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Mount Allan, Canada - 26th September 2009
By: smaug
Hi Mum!
today was a lovely sunny day so smaug decided to have a final (for the season) high mountain hike. Our destination was Mount Allan in the Kananaskis Provincial Park. We spent the first part of the day climbing up a thick forest (where we tried to take some photos without getting anything presentable in an update ). When we eventually came out of the trees we were on a steep ridge overlooking Kananaskis Valley. From the ridge you could see the valley heading north…
…and south…
…this big mountain called Mt Kidd...
….and the top of the ridge, called Olympic Summit. Just next to it is the Nakiska ski area (that you can't see in the picture) where all the alpine ski races where held during the 1988 Winter Olympics, hence the name…or at least I guess so .
Once we reached Olympic Summit we were not even half way to our destination . We had to follow a long and very, very windy ridge (so windy that the rucksack was shaking all the time, just like being in a boat ). From the ridge we got some lovely views over Kananaskis Valley and the surrounding mountains .
….and we could also see our destination, Mount Allan. Here you can see Mount Allan on the right and the much higher Mount Lougheed on the left.
Halfway through the ridge we came across these funny pinnacles formed by rock that obviously couldn’t be eroded as quickly as the rest of the mountain .
Eventually we reached the top at 2819m and the view, of course, was great : we could see the Bow River Valley in the north-west…
…Kananaskis Valley in the south-east…
…endless mountains in the north…
…and Mount Lougheed just in front of us
On the way back smaug decided to enjoy a bit the sun by laying in the grass. So we took the chance to come out of the rucksack, have a bit of fun by ourselves and so we went climbing . First we organized the team: smaug (before falling asleep) suggested to have the two best climbers leading and closing the team. Everybody agreed that black bears are natural born climbers and I should go first…everybody but me . Nathalie and sammino, being flying TVs, were going to support us by indicating us the best routes and holds from the air.
Phew! Climbing is hard work !! It is a good to have Nathalie supporting from above…and I have to say that maybe people are right about black bears, I was feeling quite comfortable climbing up .
Here I was resting and waiting for the others to join me at the top of an angled fissure…with sammino and Nathalie keeping a watchful eye on us all the way.
How tiring!! But how great to reach the top and sit all together watching the landscape ! I think I actually like climbing .
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Posted Sep 29, 2009, 3:40 am Last edited Sep 29, 2009, 4:22 am by smaug
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Richlands, North Carolina, USA - 6th December 2009
By: Pixiedustlady
Hi Mom!!! I am SAFE!!! I am at Papelbons house!!! I was rescued with four other TVs!! we were stuffed in a envelope and flew 3000 miles across the USA and now we are SAFE!!! I am kicking back drinking some egg nog and looking at the Christmas tree lights. I want to come back here next spring if that is ok with you? Maybe when Papelbon is ready to come home I can double back with him?? I think you are going to have a hard time getting rid of him because he LOVES the cold weather!! anyways I have been invited back when there are not so many TVs in the house!!
Hugs from Richlands, North Carolina,
Snuttig
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Posted Dec 6, 2009, 7:10 pm
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Richlands, NC, USA - 6th December 2009
By: Pixiedustlady
Hi mom!
Tonight we eat Pepperoni Pizza for dinner!!
We are now watching a Christmas movie every night!! Tonight we watched *Christmas with the Kranks* it was really funny!!
I am going to go get some hot cocoa and look at the Christmas lights!!!
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Posted Dec 7, 2009, 12:50 am
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