Wild Rose Country

So I know it has been a really long time since I last updated my blog.  It doesn't mean that my summer has been wild in crazy.  In contrast, most of it has been quite mundane.  There have bee moments of fun. My sister and my mother both made it out to Chicago to visit, but with Kevin bailing on me for yet another summer, I have had a lot of alone time.  My family felt bad enough, that they suggested I take a trip home. Who in their right mind would deny a visit to the Fairbanks house? Nobody I know, so I booked a flight and took off 3 days later Alberta!

I will warn you, there are a lot of pictures and this is a long post.

What a beautiful sight! Welcome to Alberta.  Wild Rose Country

My mother the Rec major, is always up for a good time.  She had every day planned out with so many events, that I knew there would be very little down time.   I was going to my favorite places and hanging out with my favorite people (except for Kevin of course).  But, even my fabulous mother couldn't predict or plan just how perfectly my trip went. We had a day at Red-Rock with the nieces and Colton, Sister hike to Forum and Akimina Peaks, kayaking with Lloyd, Jackie and the boys, biking down Logan's Pass (Going to the Sun Road), chick flicks, Rook tournaments, and so much more.  It just made me think of what Kevin always likes to tell me "you just want Jackie's life".  Well.....who wouldn't.  She gets to hike at least one a week. Kayak all weekend, and not work.  It sounds pretty good to me.  I really need to figure this out.

Our first day, we were off to Waterton with my mom, Angie, Kelly, and the kids.  On the agenda was a picnic, a little hike, and play at one of my favorite places from my youth.  Red Rock!

It was just as I remembered; beautiful, freezing water, and natural waterslides.  I had forgotten, however,  just how slippery those natural water slides were.  I think I fell 6 times.  Once; flat on my face, three times; on my bottom; and a few more on my stomach, and sides.  Flip flops were a poor choice.  On one of those spills, I really hurt shoulder.  I was a bit concerned because of all the fun I was supposed to be having including kayaking the next day.  I consulted with my Canadian doctor and I think since I am not covered in Canada anymore Dr. Mike just told me I bruised my rotator cuff to get me off his case. So I did what any Fairbanks does; take 800mg of Ibuprofen and sucked it up.

At Blackeston falls.  We had some excellent photographers.

Lots of fun and then we went home to see the rest of the family and play late into the night.

The next day we were scheduled to do our sister hike and kayak.  We were off to Forum Peak and Akimina Peak.  We combined 2 hikes into one....In hindsight, it was a good idea, but I was not prepared with how long the hike was.  Just when you thought you were at the top, there was ANOTHER peak.

So we were off to Waterton again.  Adults only. Apparently the warning for experienced hikers only should be heeded. Kelly cannot be trusted to make plans since she mistakenly assumed we could complete our hike in 4 hours when in actuality it took us nearly 8.

this is us trudging over the bog just before we hit forum lake. 

This is at the top of one of the MANY peaks we hiked that day.  Below is Cameron Lake.  You will see it again in my kayaking pictures. The view was spectacular, and then it started to rain.  We thought it was a bad idea to be on the top of a mountain during a thunderstorm, so we moved on.

And we moved up.  This is the 2nd of like 4 peaks we hiked. If you think it looks steep, it felt steeper. I guess I need to get into better shape.

This was still on our way to the top.  We had to blaze our own trails for a while and climb up rocks instead of a trail. As you can tell, I am still not moving my right arm from one of my nasty spills the day before. 

Climbing up the rocks.

Angie Checking out Forum Lake.  She loves me for this shot I am sure.

We are on our way down!!!! I am losing my toenail, but it was a worthy sacrifice.

Below is Wall lake. We were planning on jumping off the glaciers into the water as Robyn had done the week before, but once the storm hit and temperatures dropped, we were not as easily convinced that it was a good idea.

At the top of Forum Peak.

First we had to get to the top of that peak, then over to a peak on the left, then to one behind the one right above us, then to the ones on the right and one more after that.  Luckily the scenery was beautiful and the company was even better.

Just these 2 more peaks left!

Once we reached the bottom we met up with the men, kids, and kayaks.  We grabbed dinner and headed out for an evening kayak.  Just as we started out, the skies opened up and it started to rain.  Allen and Sam hiked up their kayak skirts and b-lined it for shore. It was quite foolish of them since it didn't last long and then we got the beautiful double rainbow that you can sort of see below.

It was so lovely. 

We went down to the end of the lake and into one of the glaciers that was still there in August.

But with all the water melting, it afforded the beautiful greenery and plentiful waterfalls.

If you look at the top of that ridge, yup that's where we were earlier that day.  As we were finishing out, the sun set, and we had a moonlight trip back.  How could it get better you ask? Well.... on our drive back, we had a front row view of the Northern Lights. I don't know that I had ever seen them so early in the year, but it was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Did I mention all the wild life we saw?  Well...We saw the usual deer, marmots, mountain goats, big horn sheep, a she-moose, and 8 bears.  I'd say it was a success. We got a few pics to prove it.

One of the bears right next to the road on our way to our hike.

A big horn sheep just chillin at the top of Going to the Sun Road.

They were just hanging out in the parking lot. 

The family minus Todd's fam and Kevy. Aren't we cute?

So how do we top our previous day?  Well I am not sure it's possible, but day 3 was equally as fun. We got to bike down Going to the Sun Road.  It was all down-hill, so I could just enjoy the scenery as we went down.

Here is the crew.  Since I had my falls a couple days earlier, I was not able to talk my way out of a helmet.  I make it look good though.

Biking past the weeping wall.  It was sobbing.

Nearing the end.

We were not about to bike back up, so we threw all our bikes in the back of the trucks and headed up to the top.  I just wanted this picture for the record that Jackie was naughty and sat in the back of the truck. 

Thank you so much for letting me come home!

And for more good news....KEVIN COMES HOME IN 3 DAYS AFTER A 12 WEEK HIATUS!!!!!