Travelog for: Ulani

Hi Mum,

Today we went for a nice little hike early in the morning . The first bit was mostly in the trees, but soon the view improved.



And it got better when we reached the summit .






Disappointingly, smaug forgot to pack any chocolate , so, instead of having a nice time at the top, we insisted on getting back to the car quickly so that we could drive somewhere to gather some supplies .

Hi Mum,

Today we tried to go to a trail where we the others were blinded by the fog a few weeks ago , and right from the parking lot we had a feeling that it was going to be a much better day for taking photos .



And it was definitely the case. The wind was pretty much gale force and freezing cold , but the view was great .





On the way back down, when we were a bit more sheltered from the wind, we noticed that someone put a great effort in building a huge and stylish cairn , so we stopped taking a photo with it .

Hi Mum,

Today we had a new guest arriving here in Calgary . smaug came home with a TV-sized package and, as usual, he left to us the task of getting it open .



As we managed to open the parcel, a TV came out, Rachel, a nice sheep from China . And she brought some lovely gifts with her . Of course we spent the night listening to and telling travelling stories .

Hi Mum,

After a rather surprising (well, at least for us since sammino didn’t mention anything in advance ), uneventful and long trip, this morning we woke up in Italy . And even better, we woke up in front of a lovely breakfast .



It is actually very hot here, so I think we will spend a few days just chilling out and recovering from the jet lag.

Hi Mum,

smaug has been very lazy on this holiday , but at last today he took us out for a little walk . We started the day looking down at the green pastures around Passo Vezzena …




…and when we reached the highest point of the day, we had a lovely view over the lakes of Caldonazzo and Levico .



As it happens the WWI front used to pass in this area , so we had a chance to do a bit of history tourism when we stumbled into this old Austrian fort .




It did not look very comfortable , and the years have clearly taken their toll, so we decided it was not worth exploring the inside and just stayed out an enjoyed the sun till it was time to go back home .

Hi Mum,

Today we were, as usual, looking for food . In this case we were attacking the last few supplies that we brought back with us from Italy when we had a feeling that someone was looking at us .



It was Landroval, one of smaug TVs who just arrived back home after visiting Japan , and he brought some lovely presents too. .



Of course, we ended up spending the evening listening to travel stories .

Hi Mum,

Today smaug decided to take us to a lovely trip to the mountains . What was less lovely is that, to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, he made us start at a very ungodly hour . Nevertheless, after a bit we started having a nice view.



For the first part of the morning we aimed for that lovely grassy col …



…and when we reached it the view improved further.




Sadly, it looked like the trail was not going to be nice and grassy for much longer …



…and soon we were in the middle of a fairly lunar landscape .



Our destination looked deceiviously close…



…but it was quite some time before smaug eventually carried us to the top, where the view was spectacular .





Of course, true to the summit name, the weather was far from ideal, so smaug decided to quickly retreat down to an elevation where the odds of being smitten be lightning were a bit less discomforting .

Hi Mum,

Today we had another day of decent weather so smaug took us again up to the mountains . Early in the morning we were still in shadow but we started seeing our destination in the distance.



On the other hand, we had a lovely view over Kananaskis Valley …



…and we could see the highway getting smaller and smaller beneath us.



When we reached the ridge we were aiming for...



...the view over the valley improved …



…and we could also see Kananaskis Lakes in the distance…



…and Mount Evan-Thomas and Mount Packenham right in front of us .



We also found a summit log and we all signed it. Of course you write way more interesting things while getting some sugars in the belly .

Hi Mum,

Today we took advantage of the fair weather and went for a short and quick hike . It was actually still a bit shadowy early on the trail…



…but by the time we reached our destination it was a beautiful sunny morning .




Recently smaug has been less forgetful than usual about our sugar needs , and luckily today was no exception to that trend .

Hi Mum,

Today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe journey to Arn, who is travelling to Norway .

Hi Mum,

Today we gathered to say goodbye and wish a safe trip to Landroval who is flying to a new host .

Hi Mum,

After a long time, today smaug had again some time for us and took us a for a short hike near Banff . It was sometime before we shortly came out of the trees and had a nice view of Lake Minnewanka.



This used to be a mining area and it is still full of hidden holes. To prevent distracted toyvoyagers from wondering into one of the deepest ones ,there are plenty of chainlink fences around.



Further up the trail we reached a nice glacial cirque .



With a final effort we reached the highest spot of our day where we enjoyed the lovely view …




…and spent some time basking in the sun before heading back to the car.

Hi Mum,

Today was a lovely morning (we didn’t have too many recently ) so we went to the mountains . We were a bit surprised about how little snow was around .



Actually our destination looked really barren.



Anyway, when we reached it, the view was great .





Alas, the wind was great too…damn freezing cold . So we quickly went back into the backpack and let smaug out dealing with it .

Hi Mum,

We are going to spend some time in Italy for Christmas , so today we went to Calgary airport and visited the new international terminal …which turned out to be as boring as the old one . At least we had some fun joining a family of bears that was busy playing in the departures area .

Hi Mum,

So far our holiday has been very quiet , but at least today we were joined by Krystal and Sigfrido who will be spending Christmas with us .