rickohikes

Finally, I Tried Scuba Diving!

Scuba Diving, you're officially off the list! — Scuba Diving, you’re officially off the list!

I’m going to take a detour from the chronological nature of my posts and jump ahead to write a brief entry about today. I flew back to Calgary after a great, yet super quick, weekend at home. The weekend was jam-packed with visiting friends and cousins, a wedding, a day of cooking Trini food with my parents, and quality time with the family at the CNE. I ended up getting 2.5 hours of sleep last night, but no rest for the weary! A while back I had booked a Discover Scuba Diving class at the Aqua Sport Scuba Centre in Marda Loop for this evening. I almost cancelled because I’m sooo tired right now, but after some discussions with friends, they made me feel guilty about cancelling. So… I decided to go. Thanks folks (you know who you are) for guilting me into going because it was fantastic! Continue reading “Finally, I Tried Scuba Diving!”

Home to Miltonia!

The Mill Pond in Miltonia :) — The Mill Pond in Miltonia 🙂

On Thursday evening, I flew home for a quick weekend visit. I knew it would be a good weekend, but like all my visits home, it would be exciting, exhausting, and super busy. As a www.whitewhine.com comment, I would like to point out that the TV system on the plane was shot, which meant I couldn’t watch TV. Worst EVER! (Just kidding- I was okay with it :D). Continue reading “Home to Miltonia!”

Good luck Beth!

My awesome friend Beth is about to embark on 10 days of playing hockey! I know, crazy right? I don’t know much about the sport, but I do know that hockey for 10 days is a long time. I’m sure it’ll be tons-o’-fun and it’s for a great cause!

She is going to be playing in the Longest Game of Ice Hockey in the World for Cystic Fibrosis. You can read all about it on her blog and DONATE by clicking on THIS LINK. In summary, the Longest Game of Hockey for CF is a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Canada. It will raise awareness about CF. It’s a tribute to the legacy of Eva Markvoort. AND it’s a Guiness World Record attempt by 40 women to play the longest ever game of hockey in the world… 10 days (over 242 hours!) of non-stop hockey! Wow. Continue reading “Good luck Beth!”

To the Summit of Mount Sparrowhawk

Mount Sparrowhawk on the left. Read’s Ridge on the right.

On Sunday, my friend Paul and I completed an epic hike. We decided that we would attempt to conquer Mount Sparrowhawk in the Smith-Dorrien Area south of Canmore. It looked like a good one to do after reading about it in ‘Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies’ by Alan Kane, but we also chose it based on a glowing recommendation. Continue reading “To the Summit of Mount Sparrowhawk”

Hiking to Powderface Ridge

Hiking is not just reserved for the weekends. Yesterday, my friend Adriane and I left work and headed straight for the Kananaskis area. Our goal: to hike up to Powderface Ridge. I really enjoyed this hike. It wasn’t too strenuous, which was good since my legs were still crying from the East End of Rundle. The trail offered a good mix of Spruce and Pine forest, a mountain meadow, and a summit with great views. In particular, we could see Prairie Mountain (which I conquered twice already this year), Moose Mountain (on the list of hikes to complete) and Forget-Me-Not Ridge (which I have now added to my list of mountains to conquer!). We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the summit, had great conversation, and then headed back down as the sun began to set.

The summit of Powderface Ridge is at about 2210 metres and the elevation gain for the hike is about 594 metres. We started the hike at 5:35 pm and returned at 8:10 pm. In my opinion, it was a fantastic way to spend 2 hours and 35 minutes after work! Then, while driving home, we saw a cute black bear and many cute deer. How cute.