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Palpagradi’s Great Canadian Adventure
Nov. 10 2008 – Feb 3rd 2009
The adventure all started 3am Monday
morning when Terra’s wonderful boyfriend Guy brought us to the Wellington
Airport (after getting back from Blue Duck Lodge at midnight and sleeping on cushions
on Kieran’s floor) . My lovely pet Terra was taking me on a trip to Canada with her
to see her dad and other relatives. This was to be my first trip overseas so I
was quite excited!!!
The 19+ hour flight to Calgary via Sidney and Vancouver went
relatively smoothly. We slept through most of it. The only hiccup was that our
flight from Vancouver to Calgary was cancelled due to bad weather, but
we where soon on a different flight. We were met in Calgary by Eric (Terra’s Dad) and stayed at
her aunt and uncles.
Western Canada was having an exceptionally beautiful November. It still hadn’t
snowed by the time we came so Eric, Terra and I went tramping in the Rockies near Canmore. Terra was unable to persuade her
dad into doing anything longer than about 5hrs, so we just did day tramps up
small peaks.
The first Peak Terra brought me up was
Yumnuska. Eric’s friend Dave also came along. Yumnuska is a nice loop that Eric
brought Terra up since she was quite young. The fun scrambly bit now has a
fixed line bolted onto it that wasn’t there when Terra last climbed it over 7
years ago. I bounced along happily on Terra’s backpack as we goggled at the
vertical cliffs that make up Yumnuskas face. We checked out the routes and day
dreamed of the day we will climb them.
On Terra’s 20th birthday we
summated EEOR (East End of Rundle). Again Dave came along. It was a really
lovely tramp that included a fun scrambly bit and extra scrambly bits put in
for Terra by Dave (Eric walked around them). On the way we gazed at Chinaman's
Peak (now called something more PC). It had what used to be the worlds highest
sport climb (until another one was bolted) as well as many other beautiful
looking routes. And Chinaman’s isn’t the only good looking face – there are beautiful
ones everywhere!!
A few days latter we climbed Heart Mountain.
It was Terra's favourite mountain when she was 12. It is a very pretty tramp
that makes a loop following the rocky ridge with a few easy scrambly sections
in it. Terra and I spied a great looking ridge that follows off Heart Mountains
summit up to another peak that may or may not need gear to get up.
We also summated Pigeon Mountain.
It is a very straight forward short tramp that gives great views. We met some
sheep hunters up there that where very surprised to see Terra coming up in a
t-shirt when they where all wrapped up in their down jackets! They decided she
was the toughest person on the mountain, though it had more to do with the fact
she had just run up a scree slope and they had been sitting around on the top
for hours.
Then the serious visiting started!! We
travelled around Alberta and Saskatchewan in Eric’s Dodge Truck (btw he
hates Dodge dealers, but that is a whole book in itself!). From Canmore to Lethbridge to Sylvan
Lake to Edmonton we really got around! Needless to
say we where fed incredibly well and got to decorate 3 Christmas trees!
While in Saskatchewan Terra’s cousin took
her to a Sarah Brightman concert, which she told me was incredible! Terra found
a CD of her at a Salvation Army and I agree she has a riveting voice. Terra
says the special effects and her dresses where almost as amazing!
After Christmas we went back to Canmore to
go ice climbing with Terra’s cousin-in-law Ted. We played around in the Junk
Yard (Grassi Lakes Falls)
with Terra’s new ice tools for 3 days, mostly top-roping. (Jeremy feel secure
in the knowledge that you did scare Terra off leading anything remotely
difficult.) She did lead an easy pitch which she got her dad to clean, making
it his first ever ice climb! The ice was beautiful – thick blue waterfall ice,
much different from the air-filled Ruapahue ice was are used to! It was great
fun. Latter on in December Terra talked
her dad into bringing us back there for a day. A week before we left Dave and his friend Blue took us climbing on
Grotto Falls, which was also great fun but easier than the stuff we had been
climbing at the Junk Yard.
On December 30th we flew to New York City to visit Terra’s Aunt and Uncle, Jack and
Yvette whom live in the Bronx. We had a great
time! Terra managed to museum-out her dad
on one day (8hrs) at the Museum
of Natural History
(Terra’s and now also my favourite museum!) He was so sore from standing that
he didn’t come to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so Terra and I gazed at Van
Gogh, Salvador Dali’s, Monet’s and Raphael’s by ourselves. We saw Phantom of
the Opera on Broad way – it was an amazing experience!! The man playing the Phantom was an extraordinary singer! We also
spent hours in the Botanical Gardens looking at the intricate miniature
replicas of New York
buildings made from plant materials for the D-scale train exhibition and admiring
all the plants. For New Years Eve we went to Times Square.
NEVER EVER GO TO TIMES SQUARE FOR NEW YEARS
EVE!!! Nothing happens!!!! We showed up at 9pm thinking that since it was
snowing and blowing we would be in time to see some of the festivities, but no
such luck. We where corralled in by police to an area 5 blocks from Times
Square, with thousands of people in front of us, and by midnight just as many
behind us. Found out that to have seen anything going on in Times Square you
would have had to get there by at least 2pm. So we waited it out in the wind
and the rain hoping at least for some fire works or something. No luck, they
went off in Central park with al of the
buildings blocking our view of them! We also spent many hours in the cathedrals
admiring the architecture. It was a very interesting time to spend with Jack
and Yvette as the Isralie-Palistinian war was going on and they had worked in Bethlehem for many years
to new the people and area intimately.
Upon returning to Calgary
we went back to Lethbridge
to visit Terra’s Grandparents before we headed off to Canmore again to do a ski
touring trip with Dave. We where planning on going up the Bow glacier but
because of the severe avalanche danger we decide on the Tonquin Valley
(near Jasper) instead as it is a very wide valley. The first day we skied 13km
up the road to Mt. Edith Cavel Hosted (the road is open in the summer). For
once Terra had the lightest pack! That only lasted for the first day. She had
to carry some of her dads stuff after that because he was carrying too much and
got a sore back! Part of the way up Terra stopped and pointed out that there
where some dogs ahead, thinking there where some bodies Huskies. Minutes latter
when the woods around us began vibrating with wolf calls the silly girl
realised they where not just any dogs! Other than the wolves we saw very little
other wildlife during the trip, though we saw tracks for red squirrel, fox,
hare, ptarmigan, wolverine, caribou and others.
The next day we skied up the valley
following the stream for 18km to the Wate-Gibson ACC Hut (yes Canada should
re-think its Alpine Club of Canada initials!) It was a beautiful ski, following
week old tracks (yah not breaking trail!) through pine forest with views of Mt. Temple
and Mt. Edith Cavell among others. The hut is an incredibly cute, large log
cabin. Terra’s still not sure it was worth $40 a night to stay in it though!
She will now complain less about NZAC hut fees! It is a popular summer tramp,
but not so much so in the winter – other than the group a week before us the
last entry in the hut book was October. The hut would have been extremely
difficult to find without having a track to follow.
Terra spent the evening pouring over route
descriptions for all of the surrounding peaks. They are supposedly composed of
some of the best rock in the Rockies. Words
like “solid” and “excellent” come before “rock” and “protection”! There are heaps of faces and routes from scrambles to pitches above
grade 20. Definitely requiring a summer trip!
Terra and Dave broke trail to Amethyst Lake the next morning while Eric stayed
home to rest. We knew the day out would be a hard one, 30km back to the other
car (we did a partial loop). Thus we decided to speed things up by having the
first part of the trail broken (the other party went no further than the hut).
We didn’t find the tramping trail on the way to the lakes and bush bashed
through the pines. There we got our first real view of the peaks Terra had been
studying. The Ramparts jut almost vertically out of the lake, making a
spectacular wall just asking to be climbed! After enjoying lunch under their beautiful
faces we headed back, this time finding the trail. Terra then talked her dad
into coming to the head of the Fraser Glacier with her. It was well worth the
10min ski – the views of Outpost Peak and Mt.
Paragon where incredible
in the setting sun. We even found some avalanche-safe slopes to practice telemark
turns on. I wasn’t too happy about this as Terra kept falling on me!
We woke up before dawn to be out on the
trail early. We crossed Amethyst lakes then followed Maccarib Stream, over
Maccarib pass then down Portal Creek. We hit bottomless powder just after
leaving the lakes; luckily it became harder higher up where it had been wind
blown. The pass itself is not very high and completely unspectacular, but we
got some good views on the way up. The way down was OK until we hit the creek
where the snow became knee to thigh high with no base. So back to breaking
trail again! We did 20min shifts and where making very slow time. Dave also
fell in the creek twice getting his touring bindings covered in ice, rendering
them unworkable, so we had to build a fire and dry off his boots and bindings.
We luckily hit a trail just after dark which sped things up dramatically. Terra
and I had great fun gliding along the creek trying to dodge boulders and sparks
flying off her bindings when she hit one, but Eric found it not so much fun! We
made it back to the car after 12 hours. Terra’s dad wasn’t so impressed when
she asked him to go snow shoeing the next day!
From Jasper we drove to Eric’s farm near Mc
Bride (British Columbia).
It is a beautiful piece of property with one edge bordering the Fraser River
and the other the base of the Caribou Mountain Range. There was heaps of snow
and we had to snow-shoe into the cabin Eric had built. Once we got the fire
going it was nice and warm though!
We snow-shoed up the Cotton Wood logging
road looking for a climbable waterfall but didn’t luck out. The next day we
decided to snow shoe up Eddy
Creek (which the bottom
section of runs through the farm). It was a beautiful snow-shoe, climbing over
boulders and fallen trees covered in a thick blanket of snow as we followed the
steep stream through mature hemlock and cedar. We even came across a poor old Mrs.
Moose who appeared to be stuck on a patch of ice unable to escape. We couldn’t
even see any tracks of where she came in, so she may have been there a while L. Sadly there was nothing we could do, so hopefully she becomes a
good meal for a hungry cougar or wolf. We turned around soon after as Eric was
getting tired. If we had kept following it we would have ended up at the
glacier that feeds it. After the two hours we where probably about half way. We
also found what might be some good rock climbing cliffs just off the property!
That was really the last great adventure of
the trip. Terra spent the next few days packing, making last minute MEC
purchases and visiting her grandparents for the last time. She even got to see
her babies – Misty has become and excellent barrel racer and Xena is all grown
up. They are as cute as ever.
Sadly she only got to give them hugs and a brushing and didn’t get to ride
them. She also spent a day in Canada Olympic Park having her dad teach her how
to tele again. Sadly she did better when she was 12!
Now we are in the Sydney airport, to be boarding soon, on our
way to a horizontal bed and all of our friends which we have missed dearly.
Palpagradi :)