Travelog for: Lysander

Hi Mum!

Today smaug took us out for a walk. We went to Lake Minnewanka, not far from Banff. The lakeshore trail is one of smaug’s favourites in winter as even with the snow it is usually passable and safe. smaug was wondering if the lake had already started freezing...not the case as you can see.



After a bit we crossed this small canyon called Stewart Canyon. And it was frozen up  .



And in the distance you can see the lake.



Here we are back close to the shoreline looking east...



...and west.



The trail follows the lake shore up the easternmost point for more than 20km, but we just followed it for a couple of hours and turned back. We passed again close to the mouth of Stewart Canyon.



This is where the canyon’s ice meets the lake’s water  .



And here is another shot of the lake.



On the way back to the car we noticed that someone built a big inukshuk on a beach, so we took a picture with it and the lake behind us. Well, it desn't look so big in this picture  , but it is just behind Henry-Bo's head  .



And finally, while already nice and warm in the car, we got a final shot of the lake from its westernmost point.



Smaug told us that in few weeks the lake will probably be frozen, but it will take a bit longer before the ice is thick enough to walk on it. Can’t wait to see that  !

Hi Mum!

It’s been a quite boring around here recently  as smaug was a bit busy. We had hope to go somewhere this weekend, but on Friday the weather played funny and during the evening commuting hour Calgary roads turned into a giant ice-rink with cars almost unable to turn or stop even at the slowest speed and pedestrians struggling to stay on their feet on the sidewalks (should have been funny to be out there  ). Of course the whole city got stuck in massive gridlock and smaug took more than 2 hours to get home (compared with the usual 15min). So, when he eventually arrived home, he told us that he had already enjoyed enough driving for the whole weekend  .
But today he decided that, with the real winter approaching, there were far too many useless clothes still around the wardrobe and it was time to put them away and tidy up a bit around. sammino told us that this meant that the house was going to be a total mess (even worse than the usual one  ) in a matter of minutes, so we got really excited  . First we helped getting out some boxes.



Then we opened them...hmmm, they looked a bit too full to get other clothes in there.



But, as sammino foretold, soon clothes started coming out of the boxes (instead of going in  ) and they got scattered everywhere. We decided that the most interesting items were the cycling and football jerseys, so we started playing with them.



But after a while smaug must have decided that we were not being helpful  , so he suggested that we might had more fun surfing a bit internet and to encourage us out of the way he even offered us some ice-cream  .



It sounded a bit as a polite way to get rid of us, but the ice-cream was very good .

Hi Mum!

Today there was a big snowfall here in Calgary  . It started in the morning and became heavier during the day, with strong winds too, wow  . So, since smaug was busy first at work and then trying to make his way back from work  , we TVs spent most of the day chatting and looking at the snow from the comfort of the living room  . Even the balcony that is quite well sheltered was soon white with snow.



Later we decided to rummage in the storage room and found some Christmas lights.



We particularly liked the ice-cubes lights...



...and the snowball ones (very appropriate to the current weather  )



Hopefully smaug will allow us to help him in putting them up  !

Hi Mum!

Today we told smaug that we were bored of staying at home and wanted to go out somewhere. He suggested that maybe we should have a look out of the window first...hmmm, al covered in ice...can’t see anything  .



We wondered if that was supposed to be a subtle message to discourage us, but it takes more than a frozen window to scare off some bored TVs, so out of we went  . Oh my, it was bone-rattling cold, almost -30C  , it felt like being Dr Zhivago! But we have a pride, so we went on and walked along the Bow River.
In this section of the river the surface has not completely frozen yet, so the sludgy mix of ice and water is still more than 20C warmer than the surrounding air and causes this strange steamy fog  .



As you can see the footpath wasn’t really crowded... smaug pointed out that few people (unless they needed to) were insane enough to be out and about in this weather  .



A bit further downstream we reached a section of the river that was almost completely frozen.




We also decided to play a bit in the snow  . It was so powdery that even us TVs were almost sinking in it.



Eventually smaug said that his right hand was flirting with frostbite  (due to the fact that operating the camera with a glove on was kind of impossible), so he decided to head back home. About time, my nippers were totally frozen and about to fall off  !

Hi Mum,

This evening smaug had to be in Banff, so we TVs accompanied him. On the way we stopped to meet this herd of Elks  .



As taking a picture focusing on both us and the elks didn’t work, smaug decided to take a zoomed version of the above photo showing only a part of the herd.



We suggested that we could get closer and meet them  , but smaug explained us that elks get a bit annoyed when people approach them and he didn’t fancy spending a few lively moments being chased down by a deer taller and massively heavier than him  .
Since we were a bit early for supper, we went to have a look at Lake Minnewanka. You might rememeber that last time we have been there (about a month ago) it was still a…lake. Well, today, thanks to the cold weather, it was a massive slab of ice  .




Smaug said that the ice would probably support the weight of the TVs, but their host might not be so lucky, so it will be a few more weeks before we can walk on the ice.
On the way down to Banff we stopped taking a picture with another frozen lake and Mt. Rundle in the background.



Unfortunately, once we made it to Banff, we were not allowed to attend the supper, but we found a nice window from where we could look at the mountains while chatting all the evening  .

Hi Mum,

today a new guest arrived . His name’s Michel and he is a white bear from Germany. sammino went to pick him up at the airport and then introduced him to us all.



Later, since his trip apparently had been far from smooth, we helped Michel to recover with some Timbits, and, of course, we provided help in eating them .

Hi Mum!

Today we took Michel out for his first trip in the Mountains. As it was a bit cold we convinced smaug to take pictures from inside the car .
Here we were entering the Bow Valley.



While here we were reaching the gate of Banff National Park.



Once in the Park we had a lovely view over Cascade Mountain.



Then we took the road to Lake Minnewanka, but we didn’t meet any elk.





And eventually we reached the Lake.



Later this evening we were allowed to taste a typical Christmas cake from northern Italy, a pandoro. Not sure how smaug managed to find one here in Canada, but it was delicious  .

Hi Mum,

Today smaug took us out to visit a place not too far from Calgary called Elbow Falls, where the Elbow River forms some nice (guess what!?) falls  .
Here I was just downstream of the falls. (No, there are not ice falls: although it is very well hidden, there is also some “liquid” water coming down ).



And this is the river flowing away in a nice little canyon  .



Later we played a bit in the snow, but it was freezing cold and we soon make our way for the heat of the car  .

Hi Mum!

Happy New Year  !

Today the weather was fine and it wasn’t even too cold (-15C  ), hence smaug decided that it was a good idea to have a walk in the forest to try burning some of the excessive food eaten over the last couple of weeks. So we TVs went too, working as ballast in the rucksack  . We spent most of the day under tree cover and it was a bit too dark to take photos, but we still found a couple of points where we could take a few decent shots  .

Hi Mum!

Today is my last day here in Calgary as tomorrow I’ll jump in the post and come home. It is actually a group-departure day as Ronnie is also going home to Spain and Henry-Bo is moving to his next host in Hong Kong.
So all the other TVs gathered around to wish us a safe journey …



...and sammino gave me a big goodbye hug .