Adventures in Alberta!

Greetings from our loft at Brewsters Mountain Lodge in Banff National Park, Alberta.  Alvi and I have left the daily grind back home and are here with only three goals in mind: (a) reconnecting as a couple with no kids in tow, (b) restoring our souls by getting close to nature and (c) hiking until our legs beg for mercy.  So far, so good — I would say!

Our arrival in Calgary on Wednesday was quite the treat.  We were greeted with a mixed bag of good ol’ Canadian weather.  And in typical Calgary fashion, it seemed to flip-flop every 15 minutes.  Whilst headed to Banff and proceeding to get very lost thanks to the incredibly helpful road signage (could finding highway 1 BE any more difficult????!), we encountered sun, sleet, hail, blizzard-like conditions followed by rain.  Needless to say I was relieved to have been so thorough in packing for all conditions.

Yesterday we spent the night in Lake Louise and decided we were going to *take it easy* in terms of the hiking/climbing itinerary. Now understand that my life-long passion is to get to the Himalayas and the Andes and scale some big mountains {in fact, this October I was supposed to be climbing Island Peak in Nepal… a trip that had been booked 2 years earlier and then cancelled following the start of the recession} .  So while I was battling with a decent bout of mountain fever {wanting to climb to the top of everything we saw}, Alvi’s mantra was “let’s pace ourselves as I have a new heart and am outta shape!”  {says the man post-open-heart surgery by only 4 months}.  So we struck a balance and opted for a technically easy but lengthy climb to the top of the Glacier of Six Plains.

What a hike, indeed!  I was totally in my element and the trail was not crowded at all.  There were a few times when we needed to stop and catch our breath (both of us); breathing heavy from the altitude gain and also from the steady climb uphill.  But Alvi was a trooper.  Only once did he have to reason with my level of sanity when I begged to veer off the beaten path and climb what looked like a perfectly achievable route to the top of one of the neighbouring mountains.  {Upon our return while caught in the middle of a snowstorm I conceded that it would NOT have been one of my finest intelligent decisions!}  

We had homemade soup and bread along with a kick-ass bottle of wine {thanks to me for lugging the bottle} at the top in a quaint little teahouse which we learned was just 5 days away from shutting down for the season.  Lucky us!!  And then on our descent we ran into the nicest people who had been caught in the storm in their canoe on Lake Louise.  Olivier and Florence, French nationals living in Manitoba, had just managed to pull themselves and their heavy canoe out of the water and were proceeding to carry said canoe in the storm back to their vehicle about 2 clicks away.  

In true Alvi-fashion, he picked up Florence’s end of the impossible-to-portage-canoe {given its design} and trek it with Olivier back to the car while Florence and I chittered away about our lives and the impossible-to-predict weather.  You never know who you might meet in life; this young couple was so sweet and if they ever do find themselves in Thunder Bay and would like to renew their vows we’d be happy to document it for them!  I’m still blown away that they were married last year in an igloo Olivier built himself.  

So on the agenda today is a 4-hour trail ride through Spray Valley and dinner at an Italian restaurant here in Banff.  Cannot WAIT!  We’ll chat later.  

*Note* This little holiday is sponsored with the incredible support from Gramma Dawn and Grampa Mike; both of whom have given up their Thanksgiving to accommodate our busy little munchkins.  Thank you so much, Mom and Dad!  We owe you big time.