events are held.  After the park we made our way into Canmore and did a bit of exploring.  It's a cute little town with lots of shops.  Anyway, as always, here are a few of the photos.  Stay tuned, the next post is about pizza and a bike ride, with her - I know, exciting stuff!  

 (Starting with the jump shot.  The peak right above my head is the one we climbed.  You can drive a ways up so it's not nearly as bad as it looks.  I think it was about 3 hours round trip.)

(This was as we were coming down.  The peak behind her is not the one we climbed.)

 (My hair is a hot mess, but you can see a bit of the town behind us)

 (Here's an even better view from the top)

 (A different angle of the peak as we were headed down)

(Here she is in the Olympic Park, hence all the flags, trying to point at the peak, but she's a little off.  I guess that's the photographer's fault.)

Blue Rock Campground

A few weekends ago, we went on a little 'camping' excursion.  It was unlike any other 'camping' trip I've ever been on, but I still had a lot of fun.  I think it took about 4 hours to pack the trailer and get it road ready.  I'm used to just throwing a tent in the back of a car, grabbing some food, and hitting the road.  I will say, the meals were of a much better quality than what I'm used to - we had steak one night and pork chops another.  Ended up going to Blue Rock Campground.  The spaces were big enough where you didn't feel like your neighbors were on top of you and it was a beautiful area - lots of little hikes around as well as the Sheep River Falls.  Anyway, here are a few of the pictures from the weekend.  

(This little spot was literally a 3 minute walk from our campsite)

(I had a little fun with the camera on these pictures and let the shutter open for a bit)

(Same falls)

(This was a little further down stream)

(Here's a colored photo, again with the shutter open a little longer)

(Yeah, there are lots of water pictures in this one - first time I used this feature)

(I really liked the colors in this photo)

(This was down just a bit further)

(The girls and I got up early on Saturday and went for a hike along Junction Creek)

(A nice little view of the trail)

(A little 'pool' area)

(I just loved the way the trees looked in the light)

(A little moss on the trees)

(Another mossy shot)

(Another trail shot, it was a great hike.  We were actually on the wrong side of the river for about half the hike...)

(We found a rock and planted ourselves there for lunch.  This was our view.)

(And behind)

(It's easy to see a bit of the flood damage with the trees jammed up behind me)

(The ladies did a great job on a hike, but the mosquitoes were terrible, absolutely terrible)

(Breakfast - bacon, eggs, and some taters)

(Mikey helping set up the tarp)

(She was trying to shoot a squirrel or crow or something, having fun with the slingshot)

(I did a bit of cooking in the morning.  Socks and sandals are not comfortable.  I wish I had my 'Japanese' socks with the space between the toes.)

(Bob enjoying breakfast)

(Mikey drinking her coffee)

(A stone statue in the shape of the Olympic guy)

(Got up early on Sunday and went on my own hike, a chance to get a little peace and quiet and solo time)

(So, the river snaking its way through the valley was the one we followed the day before)

(Taking a little break at the top of the mountain.  It was a pretty steep hike without much of a trail, at least one I could find.)

(Yep, me taking a selfie)

(The requisite jump shot photo - seems to be one of my new favorite photos to take)

(Water source on the way back down - stopped and filled up my bottle)

(Wildlife in the campsite area)

(As you can tell, it was pretty close)

Sheep River Provincial Park and 'Forget Me Not' Pond

Made my way with Bob and the family over to the Sheep River and 'Forget Me Not' Pond.  It was just an afternoon/evening trip.  We get out of the car, and the daughter points at the mountain in the first picture and says, "I want to climb that!"  Well, it didn't take me but a moment and I was in.  Within five minutes we were off.  Shortly after, she said she was only joking, but still came along for the hike.  After we got back from our short hike, we went on another walk and then made some dinner close to 'Forget Me Not' pond.  Here are a few of the photos from our adventure.  

(We didn't have a trail book and just headed towards the mountain)

 (Had to cross the river to get to the other side)

(She <3 ny="" p="">

 (A view as we made our way up to the top)

(A view of the other side of the mountain and valley - notice the flood damage)

(Me hammin' it up)

 (She got a bit tired and rested and I continued up the mountain and this was the view)

(The mountain in the first picture, is actually one behind this one.  Which would have been another 2 or 3 hour hike so I got to here and made my way back down.)

(The trail as I was making my way down)

 (Yep, I was there and here's a photo to prove it -as you can tell, I'm not one for heights...)

(That's a picnic table, again, remnants of the flood) 

 (Just a fun photo)

 (Our second adventure)

(We were trying to get to a pond so Bob could do some fishing.  Unfortunately, the bridge was out because of the flood.)

(For being an hour or so outside of Calgary, it was a sweet little spot)

(The little guy having fun by the river with his bear whistle)

 (A downed tree)

 (Bob doing a bit of fishing - no one was around)

 (Rock Stack)

('Forget Me Not' Pond)

(Me and the pond)

(Time for dinner)

 (Oh yeah - hot dogs.  I think I ended up eating 3 which didn't feel so great later.)

(Family Time around the picnic table)

(The little guy was the hot dog roller)

(Not sure what we were talking about in this photo, but it must've been good)

 (A little bit of wildlife as we left)

(Just hanging out by the side of the road)