Travelog for: GustavHH

Hi Mum,

a new friend arrived today . smaug brought home a little parcel...



...and when we opened it Stoker came out !



Of course, we wanted to hear all about his travels, so he didn't have a chance to rest for a while .

Hi Mum,

It seems it’s time to go on holiday ! Today, we closed our bags and got ready to drive to the airport .

Hi Mum,

Guess what, I was in Germany today . We had a stopover in Frankfurt where one of smaug’s TV came over to say hello for a few hours. Of course there was lot of chatting involved .

Hi Mum,

I am in Italy ! Today we were a bit tired and jet lagged, so we got a lovely breakfast, where we met one of smaug's TV, Pepita , who is staying here for a bit...



...and then went back to sleep .

Hi Mum,

today we went for a bike ride just out of town . After a long climb we reached the top of the road to Monte Bondone, one of the hardest and more prestigious mountain of race when the Giro d'Italia comes around here, so we were very proud with our effort .



As we moved on the other side of the mountain we could see the Brenta dolomites...



...and the Adige Valley in the distance .



Further on we could see another nice valley.



At that point we launched ourselves downhill , so we decided that it was better for smaug to put away the camera and focus on the handlebar .

Hi Mum,

today we went for a nice hike in the Dolomites . After a bit of walking in the trees we started having a nice view...



...although it looked like we had still quite a way to go to reach the top of this valley .



Eventually we reached the highest point of the day, where the view was very "rocky" , but unfortunately the weather seemed to be ready for turning wet.




As it happens we managed to cross all this plateau without getting drenched...



...and later we headed into this nicely U-shaped valley that took us back to the car .

Hi Mum,

today the weather was not great, but it was warm , so smaug took us for a little hike close to town. After a bit of walking we started having a nice view...



...and we had a glimpse of our destination: apparently we were aiming first for the peak on the right, and then we were going to follow the ridge heading left .



From the summit the view was great in every direction .





After following a bit of the ridge, we could even see a bit of Trento in the distance.



To give a bit of cultural tone to the trip and in true commemoration spirit of the centenary of the start of WWI, sammino explained to us that those abandoned barracks next to my head were actually built when this corner of Italy was still part of the Austro-Hungarian empire .

Hi Mum,

We are soon heading back to Canada, so today it was time to say goodbye to Pepita and to all the other friends we met here in Italy .

Hi Mum,

On the way back to Canada we had another long stopover in Frankfurt, so Orpheus and Sigfrido came to spend some time with us at the airport . Luckily it was a lovely day, so we could stay outside chatting in the sun .

Hi Mum,

today it was World Cup final day and with Germany in the final , we got very excited in our little Deutsch expats colony . Luckily yesterday in Frankfurt we had managed to put our hands on smaug's wallet and acquire something appropriate for the occasion .



As the game was about to start the excitement grew even further...




...and it burst when Germany scored ...



...and lifted the cup .



We decided to celebrate with whatever we could find ...and, of course, our hosts were more than happy to join in .

Hi Mum,

today we went out for our first short hike since coming back to Canada . After the usual walking under the cover of the trees, we come out at Baldy Pass where we had a nice view over the foothills .



Pressing on, we reached the summit of Midnight Peak, where the view was great in all directions .






Interesting enough, sammino explained to us that it appears to be a tradition (a rather unpleasant one ) to get drenched, or nearly so, whenever smaug comes up here . Since those dark clouds seemed to herald the upcoming rain, we hastily moved down the mountain and luckily only got a bit wet .

Hi Mum,

today we went over to the Rockies for a nice hike . After the usual time spent in the trees, we started having a nice view over the Bow Valley...



...and some of the peaks surrounding us.



We also were able to look for the first time at our destination, which looked a bit more snowy than we expected for this time of the year .



A bit later we reached a ridge just over this little lake...



...where the view opened up even more.





From here the peak did not seem that far away .



So, with a final effort we reached the top, where the view was great in all directions .






It was also bitter cold , so we quickly moved down. On the way we noticed, with a bit of disappointment, that the sun had eventually decided to properly come out, warming the air and melting the snow on the top in the process .



At least we managed to take a final nice photo before heading back home .

Hi Mum,

today we went again out to the mountains . After a bit of walking we started having a nice view of Mt Glasgow, and the weather looked great too .



Later we headed up the narrow Nihahi Creek Valley...



...that soon became just a large gravel creek bed .



Pushing on, we climbed halfway on the ridge heading to Mt Fullerton...



...where we noticed some very concerning clouds speeding toward us .



So, instead of trying to reach the summit, we hastily performed an about turn and reached the safety of the valley bottom just before lightning started brightening up the afternoon .

Hi Mum,

This weekend the weather was again gorgeous, so as usual we headed to the mountains . sammino explained us that we were going to take a different route to reach a destination where he goes at least once a year . The first part of the day was the usual tedious slog through the forest, but soon we started having a nice view of the Bow Valley.



On the way we always had in sight the typical ridge used to reach Mt Allan, with the rock walls of Mt Lougheed behind it ...



...and of the summit of Mt Allan.



Still, before getting there we had to tackle the summit of Mt Collembola...



...and the false summit too .



On the way we passed just over the Nakiska ski area, that hosted the alpine skiing competitions during the 1988 winter Olympics.



Eventually we reached the summit of Mt Allan , from where we could look back at the last bit of the trail that we just followed...



...and where we took a final shot of the Bow Valley before starting to head back home.

Hi Mum,

Today the weather in town was quite nice , although it turned out that in the mountains it was slightly different, and after walking a bit on the trail things did not look very promising.



By the time we reached our destination visibility was kind of limited .




We decided to wait a bit hoping for the fog to clear up and helped us with some of the provisions in the backpack .



As it happens things got even worse...



...so all we could do was pack up and go home .