Hard times for Charles and Cissi...

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Well folks, last time we wrote we were in Lake Louise, waiting for the sun. The sun DID come out, even though it never got warmer than 7C... We got to the crag and started climbing at 10.30 am and gave up around 4, happy and with numb hands. The rock was beautiful, tons of colour, ledges and lay backs, super solid. Enough routes to climb for weeks.
After a great day of climbing, we were really excited and wanted to climb more and therefore decided to NOT go to Jasper but to drive down to Penticton and Skaha instead.
After a late lunch we were so cold and snacky that we decided to pick up coffee and treats and drive down to Radium Hotsprings, which we, for some reason, thought was close by. It turned out to be over 100 km down winding mountain roads, in the middle of nowhere. We got there around 7 and hung around in these 38C mineral outdoor pools, for about 2 hours before we finally got up, all wrinkled, warm and relaxed. This day could not get any better.
But it could definitely get worse.

We got back to the car only to discover that someone had smashed the back window on the passenger side and stolen our day packs, with Charles' film camera, our first aid kit (!), Cissi's passport plus the duffelbag that contained all Cissi's clothes and rain gear. All the climbing gear was still there, thank god, and they didn't get the digital camera or the Ipod. Smash and grab, luckily.
So after cleaning out the glass from the backseat, reporting it to the RCMP and duct taping the window, we went back "home" to Lake Louise. By that time it was pushing midnight, it was pitch black and very cold.
We went to bed in some kind of quiet desperation.... and woke up with pretty much the same feeling. Packed really quickly and headed off to Penticton. There was no way we would camp outside one more night, in the rockies (ice on the tent, frozen water and stiff towels...) so we are now at an HI Hostel in Penticton. The car is getting fixed tomorrow, with parts that are being sent from Edmonton, and Cissi is wearing Charles' clothes.... Showered, fed, doing laundry and drinking wine now, we're feeling "much" better. We hope to find out about Ska Ha climbing and get to the crag tomorrow while the window is being replaced.
Squamish is still in the plans, we're going to go there from Vancouver (possibly replace some clothes and stuff first).

Over all, not such a bad thing, it could have been worse (could be the wine talking, though...).

We'll be in touch,

Charles and Cissi - two travelling bears.

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