Blog @ simpletofind.ca » rockies http://blog.simpletofind.ca A place that is simple to find, but not really specific about anything... Thu, 21 May 2009 21:41:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Leaving nature and returning to a world http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/10/leaving-nature-and-returning-to-a-world/ http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/10/leaving-nature-and-returning-to-a-world/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:15:12 +0000 daniel http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/10/leaving-nature-and-returning-to-a-world/ I arrived in Edmonton and began my drive to the Jasper National park.  It was supposed to be a 4 hour drive to my skidoo and a 6 hour drive to my lodge.  Thanks to global warming (sarcasm…on the west coast, the east coast had record cold weather and loads of snow!!), there was not enough snow to skidoo.  I drove directly to the lodge.  It was a 7 hour drive in total.  The road was VERY bumpy thanks to truckers and construction workers.  This is a national park, but they decided to run a oil pipeline straight through the park!  It was disgusting.  The side of the road was dug up and really demolished.

Back to my adventure, enough of my rant.  After driving up a few thousand feet up a muddy mountain, I arrived at my lodge.  Wow.  It was amazing, just perfect for me!  It even had a stockpile of wood outside!

Beautiful lodge

After a great night, I slept in.  I couldn’t help it.  I was too comfortable at that lodge and I could sleep next to that woodstove all day!  However, I got my butt out of bed and started my climb.  I never made it to the top (~12000ft), but I did get to around 10,059ft (verified by gps).  The glacier was too soft and I did slip a few times.  One of the slips really hurt my wrist and that just took too much of my energy to keep going.  The climb was not too hard, I never had any straight climbs or inverted angles, it was just a wall of ice.  My normal camera was out of service, luckily I got a great shot from my cellphone camera.

View from the top

Will I go again?  HELL YES.  When?  I have no idea.  Will I persue a higher peak?  Probably not.  I enjoyed this type of climb and will seek out other climbs like it.  Mt Rainier, here I come again!

]]> http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/10/leaving-nature-and-returning-to-a-world/feed/ 0 Preparing to travel to the Great Canadian Rockies! http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/05/preparing-to-travel-to-the-great-canadian-rockies/ http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/05/preparing-to-travel-to-the-great-canadian-rockies/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:57:54 +0000 daniel http://blog.simpletofind.ca/2008/03/05/preparing-to-travel-to-the-great-canadian-rockies/ After cracking a tooth in half, receiving a $400 rent increase, packing my stuff up, I’m really excited for my trip in 24 or so hours:  A trip to the middle of nowhere, 9000 feet above sea-level, and no electricity!

I rented a log cabin in the Canadian rockies for this weekend.  I will be using a skidoo to get there.  The log cabin has a woodstove, a ton of firewood and 1 bedroom.  The cabin is near the “base” of a popular climbing route, so I should be among climbers. 

I am hoping for clear weather as I will be making this climb with one other person and no one else.  Packed my bags with 2 ice axes, picked up some expensive crampons and some quality bungie rope…hopefully I have time to take some quality pictures :)  

Other plans?  Nothing… just sit on my ass and relax, no cell phone service, no electricity (without a generator, that is).

I should be back Monday or Tuesday.  If not, send someone to pick me up, I’ll be around 52 09N 117 27W (google it…) and skidooing the river to route 93 (yes, I have my permit!!)

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