rickohikes

An ‘Uninspiring’ Hike: Taylor Lake

A late night of soca was not going to stand in my way of getting to the mountains! I woke up pretty tired on Sunday but Jess and I had planned to hike. The floods have made it a bit difficult to hike in Kananaskis, so we decided we’d venture out to the Banff and Lake Louise areas. I’ve always wanted to explore these areas a bit more, and Sunday was the perfect opportunity to do so.

We stopped at the Banff Information Centre and asked for recommendations. From the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide book by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson, we chose Taylor Lake. Although it was described as “not particularly inspiring”, the view of the lake was sure to be gorgeous. So off we went, westbound on Highway 1, looking for the Taylor Creek Picnic Area turn-off near Castle Mountain and just before Lake Louise.

Once we were through the animal gates, it was a steady trek and incline to the lake. I can see why it would be described as uninspiring because there weren’t any mountain views along the way, but the wild flowers, forest, streams and bridges made for a nice and enjoyable hike. As with most glacial lakes nestled within an amphitheatre, the lake reveal was awesome, especially with Mount Bell towering in the background. We chatted with some people who were fishing in the area (who then graciously took our photo!), and then found a picnic table and stopped for lunch before heading back to the car. It was definitely a lovely afternoon :).

We made it! So pretty :) — We made it! So pretty 🙂

Stats:

Start time: 1:20 pm
End time: 5:40 pm
GPS time: 3:53 minutes trekking time; ~30 minutes lunch at the lake
Elevation gain: 585 m (1920 ft)
Distance: 12.6 km round trip

Stampede and Soca ’till Sundown

I’ve never been the biggest fan of the Calgary Stampede, but there’s something to be said about how it brings the city together. This is especially true post-flood; there may be lots of clean up left to do, but everyone needs a bit of fun amidst the unfortunate situation. And even though I say I’m not a fan of the Stampede, I always do enjoy the events when I go. There’s a happiness in the air, and the city embodies its name Cowtown… or The Heart of the New West… or The Stampede City. Side effects include huge belt buckles, cowboy hats, boots, and daily drunkenness. But it’s just part of the event!

Last Thursday, Robin had some free tickets for the Stampede’s Sneak-a-Peak event. That pretty much meant early admittance to peruse the grounds, eat lots of food, and preview the Grandstand Show. Whenever there’s free food I tend to gorge, and this was no different: a chicken fajita, veggie burger, and a hotdog, one after the other. Ugh, but yum. The Grandstand Show was great and included a moving tribute to the resilience of the city. The fireworks display was impressive as usual.

Then two days later…. Paaaaalllllllaaaannnccceee!

That’s a song that refers to the music of my people :D. A bunch of us decided to attend the Stampede Soca ’till Sundown fete downtown at the Soho Bar and Grill. It’s rare that I go to a Caribbean party, but I’m so glad I went. Lots of fun ” whinin’ and limin’ ” to the sounds of soca and reggae. I felt close to my roots that day :). I even tried to order a Carib, but all eight crates of it was sold out! Next time… 🙂

Yamnuska In Lieu

It seems I’m about to lose count of the number of times I’ve hiked and will hike Yamnuska.

On Sunday, Robbie, Adriane and I ventured out to Heart Mountain, but we discovered that Heart Creek Trail had been completely wiped out due to flooding and rock slides. It was quite the sight :S. We ran into a Parks Canada guy who explained that most of the Kananaskis landscape has now been changed. Bridges are destroyed; rock slides and floods have completely altered the trails; and many areas are now inaccessible. I think he said something like 400 mm of rain in a 24 hour period (or maybe a 48 hour period?) plus an additional 300 mm of melting snow. With that crazy amount of rain in such a short period of time, flooding seemed inevitable. It was very sad news to say the least, and it will be many years before the Kananaskis trail system will be back to ‘normal (… after such an event, is it even possible?).

He did recommend the east side of Yamnuska as a good place to go. We were itching to hike so of course we would venture off… and so would many other hikers. The lot was super busy, which made sense, seeing as it was one of the only trails in the area deemed safe for hikers. The sun was ridiculously hot that day and the mosquitoes were swarming like mad. Irregardless, it sure felt good to get out to the mountains! We didn’t reach the summit, but that’s okay- I think there will be many more opportunities this summer to conquer Yamnuska. Again.

Stats

Start time: 12:10 pm
End time: 4:50 pm

Graduation Day: Relational Databases

So back in October I had described my journey to earn a shiny new Certificate in Relational Databases. With all the craziness that has occurred in Calgary in the last few days, I didn’t get around to this post, but on Wednesday, the day before the flood, I had my graduation ceremony.

Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I was going to go. But after discussing with Sony, she made me realize that I had to go. Of course, for the occasion itself and the celebration of completing the courses, but we actually thought that the fact I was graduating would be entertaining. Anyone who knew about this certificate would remember that it wasn’t the most fun undertaking. I was happy to be doing the courses, and the first few were great (fundamentals of relational databases and SQL querying 1 and 2). But administration wasn’t quite my thing, and business intelligence turned out to be one of the most poorly delivered classes I’ve ever taken. After the disaster that was BI (i.e. it received the worst feedback ever for the ICT department of continuing education), the certificate in relational databases was discontinued and replace by a certificate in database administration. And I completed the certificate using tuition support from the university, and because of the availability of the credits and the timing of the courses, the certificate took over a year to complete! In any case, there was a certain hilarity to all of it. Also, since my friend Paul graduated recently with a PhD, I thought I could ‘one up’ him with my certificate. In order to do so, I had to attend the ceremony 🙂

So I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sony and I arrived at the Red & White Club at the Olympic Volunteer Centre and we were surprised by what we saw. A lovely banquet area with chairs set up for a ceremony; refreshments with space for a full reception afterwards; and the number of people in attendance. There were so many families there- individuals with proud significant others and spouses; mothers and fathers who had worked hard while raising a family to get a leg up in their industry; recent immigrants to Canada upgrading or developing skills in order to successfully enter the workforce; and business leaders gaining extra credentials to help them in their careers. Looking around I felt proud to be among the graduates. Even though there’s a certain hilarity in my own path to getting the certificate, it was amazing to see many proud individuals around me, all celebrating lifelong learning and continuing advancement. Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, president of the University of Calgary, was there to shake hands, as well as Scott McLean, Director of Continuing Education. I guess it was nerves, but apparently I ran across the stage in lightning speed! That’s okay, I went back afterward for a photo with the two.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening. The ceremony was great, and the selection of food, drinks and snacks at the reception did not disappoint. Maybe it’s time to restart my journey for the Spanish language certificate! Let’s just say it didn’t go so well the first time…

# YYCFLOOD 2013: Calgary Comes Together

High water levels under the 14th Street bridge

Earlier today I was perusing this and that at MEC when a friend texted me: “Are you affected by the flooding?” This was the first time I had heard about a flood, but it certainly would not be the last. I took to Twitter and had no idea that parts of Calgary were being evacuated due to rising water levels near the Elbow River. Six communities to start, including Mission. I called a few friends right away who lived in Mission. They also didn’t know. It turns out they would have to gather some things from home and get ready to leave their apartment for 72 hours.

In the many hours to come, I would learn much more about this impending disaster. At first, I wondered how serious it could really be. But then I learned that the situation was definitely more dire. A state of emergency was declared for many areas. Areas like High River, Black Diamond, and Bragg Creek had been hit quite hard, with ridiculous amounts of flooding and loss of homes. Cougar Creek in Canmore had dangerously high levels and destroyed homes as well. The TransCanada Highway was closed both east and west of Banff and residents and visitors of Banff were told they should stay put. The highway collapsed outside of Canmore. Videos and photos of those areas show quite a bit of damage, and it’s difficult to believe that rain and melting snow could do this in Alberta. The water levels continued to rise in Calgary. One by one, communities were ordered to evacuate.

After what seemed like hours of watching videos and reading Twitter feeds, I decided to go take a look myself. I headed down to Edworthy Park to take photos of the Bow River. I was not the only one. People were parking and getting out of their cars to look at the super high water levels. It’s very odd to see; on a normal day, there are mini islands in the Bow River and the banks of the river are quite high. Today, they were all non-existent and completely flooded. I then headed to a vantage point overlooking Bowness, which was being evacuated. I scoured the city for other views: the stairs above Sunnyside; the 14th street overpass; and eventually, Memorial Drive and 10th street in Kensington. This is where I saw the craziest flooding of the night. The water had risen over the banks and were spilling onto the paths. Crazy! Apparently the water levels will be up to 3 times as much as the flood in 2005 when all is said and done. Though I wasn’t here in 2005, it sounds like it was bad.

I now find myself at 3 am refreshing Twitter and continuing to read what many Calgarians are saying and showing about this flood. There have been many photos from Bowness, Mission, Memorial Drive, Discovery Ridge, and many other locations. As of now, 25 communities have been evacuated. Travel to the downtown has been discouraged. Transit has been disrupted. Bridges have been closed. The rain is expected to continue.

What I have found absolutely incredible about this situation is not the sheer force of the water, or how quickly the floods are rising, or how much rain continues to fall. I have been amazed by and proud of the people of Calgary. There has been an outpouring of support about how to help with clean-up efforts; Calgary Police (@CalgaryPolice) and the City of Calgary (@cityofcalgary), whose efforts throughout the day and night have been ridiculously impressive, have had to turn away volunteers because there have been just too many offerings; and the community has offered up their homes through kijiji or #yychelps on Twitter to anyone who needs a place to stay for the next few nights. Mayor Nenshi (@nenshi) cut his trip to Toronto, flew back, and an hour ago (2 am) he was touring around the flooded areas of Calgary with John Mar (@aldjohnmar) and Richard Pootmans (@pootmans). At this moment, I believe they’re investigating the dam at Glenmore. All of the folks involved have worked tirelessly to keep Calgarians informed and up to date. Information has travelled at light speed and Calgarians have evacuated safely as a result. The mayor and his staff have been amazing, and I have been so impressed with and thankful for their efforts and work. The generosity of Calgarians has been outstanding and incredibly moving to say the least. It’ll be interesting to see what I wake up to tomorrow. But today, I’ve realized once again how much I love this city.