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Published: August 17th 2008
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Mt Fernie Hike
The Gang for the Hike of Mt Fernie (Missing: Ian taking the photo).. Hi to all.
It seems like it's been forever since we last made an update. Apologies to all who like to see what we are up to.
We have had a lot of lazy summer days here. High temperatures for the last 2 months, but that's all about to change - Summer here lasts only about 2 months before cooler temperatures set in. Anne has continued to slave away at the Salvation Army, and both of us have been hitting the streets and trails with lots of miles to prepare for the Toronto Marathon. Anne will be walking the 1/2 marathon (21 Kilometers) and I have to say, her walking pace is beyond mine. She is quick!
We had alot of plans to visit parts of the US this year, but we have been waiting almost 6 months for our Visa extension to come through. Our old Visa expired in May, and we cannot travel across borders without a valid re-entry Visa, so we have been touring the local area.
On our list of mandatory things to do was climb Mt Fernie..... 2,210 meters or 7,250 feet! It's been literally towering above us since our arrival, and
Fernie town
From Mt. Fernie Mallory's words kept repeating in our subconscious. So we tagged along with a bunch of friends who planned the trip, and managed to summit in about 4 hours. It was pretty tiresome - it's essentially uphill all the way, however we had that warm feeling of accomplishement at the end of the day to help stave off the tired muscles. Later that week Ian also thought we needed to canoe down the Elk river - so in Deliverence style, we paddled down the river for an hour or so.
We also went back to Island Lake Lodge (about 3 km outside Fernie), and hiked the Old Growth Forest and Rail Trails with our friends Pam, Paul, and Aspen. Aspen did an awesome job finishing 7km in high spirits.
We went to Waterton National Park (about 2 hours drive from Fernie), camping for a few days. Waterton is part of Glacier International Peace Park. The two parks are essentially split by the 49th parallel - Glacier in the US and Wateron in Canada. We did some great Hiking and wore ourselves out nicely.
The place was swarming with wild deer. They know they are protected, and just walk
Mt Fernie Hike
The path we ascended through town like the locals. Other than Deer we spotted a baby Grizzly and some Hutterites. We even had a lovely conversation with the latter.. :-). Hutterites are similar to Mennenites, or the Amish, with a couple of philosophical differences. Hutterites tend to allow certain aspects of technology to help increase productive activities, like farming, cooking etc. Later this month we are heading off to the Glacier side of the park for another few days camping - it's meant to be even more spectacular, if that's possible.
Poor middle-aged Dougall has been in the wars again. This time she had a cyst in between her toes. So off she went again to have another surgical procedure. It all went as planned and within a week, she was running around again. I'm happy to say that after daily walking, swimming in the rivers, and some reductions in Dougall's serving sizes, both Otis and Dougall have never looked fitter or happier.
Since our last post I have commiserated the end of my 30's, and ushered in my 40's. Am I old enough to say I'm a wise man now? Bah humbug to the naysayers of aging. I had a great
party, and like usual, Anne spoiled everyone with excessess of fantastic food.
Recently we attended the Canadian Nationals. It's the bi-annual event for endurance horse riding. It was held close to Red Deer, about 2 hours north of Calgary. We got involved in the event through our friend Leanna, after spending some time with her in Calgary. Leanna is like THE best western rider in the world. Leanna thought it would be a different experience for us, and we could even compete in an event called the "Ride and Tie". We had a great time, volunteered in some of the events to help with the Vet checks of the horses etc.
On the Sunday, we lined up for the Ride and Tie. The object is to get all three team members (two humans and one horse) across a 10 mile cross-country course by alternating riding and running. Sounds simple enough. One team member starts out running, the other starts on the horse and rides down the trail as far as they think their partner can run (or walk) and still keep up a decent pace. At that strategic point the rider stops, dismounts, ties the horse to a
tree or fence post, and continues down the trail on foot. The team member who started on foot gets to the horse, unties it, mounts, and rides to catch their partner up ahead. When they get to their running team member they can either stop and exchange, or ride further up the trail and tie the horse and then continue running. When, where, and how a team exchanges is up to them, and this is where the strategy lies.
Since I have spent about 2 minutes in my entire life on a horse, we decided to limit my time on the horse. Unfortunately the rules require team members to swap at least once. This worked well for Anne, since she didn't want to do any running as it was all uphill AND in bear country!! Anne is a confident rider, however she has not ridden for about 15 years, so she was a bit rusty. Luckily, Leanna had a wonderful friend whose daughter owns a horse called Houdini, that was the most placid, easy going horse your ever likely to meet.
The race official yelled "Go!", and I was off. If I was going to run the whole
Waterton
Centre of "Town" 10 miles on my own, I new I had to match the pace of not only the runners, but also the horses. Unfortunately what I failed to realise was that behind me, Houdini took off too quickly for Anne, and she fell off like a sack of potatoes! Whilst I was off running, Leanna was delivering first aid and motivation to Anne. Although she was seriously bruised, she wasn't broken, and with a gritty, wincing determination, she got back on the horse. For the first 5 mile circuit, I was expecting Anne to pass me, but she never did.
I arrived at the vet check for my mandatory 10 yard ride, and heard about Anne. She came in looking very worse for wear. I got on the horse and rode my 10 whilst we deliberated whether we should continue. Anne was determined to finish, so I shot off again, racing the last 5 miles like my life depended on it. I passed runners and had so much fun when I zoomed passed horses at a technical downhill component, and to my amazement - finished first! I waited patiently as I watched for Anne appearing on the hill. Like a
Waterton
Ian and I atop "Bears Hump" Melbourne Cup contender, she galloped over the hill and had passed all the runners in the race. She came in, feeling like she had been beaten up, but overjoyed when I told her we had WON!
So here we are, a couple of Aussies, competing in the Candian Nationals, that won the 10 mile Ride and Tie for British Columbia! Not to be outdone, Leanna and her horse Sam performed outstandingly in their event, becoming the Canadian champions for 42 mile Competative Trail Riding.
That was a couple of weeks ago now, and Anne is still feeling the "Joy" of winning the race - still sore and bruised. Hopefully she will be back to normal in the next week or so. Very lucky it was nothing more serious than bruising.
As some of you already know, we will be departing this great land in December, and going back to the old world - Europe, and specifically, Bulgaria. We will initially be spending about three months in Scotland, enjoying yet another wonderful Christmas with Anne's family, and travelling about the Highlands. My Cholesterol is a bit low, so I am hoping to fix that issue with some of
David's wonderful Scottish breakfasts - Black Pudding essential. Oh how I miss it. To think I was a vegetarian for a couple of years!
I'll be heading back the Australia in February to arrange the cartage of some of our stuff to Bulgaria, and hope to catch up with many of you in the flesh then. Hope you enjoy the pics - there are a few of them - ensure you click on "page 2" to see them all...
Lots of Love to all, and a BIG congratulations to Christina and David's new baby boy!
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