Adventures – Page 4 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Ice Climbing- All the Crazies and Infants Are Doing It!

I’m going to conquer this ice! Supposedly I’m ‘crazy’.

So I had been anticipating this day for quite a long time. Back in November, I texted my friend Dan because I came across an Intro to Ice Climbing course. I had tried rock climbing earlier in the year and enjoyed it, so why not try ice climbing?? Since Dan is the adventure-go-to guy who’s always up for anything ‘crazy’, I figured I’d ask him. Even though he lives in Guelph, I knew logistics wouldn’t be a problem, since he makes things happen. The conversation wasn’t all that surprising:

Dan and I don’t plan. But when we do, it’s easy!

And the next day, we were booked months in advance to try ice climbing… which, fast forward, was yesterday! In the end, my friend Sanjay signed up too (…he’s always up for anything, having already conquered the West Coast Trail and Mount Kilimanjaro and numerous other adventures). And ZOMG, ice climbing was mos’ def’ awesome, and the company was great.

An ice axe: pretty important for ice climbing

After a quick equipment rental and belay session the night before, we were up super early in order to meet the group at King’s Creek near the Highwood Pass in Kananaskis. And from there, it was all about learning the basics of ice-climbing, from safety, to securing the crampons, to climbing with style and finesse. And when I say style and finesse, I refer to a lot of exaggerated butt posturing, close hip-to-ice contact, and setting your body up like a tripod. There were many tee hees, but all jokes aside, we were scaling the wall of ice in no time.

Learning the basics of ice climbing. It’s all style and finesse.

Exaggerating the butt. Apparently this is style and finesse.

Let’s do this!!

There’s always time for a photo-op at the top of a frozen waterfall. NBD.

Sanjay ascending the wall of ice.

I crampon-kicked that ice wall in its face!

By the end of it, my body was done. It was exhausting on the upper body, the hips and calves. I was freezing, my legs were sore, and I pretty much had the upper body strength of an infant by the time we left. An infant. And that, my friends, is why ice climbing is for both crazies and infants alike. But NBD, No Big Deal- we all managed to complete many climbs, and had tons of laughs and fun in the process. Overall, and as expected, the day was awesome!! A must-try for all.

All in a day’s work.

Just awesome 😉

A New Passport for Many More Adventures!

It’s no secret that I love to travel. Like, I LOVE to travel. And not just any travel- I love adventure travel. Not that I’ve done a ton of it (compared to what I would like), but as my fondness for the outdoors and my desire for adventure grow, I find myself wanting to do more and more off-the-beaten-path kind of travel. Canada offers so many fantastic opportunities for that, especially living close to the mountains, but the world is a big place, and there are so many places to explore, adventures to experience, and shenaniganning to be had. And for that, one needs a passport :).

Today I picked up my brand new and shiny passport. It still has that new passport smell. The pages are crisp and in pristine condition and there are no stamps on any of the 24 pages. Obviously, those pages won’t remain blank for very long! It’s exciting to think about the next 5 years of seeing the world, but it also has me reflecting on the last few years. Looking through the immigration control stamps in my now cancelled passport, I’m reminded of many great memories:

Cancelled 😦

Visiting friends in Germany at the end of 2007 for an unforgettable New Year’s
Seeing a friend in Amsterdam and taking an impromptu trip to London where we saw Wicked and perused the Portobello Market in Notting Hill
Having some of the best, and freshest, salmon on the coast of Chile after taking a boat ride to see penguins in their natural habitat

A simple meal. The best and freshest salmon I’ve ever had.

Border crossing from Chile to Argentina en route to Bariloche

Discovering my love for Argentinian Malbec in Argentina, and learning to dance the tango!
Adventuring in Costa Rica: Zip-lining over the trees of a cloud forest, hearing my voice jump an entire octave higher than expected when bungee jumping, canyon rappelling down a waterfall, learning to surf in Manuel Antonio National Park, and somehow watching fireworks during a wedding reception on a hill over-looking San José!

Canyon rappelling down a waterfall

Zip-lining in the cloud forest

Sky-diving, lava-side yoga, lava-tube exploring, hiking in a crater, and taking a helicopter ride in Hawaii

My version of hot yoga

Sky-diving over the North Shore, Oahu

Enjoying a picnic of wine, cheese, prosciutto and a baguette on the grounds of the Louvre as the Eiffel Tower sparkled in the distance

A picnic at the Louvre 🙂

Savouring one of the best meals I’ve ever eating at a fine-dining seaside restaurant (Svinkløv Badehotel) in the north of Denmark

Fine-dining in Denmark

I’m so appreciative that I’ve had the opportunity to experience these things.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing” (Helen Keller)

I truly believe this. And so, God spare my life, I hope to experience many more daring adventures with my new 5 year passport. Such as? Well, to name a few…

Go scuba diving in Honduras
Visit South Africa to hike Mount Kilimanjaro. Cage diving with great white sharks is a must too.
Hike the 75 km West Coast Trail
Bungee Jump off of Kawarau Bridge in New Zealand (the original bungee jump!)
Trek (or marathon run??) The Great Wall of China

Kilimanjaro (Photo found on www.tryanythingonceblog.com)

It may not all be financially possible, and who knows what other exciting things life will bring, but I’ll aim high. And I’ll start the adventuring this year with something amazing:

Hike the Inca Trail in Peru and spend a few nights in the Amazon

Can’t wait until July *hopefully*! (Photo from Gadventures)

With all the spiders and critters that go bump in the night, how could I not be excited about this?? It’s totally worth the 4 day trek and view of the Machu Picchu :). Let the adventures begin!

Hiking and Caving Shenanigans

Shenanigans are the best kind of nanigans. And where there’s shenanigans, usually Dan’s around. So yes, Dan was visiting 2 weekends ago for some hiking and caving adventures! I know, I’m a bit behind on my postings. Back off already! But since I haven’t been keeping up, I will conveniently hi-jack Dan’s blog postings about the weekend and link them here. However, I will also share some photos and videos of the epic weekened. EPIC I says.

1) Read all about the great hike at Nihahi Ridge here:

“All The Classy Bitches Drink Mountain Top Scotch”

2) All the going-ons about the caving adventure at Rat’s Nest can be found here:

“It’s a Dark Wet Hole. It Must Be Fun.”

Nihahi. Third time is a charm :) — Nihahi. Third time is a charm 🙂

All the Classy Bitches Drink Mountain Top Scotch

Having already climbed Nihahi, Sergeant Stroker stayed home and relaxed. A little too much. — Having already climbed Nihahi, Sergeant Stroker stayed
home and relaxed. A little too much.

The adventurous group, ready for caving!

Chloe diving into the Laundry Chute. Chloe, NO!

We made it out alive! Yay :) — We made it out alive! Yay 🙂

I’m On A Horse

So on Sunday, a few of us gathered to go trail riding. It’s a very Alberta thing to do, right… to be on a horse? Just like cowboys in the Wild West :). I had been horseback riding a couple of times, the last experience being in Costa Rica, but most of the group had never been on a horse before. We knew that fun times were in store!

It was off to Saddle Peak Ranch past Cochrane for a 1.5 hour trail ride. Before we knew it, we were mounting our horses and were on our way. My horse’s name was Anchor. He is a born leader, so I was clearly matched with the correct horse, lol. The weather was beautiful and the trails took us on rolling foothills and through forests. It was gorgeous. Although the experience with the horses and the trails was great for us, I wouldn’t go trail riding with Saddle Peak again. I would have expected more approachable and engaging owners. Well, Jackie was great, but the other guy, not so much. NBD. No big deal.

Pretty horses… but not pretty horse poop (which was everywhere!) :S.

But all in all, it was a great day with no mishaps. Oh wait- there was that one part when Rachna’s horse became a bit animated (ie. went a bit psycho), ran into the trees off the trail, and decided it would be fun to rejoin the trail by walking through the most dense part of trees and bushes… with Rachna still on him. Yeah… she emerged with some scratches and bruises. It’s never a dull moment with this group!

For some reason, Shari’s horse didn’t like to be around others :) — For some reason, Shari’s horse didn’t like to be around others 🙂

Such a good looking bunch! The people riding aren’t too bad either…

Rachna and her horse Homer emerging from the trees

After horseback riding, we went for lunch and then stopped at MacKay’s Ice Cream in Cochrane for homemade ice cream. Apparently it’s like THE place to go for ice cream. As expected, I had the Coconut Delight flavour… YUM! You know it’s good ice cream when there’s a line up out the door. The wait was worth it, and it was a great way to end a great day :).

I can’t believe I’m waiting this long for ice cream…

So many flavours! YUM! Coconut Delight is the best… obviously.

A Rafting Adventure on the Kicking Horse River!

Team Awesome on the Kicking Horse River :) — Team Awesome on the Kicking Horse River 🙂

I’m going to take another detour and write about two Saturdays ago. I finally went white water rafting on the Kicking Horse River near Golden, BC. I have been wanting to do this for quite some time, so when I found out a friend was organizing a rafting trip through Canadian Rockies Rafting and they had space for me, I was totally there! (Thanks Rachna!… and thanks for the photos :D) Continue reading “A Rafting Adventure on the Kicking Horse River!”