Embrace The Moments

When the cold and snow comes, you have two choices:

• Be like a bear and hibernate or
• Find ways to enjoy it

At times, I’m not against the hibernation thought and will enjoy the opportunity when the roads are bad and the cold wind blows to hide under a blanket with a book.  On those nice sunny days, it is just nice to layer up and enjoy the scenery.

Living so close to the park, it is always kind of exciting to see that first blanket of snow on the mountains.  On Friday, we packed the truck with firewood, our little barbeque, a propane burner, some food, drinks and games. There are a number of warming huts in the park and we chose one close to a stream.

Ron got a fire going and I made coffee with our new little percolator.

Lunch was cheese burgers with freshly made ginger cookies for dessert.

The hut heated up nicely and after the table was cleaned up from lunch, we played games.  I won scrabble and Ron crushed me in Rook.

As the fire died down, we packed up to leave.  The days are short and we didn’t want to driving in the dark.  We drove around the village.  It was pretty quiet high which allowed the natural habitants to enjoy the area.

With every season and situation, you can either choose to dread/hate it or enjoy/embrace it.  Life seems to be so much easier if you work to do the latter.  

As for our house…still for sale.  I could be upset and angry about that which, of course, would not make it sell any faster or I could enjoy the area and the friends that I have here.  So, after an afternoon in Waterton, my friend, Tracey came for tea in the evening.  Yesterday, I went out for lunch with Reona.  Last night, Ron and I played pool and I won our match.

Loving life!  Embracing the time!

Fa La La La …☃️

After an amazing fall in Ontario and a great one in Alberta….this just happened.

Even with the forecast, it still takes you by surprise.  I just put away my summer clothes and now I’m scrambling to find gloves and boots.

My geraniums survived the whole month of September without being watered and they were looking vibrant.  It made me a little sad to watch the snow fall on them.

It continued all all day and night and so now we have snow banks in October.

The skies have turned blue this afternoon but the rooftops are white.  I’m a little anxious to go to Waterton to see the mountains clothed with their white winter coats.

I do like snow.  Christmas is only two months away and the Christmas parade is only three weeks away. What better way to get you in the spirit than some white stuff?

We also paid our annual Nordic ski club fee today.  ‘Tis the season ❄️

Lower Rowe Lake Hike

The weather has been pretty nice so far this October but it looks like it is about to change.  We decided to take to the mountains on Friday before the white stuff arrives.

Ron started off the day by going to the pool to swim.  I started my day by not doing that.  

The days are much shorter so the hike has to be too.  It was a perfect fall day with clear skies and good temperatures. The hike begins from the Akamina Parkway.  

Right from the parkway, the trail is a gradual incline through the burnt out forest.  Regrowth lines the path which adds new life to the walk.  

After a slow process (for me), we entered into an area which had avoided the fire of 2017.  Looking bad, the view was worth the heavy breathing.

When we reached the point of heading to the Upper Lake, we decided to be satisfied with the Lower Lake.

We had lunch there…salmon (from Kitimat) sandwich. It was a beautiful spot on a really nice day.  I did have to slip on my jacket while we sat there but as soon as we headed back down the trail, it went back in my backpack.

The views going down the mountain were pretty spectacular but unfortunately this is when my knee starts to slow me down almost as much as my lack of oxygen does going up.

Earlier in the year, we would have been going through some streams but at this point of the year, it was pretty dry. There were a couple of waterfalls along the way.

By the time we got back to the car I had about 14,000 steps.  I hobbled into the house to soak in a warm bath and then lay on the couch.  RON WENT GOLFING!  🏌️‍♂️vs 🛌

Yesterday, we worked around the house, putting the gardens to bed, cleaning up the deck and making sure the snow blower is on the ready.

I guess it might be time to get the snowshoes out! ❄️

Just a Walk Around Town

Last Saturday, Ron and I went for a walk around town.  The weather was still really nice and the trails looked golden.

Pincher Creek has over 8 kilometres of trails.  The most popular of the trail goes along the creek.  We sometimes choose this route to try and hide from the strong winds but on this day, there was only a gentle breeze.  

Most of the time, a deer or two greet us along the walk through town. We often wonder where else could we live where deer coexist in the town with people and their pets.

On this day, I was noticing just how nice this little town is.  Murals are painted on a few of the buildings depicting the history of the town.  

At one point, we stopped to visit a young Mountie with his husky.  Of course, a horse and a Mountie would have been a little more impressive but at least this guy cheers for the right team.

A couple of ducks were enjoying the fall flow of the creek.

Across the creek, a man was out for a walk with his cats!  That was a first.

We walked through the Agriculture Grounds.  The golden leaves behind the white fence made for another picture moment.

The last stretch of our walk is a bit of a hike.  The trail heads up along a cliff.  Across the creek is a great off leash dog park.  After I catch my breath from the climb, I always enjoy the view.

From there, we head past the many saskatoon berry bushes which supplied us with a lot of fruit this summer.  The last little up hill gives us views of the mountains to the west and south.

After almost two hours, we arrive back to our unsold house.  It would be nice to see a sold sign on the front lawn but while the house is still ours, we plan on enjoying the area.

On Sunday, we had a couple little guests from church.  They sure can liven up our house!

We were threatened a few times that we could be frozen. 🥶

Goodbye to Summer

On Monday, we used the last warm day to take the motorcycle for a ride.  

The weather was amazing and our destination was perfect. Of course, we went to Waterton.  We rode down the road to Red Rock to have a tea break. We walked up to the falls to get a few steps.  The fall colours are different in the west from the east but still beautiful.

We drove into the village and found a table along the lake to have our packed supper.  We went for a little walk.  

We made our way down the Akamina Road to Cameron Lake.  The last time we had been to the lake, we had used it as a trail head to do the Carthew Alderson hike.  I was thankful this time that we stopped for a tea and then got back on the motorcycle.  Getting back into the village on the back of the motorcycle was much easier than climbing over a mountain to get there.

The days are much shorter this time of the year so we headed for home before dark. 

We parked the motorcycle back into the garage and put our helmets on the shelf.  They will probably sit there now until spring or they get packed.