Club Events 2005
| 2005-01-02: COC - Watridge Lake and Karst Spring | ||
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| It was a glorious and beautiful winter day today - absolutely perfect. We set out to sunshine, clear blue skies and glowing snow-covered mountains, with temperatures somewhere around -10. As the day progressed and the sun dipped behind the mountains, the temperature dipped to -14, but there was no wind except for a bit right at Watridge Lake. I cannot comment on the entire trip because, unfortunately, I had some asthma-related difficulties which prevented me from doing the whole thing. I did manage to get almost to the lake, where I ran into Jennifer on her way back and turned around then. I also ran into Tammy and Chris who were supposed to meet us at trailhead but had gotten lost trying to find the mountain, so we said 'hi' to them but didn't actually travel the day with them. Most of the gang went past Watridge Lake all the way up to Karst Spring, which I hear was awesome, and hopefully we'll get some photos in from Barry and/or Mehran to prove that one. Dave also turned around early due to a broken snow shoe and caught up with Jennifer and I on the way down. Many finished the day in our usual way... darkening the doorstep of the Kilkenny Pub. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-05: COC - Ice Skating at Chateau Lake Louise | ||
| We knew it was going to be a blessed day when Lana showed up at carpool WITHOUT spilling her coffee all over her car. And blessed it was... blessed beautiful, and blessed c-c-c-cold! The temperatures did not get as high as promised... in fact, I think the high for the day was -23... a smidge colder than we would have preferred. It was very nice, though, that the Chateau provides free firewood for the little on-ice bonfire. Lucky, lucky David, on his very first event, got to spend the whole day (including four hours in the car) with Lana (Official Info Chick, member since July 2003, 47 prior events), Cheryl (VP, Treasurer, Oversheriff, member since February 2004, 91 prior events), and Rhonda (Dictator, member since April 2003, 203 prior events). And boy did we have fun!! Lana, Cheryl and I that is... and of course, David had fun, too... whether he realizes it or not. The mountains and trees were spectacularly beautiful today with a fresh dusting of crystally snow. The little skating rink on Lake Louise was in decent shape, and the castle was there to greet us and provide us with much amusement. Cheryl did not don skates today. See this photo (from Cheryl's last skating event at Lake Louise) or this photo (from today) for my guess as to why. Instead, she amused herself by keeping the bonfire in tip-top shape, and chatting up the other Chateau visitors. David, being on approximately his third ever ice skating experience (he's from England, cut him some slack), did a fabulous job and was well on his way to perfecting the \"hockey stop\" by the time we were done skating. On the ride home, David learned more than anyone in the world should ever know about Lana, Cheryl and I, and the unofficial goings-on of the club, but he braved it well and didn't lose his lunch or anything. A 30-minute in-depth discussion about doughnuts, their brands and varieties, and an analysis of the properties of cake doughnuts vs yeast doughnuts led promptly to a stop at Canmore's Tim Horton's, and my tragic (but oh-so enthusiastic) departure from the \"Wild Rose Detox\" (can you say \"falling off the wagon in a BIIIIIIG way\"?). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-09: COC - Johnston Canyon | ||
| It was merely c-c-cold today, and not C-C-C-COLD, as some of us feared. In fact, it was quite pleasant, temperature-wise, and absolutely breathtaking, scenery-wise. A wonderful day - the photos will say it better than I can. Tammy came in from Red Deer to meet us, and we spent part of the day leapfrogging with Glenn and Lorraine from the second trip. A highlight for me was when the very adventurous Stephanie actually took Ralph up on the \"Would anyone like to share my Love Tarp?\" invitation at lunch (or was she just taking pity on him....? only Steph can say for sure). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-11: COC - Ice Skating in Calgary | ||
| It is 9:50PM as I'm writing this, and the weather we were promised for tonight still hasn't started. They're calling for high winds and blowing snow overnight, and rumor has it we're supposed to get a wind chill of -47 sometime tomorrow. Yikes! Anyway, as of this writing, that still hasn't started. It was cold but clear this evening, and we had a lovely skate around the lagoon, with our happy thoughts staving off the scary weather. Unfortunately they shut down the concession early this eve, so no hot chocolate for us, but we did have the bonfire on the lagoon. And a couple of blurry photos to prove the best turnout yet for a COC lagoon skating event! That IS us... yep... -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-12: COC - Beginner Belly Dancing | ||
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| 2005-01-13: COC - Volunteer Social | ||
| Official Business Concluded: - Blank waivers provided to all volunteers who are coordinating events in the near future. Unofficial Business Concluded: - Food and beers were snarfed - Many important issues were discussed and decisions made, most notably, club member, Lambchop (Ralph), after his very persuasive presentation, was voted nearly unanimously to step into his newly created position of Hanky Panky Police Chief. Watch for Ralph on club events, and make sure your Hanky Panky doesn't get out of hand. If he notices someone starting to \"go too far\", they'll receive a Yellow Warning Card. If the Hanky Panky persists, they may receive the Red Warning Card, along with a time-out. - Two Overshare Citations were given, but no Hanky Panky time-outs (unless something happened after the majority of us left that we don't know about).
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| 2005-01-15: COC - Grotto Canyon Ice Hike and Blues Dance Party | ||
| COC - Grotto Canyon Ice Hike\n We set out with a pretty large group today, and once we got to Grotto Creek, I realized to my dismay that there was not nearly as much ice over the creek as there was last year. In fact... there was NONE! I was worried for a bit that I had insisted that everyone get crampons for nothing, but once we started up the creek, it wasn't long before we found the ice... it just wasn't as far down as it was last year. Whew! The canyon was its usual gorgeous self, and the weather was great, albeit a bit chilly (which, of course, often comes with those brilliant clear blue winter skies - yay!). We passed Cheryl and her group on their way out, and once we reached the falls, we found Dave and Barry who had planned on doing some climbing, but had been pre-empted by a group of climbers from Spokane (welcome to our backyard, by the way, you fellas from Spokane). :) We checked out the falls and watched the climbers for a while, then proceeded on back to the hoodoo and cave. Some brave souls climbed up to the cave... some climbed part of the way up to the cave... and some stayed safely on the ground (be sure to ask Graham what THESE people are to be referred to as). Back to town, I had to bail on Kilkenny to get ready for the Blues Dance Party, but I know some of our folks were heading there, and I'm sure they had a wonderful time. The dance party was fantastic, too - I got to do some dancing (with partners), which I don't often get to do these days. -- Rhonda COC - Blues Dance Party with Amos Garrett & Guests\n A fun time had by all listening to some great music and for a great cause. A large chunk of change going to the Red Cross for the Tsunami relief fund. Very entertaining to watch Rhonda being whisked around the floor (unfortunate if you were within elbow reach as you probably ended up with a black eye) Looking forward to the next couple coming up. Dave
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| 2005-01-16: COC - Chester Lake | ||
| Could snow shoeing BE more fun?? Nope! What an awesome day - and just what we all needed after that cold snap that just ended. We tried out the new Chester Lake snow shoe trail for the first time today, and it is great! We frolicked, tromped, slid, indulged in tomfoolery, went up, went down, saw elephant rocks and other geological wonders, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, especially Joe, who spent a good part of the day \"off-roading\", whooping as he went. There were several minor snow skirmishes and snow showers, and rumor has it we even broke a couple of the Hanky Panky Police Chief's newly instituted rules. He clearly needs to deputize a few people, and fast - he didn't catch a single one of the infractions! Afterwards we shared an intellectually stimulating time at the Kilkenny with Barry's group, where we enjoyed THREE sets of free wings and beer, and attempted to answer that age old question: \"Underwear - is it called 'gonch' or 'gotch'?\" with everyone from Saskatchewan west agreeing that it is 'gonch', and the misguided souls from Manitoba and Ontario voting for 'gotch'. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-18: COC - Heart Creek | ||
| A lovely afternoon - we decided unanimously that it was definitely better than working! Barry and I were surprised at how little ice there was today - especially at the end of the trail at the falls. We'd hoped to walk in to the falls on the ice, but the creek and the falls were still running full-force so that wasn't an option. Once we reached the end, then, Barry took most of the group up and around the back to look down on the falls while Cheryl, Nattolie and I held down the bench at the trail's end. As a special treat we hid Barry's pack in a tree, and then \"headed down the trail\" early (ok, we pretended to head down early and just hid around the corner to enjoy the prank). He did not disappoint, threatening us with a$$-kickings all around when we fessed-up. So, back down the trail and then on into Canmore to finish off the day with some treats at the Grizzly Paw. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-20: COC - Pool at Stix | ||
| Lots of fun, per usual. Pete, Lynn and I, as some of the main pool regulars, enjoyed hangin' with lots of newbies. Welcome to Masako, George, and Glen, and \"Welcome Back\" to Suzanne, Rosemarie and Kathy! Lynn shone with the opportunity to teach some pointers to her \"quick study\" student Masako, who has just taken up the game since coming to Canada six months ago. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-22: COC - Barrier Fire Lookout via Prairie View Trail | ||
| What started off with quite a bit of chaos turned out to be a fabulous day. First of all, the event was originally posted as a snow shoe on the new Canyon snow shoe trail, but due to rain and warm temperatures, our snow pack in Peter Lougheed was decimated, so the event was changed to a Prairie View Hike. Second, some of our group were supposed to go out to do some trail maintenance today with the Friends of Kananaskis, but that was cancelled due to road conditions on the Smith Dorrien. So, that group was invited to join us for our hike instead. All but one took us up on the invitation. So, we had a fantastic day with some great Chinook winds (I hiked a good part of the day with my outer layers removed - I was in my shirt with the sleeves rolled up). The trail had some ice, some snow, some muck, and some slog. What does that mean? I don't really know, but whatever it is, we had plenty of it. The views more than made up for it anyway. Nine hearty souls made it all the way to the lookout, with several more making it at least up to where the solar panel is. Five or so, who took their time enjoying the views on the way up (that's our story and we're stickin' to it), stopped once they reached the first good open area with a view down to Barrier Lake. Rendezvousing back at the parking lot, we decided that we all needed to go buy lottery tickets because of three miraculous losses and recoveries: - Corinne's hiking pole basket caught up with her via another hiker at carpool - Ralph's right ice cleat caught up with him via Teresa at carpool - Jeanne's left mitt caught up with her on the trail via Rhonda A stellar day which, naturally, ended up with beer and wings at the Kilkenny. -- Rhonda PS... if anyone sees John, tell him he owes me $5 for the carpool arrangements...
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| 2005-01-24: COC - Korean at Royal Seoul | ||
| What a great time! Terrific food and a really fun bunch of people this eve. What I didn't post in the event details is that tonight was a \"face my fears\" exercise. I only had Korean food once before. It was in Atlanta, and I went with a friend of mine (cheers to Mark Bentcover if he ever finds this web page) who is WAY more adventurous with food than I am. I made the mistake of letting him order for us both that eve, and aside from an unfortunate Chinese New Year incident back in '95, I haven't had a more traumatic dining experience. So, I finally decided that I had to get over my Korean-Food-A-Phobia and tonight certainly did the trick. I had Bul Go Gi (stir fried beef), accompanied by Kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage) and other unidentified delectables. Unlike my experience in Atlanta, there was no paste with little bitty fish-heads in it, nor scary veiney gristly chicken soup to be found. I think everyone else enjoyed their meals too, and Milena and Tomma enjoyed a bit of MY meal for me too. :) -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-27: COC - Movie Night - Hotel Rwanda | ||
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| 2005-01-29: COC - Rawson Lake, and Barnburner | ||
| Rawson Lake Hike and Snow Shoe\n As expected, conditions were um... \"less than ideal\" today. We made the best of it, though, and in spite of the icy trail and crusty snow, had a terrific day in the mountains. It had been raining, melting, and refreezing the whole week leading up to the day, so I guess we couldn't have expected any better. Some had ice cleats, some crampons, some yaktrax and some snow shoes, and we all had our special challenges and benefits. I'm sad to report, though, that some of the attendees discovered exactly why I recommend the icers from Lee Valley over yaktrax for mountain hikes. The yaktrax just cannot hold up in the conditions... there was plenty of slip-sliding around, which I and the other Icer-folk didn't have to deal with. The views at Upper K-Lake and Rawson Lake were stunning, as usual, and the warm temperatures made for a great opportunity to socialize and hang with Glenn and Jodi's group who caught up with us at the lunch spot. -- Rhonda International Folk Alliance Fundraising Barnburner\n Cheryl, Steve and I got to the venue around 7PM, which was perfect timing for us to get a great parking spot, and a table and enough chairs for our whole group... and then sit, and wait.... and wait... and wait... The music was overall quite good and it was great to go out and support our local talent in their quest to go strut their stuff in Montreal. I liked \"No Guff\" quite a bit, Bill Bourne was awesome, and the Rembetika Hipsters, as usual were the highlight for me. Unfortunately we were \"done\" by the time they finished, and we left before the \"second best band\" (according to one Hipster) came on... some kind of Bluegrass type thing (which I would have loved to see). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-01-31: COC - FREE Movie at Cardel: Logan's Run | ||
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| 2005-02-03: COC - Ice Skating in Calgary | ||
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| 2005-02-05: COC - Hummingbird Plume Lookout and Troll Falls | ||
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| 2005-02-08: COC - Beginner Belly Dancing | ||
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| 2005-02-09: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk (Funk/Hip Hop) \"Beautiful\", Snoop Dogg | ||
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| 2005-02-10: COC - Pool at Stix | ||
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| 2005-02-12: COC - Grotto Canyon Ice Hike | ||
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| 2005-02-13: COC - Ice Skating at Chateau Lake Louise | ||
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| 2005-02-16: COC - Troll Falls, Aerobic Funk, and Meeting | ||
| Troll Falls and Hay Meadow\n An absolutely spectacularly wonderful day!! Sorry to all you folks out there who were working today. We had a beautiful blue sky, mild temperatures, and a great visit with the eagle dude from the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation who was out on his fourth day of recording this year's eagle migration. We're hoping to get back out towards the end of March to partake of the migration peak - over 100 eagles per hour!!! -- Rhonda Paid Event Policies and Procedures\n Some proposed policy changes and web site changes were determined based on volunteer and member feedback. The proposed changes will be posted in the volunteer area and finalized. Members who would like more information may contact Rhonda for an outline of the proposed changes. Thanks very much to all those who provided their input!! Beginner Aerobic Funk (Classic Funk) \"Get Up Offa That Thing\", James Brown
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| 2005-02-18: COC - Board Game Night | ||
| It was fun. Especially the part about abandoned wild baby goats from Bulgaria. -- Stephanie It was fun. Especially the part about people with Bulgarian nipples. -- Rhonda It was fun. But I don't understand what all this has to do with Bulgaria. -- Mitko
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| 2005-02-21: COC - Chester Lake | ||
| A glorious day with gorgeous scenery, blue skies and mild temperatures. Joanne even brought her fetus friend on the trip (they've been friends since they were fetii, living next door to one another). A few poochies along (Manon, Bandit and Tacoma) made it that much more fun - there's no one happier than a dog on a hike. We snow shoed up to the lake for lunch, and then several proceeded on to the Elephant Rocks while the rest returned back down to the parking lot. Of course, Ralph made it to the Elephant Rocks and then still beat the non-Rocks people down the hill. A few of us braved the Family Day crowds at Kilkenny (Lindsey's theory is that after spending the day with the family, everyone needed a drink) for a quick refresher. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-02-23: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk (Funk/Hip-Hop) \"It’s All Good\", Will Smith | ||
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| 2005-02-24: COC - Ice Skating in Calgary | ||
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| 2005-02-26: COC - Marushka (Shark) Lake, and Cindy Church and the Polyjesters | ||
| Marushka (Shark) Lake\n A fantastic snow shoe trip - definitely a keeper! There was a LOT of snow out there. We tromped through the woods for a bit, and then into the creek bed, which was a more challenging snow shoe than anticipated - the snow was thick and heavy, but because we were in a creek bed, it was also very unstable, so it was not uncommon for someone's foot to sink all the way through the trail and into the void below. There were sections where the trail was a narrow shelf, difficult to traverse with wide snow shoes, and there were a few times when the shelf would partially crumble out from under one unsuspecting snow-shoer, resulting in yet another interesting face plant. Fortunately the snow was soft and inviting because I've never spent so much time falling down on snow shoes before (and I wasn't the only one). The trail information was a bit inaccurate, which we discovered as we climbed steadily up to the lake, including one very steep section, which many slid, rather than walked, down on the way back. We gained approximately 200m elevation according to the GPS, which is exactly what it seemed like as well (not the 100m noted in the trip details). It was such a warm and beautiful day, though, that no one minded the extra climb. -- Rhonda After this trip, Mike who led the same trip on Sunday came back with the suggestion that our two trips were so different that it's likely one of us did *not* go to Shark Lake. The general consensus is that it was *my* group who went on a mystery tour, and here is the resulting conversation. :) Marcel: My guess is that we didn't go to either. I suspect that we ended up right in the middle of the Tent Ridge Horseshoe. I think that from where we had lunch , if we had gone forward to what looked like a pass (or low point) on Tent Ridge, we would have been overlooking Tryst Lake. Angie: I get a feeling that it wasn't Shark Lake. Our pictures are nothing like the other pictures. When I get a chance I'll track down a map and see if I can figure it out! Whereever we went was certainly beautiful! I got more of a workout than I was expecting though! Anyone else up for a snowshoe trip to the REAL Shark lake in the near future? Ian: I looked at the guide (Gillean Duffern's Kan Tr Guide #3), I think same one you have. I think we were between tryst and shark lake. I think we went up what shows up on the guide's Topo map as Monica Brook. On that map it looks like we went up the middle of the Tent Ridge Horseshoe, so I don't think we were actually on a trail. I don't think it was Tryst lake because of it's starting point and the direction the sun would have been (it was directly in front of us so we were on a north/south trail, and tryst is more east/west). And of course there was the lake of a real lake........ COC - Cindy Church and the Polyjesters\n Were the Polyjesters worth it? Standing in line outside the door for 30 minutes waiting to get in, while they let 50%+ of the attendees in pass by us to go in and pre-reserve their blocks of chairs? Sitting in a crowded community hall at cafeteria-style row tables with a bunch of people who think “Saturday Night Special” means sitting perfectly quiet and not being allowed to say anything to your companions through the evening except during designated breaks (yes, they actually have a set of \"rules\" stating as much)? Enduring the genre-confused and mostly un-talented, uninspired and uninspiring house-band for an hour before the real show started? YES YES YES YES YES!!! The Polyjesters were worth it! These guys get better and better every time I see them. Bridget had seen them before with me once at a house party, but the rest of our gang had not seen them before, and they all agreed – these guys are fantastic!! Well worth the strange Saturday evening setting. Although I doubt we’d go there again… we’ll just have to follow the highly talented and energetic Valleau boys from Didsbury and their band-mates to other, more enjoyable, venues. CDs and more information available at www.polyjesters.com. Most of us left after The Polyjesters, but Wendy and Franco planned to stick around for Cindy Church. Hopefully we’ll hear some feedback on that part of the show, too. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-03-02: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk (Bhangra) \"Beware of the Boys\", Panjabi MC | ||
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| 2005-03-03: COC - Dinner: The Fairmont Palliser - Death by Chocolate | ||
As far as I know, there were no actual deaths attributed to the chocolate, however, there were plenty of near death experiences because of the chocolate.
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| 2005-03-09: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk (Funk/Hip-Hop) \"Hey Mama\", Black-Eyed Peas | ||
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| 2005-03-10: COC - Pool at Stix | ||
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| 2005-03-11: COC - Hockey: Calgary Hitmen vs. Red Deer Rebels | ||
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| 2005-03-12: COC - Diamond T Hike | ||
| We had a somewhat confused start to the day, but it all worked out in the end. A couple of cars took a wrong turn on the way to the trailhead, so by the time they arrived, Ed's group had already arrived as well. The two groups were scheduled to do the same hike - the Sulphur Springs/Riverview loop. Due to weather (and wimpy coordinator) conditions, I decided that I would take a group to do Diamond T instead, which is a really great 4km loop with a bit of scenery and three fairly big hills that make you feel like you still got your workout. About half of my group abandoned us and joined Ed to do the longer Sulphur Springs hike, and it sounds like they had a great time. The remaining nine hiked Diamond T, and then went to the Cinnamon Bun place in Bragg Creek after for coffee and snacks. :) -- Rhonda
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| 2005-03-16: COC - Belly Dance Practice at Varsity | ||
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| 2005-03-22: COC - Belly Dance Costume Workshop | ||
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| 2005-03-25: COC - Watridge Lake and Karst Spring | ||
| What a great way to spend Good Friday! A very large group out today to snow shoe in to Watridge Lake and then up to Karst Spring. There was some fresh snow from this week, and the temperature was really mild. We had several guests from Chicago join us for the day (with Jordin), all \"Ultimate Frisbee\" players - they brought along their frisbee and played a very entertaining game on Watridge Lake (without removing their snow shoes, incidentally). The spring itself was gorgeous with the bright green moss and fresh white snow for contrast. The trail up to the spring was quite icy, so many people went up the very more icy way, and some of us chose the very less icy way, including the very more steeper section. Buzz earned himself a new nickname - \"Sparkles\" - as he and Manon frolicked in the snow. On to our favorite K-place for refreshments and more stimulating conversation (we're thinking of making our carpools events all their own... there's no telling what can happen!). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-04-03: COC - Prairie Mountain | ||
| A beautiful, beautiful day - warm and mild, and not even brutally windy up on the ridge! Lots (and I mean LOTS) of snow on the trail - good surfin' on the way down. Definitely better with Icers. Icers rock! - Rhonda
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| 2005-04-05: COC - Belly Dance - Veils and Zills | ||
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| 2005-04-06: COC - Beginner Belly Dancing | ||
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| 2005-04-09: COC - Blues Jam Session | ||
Great turnout. This club has very interesting members . We had unexpected Rock to go with fabulous blues. Pam Crawford and Deidre did a great job in co-hosting their first jam . We'll do it again. Thanks to all attendees
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| 2005-04-10: COC - Wedding Performance - Choreo/Costume Planning Session 1 | ||
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| 2005-04-11: COC - Tunnel Mountain and Stoney Squaw | ||
| Poor, poor Glenn had to hike today alone with SIX women. Poor, poor Glenn. It's a wonder he survived. Thanks to a timely tip from Stephanie, who ran the same trip yesterday, we knew that Stoney Squaw wasn't going to be a good hike for today. So, after we tromped up Tunnel Mountain and enjoyed the views from there, we drove up the road and did half of the Hoodoo Hike. Highlights: Rika discovered that she used to hike with Glenn's dad with the Ramblers. Cool! Paula and Susan decided that they needed to bring Cheryl's citation book along on hikes when Cheryl wasn't present so that they could hand out their own Overshare Citations. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-04-15: COC - Music, Dancers and Fundraising for Africa Volunteers | ||
| This was a fantastic evening! The first band was called the Djembabes - a group of women drummers. They are newly formed, and were expecting to perform for the first time in June, but they were awesome anyway! The next band were kind of a funky/jazzy rock group - very good! The base player is a musician that I'm familiar with - Smooth from the Mad Bomber's Society, but I don't know the name of this band. They were really good, though. Then, the belly dancers... three gals who I used to dance with until a couple years ago - they were fantastic, and Heather, Steph and Cheryl got to get an eyeful of some of the stuff they're currently learning. Al and Fonda are absolute sweeties, and I'm thrilled to have been a part of helping to send them to Africa for their volunteer term. Lastly, one of our group went home with a fanTAStic print called \"Eagle's Desire\" from the silent auction. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-04-16: COC - COC Two-Year Anniversary Picnic | ||
| This is a fantastic venue! We had about 150 people out today on a fairly cold and windy day. A lot of us spent most of the time indoors, while some of the more determined outdoorsey (and those with dogs) spent some time outdoors. The wind died down enough for some frisbee-ing and ball-throwing. Rumor has it that the gang shut the place down at about 8:30 and moved on. Rumor also has it that we're still welcome at the Calgary Irish Rugby Club, which is definitely a good thing, 'cuz I think we'll want to have more get-togethers there! Thanks to everyone who came out to help us celebrate the end of our second year, and welcome to everyone who came out for their first event to meet some (a lot) of us. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-04-17: COC - Horseshoe Canyon by Drumheller | ||
| Holy tick-filled canyon Batman! Tis the season for ticks in Horseshoe Canyon, apparently, as we found no less than FIVE ticks ON US during the day. Thorough tick checks ensued at the end of the hike. Rhonda M and I decided to combine our two groups as our numbers dwindled, so we had a total of 25... a bit of a large group, but not necessarily necessary to take two separate groups. True to my history with Horseshoe, we did NOT do the complete canyon today. I have done it three times before, always starting on the west leg of the canyon, and never successfully find our way back up the east leg. So, today I figured I'd be smart and start down the east leg, and as before, I am not sure if we overshot the end of the canyon, or didn't go far enough (we suspect not far enough), but we ended up doing an out-and-back today in the east leg of the canyon, including an interesting up-loop-down through a farmer's \"stubble field\", which our resident farmboy assured us was a-ok because, being \"stubble\", we would not be damaging the farmer's crop in any way. A few of us decided to try for a stop at the Tea House on the way back to town, but alas, it was closed. -- Rhonda S
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| 2005-04-23: COC - Wedding Performance - Choreo/Costume Planning Session 2 | ||
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| 2005-04-25: COC - Powderface Pass via. Powderface Creek Trail | ||
| An absolutely glorious day - in fact, I think I may have gotten a bit of a burn on my shoulders. There was quite a bit of snow and ice on the trail yet, so if you're thinking of doing it, make sure you bring your ice cleats. Half the group climbed up Powderface Ridge after lunch while the rest of us communed with nature a little bit longer. No ticks or bears today (that I know of). Two new nicknames, \"Wrong Way Enrique\" and \"Fuller Farcash\" were assigned (\"Fuller Farcash\" being Glen's \"porn star name\" according to the formula for determining one's porn star name.... many of us are anxiously awaiting what he'll do for our next nickname party). OK, actually THREE new nicknames, since Ian M (Ian #2) was dubbed \"Chippendale\" in his absence, since he's the only dude signed up for Strippercize on May 3rd. Strider put us all to shame with his energy, but then, the rest of us weren't fueled by snausages, either... perhaps he knows something we don't know? Lastly, thanks to Beth, we avoided the sticky cracks. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-04-30: COC - Prairie Mountain | ||
| There's a lot to be said for doing your hike early in the morning - namely breakfast and beer! That's right... three of us went to Kilkenny after our hike, and made it there before their breakfast cut-off at 2:00, so we were able to have beer and breakfast! :) The weather in Calgary the past couple days was miserable, with a biting cold wind, but Witchypoo triumphed again for this hike. Although it was somewhat chilly, the biting cold wind was gone, and it was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike. There was a lot of snow on the trail, almost all the way up, but unlike a couple weeks ago, there was no ice, so even the footwear-challenged on the trip made it to the top. Heading down, we exchanged insults with Glenn and Susan's group who were one hour behind us. We thought that we were the early group and they were the smart group, until we had breakfast and beer, and realized that we, in fact, were the SMART group! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-05-03: COC - Strippercize! | ||
| Wow - it was good to finally get THAT out of our systems! Most of the folks who came out tonight were from my belly dance classes (that's where the Strippercize idea originated), and I keep telling them... HIDE the kitty! HIDE the kitty! Tonight we bumped and grinded to our hearts content and nobody worried about hiding anything! No, no clothing came off, except for an outer jacket thing that we practiced with, so get your mind outta there. Ian M officially earned his new nickname, \"Chip\" (which is short for Chippendale). We'll definitely be inviting Carrie back to do more classes for us. For more information about classes, contact Carrie at 244-1719 or check out her web site at Dance-4- Play
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| 2005-05-05: COC - Dinner at Sushi bar Zipang | ||
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| 2005-05-06: COC - Geeks Night Out: Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy | ||
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| 2005-05-07: COC - Steph's GoodBye Party - Toga Theme | ||
I think the pictures speak for themselves... What a send off you guys gave me! That will rank in the top 10 parties of all time for me and I've been to an impressive amount of parties (I went to Carleton University....). Thanks to all my COC friends who have grown into more than just hiking buddies over the last year. Thanks to the new people who showed up - at one time all of us were new and shy and it took a lot for us to get to our first event - I know it was for me - but believe me when I tell you that the COC will give you the opportunity to meet some wonderful people and have great times - both on the trail, at our parties, at Kilkenny's and especially in the carpools where some great bonding occurs :) Special thanks to Phil for hosting the party, for \"my girls\": LTFF, Witchy Poo, Hoodoo, Flash, Niagara, Poindexter and Mushroom, shout out (and hugs & kisses) to my boys: Cupcake, Chip, Lambchop, Crackers, Chunks and The Lurker. Ah heck, here's to all the rest of you that came, and that I remember: Ian G, Mehran, Jason, Laura and Cody, Sheila and Rob (thanks for the food!), Karen, Rhonda M, Alison, Steve, Mitko, Guido, Lisa & Michelle, Bubbles, Merridy, Susan, Joanne and Bonnie, Corinne, John S, Sam & Tonia, Maylis, Doug C, Aaron, Chrystal, Dave & Trevor, Alan, Parry, Wade and of course, Doug B, who really does have a nice butt. I know there were more of you there, but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to talk with you, at least as far as I can remember...:) Goodbye to all, and hope to see you at a TOC event when you find yourself in the centre of the universe. It's going to be tough to leave, you are all such a great bunch of people! SWAN
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| 2005-05-09: COC - Grassi Lakes | ||
| Due to a head cold, the Weather Witch's powers were blocked, and we ended up hiking in a pretty steady drizzle. At least the Witch didn't have the flu, 'cuz it really wasn't that bad. At the base of the cliff (above the second lake), Crackers found what appeared to be the ultimate mountain make-out spot. Amazingly, Polyanna enthusiastically joined in... eeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuwwwwwwwww!! The hike was short, the lakes were pretty, and we all agreed it was a perfect short hike for the day. We stopped at The Drake in Canmore for lunch after... mmmmmm... Thai Satay Soup... -- Rhonda
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| 2005-05-10: COC - Belly Dance | ||
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| 2005-05-13: COC - Mt Indefatigable | ||
| Due to fatigue, I did not reach my Indefatigable goal today. I was still getting over a head-cold and did not make it all the way to the second lookout, although Cheryl and I made a valiant effort. The rest of the group made it there, and beyond a little bit until they decided that breaking trail, in their shorts, in snow up to their hips, was a bit extreme. In spite of a forecast for a small amount of rain, we had a glorious day. The Weather Witch triumphs again! I'll be trying this trip again in a couple weeks... have to make that second lookout!! One of our hikers found a tick on her head late this evening - even AFTER washing and conditioning her hair. It is TICK SEASON - if you're out hiking, make sure you do a thorough tick check afterwards. Eek! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-05-15: COC - Calgary Pathway/River Cleanup | ||
| We had 40 people out today to help with river clean-up. Apparently we found a syringe and other hazardous materials under the Deerfoot bridge, but other than that, the most dangerous thing most of us saw out there were a LOT of golf balls. Thank you to everyone who came out to help!!! :) -- Rhonda and Ed
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| 2005-05-16: COC - Nihahi Creek | ||
| Another glorious day - hail to the Weather Witch! I may have to start charging a weather tax for my events. ;) Despite the long boring approach, this hike is awesome. Going through the short canyon is terrific. I highly recommend doing this hike (down the road all the way to the creek; then, up the trail that starts right beside the creek all the way above the canyon - ie. where the trail re-joins the creek - and then down through the canyon to the \"lunch spot\"... then, up the hill to re-join the trail to return). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-05-19: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||
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| 2005-05-20: COC - Barrier Fire Lookout via Prairie View Trail | ||
| We had a very small group today, but it included myself, Cheryl and Glenn, so you can just imagine the fun time the 'newbies' had. Hope we didn't scare anyone off! It was a beautiful day (of course) and we did the hike quicker than expected - do you think Cheryl, Glenn and I are finally getting in shape? During the trip, Glenn suffered from some mild exposure (or was it others who suffered?) and he spotted some wildlife that he has only seen in films before. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-05-24: COC - Aura Creek Sand Forest and Aura Lake | ||
| You know that voice... that little voice in your head that says \"Hey, this hike sounds cool, except... I've been in this area for a long time and have never heard of it before, so maybe it just sounds cool and it's actually kinda lame...\"? Listen to that voice! Of course, any day hiking beats the best day in the office, so I'm still glad we went, but I won't bother with this hike again. The sand forest was neat, but just. At least we didn't get rained on... oh wait - we got hailed on! D'oh! Oh well, you don't know if you don't try, right? -- Rhonda
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| 2005-05-27: COC - Plain of Six Glaciers | ||
| Lake Louise is definitely one of the most spectacularly beautiful places I have ever seen, and with the perfect weather and clear blue skies today it shone at the height of its brilliance. Higher up on the trail there was still lots of snow for added fun and hilarity, but who knew that the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House was set to open on Saturday May 28th - we missed it by one day!! D'oh! A couple of us lounged at the Tea House area while the rest hiked the remaining 1.3 km up to the end of the trail. Just as they returned, we were treated to a spectacular avalanche that fell near (behind) the trail they were on (the trail seems to have been built specifically to keep people out of the avalanche run area). One new nickname today - from now on Doug B will be called \"White Rabbit\". It was so great to have Claudia join us again finally - we were only able to coax her little Spanish butt out on one winter event, so we've really missed her! -- \"The\" Rhonda This was my first time ever to Plain of Six Glaciers. Lake Louise is a very famous image, backdropped by steep glacier-covered mountains. Walking the Plain of Six Glaciers trail is magical because the very famous, albeit always flat, image, becomes three-dimensional around you as you walk into the famous photo.
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| 2005-05-28: COC - Poker - No Limit Texas Hold'Em Tournament | ||
| Bluffing was rampant and tension was high. \"Call\", \"Raise\" and \"All-In\" were heard over the rustle of poker chips. And I do believe fun was had by all. The winners for the night were: 1st place - Ian ($50) 2nd place - Cheryl ($30) 3d place - Marvin ($15) (and what a comeback!!) 4th place - Felicia ($5) Hope to see you all again soon, but this time, I'LL be playing!
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| 2005-05-29: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||
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| 2005-06-03: COC - Geek Pride Party! | ||
| Frink! What a party! The one and only R2D2 was in attendance, as were the perky COC cheerleaders (who ditched early after complaints that their cheers weren't nearly binomial enough) Chip mixed things up as the \"mad\" (alleged) chemist with the help of the alcohol polymath Lili, Christina was decidedly unique, the PS2 was put into good use, and real food in the form of dinosaurs, gummi bears and worms sustained all the geeks who made the trek into the deep South. A special thanks go out to Laura for not only hosting her first event, but hosting such an excellent one!! :) :)
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| 2005-06-04: COC - Race City: Caltronics Saturday Night Stocks | ||
| In spite of a few enthusiastic rain showers this afternoon, we had a pleasant warm and dry evening at the races. Everyone had a great time except for one sore-loser of a race driver. I won $4 on the race we decided to bet on - yay me! I think Paige found her new calling... I just hope she remembers to use the radar detector! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-06-05: COC - Alberta Culture Tour: Gopher Museum and Buffalo Jump | ||
| We live in a mad mad mad mad world. Some places madder than others. And some of us are from those mad places. In fact, my dad's side of the family hails from Torrington, Alberta, but most of us cleared out in the 70's and 80's, so I had never gone to the Gopher Hole Museum. After discussing this compelling prairie roadside attraction on a hike with a club member who shall remain nameless, I set up this event (only to have said nameless member back out two days ahead... OK, OK... it was GYMANASTICS JOANNE!), but the rest of us had a smashing good time. We checked out the gophers, bought some stuff, heard the Gopher Song, had lunch at Tommy's and toured the gophered-up fire hydrants sprinkled throughout the village. I didn't realize before I went there that the murals at the museum were painted by my cousin, artist Wayne Schneider, so it was a pleasant surprise to find his name and accolades all over the place. A less-pleasant surprise in finding my grandparents' old house sunken further into disrepair (continuing its spiral that started when my grandmother left Torrington after my grandfather's death in the early 80's). After touring Torrington, most of us returned to Calgary. It had been raining all week leading up to the event, so we would not have been able to hike at Dry Island Buffalo Jump. Some were not yet satisfied, though, so one carful continued on to Dry Island after Torrington where they were pleasantly surprised by the lack of quick sand type mud and hiked along the road down to the river which was about 200m. They didn't venture onto any of the little trails as they figured they might get swallowed whole, so they just stuck to the road. The sun came out and they had a beautiful view of the valley and a pretty warm little hike. They also took a slightly different route home for a little change of scenery by taking the 21 straight south. . -- Rhonda
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| 2005-06-09: COC - Staff Meeting | ||
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| 2005-06-11: COC - Sakana Sushi School, AND - Mehendi | ||
| Despite the last minute cancellations, we have 10 eager up and coming Sushi Chef at our Sakana Sushi School. We learned many professional tricks from our instructor. One of the best ways to learn anything is to apply what you learned. We made many pieces (I lost count of the number) of Sushi as well as Salmon, Cucumber and the California roll. We do and eat our in-class assignments with Sake and Plum wine. We had a Sushi competition and the top 4 won prizes like a bottle of Sake and plum wine as well as $25 gift certificate. To add some fun to the party, Gail and I volunteered to put on the \"Japanese Hair piece\" and costume. Sakana grill took pictures of our top Sushi Chef from COC. Next time you are in Sakana grill, you may want to find our picture there. We learned how to make Sushi, had a great time and had great Sushi at our Sakana Sushi School. Mehendi with COC/\"Andwa\" friends before Andwa website existed
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| 2005-06-17: COC - Techno Party - Cecilia's Birthday! | ||
| Dancers and Music Lovers filled the atmosphere with enthusiasm as the DJ's showcased their skills. Even break dancers entertained us! Thank you to all who made my birthday enjoyable. For those who couldn't make it, you had to be there.!
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| 2005-06-20: COC - Castle Lookout | ||
| I can't believe this was my first hike of June. Finally, the clouds have parted and the angels have begun singing, and they did give us a spectacular day today. Despite some concerns about the trail conditions (because of the two weeks of torrential downpour we just received), the trail was in good shape (a couple of muddy sections, but nothing bad), the weather was beautiful, and the views were breathtaking. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-06-25: COC - Jason & Samantha's Housewarming / First Anniversary Celebration! Flamingo Theme | ||
Great party! Thanks everyone!
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| 2005-06-26: COC - Circus Sublime - Belly Dance Show | ||
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| 2005-06-27: COC - Flood Damage Repair in K-Country | ||
| Beware the \"Circle of Death\"! That is, the arc of your swing, defined by the length of your arm, plus the length of the Pulaski (axe on one side, adze on the other). And, if you're me, also beware Cheryl's \"Circle of Revenge\". With a sketchy weather forecast, we (Erika and I) decided to proceed with our volunteer day today on the Diamond T/Elbow Valley trail. Erika brought muffins, and our crew leader, Gord, brought doughnuts, to entice us out into the trail. We started off in drizzly rain and promptly got soaked. We built some drainage run-offs from some puddles and then dug a drainage trench along the side of the trail. By the time we quit (around 1:00-ish), we were completely covered in mud. I think the \"Friends\" got their doughnuts worth. :D -- Rhonda (Pudge)
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| 2005-06-30: COC - Consolation and Boom Lakes (not Aylmer Lookout) | ||
| The forecast for Banff was getting worse and worse as the week progressed, so I used my handy \"Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies\" book to pick a couple of \"rainy day hikes\" (Consolation Lakes and Boom Lake) instead of proceeding with Aylmer Lookout. As it turned out, we only got rained on a little bit, and probably could have done Aylmer just fine, but we had a splendid time doing our alternate hikes today anyway. First, out to Consolation Lakes, where there was a group size restriction (due to bears in the area) - we had to be at least six and had to stay within 3m of each other. That was a first for me, although I've heard of it before. We did not see any bears, but we did spot a couple of fine hoary marmots, and saw (and heard) lots of avalanches coming down Temple Mountain. While walking around on the big rocks, Mike suddenly lost his nipple (from his camelback). After helping him search for the lost nipple for a short time, we decided it would be easiest to just let the nipple go, and instead dub Mike with a nickname: \"Nibbly\". We had a snack on the rocky shore of Consolation Lake, under the cliffs (and slides) of Mount Babel, and then returned to our cars. A few miles back towards Calgary we found the trailhead for Boom Lake, our second hike for the day. A very similar hike to Consolation - little elevation gain, on a well-forested and humid trail. Reaching Boom Lake, we got rained on for a short time, but hung out and communed with the splendor around us for a while before heading back out. Yoda, naturally, sampled every body of water that he found today. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-03: COC - Picklejar Lakes - Rhonda's Group | ||
| This is an absolutely great hike. For only about 10km round, you definitely feel like you got a workout, and some spectacular views to boot. The trail starts out with quite a long tromp up and down some lush rolling green hills, with great views behind and in front. Finally you reach the pass, and do the long steep slog up the pass, at which point the south views open up, and as you cross over the path and traverse the scree section, the lakes and different mountains to the front open up. Continuing on, you can find three more teeny lakes sandwiched in the narrow valley. I highly recommend this hike - it's a beaut. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-04: COC - C Level Cirque | ||
| A splendid day for hiking. The forecast was calling for sunny with a high of 25, but what we actually got was overcast with a high of 15 (it warmed up just as we finished). It was great! A tad cool/windy at the cirque, where we had lunch, but overall, very good. We were greeted at the trailhead by a couple of wardens who were warning people of bears in the area, so again, we hiked together as a group (with me in front just to make sure... since I'm the slowest hiker in the world, it wasn't possible for our group to splinter). A great first hike, or first-of-season hike, but not a spectacular \"must-do\" by any stretch. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-05: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk | ||
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| 2005-07-07: COC - Admin Team Mtg - Election (or lack thereof) | ||
| As announced at the beginning of May, the COC will have a new Executive (President and Vice President(s)) this year. The plan was that we would have an election, with the results announced in October at the time of our AGM. We were taking nominations 'til the end of June. Well, the end of June has come and gone, and I am not surprised to say that there is no need for an election - the elected candidates will form the new administration by acclamation. Rob, Cheryl and I are thrilled with the candidates, and are pleased to announce that the new club executive will be: President - Samantha Vice Presidents (3) - Stephanie B, Sibel and Mike F This new executive will officially take over at the time of our AGM in October. Over the next few months, we (the old executive) will be working closely with them to transition the club over smoothly. With the new executive will come a new club structure as well. Rather than everything going through the President, the responsibility areas will be split up among the three new VPs as follows:
Please join Cheryl, Rob and I in welcoming the new Executive Team. Ramping the COC up over the past 2 years (plus a bit) has been very challenging and also very rewarding, and we hope that the new team will get as much reward and fulfillment out of it as we have (and hopefully keep the frustrations and challenges to a minimum).
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| 2005-07-08: COC - Lake Agnes Teahouse and Big Beehive | ||
| Lake Louise area is still under heavy bear warnings, but since the trail up to Lake Agnes is virtually Grand Central Station, we were not in any danger of an encounter, and set out at our own paces, splintering into several groups as we went. Most of us went up to Big Beehive, and a few braver souls went up to Devil's Thumb where we could see them wayyyyyy up on the tip. Whoa. Returning from Big Beehive, we got drizzled on a bit, and stopped in the Tea House for hot chocolate and to wait for the return of the Devil's Thumb scramblers. As I am Pudge, the Weather Witch, of course the weather SHOULD have been perfect on my trip, but the best I could do was manage to time our arrival into the Tea House with the only serious rain shower of the day. I do lead a charmed life, indeed. We had three poochies with us - Yoda, who hikes with us regularly, as well as Peanut and Bear who are amazing little hikers (seriously) and only had to ride the last part in Tessa's backpack. An absolutely fantastic day!! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-09: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||
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| 2005-07-11: COC - Healy Pass | ||
| Wow and Wow again, this is the second best hike I have ever been on since joining the club and maybe before that. Was it because of the great weather???? It rained on us a lot. Was it the fact we had Gem and Yoda with us running around reminding us to be kids?? Nope. I am immature enough as it is (although I recommend hiking with dogs whenever you can so thanks for bringing them. Was it the large group of hikers that kept laughing and enjoying themselves with large smiles at the top of the pass? Nope. Although they were a lot of fun and I hope to hike with them all again soon. Was it the fact then when we got there the sun broke through at the pass and we saw spectacular sites of mountain tops, alpine meadows, lakes and waterfalls, and one large mountain dog running around like he was seven months and not seven years? Nope. I get National Geographic and look at pictures, although this is the most rewarding view and I would recommend this to anyone and will do it at least once a year to clear my head. So why is it the second best hike? It's because I had a severe leg cramp in my calf that hurt enough for me to think twice about turning around. This delayed people and they were kind enough to put up with me being slower than normal. And as a result, Michelle was kind enough to give me a massage that worked wonders. Sure the leg still hurt, but I could not give a rat's ass as I have never smiled so much and had more men give me dirty looks as they were thinking, is this a ploy???? I will never tell. Actually thanks Michelle, it did make the hike down a lot less painful and I am quite sure your nickname could become the masseuse (if I spelt that right) . It was a late day back to town only because the views were enjoyed for a lot longer than usual but can you blame us? This is one hike worth cheering to at the Kilkennys next time there. Well done. -- Glenn
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| 2005-07-12: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk | ||
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| 2005-07-15: COC - Burstall Pass, and Superhero Party | ||
| Burstall Pass\n This is a terrific hike - about 18km round trip, there's a bit of elevation at the beginning, then a long flat section, then some elevation, then a long flat section, then some elevation up to the pass. There's a river crossing, and because we've had such a wet year so far, the \"river\" was more like multiple streams and mud bogs which we had fun figuring out how to get around, over and through. As in all \"pass\" hikes, the views here are my favorite kind - there's a great view of mountains behind you, and then when you get to the top of the pass, there's another spectacular view of a whole different set of mountains in front of you. The alpine terrain is beautiful and fascinating. I highly recommend doing this hike. Remember to take some sandals or extra shoes if you don't want to hike in wet boots for most of the day. -- Rhonda Superhero Party\n Oh, for Fox Creek! It probably wasn't my most brilliant freakin' idea to book this party during Stampede... Mokaso! GM-Ford-and-Chrysler, turnout was kind of small because of the blankety-blank timing, but we still had a great time anyway, and wow... some AWESOME secret identities. And not a single fargin' icehole to be seen. Purple Helmet and his sidekick, Nut Sack, just crack me up. A warm freakin' welcome to the Red Menace and his sidekick, Indifferent Girl, who just moved here from bloody Oregon. -- Potty Mouth
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| 2005-07-16: COC - Belly Dancing - Easy Beginner Workshop | ||
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| 2005-07-18: COC - Trail Maintenance for Friends of Kananaskis | ||
| Wow - what an amazing day!! When Erika told me that our work assignment for the day was to do some stuff on Ha Ling, I was a bit nervous about that... after all, I didn't consider Ha Ling to be within my personal capabilities just for HIKING (never mind working)! Well, we met up with Erika and Erik from Friends of Kananaskis, and then were joined by Matt and Andy from provincial parks. After deciding that we'd hold off on eating the offered doughnuts 'til the end of the day, we climbed about 300 meters over one kilometer of Ha Ling to get to our work site where we assisted in building a retaining wall for a new section of trail. We dug and hauled gravel and dirt, and gathered and placed big rocks behind the log walls that were already in place. Erik's guesstimate is that we moved approximately 10 m^3 of material (or, about 2 tons) into place. WOW!!! Throughout the day we were passed by several groups of hikers, who, naturally, we harangued to stop and help us. We even had some stop and do just that - one ooh-la-la French tourist (male) and a group of five hikers who all carried some rocks down for us on their way back down. What a fantastic and amazing day, and yes, I think I CAN hike Ha Ling Peak... maybe even all the way to the top! A fantastic group - we had SUCH a great time. I did, however, put in my request with Erika for an easier work assignment for this coming Saturday as I have a group of mostly 'newbies', plus I have to perform (belly dancing) in a wedding that eve and best not be totally bagged and bruised by the end of the work day. :) -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-19: COC - Beginner Aerobic Funk | ||
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| 2005-07-22: COC - Prairie Mountain - Early Morning workout hike | ||
| As promised, everyone got their workout. Even Yoda and China. It was great having my old co-worker, Dean, and his wife, Tracy, along on the trip (their first, but hopefully not last, COC event). A wonderful morning, we all agreed, and an absolutely INSANE day for wildflowers. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-23: COC - Trail Maintenance with FOKC and Belly Dance at Hot Shelley's Wedding | ||
| Another great day out by Bragg Creek. We hiked past the work that we did at the beginning of the trail a few weeks ago, and headed out on the Sulphur Springs trail where we moved some deadfall in to discourage trail braiding and widening, did a bit o' pruning, dug some drainage ditches, de-bermed some of the trail, and moved debris around to make some of the hills easier to deal with, on foot, but especially on mountain bike. We met several friendly mountain bikers and a small handful of hikers and equestrian trail users. Thanks to all who came out! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-26: COC - Beginner Hawaiian Hula - 4 wks | ||
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| 2005-07-28: COC - Pointy(Kelli McAllister)'s Farewell | ||
| I can't say anything about this without getting all smooshy and pathetic and weepy, so I'll just quickly say I'll miss you Pointy. Come visit lots. See you in October. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-07-31: COC - Alberta Culture Tour: Vulcan Trek Station | ||
| Holy heat-wave today! Definitely a horrendous day for hiking, which is why we were glad we were indulging in an Alberta Culture Tour field trip today to Vulcan and the Carseland Weir (although we still wilted pretty good at the weir). Honestly, there is not much at Vulcan. It's a do-once. Certainly not a do-more-than-once. There's a tourist info center with lots of kitschy Trek stuff. There's the Starship Enterprise, however, we had one unhappy moment today when Liza informed Ken that it wasn't the REAL Starship Enterprise. All I need to know about life I learned from Star Trek: - Seek out new life and new civilizations - Non-interference is the Prime Directive - Keep your phaser set on stun - Humans are highly illogical - There is no such thing as a Vulcan death grip - Live long and prosper - Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting; it is not logical but it is often true - Infinite diversity in infinite combinations (IDIC) - Tribbles hate Klingons (and Klingons hate Tribbles) - Enemies are often invisible - like Klingons, they can be cloaked - Don't put all your ranking officers in one shuttlecraft - When your logic fails, trust a hunch - Insufficient data does not compute - If it can't be fixed, just ask Scotty - Even in our own world, sometimes we are aliens - When going out into the Universe, remember: \"Boldly go where no man has gone before!\" More to do at the weir... we \"hiked\" through a weed-filled bog to a slightly-stinky sand dune where we snacked and frolicked (this is truly a rural Alberta pleasure). Ken took a stroll through the quick-mud. Emily found a leech, and Rhonda O promptly produced an empty bottle to become home to said leech. Some stood around in the water to cool themselves (did I mention it was freakin' hot today?). We saw some pelicans, although none close enough to get a decent photo. Darn it. Rob, Samantha and Rhonda O narrowly escaped death from falling in the weir. Wendy, Denise and Christina narrowly escaped total wiltedness by retreating to the parking lot bench (with the only spot of shade available). Discovering said patch of shade, everyone else decided that the new Angling Regulations (posted on the bulletin board behind the bench) were extremely interesting. I don't know which we needed more today... our spirits of adventure, or our senses of humor. We're just very glad we brought both. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-08-01: COC - Ptarmigan and Black Prince Cirques | ||
| We split into two groups at carpool with Michelle's group going to Black Prince Cirque first, and my group going to Ptarmigan Cirque, then trading. It was a beautiful day, and both hikes, although short and easy, were very pleasant and enjoyable. In fact, I was glad we didn't have anything more challenging for the day because I'm still recovering from my cold from last week and was \"done\" before I was, technically, done, today. Although neither of these hikes were to feature hoodoos, there was one hoodoo sighting by Glenn on the return from Black Prince. It seemed to work out very well with the two groups - better than I had actually expected. Thanks, Michelle, for taking the other group! -- Rhonda This was my first attempt at co-coordinating anything with the COC and I was pleased that it seemed to go rather well considering. Thank you Rhonda for doing all the real work! Our first stop was The Black Prince Cirque. It was the shorter of the two cirques at only 4.3km return, but the little green lake was very beautiful. When searching online for some info on this cirque (as it wasn’t listed in any of my books) I found a webpage describing “letterboxing”, which I was later told is very similar to geocaching. The webpage I found described where to find a letterbox on the trail. The directions were very simple; no tricky riddles to solve or complex directions. We found it in the first place we looked. This being the first letterbox I’ve found, I was very curious to see what was in this thing. There were several letters/notes in which the writing had all run due to previous water damage. There was a log book in which one uses the pencil provided along with their personal stamp to “sign in”. I didn’t have a personal stamp but I signed it regardless – my hands never work well when I’m hiking so it was more like chicken scratch than anything. I then took the stamp from inside the box and stamped the pamphlet I picked up from the box at the trailhead to take home with me. One normally carries their own log book in which they collect the stamps from the various letterboxes around the world. I may just have to make myself my own stamp and log book and then find me some more letterboxes. There are a few more in Alberta apparently. Maybe I’ll make up my own letterbox and stash it up somewhere high and beautiful for other people to find and document. The second stop was Ptarmigan Cirque. Morley K wasn’t with us for the first hike of the day but he joined us for the second. This was a somewhat more strenuous hike but still quite short. The flowers when we came out of the trees were gorgeous, as was the rock face that surrounded us at the top of the loop. We did do the little bit of climbing up to a pile of rocks in the base of the basin. Yoda relished eating and rolling in the patch of dirty snow that remained up there. I wonder if he’ll see snow in Calgary again. In any case, I’m glad he had the opportunity to enjoy it again… he loves it so. Orlando and Marco were snap happy for most of the trip… collecting photos galore to later reflect upon their time in the Rockies. Orlando returns to Brazil in less than a week I believe. We hope he’ll come back to join us again soon! We were back down in the Highwood parking lot by 1:30pm where then we discussed what to do next. After passing ideas around and assessing the status of our legs, we decided to call it a day and headed back to town for drinks and food at Kilkenny’s. -- Michelle
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| 2005-08-04: COC - Movie Night - Charlie & The Chocolate Factory | ||
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| 2005-08-05: COC - Aylmer Lookout | ||
| I don't know, but for some reason I expected this hike to be a lot more challenging. What with the description outlining a 23.5km hike, with pretty much all of the elevation right at the end... and all the whingeing from Glenn when he did this trip before... you'd think it was a real grunt. I found it quite easy. Relaxing even. Oh... wait a minute... maybe that's because I, along with four others, stopped at the Aylmer Pass Junction at about km 8.0 and lounged around on the rocky beach for three hours while we waited for the others to go up to the lookout and back. Yes, that's right, I'm ashamed to say that I did NOT actually do Aylmer Lookout today. My story is that I'm still getting over the bad cold that knocked me down last week, and also that I have such a strenuous weekend ahead of me that I didn't want to push myself too hard and screw up the rest of my weekend. It's my story. Lake Minnewanka is very beautiful. Unfortunately the 8km of lakeshore trail to the Aylmer Pass Junction does not afford many views of it... it's mostly a tree-sheltered trail, although there is that one very long rocky hill along the way that felt pretty much like a cruel trick on the way back which did provide open views. I have decided that I probably won't make another attempt at Aylmer anytime soon. What with that 'cruel trick' hill on the way back and the fact that the views from the lookout didn't move Marko to tears (or photography) convinced me that I'm probably better off sticking to something a little less physically challenging with a little bit more reward involved. In any case, we had a positively lovely time waiting around at the lake. While Sharon, Nicole and Doug snoozed, Cheryl and I played a game of 'throw rocks at Doug and see who can get them to stay on his torso instead of falling off'. Doug and Cheryl skipped some stones into the lake. Doug got himself a mouthful of 'Ensure gone bad', and a couple of very refreshing dips in the lake (I believe the exact words were \"*expletive deleted* that's cold!!!\". As we returned to civilization, we were thrilled to discover a small concession serving ice cream. Manna from heaven on a 30 degree Celcius day. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-08-06: COC - River Float: Bowness to the Zoo | ||
| A couple of lessons learned today with this one: Make sure we have the details nailed down about exactly WHEN and WHERE people are to meet... but everyone forgave me, and I do believe we're close to having all the kinks ironed out of our \"big group river rafting\" events process. :) We set out to spectacular weather, and although it was extremely hot in the city today, down on the river it was warm with a delicious cool breeze. We had our pacifistic \"Love Boat\" captained by STFU-Ian and Hot Shelley, the warrior ship \"Inflatable Doll\" captained by Niagara and Maritimer Mike, the international \"We Love COC\" raft captained by \"Mushroom\" Sibel and Orion, the laid back \"Doug and the Slugs\" captained by \"White Rabbit\" Doug, the flag ship \"Clothing Optional\" captained by \"Frou Frou\" Cheryl and Aaron, and the rogue pirate ship (not on the official roster) captained by \"Safari Phil\". Philip had a name for his raft, but I don't remember what it was, and the rest of us decided that it should be called \"Size Doesn't Matter\", anyway. Put-in was down at Bowness Park where those of us on raft duty gathered to inflate rafts (and dolls) while waiting for the take-out carpoolers. There was some confusion, as I mentioned, about meeting place, however, everyone eventually turned up and we were off. Floating down the first section, we passed the river-level Bowness houses (pretty snazzy), and the Silver Springs, Varsity and other neighborhoods on the hill across the way. Passing Edworthy Park, we started to see downtown Calgary's pretty skyline followed by some even snazzier condos (and speculated about their prices). Many raft wars raged behind us as we deftly avoided the warships and \"Size Doesn't Matter\", the crew of which apparently had a case of \"little raft syndrome\" and thought they had to take on everyone on the river. Past downtown we found our take-out directly underneath St. George's bridge (just past the footbridge at the Zoo), which was kind of overgrown, and partially blocked by a log, but it was still there, much to our relief (next stop, the Weir of Death). Being the first raft out, by a long shot, the \"Clothing Optional\" crew set up an elaborate water ambush from St. George's bridge, however, due to premature ambush-ulation, only a couple of folks got a bit of a splash. A jolly good time, with many moving on to Philip's house after for an apres-float party. -- \"Pudge\" Rhonda from \"Clothing Optional\"
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| 2005-08-07: COC - Grassi Lakes - Beginner Hike | ||
| Even though the \"guests of honor\" didn't show for this hike, we still had a perfectly lovely day. I'm not sure what happened with Noosha and her friend, but I know I will kick their little Iranian butts next time I talk to them.... Due to the extended line-up at the \"facilities\", we decided to split immediately into a \"leaving now\" group, and a \"waiting for the potty\" group, with Doug taking out the first group and me staying back with the second. Doug's group opted for the \"Easy\" trail up, and since we didn't know which way they'd gone, we opted for the \"Hard\" trail (also known as the pretty, scenic trail). A couple of adventurers in Doug's group were not aware of this, though, and stopped to wait for us to catch up. After waiting 15 minutes, they got worried and hiked back down looking for us. An (one of the adventurers) phoned me (ain't technology grand?), and I told her we were on the \"hard\" trail and we'd meet them at the lake. Since they'd gone back almost all the way to the intersection at that point, they decided to come up via the \"Hard\" trail (because I told them it was much nicer). So, they essentially did the hike TWICE. Needless to say, we had been waiting for them for a while by the time they finally made it up to the lakes. *har* Meanwhile, back on the farm, Gen played with Bailey in the lake, Ricky howled his every emotion, and Darla trotted along obediently beside Laura (including doing the hike twice). Several hikers went up above the second lake to check out the pictograms above, while others lounged around and enjoyed the scenery. A \"must do\" hike, for beginners, or for anyone. It's just too beautiful to miss. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-08-14: COC - Skating to Chestermere for Picnic | ||
| What a great day! Oh, deja vu... that's what Doug C said about the biking event. This is the second time we've attempted this combined biking/skating event, and interestingly enough, where last year the bikers were sitting around for an hour waiting for the skaters, this year it was the other way around. Next time, both groups start at the same time (no need to handicap the bikers as long as we have strong skaters). I started off the day in a very relaxed way, and was on my way to the event WAY early, which is good because when I was ALMOST THERE I realized I had left my skates behind at home! D'oh!! The really funny thing about that is that last year when we did this same event, I forgot my skates in my car which was left at Chestermere for carpooling and Cam had to drive me all the way back to get the skates. It was a LONG time before he let me live that one down. Anyway, today was excellent. We had 10 skaters to start with and Ian showed up later (with his \"tail\"). Lada, who has skated no more than 5km before in her life opted to skate the whole round trip (as did several others) and skated 45kms!!! Way to go Lada!! Mike (aka \"Nibbly\") demonstrated \"The Chad\", which is a very cool skating technique. Rumor has it that Doug C promised his bikers a coffee to anyone who knocked a skater down when they met up with us, or if it was ME who was knocked down, the prize would be a beer. The only one brave enough to make an attempt was Mike W. However, he told me what he was doing as he was doing it so I escaped by promising him TWO beers if he would refrain from knocking me down. We were only about 5km from Chestermere when the bikers finally crossed our paths, so we knew we'd be waiting at the picnic area for them for a while before they got there. My lunch was stashed in Doug C's car, so I got to sit and watch everyone eat their lunch (Doug B tossed me an apple to tide me over) while waiting for the bikers. About half the skaters got tired of waiting and decided, instead, to skate the 25km BACK to Glenmore. They figured they'd be back before us (by the time we waited for the bikers and then they had their picnic lunch). Boy, were they wrong... we had been sitting in the Glenmore Inn lounge enjoying a cold one FOR AN HOUR before they made it back in (although they were, rightfully, very proud of themselves). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-08-15: COC - Eiffel Lake/Wenkchemna Pass | ||
| The weather forecast today was pretty iffy (as was Pudge's attitude) so we rendezvoused in Lake Louise where Frou-Frou, Crackers and I decided to forego the 20km Eiffel Lake/Wenkchemna Pass hike and go on up to Bow Glacier Falls (a nice 9km \"rainy day hike\") instead. Everyone else opted to go to Eiffel Lake/Wenkchemna Pass. I think it was because no one else could stomach the thought of spending the whole day with Crackers, but maybe that's just me... Eiffel Lake/Wenkchemna Pass We met at the Lake Louise Information Centre and decided that we would continue to Eiffel Lake and Wenkchemna Pass. The hike began with an incline for about 2km until we came to the Sentinel Pass fork. There were grey clouds, fog, and the mountains were not too visible. We were hopeful and we had an angel among us because the weather was good. As soon as we emerged from the trees, we saw beautiful mountains, Moraine Lake, and the Eiffel Lake up ahead. We weren't sure how far to go up the pass, but most made it to the ridge of the pass enjoying the views, while some of us stayed sheltered in the rocks and enjoyed a snack and well deserved rest. The sun came out and we saw blue sky make its way over the pass. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! Then, the best yet was awaiting a small carpool group of four. Not sure if anyone else was lucky to capture this moment, but on the drive back, my group and I got stuck in traffic on Hwy 1. We were thinking, more deer for the public to take pictures of, perhaps a car accident, but no, there were two grizzly bears walking next to the highway giving us glances as they walked towards the trees. One was smaller then the other, but they were cute! Their big paws moving forward one at a time - I guess they got sick of all the cars that pulled over because they disappeared into the trees soon after they passed our car. I will always carry my camera in the car from now on. But what a rush!! Thanks for everyone that came out, thanks to the Colonel for his help as well today, and see you next time! Today’s hike was amazing! The weather didn’t look too promising, but only after 30 minutes of hiking, the clouds moved up and the ceiling was above the mountains. It remained pretty much cloudy throughout the day and we never got rained on. Much of the climbing is at the beginning and at the end. Once you reach the junction between Sentinel Pass and Eiffel Lake trail, it is flat for a few kilometers. Once you pass Eiffel Lake, which isn’t that exciting compared to the view of the valley, you will climb a more technical pass. It is a rocky pass and a little bit a scrambling is required. I personally think that the views are simply amazing, but make sure to make it to the pass… you can see the peak of Assiniboine. Thanks Sibel for taking over the hike, thanks to Susan and Ken for trying to teach me how to say Assiniboine properly, maybe one day I’ll get it right! Charles The Colonel Bow Glacier Falls This is not a hike I would have ever chosen to do as a day trip from Calgary because, well, it's relative short (9km) and is not billed as anything really spectacular. As our substitute hike today, though, it was perfect, and I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to do a great little hike that I might otherwise never have bothered with. It was overcast and foggy a lot of the time, and rained a little bit, but the views were beautiful (especially the mountains reflected in Bow Lake), the hike was easy, the falls were very impressive, and I was suffering from a serious case of wimpy-ass-itis. As I am still recovering from a nasty virus that knocked me down a couple weeks ago, plus I rollerbladed 25km yesterday, I was not at my most.... energetic today. I think I maybe even complained more than Glenn (if that's possible). The hike is somewhat reminiscent of a much easier \"Plain of Six Glaciers\". You start off with a flat and EXTREMELY well-traveled lakeshore trail (a la Lake Louise). Past the lake, you travel along in a dry rocky riverbed (with the small river accompanying you), and then climb a series of \"trail stairs\", which is about the ONLY elevation gain on this hike. Beyond that is more dry rocky riverbed, and in the distance the glacier-capped mountain with the fantastic falls in the middle. After, we hit Joe Btfsplk's in Banff for lunch/dinner, where we \"enjoyed\" some greasy diner food and then hit the Banff fudge store and candy store. -- Pudge
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| 2005-08-19: COC - Trail Maintenance for Friends of Kananaskis | ||
| Today we added an ~80 foot re-route to the Upper Kananaskis Lakes Trail to replace a section of trail where an enormous tree and a bunch of the trail had fallen over and washed out during the spring floods. When we got there, we saw the damaged trail, and our fearless leader, Andy, showed us a section of thick forest with a few marker ribbons showing where we were putting the new trail segment in. We said \"PARDON!!??\" Well, we managed to do it, and a mighty fine job we did, if we do say so ourselves. We pruned trees, Andy felled trees (chain saw), pulaskied our hearts out, hauled dirt out, hauled dirt in, hauled rocks out, hauled rocks in, hauled duff out, hauled gravel in, hauled deadfall out, hauled deadfall in, smoothed the trail, flattened the trail, graveled the trail, and obscured the old/original trail. We worked tirelessly, with Mike laying claim to one end of our re-route and Ken claiming the other end. The rest of us floated in between. Hikers who passed by in the morning used the original trail. Those same hikers, just like magic, returning in the afternoon used the NEW trail. It seemed to work for them. Erika pointed out that the Acronym for \"Friends of Kananaskis Country\" is FOKC. People who vounteer with her, therefore, are FOKCers. We, being from COC, are, therefore COC FOKCers. And proud of it, too! What a satisfying job to see the progress and end results of our efforts. I think this has been my favorite trail maintenace day yet, with Ha Ling running a very close second. Thanks to all who came out and helped - awesome, awesome group. It was really cool having Archy, our Taiwanese visitor come out for the day with us. Ken (The Stalker) may, or may not, have seen a new moon from the car on the way home. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-08-20: COC - The Polyjesters @ Ironwood Stage & Grill | ||
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| 2005-08-21: COC - River Float and BBQ: Cushing/17th Ave SE to Sikome Lake (Fish Creek) | ||
| Niagara, Mushroom and Chip upped the stakes by introducing \"amphibious warfare\". These are close combat attacks carried out from the water. Niagara (aka captain/ dictator / slave driver) was almost mutinied until she earned her crew's respect by assaulting an enemy raft from the water. Stuart's (aka first officer) naval career was off to a rocky start as we found him huddled in the fetal position after the first bombing. But once he pulled himself together and learned to use his paddle he was a worthy mate. Jordan (aka science officer) and his sister, Cesia, were a formidable team of paddlers, keeping our raft straight and true, while dishing out some water power to enemy rafts. Matthew (aka weapons officer) also had great paddle control while keeping the boat afloat by pumping out the water intaked during battles. Anika and Rachel, both brilliant tactical and linguistics officers aslo proved worthy mates. Perhaps our raft should have been named \"the bird of prey\"...? Between the 7 of us we had lived in about 10 countries and spoke about 15 languages. This still didn't help diplomatic relations with other rafts though. When food was low, we tried bartering with the locals for food or fish, but to no avail... the fisherman were not having a good day. Exhausted and soaking, we made our way to the picnic area where a truce was called between all rafts, and food and stories were shared for ages to come... well, I left after 30 minutes. -- Niagara (from \"Kon Tiki\") Top notch! It was a great crew. Here are my \"lessons of the river\" for the trip: \"Paddles and bailers will always outgun a super soaker!\" \"Always make sure your sunscreen is waterproof (ouch!)\" \"Always be wary when someone calls a truce in a waterfight.\" - Dave (from \"The Good Ship, Lollipop\") We had a great time! The Green Nuts were especially good! Thanks to Mark for some great manoeuvring of the raft and attacks made on other rafts! We got everyone wet...except one raft that escaped our paths! Next year, we'll get you! Arghhh! - Mushroom (from \"Captains Bligh and the Bounty\") I am, indeed, a tactical genius. Not that I'm good for anything but choosing good people for my team, most notably Lisa Marie as captain and Chip as tactical officer. Of course, everyone pitched in, and I still took many a full-face of water, but compared to being completely unarmed and defenseless in the \"Chicklet\" raft last summer, I felt that I was ruling the river this time around! Two rafters discovered just how long ten minutes could be when they decided they HAD to pee SOON, and were assured (several times) that the take-out was JUST ten minutes away. Finally, to their relief, we pulled the raft over to the bank for them to take care of business at a spot which was, ironically, about ten minutes away from the take-out. I'm glad that Gen will never be known as \"the girl who peed in her shorts\". Not like Hoodoo's raft - I'll always remember that they took turns peeing in the river. I'll never swim in the Bow again, or splash anyone - promise. - Lisa Marie L and Pudge (from \"The Ruthlessly Recalcitrant Rhondas\") I want to thank all of you who organized this event! I can honestly say I would never have attempted anything like this, but felt comfortable trying it with such a large group. It was a great way to see this river that I have lived by most of my life. I will definitely come equipped with water ammunition next time; our raft (the dodo birds) was the inexperienced and wet bunch! Thanks COC! - Colleen (from \"Dancing Dodo\") Right from the beginning, Hoodoo and her Blowfish knew they'd be in trouble. They were the largest group - 8 rafters total - so they ended up in the biggest raft, and were thus the biggest target. Hoodoo knew well in advance that Pudge would be her nemesis for the day, though Chip talked a good game too (interestingly, neither of them were particularly frightening once we hit the water). In a mid-river water war, Hoodoo and the Blowfish lost a paddle and a bucket to The Ruthlessly Recalcitrant Rhondas, but neither boat came out a true victor in that battle. The rest of the float was peaceful for Hoodoo and her Blowfish (we paddled along fine, despite being down a paddle) - no one bothered to declare war on them again, and when they came up on the Dancing Dodo, a truce was declared so that the Dodo could borrow one of the remaining buckets to bail their wet craft. While Hoodoo knows for sure that she didn't pee in the river, she can't be so sure about the rest of her crew. Cindy led the plunge into the frigid waters, deciding to swim alongside the raft for a while when it got too hot. Darryl soon followed, and Heather, Susan, Patrick and Hoodoo all made the plunge a time or two to escape the relentless heat. Everyone got practice in hauling overboard rafters back aboard the craft - some just couldn't resist floating along until their limbs threatened to go numb! All in all, it was a fantastic day. A great time was had by Hoodoo and all her Blowfish! - Hoodoo (From Hoodoo and the Blowfish)
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| 2005-08-22: COC - Saddle Pass | ||
| We split into \"fast group\" and \"enjoy the scenery group\" at carpool, which worked out remarkably well. I wanted to make sure, since we were hiking in bear country, that I would have at least six people in my \"enjoy the scenery group\" (when reviewing the list, most of the people I knew looked like \"fast group\" types). So, we set out with two vehicles for each group. One carpool missed the exit for Lake Louise. Obliviously drove right on past the signs for Yoho National Park... \"Welcome to BC\", and Lake O'Hara. Not mentioning any names or anything, but I think Frou Frou and Pudge may not be allowed to carpool together anymore. After we'd figured out our error and turned around, Frou Frou decided to go one step further and win the \"dumbass remark of the year\" award when she said \"I wonder how long it would have taken us to figure it out\" (gee, I think we just found out exactly how long it would take us....). :> Once the whole gang was assembled at Lake Louise, the fast group set out and left us in their dust. A short ways up the trail we were joined by John and Barb from St. Louis who wanted to join us for \"hiking in numbers\" sake, but they stayed with us for the \"hiking with the Calgary Outdoor Commedians\" sake. A fairly unremarkable hike up, with a few nice views to the north on occasion, getting up to the pass itself pays off with the usual \"two views for the price of one\" bonus... a whole new view to enjoy on the other side of the pass. We saw the \"fast group\" going up Mt. Fairview, and rumor has it that there was a brief \"full moon\" display, although it was too high up for any eyewitness confirmation in our group. We joined Ed at the end of the Saddle Pass trail for lunch - he had gone partway up Fairview and then turned around when his knees strongly advised against continuing up. Michael, the \"new guy\", got his nickname on his first event out - \"Kielbasa\", and was mostly cool except for the part where he thought we were being too mean to Crackers. I mean, is there really any such thing as being TOO mean to Crackers?? We left the lunch spot as the fast group was beginning their descent from Fairview, and I was surprised that they actually caught up to us by the time we were back at the Lake Louise shoreline. Seven of us enjoyed a trip to the K, where The Colonel and The Stalker amused us all with fascinating \"who's the gassiest hiker\" competition. -- Rhonda (Pudge)
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| 2005-08-23: COC - Belly Dance Combos | ||
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| 2005-08-25: COC - Beginner Inline Skating near Glenmore Inn | ||
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| 2005-08-26: COC - Rockbound Lake | ||
| There is a reason my mother calls me \"Grace\"... and today I demonstrated that reason to four hikers when, shortly after beginning our descent, I did a fancy, multi-step stumble forward, hoped in vain that I would right myself before completing the tumble, and before coming to a final stop in a prone position, watched my pinkie finger on my left hand bend all the way backwards to touch the back of my hand. Back at the trailhead I showed it to everyone (it was back in a near normal position) but only three were brave enough to touch the inverted knuckle. Bunch o' wusses. As I write this, it is 6.5 hours later, and I am still waiting for the pain to kick in. The doc says not to worry... it will be here by morning. At least I didn't have to deal with the torture of sitting in emergency for hours and hours; Marg took me to a walk-in clinic, and they had me X-Rayed and patched up and home in less than an hour! So, I guess maybe you want to hear about the actual HIKE, too. Well, it was fantastic. Definitely a keeper. It's a long slog in on a forested trail, gaining 700m of elevation over 8km. A nice gentle grade. Near the end, the boring trail opens up and you are rewarded with great views of the side of Castle Mountain, beautiful Tower Lake, and Rockbound Lake, which wouldn't really be that great except for the spectacular black cliffs providing the backdrop. Anyway, it was great. If you want to know more, ask me in person, because my finger hurts and I'm going to stop typing now. Many thanks to those who helped take care of me today. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-08-27: COC - Belly Dancing - Easy Beginner Workshop | ||
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| 2005-09-08: COC - Staff Meeting | ||
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| 2005-09-12: COC - Belly Dance | ||
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| 2005-10-01: COC - Open House - Rothney Astrophysical Observatory | ||
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| 2005-10-08: TOC - Whirlpool Jet Boat, and Hiller Estates Winery Tour | ||
| Whirlpool Jet Boat\n Event Coordinator(s): Stephanie A, Shawna Melnyk\n Participants: Shawna Melnyk, Stephanie A, Rhonda from Calgary, StephB, Kelli , Sibel (Mushroom), Dawn, David Cain, Mark Bentcover, Erik S, Tricia, James\n\n \nOh. My. God\n\n This experience left most of us speechless - mostly because we got mouthfuls of water. The tour guide warned the group about the first three rows of the boat, so the TOC piled into them. Sibel and Mark got the worst seats and were hit with a huge hit of water from multiple sources. We rode about 5 miles down the Niagara River, past some gorgeous scenery and a little war of 1812 history lesson. Then we went to play in the class 5 rapids for a lot of fun and wetness. The water went up to our waists and buckets after buckets over our heads. Shawna earned a new nickname 'Alice'..not because she was in Wonderland, but because she didn't wear waterproof mascara. whoops...\n\n They provided us with 6 layers of gear, but we were soaked right down to our gitch. Then before we turned back we traveled out to the class 6 rapids, aka a certain death, where your body will be sucked down into the whirlpool and may show up in 20, 30 or 100 years later.\n\n If you ever find yourself in this niagara region, this event is a no show, although a late July or August trip may be better for keeping warm... Hiller Estates Winery Tour \n Event Coordinator(s): Stephanie A\n Participants: Stephanie A, StephB, Shawna Melnyk, Sibel (Mushroom), Rhonda from Calgary, Dawn, David Cain, Tricia, Beni Hana, Erik S, James, Kelli , Mark Bentcover\n\n\n \nAs a group we made our way to Hillebrand estates for a little introduction to wine making in the niagara region, and tasting of three wines\n\n Our tour guide Rob enthusiastically answered all of Dawn's questions and taught us all the proper way to taste wine. We learned to clear our palate and all that other stuff that reminded me of Sideways. We got to try a red, a white and an icewine that knocked my socks off. I don't think I've tried a real icewine before because this was fantastic. $78 a bottle fantastic...
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| 2005-10-09: TOC - Fall Colours Hike - Osler Bluffs | ||
| Event Coordinator(s): Stephanie A\n Participants: Stephanie A, Rhonda from Calgary, Sibel (Mushroom), jacqueline treloar, StephB, Kelli , Mark Bentcover, Laney, Trevor Patterson, crystal, Erik S, Beni Hana, Dawn, David\n\n\n \nIt's been a long summer in the city, but the colours were out up north\n\n When the TOC did this hike in the summer I knew it would be a perfect place to take a group of folks who have never seen fall colours before. And I was right. The height of the bluffs gave us a long view of Nottawasaga Bay, a part of Georgian Bay near Collingwood, Creemore and Stayner and other small rural towns. The canopy had thinned out just enough to let the sunshine stream in the woods, and our calgary contingent were amazed by the maple leaves and the bright red of the sumac. Then there were the abundant apple trees.\n\n We lost a few hikers at the boulder climb, but the rest of us made it up, including Rocky. We found a great spot for lunch, played in some canadian shield rock formations.
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| 2005-10-15: COC - Nihahi Creek | ||
| 'Twas a perfect day - much warmer than we anticipated and many wished we'd worn shorts instead of pants. This was my first hike since I broke my finger, and I was absolutely DYING to get out - it was fantastic! The approach in didn't even seem too long and boring, perhaps just because I was so happy to be out. This, in spite of the fact that we had to add 3km to our total hike because the campground was blocked off and we had to park on the far side of it and walk through to get to the trail. Once we reached the creek, we headed up the trail beside it. The elevation slowed me down a bit (even more than usual) because of my 1.5-month inactivity. Once we reached the top of the canyon, we started in and a few decided to turn back and retrace their steps rather than going down through the canyon. There was a lot more water in it than I was used to, so I could totally understand that. I had to seriously face some fears, made worse by \"rebreaking the finger\" paranoia. But, those of us who continued in all made it out, including Darla who had to ride a few sections in Mike's arms, with a hilarious death-grip on him the whole time. We rejoined our non-canyon-goers at the bottom of the canyon for lunch and then hiked out. The return on the road felt longer than the approach, but still lots of fun. -- Rhonda/Pudge
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| 2005-10-18: COC - Barrier Fire Lookout via Prairie View Trail | ||
| It was a perfect day for a hike - crisp and sunny with bright blue skies. The four of us had a great casual time noodling up the trail with one stopping at \"the log\", one going up to the \"Krispy Kreme ad\" (aka the microwave diverter), and two making it all the way to the lookout. This hike is a staple, and is fantastic early, mid and late- season. -- Pudge
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| 2005-10-21: COC - COC Annual General Meeting and Social | ||
| It's official! Samantha, Stephanie, Mike and Sibel drank from the COC Boot and took over the Calgary Outdoor Club from Rhonda, Rob and Cheryl. Tons of people turned out this evening as we bid a sad farewell to our wonderful hiking Bernese, Yoda, who passed on recently of cancer, gave out some \"Special Recognition Awards\" and \"Photo Awards\", and socialized our buns off, with some folks continuing their socializing at a pub after the Irish shut us down at 11:00. Special Recognition Awards: - Darryl Bonny - Most Active Newbie (13 events in 2.5 months) - Kerryn Carter - Most Active Newbie (15 events in 3 months) - Meran Sherifi - Most Active Member (96 events since Nov 2003) who, ironically, didn't show this eve. - Rob MacLeod - Most Gender Confused - Cheryl Dyer - Little Lady of the Year - David Meisner - Most Helpful Hiker - Enrique Cantor - Most Directionally Challenged Hiker, who was unable to find the venue to received his award - Marcel Bourque - Most Directionally Challenged Volunteer - Susan Moffatt - Least Directionally Challenged Hiker - Ralph Juengel - Biggest Mooch - Mike Balogh - Best Wipe-Out, who was probably lying in a ditch somewhere with a concussion when he was supposed to be receiving his award - Toby Jesso - Most Creative Drink Inventor, who was probably lying drunk somewhere when he was supposed to be receiving his award - Ken Picard - Gassiest Hiker - Maylis and Marta - Best Partners in Crime - Jason and Cody - Best Partners in Crime - Kelli and Gloria - Best Partners in Crime Photo Awards: - Best Scenery, 1st Place: Steve Bennett - Best Scenery, 2nd Place: Rhonda Scheurer - Best Scenery, 3rd Place: Jodi Frank - Best Activity, 1st Place: Michael Dabrowski - Best Activity, 2nd Place: Lisa Pintaric - Best Activity, 3rd Place: Neil Summers - Best Animal, Marko Stavric - Best People, Sibel Kozak Thanks to the Calgary Irish for hosting us, and to Industry Images for doing such a great job on our 2006 Calendars - Ex-President Rhonda
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| 2005-10-22: COC - Alberta Culture Tour: Water Valley Saloon | ||
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| 2005-10-23: COC - Rawson Lake | ||
| The hike today was fantastic, albeit right on the edge of the time when we NEED ice cleats in order to do it. The temps were good/brisk, and the sky was blue most of the day. There was a bit of snow on most of the trail, and ice on parts as well, making the steeper parts a bit treacherous (definitely do-able today, but bring the cleats for next time). Instead of last-minute drop-outs today, I had a number of last-minute add-ons. Meran brought a guest, Graham called to ask if he could come along, and we picked up three late-comers from Luc's group who missed Luc, but picked up with us. Diligently leading from the back of the pack, I took the group successfully up, and down, from Rawson. And rumor has it that somewhere along the way today, Glenn got Lucky. Oh my! Finished off the day at \"The K\", and I still can't believe they took the Beef Boxty off the menu. Is nothing sacred?! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-10-24: COC - Beginner Hawaiian Hula - 4 wks | ||
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| 2005-10-26: COC - Ice Skating @ Olympic Oval | ||
| The first COC skate of the season! It may have been warm in Calgary in recent days, but the Oval is open and ready for business with its public skate nights. A good time was had by all, with relatively few wipeouts (I'm blaming it on being rusty - a little practice is all we need!). Laura learned an important lesson about racing, almost causing a multi-skater pileup. Cheers to Fernando for skating for the very first time! Thanks again to everyone for coming out. -- Samantha
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| 2005-10-28: COC - Plain of Six Glaciers | ||
| I love Icers. If you're going to do any winter hiking, I highly recommend getting some of these (they're only available at Lee Valley Tools that I know of in town). Some folks are buying Yaktrax, and the rubber slip-in with studs thingies but I really don't recommend them. Yaktrax are good for walkin' the dog on slippery sidewalks in the winter, but I've heard nothing but complaints from people who try to use them on hikes. The rubber slip-on thingies just aren't that good... the studs are very small, and the rubber breaks easily in cold temps. The hike... ok... the hike was very nice. There was a fair amount of ice starting to build up on the trail, thus the preaching about Icers. Lots of people were slipping around all day, while Cheryl and I trooped along nicely with our beloved Icers on. It was a fairly cold and overcast day, but very beautiful nonetheless, and definitely better than any day spent in the office. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-10-30: COC - Nihahi Ridge | ||
| We weren't the Calgary Outdoor Club going up the trail today... we were the Calgary Outdoor MOB. With Matt's group of 14 ahead of us, followed by my group of 27... whoa! The scenery once you get up to the start of the ridge was absolutely to die for, with the mountains sprinkled with just a bit of fresh snow. Duncan had a bit of a scare up at the top when he joined what he thought was part of a COC group, even confirming it verbally (they must not have been able to understand his strong Scottish brogue... note sarcasm... Duncan's accent is quite mild), only to have them \"remind\" him a time later that \"his group\" would be quite far gone by then. So, then trying to return to us, he got lost on the ridge and wandered around for a while, and had an unfortunate \"crampon incident\" resulting in a fall, before he finally found us (happily waiting for him) again. A very interesting and fun group out today... -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-04: COC - Powderface Ridge via. Powderface Creek Trail | ||
| Well, I didn't get to finish the hike today - I had to turn around with a hiker with a minor injury, but Debbie took over the group and it sounds like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Some comments: It's windy up there! But the sun is great and we can see very clearly the snow mountains far away. -- Sunry We made it and didn't get lost thanks to Debbie. It was very windy at the ridge, with a fantastic view. We saw a small herd of dear running through the snow at the top, you could pretend that they were reindeer and Santa would be next. I think that Julie and Sunry enjoyed their experience despite wet socks ( Debbie lent her a dry pair). Snow hiking is much more tiring than summer hiking. -- Ann
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| 2005-11-07: COC - Ptarmigan Cirque | ||
| YAY for Birthday Brownie!!! With a beautiful day, including some in-between conditions, we set out with two on snow shoes, one in Icers, one in Yaktrax, and two in boots for a most excellent early winter hike. I had set a hike up for today because it was my birthday (39 - eek!!), and chose one of my absolute favorite places to go. I couldn't have planned it any better - we had a spectacular day, augmented by good company, and BIRTHDAY BROWNIE!!! Marg and David were staying out in K-Country over the weekend, and brought along a birthday brownie, which they prepared and presented to me about halfway up. We transported it the rest of the way up to our \"lunch spot\" (just below the actual turn-around point of the Ptarmigan Cirque interpretive trail) where Marg and Ed managed to light the sparkler (which, in turn, spun the mini-pinwheels). For most of the first part of the trail, I felt that the snow shoes were completely unnecessary, but as we finished the elevation and broke out of the trees, we found ourselves in about 2' of snow the rest of the way and I had to break trail to the lunch spot. I NEVER break trail. Never! I'm always at the back of the pack, so I've never had the \"pleasure\" before. It was um.... nice to try once. About half way up, we stopped for a while to watch some snowboarders who had lugged their boards all the way up to the peak of the mountain across the road and then boarded down. It took them well over an hour to get up, and not more than a couple minutes to get down. Whoa. Thanks to all of you for sharing \"my\" day with me. It was perfect!! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-11: COC - Afternoon Hike: Fullerton Loop | ||
| This is a fantastic, short, shoulder-season hike, with a little bit of elevation gain to make you feel like you worked a little bit, and a little bit of a view to make you feel like the little bit of work was a little bit worth it. Allen Bill Pond was ruined by the flooding - the river broke through and now the pond is part of the river. Plus, the east side of the parking lot is blocked off (for good reason, you realize once you're walking through it), but the Fullerton Loop trail lives on just as we remember it. There is a little bit of ice on the trail at this time, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I highly recommend Icers ice cleats (available at Lee Valley Tools). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-13: COC - Hogarth Lakes - Beginner Snow Shoe | ||
| This was a fantastic beginner event! We had 31 people out today, many for their first time ever snow shoeing. We set off around the Hogarth Lakes trail, and before we'd even gone one kilometer, came to a large open stream. A few people tried to cross, and many ended up with wet feet (and some with wet legs). One of our group had heard from the info center that the other side of the loop was even worse for water hazards, meaning we'd have to return this same way, and so we decided instead to turn around, and venture a ways up the Burstall Pass trail instead. When we got back to the intersection, some opted to stay back and practice snow shoe skills with the pristine meadow and great little hill, while others started up Burstall Pass. The \"slow group\" turned into the \"stop and have lunch and turn back early group\", and upon their return, they had a play on the great little hill, followed shortly by the \"went all the way to the first Burstall Lake group\" who also played on the great little hill. When it was time to go, we kept the big vehicles back to make sure the little guys could get out of the snowy parking lot - we were all ok, but we did help a family get their car out of the lot (they were lucky we were loitering around to do car pushing duty!). Several of us ended the day at Kilkenny. Before the day had even started, we lost a car, and I hope that Julie, An and Karen made it back to town ok (Julie had injured herself on the way up, although reports were conflicting about exactly what happened... it happened when she jumped out of the car to try to help Ken, who'd gone in the ditch on the Smith Dorrien). -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-15: COC - Castle Lookout | ||
| Ed and I decided that, even though it was just the two of us, we'd go out and do the hike anyway (after all, my only other choice was to go in to the office!). Driving out, the skies were very foggy/misty, and it looked really cold! We decided that we'd only go as far as we could, anticipating that it would be really windy. Well, it turned out to be a fantastic day, mild temperatures and no wind at all. There was about 4cm of snow on the ground, but the trail had been hiked by someone before us, and it was easy hiking, with just a few small patches of ice here and there. We saw a coyote crossing the road, and a big buck deer bounding through the trees, a couple of squirrels, and one crazy spider who decided that he'd hang down in the middle of the trail from a single strand of web. This is definitely an all-uphill hike on the way up (which is great, because it means an all-downhill hike on the way out) and Ed was forced to go up at my pace (cuz we all know I can't go up the hill at HIS pace). We couldn't see much on the way up, but the sky cleared by the time we were heading out and we were able to at least see across the valley. While we were up at the lookout, we heard about three loud booms - we figure they were avalanches on another side of the mountain. What a fantastic way to spend a day!! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-17: COC - Steph L (SWAN) Visit - Kilkenny | ||
| woohoo! what a great time I had in Calgary this weekend. Hard to believe it's been six months - everyone looks the same. I was disappointed there was no snow, but I guess I'll just have to return later this year Kilkenney's was no disappointment. I had several pints of Wildrose Brown - my favourite local brew - and it was as tasty as I remembered. The food was great as usual, the conversation was boisterous. I really enjoyed seeing everyone again, and met a new member, Emin. To those of you that couldn't make it, a collective 'y'all suck' ...:P you missed out, hopefully they'll be a next time
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| 2005-11-19: COC - Lake Minnewanka with Rhonda and Steph | ||
| Aside from a little vomit from \"Projectile Princess\" (Darla) in the car, this was a perfect day. It was well over zero - probably closer to 10 a lot of the time, with no wind. The views were great, we had a fantastic group, and I hope Steph had a great time on her \"visit to Calgary hike\". We did a total of about 16km - from the parking lot to the Aylmer Lookout trailhead and back. Carpool Conversations: - How to prevent dog vomit and dog projectile vomit, especially as it relates to me being in the line of fire - Rhonda (in Laura's car) - Ralph impressed us with his 'pick up' techniques - all of which are guaranteed not to work. -- Steph (in Ralph's car) - I had a good giggle when Shaun told us he was an accountant, so I told Laura to pull over for him to get out of the car (and they both thought I was serious for a moment). -- Rhonda -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-21: COC - Belly Dance Tabla Choreography | ||
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| 2005-11-25: COC - Chester Lake | ||
| I'm sorry to say it, but this was by far NOT my favorite snow shoeing day. Because of the recent warm temperatures, the trail was packed solid and icy, except on the steepest parts where it was mostly bare and rocky, making it difficult to get up, and durned near impossible to get down. It was beautiful, though, especially earlier in the day when we had the blue sky in our favor. Managed to get up to the scenic part before it clouded over. Three of us turned back after the lake/lunch to make a time commitment back in Calgary, with the rest proceeding to the elephant rocks. It sounds like the snow/trail conditions up there may have been much better for snow shoeing, since Ed and Michael, who were on Icers/Yaktrax (respectively) instead of snow shoes, gave up. Good thing I'm planning on doing Chester once/month throughout the winter, cuz today was definitely a do-over. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-11-26: COC - Avalanche Safety through U of C | ||
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| 2005-11-30: COC - Consultant Christmas Party at Pegasus | ||
| A fantastic Christmas party... the venue was great, the service terrific, the food to die for (especially their pita bread which just melts in your mouth... mmmmmm...) the gifts and company were fun, and although we only got two Rembetika Hipsters, the music was excellent. Many thanks to Dave for the idea and for setting it up. :) -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-03: COC - Matinee, and Twenty-Smacker Party | ||
| Matinee - Just Friends\n The movie was quite a bit better than we were expecting (based on all the warnings I got about how stupid it was reputed to be). The \"Samantha\" character made the show, and there were a lot of good gags. After the movie, we went to Schank's and played a bit of pool, and then to Montana's for dinner. A perfect way to kill a c-c-c-freakin-cold afternoon. -- Rhonda Twenty-Smacker Party - Alter-Ego theme!
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| 2005-12-04: COC - Art Show and Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary in Red Deer | ||
| Seven of us set off from Calgary this morning. We enjoyed a semi-private viewing of Janice Williams' show (she opened the gallery special for us and some of her relatives today). We were a bit early getting up to Las Palmeras for lunch and discovered that they didn't actually open 'til noon, so we went for a brisk and frigid walk up Gaetz Ave for 15 minutes, and then back again. The food at Las Palmeras was very good (Red Deer is \"growing up\" in the restaurant department... they have Greek, Vietnamese, Sushi and quasi-Dim Sum now). After lunch, we headed down to Kerry Wood Nature Center and did the 4km loop around the Gaetz Lakes. It was still cold, but not quite as bad, and a very nice walk. A bit of snow on the ground, but not slippery, and not enough to warrant snow shoes by any stretch. We warmed up in the Kerry Wood Nature Center after the walk, exploring their displays and information, and then the other six headed back to Calgary while I headed on over to my dad's place. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-05: COC - Belly Dance - Veils and Zills | ||
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| 2005-12-09: COC - Burstall Lakes - Beginner Snow Shoe | ||
| A fabulous beginner snow shoe day! We had some wind at the start of the day, but other than that, the conditions were pretty much perfect. We went up the Burstall Pass trail to the point where we could see the first of the Burstall Lakes and then continued on up until we got to the marshy area. It was too windy/cold there for lunch, so we turned around and figured we'd have lunch back in the trees, but Chris suggested going back to civilization instead so we went to the Pocaterra Hut and had our lunch with a lovely fireplace and indoor plumbing. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-10: COC - Matinee, and Dim Sum | ||
| Movie Matinee - Chronicles of Narnia Dim Sum at Regency Palace
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| 2005-12-16: COC - Prairie View Trail | ||
| A fine winter hike on a perfect winter day. The temps were nice (about mmmmmm... maybe -10C), and although it was overcast the whole time, we were joined by big fluffy lazy snow flakes falling all day. My only complaint is that I started off the day wearing the \"evil socks\" that Bridget and I bought... The Evil Socks Story (please ignore if you couldn't care less about my personal foot comfort) The \"evil socks\" are special liner socks with each toe separate which is supposed to stop you from getting blisters on the sides of your toes, which I sometimes do. Bridget and I ordered them from the 'net, and I was the first to try them out today. When I put them on, they were quite irritating around my toes... kinda tight and the seams dug into me, and I thought at best they'd irritate me, and at worst I might get blisters on my toes from where the seams were. After standing around outside at carpool my toes got really cold from being separated and they never warmed back up, even with the long, warm car-ride out to the trailhead. We set out and did about maybe one km, which was fairly flat. As soon as we started gaining elevation, though, the evil socks and my new hiking boots teamed up together and started chewing up my heels, so I had to stop and put band-aids on my heels (no simple matter when you consider I had ice cleats, gaiters, hiking boots, and two pairs of socks on that had to come off before I could administer said band-aids in -13C weather). Once the evil socks came off, they did NOT go back on... they went in my pack. So, I think I won't try using them in winter again. I only get the blisters on my toes on longer hikes, though, which I only do in summer. The plan is that I will tape up my heels, and then try the socks again when the weather warms up. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-18: COC - Art House Matinee: Capote at The Globe | ||
| Wow - this movie was way better than I think any of us expected. The Truman Capote character was played wonderfully, and what a horrible character he was... self-absorbed, manipulative, deceitful... It was a very interesting story, and many of us haven't seen (or read) \"In Cold Blood\" which is the book that Capote was working on during the story told in \"Capote\". I am going to try to reserve the Cardel Theatre one day soon so we can show \"In Cold Blood\" and see the rest of that story. After the movie, most of us decided we had to go for a de-briefing/coffee at Earl's down the street. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-20: COC - Hogarth Lakes - Beginner Snow Shoe | ||
| This was a fantastic beginner snow shoe outing, and the icing on *my* cake was getting to spend the day with Jacqueline (visiting from Toronto) and Kelli (visiting from Montreal). The rose of the icing (ok, my analogies suck... I won't give up my day job) was getting to spend the day with Kelli's *real mom* who didn't hold it against me for claiming her daughter as my own all these months. We did the fantastic little stroll through the woods that is Hogarth Lakes, then lunched at Pocaterra hut, and several of us finished the day at Kilkenny, including Glenn who couldn't stay away when he heard Kelli was in town. Yay for Pointy (aka Poindexter, aka Kelli)! -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-22: COC - King Kong at Crowfoot (late aft) | ||
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| 2005-12-23: COC - Benchlands Loop at Canmore | ||
| What a fantastic winter hike! Probably not one that I would do in summer, because there's better, more scenic, stuff to do, but for winter conditions, this was perfect! There was a bit of snow on the trail, a bit of blue sky, some views, some good company, and a much easier-to-follow trail system than anticipated. The trails were named, and way better signed than the book implied, so it was pretty easy to find our way around the loop. The obligatory trip to Kilkenny after for a few of us to finish off a perfect day. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-27: COC - Chester Lake - Slower Group | ||
| There ended up being no such thing as a faster group and a slower group today. Instead we had the \"Rock People\" and the \"Spike People\". Joel's group was still at the trailhead when we got there today, so we decided to join forces. It didn't last long, though, as we split, nearly down the middle into \"want to do the snow shoe trail\" and \"want to do the ski trail\". So, my group headed up the ski trail, which was much easier. Most of us had ice cleats on, although Brian (my group) and Kathy (Joel's group) wore snow shoes. We reached the lake shortly after those who did the snow shoe trail, and shortly thereafter, most of the snow shoers took off and went up to the Elephant Rocks (\"Rock People\"). The rest of us enjoyed our lunch, and then all of us, except Kathy, returned, on our ice cleats (\"Spike People\"), the way we'd come. Joel, Ian and Kathy waited for the return of the \"Rock People\" and then headed down the snow shoe trail (which, incidentally, was in way better condition today than we'd anticipated). Chester Lake is BEEEEEEE-Yutiful. Today definitely made me feel better about our yukky trip about 2-3 weeks ago. The \"Slow Group\" was neary done dinner at Kilkenny before the first of the \"Fast Group\" arrived. Thanks to \"Wayne\" and \"Chris\" we were able to enjoy some free wings and beer, and life (and the COC trip) was complete. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-29: COC - Petra: Lost City of Stone (Glenbow Museum) | ||
We all had a great and interesting time at the Glenbow. There were lots of interesting displays, slideshows and movies. If you go watch the slide show and movie(documentary) first and you will understand more.
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| 2005-12-30: COC - Hummingbird Plume Lookout | ||
| This was an absolutely beautiful day for a winter hike. The temperatures were mild, but the sky was clear and blue - very unusual. We made the trek up the icy trail (boy, were we glad we had our ice cleats) to the lookout station and reveled in the views up there. While we enjoyed our lunch, and the views, absolutely no one engaged in any food exchange with any whiskeyjacks... not even Cheryl's head. Honest. Back down the trail, most of the group made the short detour over to Troll Falls for some fantastic photo ops, while those of us with hamburger heels enjoyed a cuppa hot chocolate and maybe some seasoning salted fries in the Chalet. On to Kilkenny... I haven't been in the habit of going to Kilkenny after a hike for a long time, but this is getting to be a regular thing for me lately. It's all Ken's fault. -- Rhonda
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| 2005-12-31: COC - Matinee, and Ice Skating | ||
| Art House Matinee: Brokeback Mountain at the Globe Ice Skating - Bowness Lagoon\n We had awesome weather for a New Year's Eve outdoor skate, and the ice was in excellent condition - surprising considering all the warm weather we've been having. It was wonderful to see such a great turnout - my only concern was the difficulty in finding our group amongst many others. Thanks to everyone who came out tonight. Happy New Year!
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