[{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"Grant's Tracks","summary":"","title":"Grant's Tracks","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/scotland/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Scotland","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/west-highland-way/","section":"","summary":"","title":"West Highland Way","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/west-highland-way---2026/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"West Highland Way - 2026","type":"series"},{"content":"The West Highland Way is a very well-marked trail, and as I walked it from April 6 to April 12, 2026, I often tried to capture waymarkers that caught my eye as I went.\nThe route was first established in 1980, and of course, the installation and maintenance of waymarkers has gradually taken place over the forty-odd years since then. There are various styles; some markers seem new and shiny, and others have succumbed to the sometimes harsh elements that have battered them over the years.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s a sample of the waymarkers I happened to notice during my West Highland Way trek.\nDay 1 # (Click to see a larger version) Day 1 - This is one of the first markers I came across about 10 mins after starting out.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9453528 W 4.3214667 Day 1 - This is one of the first markers I came across about 10 mins after starting out. Day 1 - Close to Glengoyne Distillery, not far from the Beech Tree Cafe Bar.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0143944 W 4.3694500 Day 1 - Close to Glengoyne Distillery, not far from the Beech Tree Cafe Bar. Day 2 # (Click to see a larger version) Day 2 - Signpost to mark where the Rob Roy Way meets the West Highland Way.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0843806 W 4.4441056 Day 2 - Signpost to mark where the Rob Roy Way meets the West Highland Way. Day 2 - I love this one! Its got character. Imagine how many people it has guided over the years!\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0843194 W 4.4441056 Day 2 - I love this one! Its got character. Imagine how many people it has guided over the years! Day 3 # (Click to see a larger version) Day 3 - Along the tamer section on the shores of Loch Lomond.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2039750 W 4.6792750 Day 3 - Along the tamer section on the shores of Loch Lomond. Day 3 - Just south of the Inversnaid Hotel on Loch Lomond. This one has seen better days.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2418806 W 4.6843611 Day 3 - Just south of the Inversnaid Hotel on Loch Lomond. This one has seen better days. Day 3 - North of the Inversnaid Hotel on Loch Lomond.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2479028 W 4.6871722 Day 3 - North of the Inversnaid Hotel on Loch Lomond. Day 4 # (Click to see a larger version) Day 4 - Transitioning from a single track to a small road near the River Falloch.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3693389 W 4.6580639 Day 4 - Transitioning from a single track to a small road near the River Falloch. Day 4 - This sturdy marker is part way through a forested area west of Crainlarich.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4045833 W 4.6559556 Day 4 - This sturdy marker is part way through a forested area west of Crainlarich. Day 4 - South of Tyndrum, this one is returning to the earth, but still doing its job.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4226861 W 4.6784417 Day 4 - South of Tyndrum, this one is returning to the earth, but still doing its job. Day 6 # (Click to see a larger version) Day 6 - A marker at the bridge over the Etive River at Kingshouse Hotel.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6515611 W 4.8402722 Day 6 - A marker at the bridge over the Etive River at Kingshouse Hotel. Day 6 - An iconic marker on the way west from Kingshouse Hotel. That's the much-photographed Buachaille Etive Mòr mountain background left.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6538222 W 4.8553528 Day 6 - An iconic marker on the way west from Kingshouse Hotel. That\u0026#39;s the much-photographed Buachaille Etive Mòr mountain background left. Day 6 - This marker guides the hiker onto an old military road which leads to the Devils Staircase.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6539222 W 4.8553944 Day 6 - This marker guides the hiker onto an old military road which leads to the Devils Staircase. Day 6 - Along a military road near the Devils Staircase. The white structure at center left is officially known as \"Lagangarbh Hut\" but also as \"Wee White House Glencoe\".\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6640194 W 4.8998556 Day 6 - Along a military road near the Devils Staircase. The white structure at center left is officially known as \u0026#34;Lagangarbh Hut\u0026#34; but also as \u0026#34;Wee White House Glencoe\u0026#34;. Day 7 # (Click to see a larger version) Day 7 - An older marker near an information board. Notice the legs behind the board. The wind was howling and these guys were huddled for a bit of respite behind the board. I joined them.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7513556 W 5.1084944 Day 7 - An older marker near an information board. Notice the legs behind the board. The wind was howling and these guys were huddled for a bit of respite behind the board. I joined them. Day 7 - Near the outskirts of Fort William. The West Highland Way officially shifts toward trafficed roads about 15 minutes after this point.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.8078306 W 5.0830583 Day 7 - Near the outskirts of Fort William. The West Highland Way officially shifts toward trafficed roads about 15 minutes after this point. ","date":"April 13 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-waymarkders/","section":"Posts","summary":"The West Highland Way is a very well-marked trail, and I tried to capture photos of some of the waymarkers that caught my eye as I went.","title":"West Highland Way - A Sample of the Waymarkers Along the Way","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"April 12 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/geocaching/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Geocaching","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"April 12 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/hiking/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Hiking","type":"categories"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nMy Route Today # Breakfast at Allt-na-Leven Guesthouse # A brief picture at breakfast. For starters, porridge with banana and cinnamon. The way things worked at this guesthouse just seemed superior to any other B\u0026amp;B I\u0026rsquo;d stayed at. In your room you found a clipboard with a very clearly laid out order sheet for breakfast the next day, including when you wanted to have it and what options for either a full Scottish breakfast or continental breakfast you wanted. On another sheet were the plainly laid out options to order an optional lunch for the next day. Then all you needed to do was place the forms in a basket in the hallway and those tasks were done.\nI had breakfast at 7:30, thinking I wanted to get off on the trail a little earlier than usual since it would be a longer distance than the previous day. In addition to whatever you wanted from their fridge — it had yogurt and a lot of other stuff in there — they gave you porridge with a banana and cinnamon for starters and then followed with the full breakfast when you were finished that.\nWith the full breakfast it was like pure magical gold to see an actual small bowl of fruit too: raspberries, melon, and blackberries I couldn\u0026rsquo;t identify. It was so fresh and good. I told the husband who was serving that it was such a treat to be able to eat some fruit.\nThe complete experience at this guesthouse was A+ from start to finish.\nStarting Out from Kinlochleven # Today was the final leg of the entire trek. I remember a certain giddy feeling at that thought, laced with both a feeling of relief and, yes, a bit of regret too.\nI\u0026rsquo;d had a very good sleep again the night before — that was two nights in a row. The cold symptoms had subsided to a degree; I was still coughing and having to clear out my nose, but just less frequently than the few days before.\nThe forecast was for rain the entire day. On the way out, the husband said he thought it wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be raining the whole day, but would be intermittent, and in fact, as I started out at around 8:20 a.m., there was only a light misty rain in the air.\nAfter walking through to the north side of town on sidewalks, I followed the Way marker across the road, off and very soon up into the forest. That started me on a long, slow, gruelling climb that lasted for a good long while. I\u0026rsquo;ve seen a YouTube video where the hiker agrees with others on the trail that the climb up from Kinlochleven wasn\u0026rsquo;t all that bad, much better than they expected. Personally, I found it to be a slog, but then again, being a prairie boy born and bred, gaining elevation and I have never gotten along, plus my health still wasn\u0026rsquo;t anywhere near 100%.\nIn fact, once back home I compared the elevation gain of the Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase, which I\u0026rsquo;d done the day before, with the climb from Kinlochleven. The Kinlochleven climb is almost exactly the same as the Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase, but over a longer distance. No wonder I had to take numerous rests on the way up.\nI found the climb tough, but I tried to heed the words of Ben Gadd, with whom I\u0026rsquo;d had the pleasure of spending five days during a course in Jasper, Alberta many years ago: \u0026ldquo;Take it easy, but take it,\u0026rdquo; he would say. I just had to remember to take it easy but stay determined to always forge ahead; there was no race to be won here, but it had to be finished.\nAfter most of the elevation gain was achieved, the rocky single-track trail transitioned to an old, rocky military road. These military roads were built by the British around 1752 as part of the campaign to control the Scottish Highlands.\nOnto the Military Road and Up the Creek\u0026hellip; # Over the past few days, I had honestly successfully held on to the mindset that anything I faced along the trail — the effort to climb hills, the sometimes furious wind, the pelting rain, and occasional face-stinging sleet at higher altitudes — just had to be accepted as part of what I\u0026rsquo;d signed up for. But during today\u0026rsquo;s stretch along the military road, that stoic mindset was slowly chiseled away.\nYou might mistake this for a fast flowing creek. No - this is the road that had turned into a creek. During the first part of this military road section hikers were making an effort to avoid large puddles and fast-flowing rivulets of water running across the road. These roads are hard and rocky, and since it was continually raining in various strengths today — and apparently had been raining for days before — the water could only obey gravity and take the path of least resistance downhill on the road itself.\nThe road itself turned into a creek, and there was no option but to walk up the middle of the road through that creek.\nAt higher altitudes the wind was howling, forcing the falling rain sideways into your face. I distinctly remember walking at an angle into the needling rain, peppered with sleet by the wind, slooshing along the road that was now a flowing creek.\nFor a good part of the day I resorted to something I can\u0026rsquo;t remember ever doing before: I took off my glasses because they were so sopped with water and would get wet almost immediately after wiping them — that I could actually see the road ahead much better without them.\nFinally, that stoic mindset of full acceptance of whatever I was faced with had evaporated. I pronounced out loud, \u0026ldquo;This is fucking miserable!\u0026rdquo;\nThat visceral truth was supported by others a little later along the trail. At the virtual cache \u0026ldquo;The Battle of Inverlochy\u0026rdquo; I was taking pictures of the signboard there for the sake of answering questions to be able to log the cache when a man and his wife caught up to me.\nThe husband started right off with the question, \u0026ldquo;So are you living in the UK right now and walking the trail, or did you travel here just to do the trail?\u0026rdquo; I must have greeted them somewhere along the trail today and they must have caught my foreign accent.\nI told him I was from Canada and had come to walk the trail. Then somehow the talk transitioned to what we had just come through to get to that spot. He said it was \u0026ldquo;miserable\u0026rdquo;. I laughed, heartily agreed with him that it was indeed miserable, and it was so nice to hear a \u0026ldquo;local\u0026rdquo; say what I had been thinking. I felt vindicated for the lapse in my complete stoic acceptance.\nTigh-na-sleubhaich # Tigh-na-sleubhaich - a now iconic structure along the West Highland Way One of the almost iconic and most photographed old derelict buildings along the West Highland Way is called Tigh-na-sleubhaich, a large crofter\u0026rsquo;s cottage (crofter = a small-scale farmer / shepherd) located in the Lairigmor valley along the Way. The name translates as \u0026ldquo;House of the Willows\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;house by the gullied slope\u0026rdquo;.\nWhat I didn\u0026rsquo;t know until later is that it was still a viable structure used as a \u0026ldquo;bothy\u0026rdquo; — a place to camp out in overnight — until it was gutted by fire not that very long ago, in the early 1980s, just after the West Highland Way was first established.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nTrail Pictures Along The Way # (Click to see a larger version) Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7563806 W 5.1061278 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7564667 W 5.1060361 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7569917 W 5.1058583 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7615806 W 5.1042333 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7703611 W 5.0931083 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7715139 W 5.0891000 Finding \u0026ldquo;The Complete West Highland Way\u0026rdquo; Multicache # Geocaching was not any kind of a priority while I walked the West Highland Way, but that said, there was one cache that was a \u0026ldquo;must find\u0026rdquo; for me, called The Complete West Highland Way. This is a \u0026ldquo;multi-cache\u0026rdquo;, which usually means the cache find is made up of multiple stages to visit before one can find the final cache to log it. In this case, the cache required you to answer questions about physical objects along the entire West Highland Way, starting in Milngavie and ending with questions about certain features of the Tigh-na-sleubhaich structure. This made it a truly epic kind of find.\nIn truth, I\u0026rsquo;d spent a few hours at home in Edmonton in front of the computer months before today, and because people take pictures of everything these days, I was able to eke out what I thought were the answers to the questions on the cache page and determine coordinates for the final, all before even starting the trek.\nBut with a multicache there\u0026rsquo;s no way to actually check those coordinates to see if they\u0026rsquo;re correct, and since some answers were based on educated guesses I couldn\u0026rsquo;t know if the final was actually going to be where I thought it should be.\nThe The cache owner had also very kindly hidden a backup hide near the trail before one reaches the primary final hide. That\u0026rsquo;s not a usual practice and just shows the extra effort this person made for others. When I got close to that backup, I had the side-trail that led to the hide dialed in on my GPSr, but in the stupor of constant walking, and the effort to just get down the road, I found that I\u0026rsquo;d walked right past the waypoint. Okay, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t about to double back for it — energy was at a minimum — so I forged on with the hope that my final coordinates were correct.\nOthers have said the final road-walking section of the last day\u0026rsquo;s leg seems to go on forever. That was certainly what I thought too. It also seemed like it took forever to get to the point along the road where I hoped to find the cache. But when I got to the coordinates, I saw a big stump — just what I expected — and glimpsed a part of a green ammo can under some pieces of bark, a classic geocache hiding spot. I had found it!\nIt was such a thrill to add my name to the logsheet in the cache. I\u0026rsquo;d been quietly anticipating the prospect of finding this cache for months. It was just so sweet to know it was now really happening.\nAnd the heavens congratulated me by beginning to rain — again.\nFinishing the West Highland Way # An intersection close to town After finding that multicache, I continued along the seemingly endless road into Fort William, stopping at another cache hide which I found quickly. That hide happened to be at a crossroad where I had a decision to make. I could take the right hand fork to continue on the \u0026ldquo;official\u0026rdquo; West Highland Way route, which in fairly short order would take me to paved roadway and follow it until I entered Fort William proper.\nI\u0026rsquo;d read descriptions that suggested another option, to simply continue on the road I\u0026rsquo;d been on, which would eventually take me closer to the centre of Fort William and would avoid that paved motorway. I thought about the options and thought I was just too physically and mentally tired to face what might be some wayfinding and possible detours when taking the \u0026ldquo;optional\u0026rdquo; route. I decided to keep to the known track I had on my GPSr despite the prospect of walking along a hard sidewalk on a paved road complete with car traffic. In retrospect, I think the optional route would have been better.\nI continued along the seemingly antiseptic, entirely boring sidewalk along the paved road, and after passing the old end point of the WHW, I passed two young guys whom I recognized from previous days on the trail, maybe even the very first day. They must have recognized me too, because one said, \u0026ldquo;Ten more minutes — ten more minutes!\u0026rdquo;, meaning I only had to walk that long before the actual end point on High Street in Fort William.\nBy the time I got to High Street, which runs down the centre of Fort William and leads to the end point, I distinctly remember feeling like an alien from another dimension. The people I saw leading their normal lives didn\u0026rsquo;t have any idea what this hiker, who now felt like and probably looked like a drowned rat, had been through to get here.\nI got to the end of the West Highland Way around 3:00 p.m. and was able to experience in person a scene I\u0026rsquo;d seen many times in pictures before today. My picture was different: I was the only one standing there, and by now the rain was coming down in earnest. (Click to see a larger version) The sore feet statue at the official end of the West Highland Way (taken the day after I finished, this time without a downpour of rain).\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.8163694 W 5.1138611 The sore feet statue at the official end of the West Highland Way (taken the day after I finished, this time without a downpour of rain). The official end of the West Highland Way - taken the day after finishing.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.8163194 W 5.1138750 The official end of the West Highland Way - taken the day after finishing. But I\u0026rsquo;d finished the West Highland Way!\nI should actually amend that to say I\u0026rsquo;d finished, but actually walked 80% of it, given that I was forced to take a day off due to sickness. I don\u0026rsquo;t feel an ounce of regret for taking that day to heal, and so the pride in finishing this long distance marathon trek is real, despite that gap.\nMyrtle Guesthouse - Fort William # After taking some pictures of the \u0026ldquo;sore feet statue\u0026rdquo; at the end point, I continued to my accommodation for the night at Myrtle Guesthouse, a picturesque, stately old home which was a XX-minute walk from the end point.\nMy main goal at that point was to get out of my sopping wet clothes, into a hot shower, and then have a much-needed rest. After fetching my luggage and making my way to my room, that\u0026rsquo;s exactly what I did.\nMyrtle Guesthouse in Fort William, my accommodation for the night. Gallery # These images were taken throughout the day, and as you can see mostly in very wet, cloudy conditions. But that\u0026rsquo;s just the way the world is sometimes. Just accept it.\n(Click to see a larger version) This says it all - hiking in Scotland.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7171500 W 4.9684444 This says it all - hiking in Scotland. Misty conditions along the military road.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7228528 W 4.9894611 Misty conditions along the military road. Tigh-na-sleubhaich or \"ouse by the gullied slope.\"\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7330611 W 5.0464500 Tigh-na-sleubhaich or \u0026#34;ouse by the gullied slope.\u0026#34; Hiking through the wide valley.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7312194 W 5.0678222 Hiking through the wide valley. A break in the rain and on down the sloppy road.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7448389 W 5.1097111 A break in the rain and on down the sloppy road. A pretty section of the trail.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7474611 W 5.1100944 A pretty section of the trail. This tree was special to me. The wind was howling from the far side, and I sat on this side of it for shelter while eating some lunch.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7552833 W 5.1065861 This tree was special to me. The wind was howling from the far side, and I sat on this side of it for shelter while eating some lunch. A little bridge over a rushing stream.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7758750 W 5.0806028 A little bridge over a rushing stream. The bridge from another viewpoint, and notice the old, now moss-covered steps on the far bank.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nThe bridge from another viewpoint, and notice the old, now moss-covered steps on the far bank. The single-track trail transitioned to a proper road for the entire last section into Fort William.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7880778 W 5.0730028 The single-track trail transitioned to a proper road for the entire last section into Fort William. Closer to Fort William - this outcrop caught my attention.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7992611 W 5.0783056 Closer to Fort William - this outcrop caught my attention. My first real glimpse of human settlement since leaving Kinlochleven this morning.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.8079250 W 5.0789861 My first real glimpse of human settlement since leaving Kinlochleven this morning. This is the original end of the West Highland Way.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.8213194 W 5.0940444 This is the original end of the West Highland Way. ","date":"April 12 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day7/","section":"Posts","summary":"The last leg of the West Highland Way turned out to be both miserable and thoroughly fulfilling at different times during the day.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 7 - Kinlochleven to Fort William","type":"posts"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nMy Route Today # Setting out from the Kingshouse Hotel # The magnificent view from my breakfast table The Kingshouse Hotel was the best accommodation I experienced during the entire trip. It\u0026rsquo;s an upscale hotel, so I guess that\u0026rsquo;s to be expected.\nI had a deep, dream-filled sleep at the hotel, which is not too surprising maybe given I\u0026rsquo;d zonked myself out with a full muscle relaxant pill. I only ever, very periodically, use half a pill at home, so taking a whole pill really did the trick.\nI wasn\u0026rsquo;t over my head and chest cold by a long shot, but I felt like I had a store of energy again. I\u0026rsquo;d decided the day before to skip the 31 km leg from Tyndrum to the Kingshouse Hotel, feeling it was absolutely necessary because of the state of my health. That turned out to be the wisest decision I could have made. After a day of rest and a great sleep, I again had the strong urge to get out walking.\nToday\u0026rsquo;s leg was shorter than most, an estimated 15 km, but it involved climbing the Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase. The name itself instills a certain amount of dread, which I half-assumed was at least partly mere \u0026ldquo;marketing\u0026rdquo;. In fact, though, the climb involved reaching the highest point along the entire West Highland Way and is one of the steepest climbs. This would be no cakewalk.\nI was now in the habit of frequently checking the weather reports that covered the leg I was about to walk, and saw that it was snowing in Kinlochleven, my end goal for the day. I knew there would be a pretty substantial elevation gain, so that meant inevitable wind, and that would mean inevitable cold. I decided to put on my light thermal long underwear, both top and bottoms, and for the first time wore the same toque I wear during Edmonton winters. I also packed an extra top layer in case I needed it. Preparing for the cold really made a difference today because, despite any strong, cold winds, I stayed relatively warm the entire day.\nBidding farewell to the Kingshouse Hotel Breakfast at the hotel was nothing less than \u0026ldquo;high class\u0026rdquo;. It was buffet style with selections of many kinds of fruit and of course all the compontents that make up a full Scottish breakfast. I enjoyed it and only thing I had to watch was eating too much of it.\nI left the hotel around 9 a.m. and started out on the trail again. It felt so good to be out walking! And I was so lucky and thankful there were blue skies, at least during the first half of the trek oday. The first part of the morning\u0026rsquo;s walk was truly invigorating, partly because of the periodic blue skies, but mostly because of the awesome, postcard-worthy views of the mountains early in the hike.\nAfter leaving the hotel one follows a track which eventually shifts to an old, rocky military road undulating with a little bit of elevation gain and loss.\nA magnificient valley between mountain \u0026#34;herdsmen\u0026#34; Gallery of Images Taken North of Kinghouse Hotel Before Reaching The Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase # An iconic trail marker - Now I know why I\u0026#39;ve seen this shot so many times before - it\u0026#39;s the company the marker keeps I couldn\u0026rsquo;t help but be snap-happy during this initial section of the trail today. I was surrounded by magnifient mountains and with the clear, lightly clouded blue sky I could actually see them!\nThe star of the show in most of these pictures is Buachaille Etive Mòr. The Etive is the primary river running through the valley here and the mountain\u0026rsquo;s name translates as \u0026ldquo;The Great Herdsman of Etive\u0026rdquo;. Multiple sources says it\u0026rsquo;s probably the most photographed mountain in the country. I had no idea about that at the time, but the number of photos I took of it and around it shows how enthralled I was with it.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\n(Click to see a larger version) The Buachaille Etive Mòr from a distance\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6529639 W 4.8400972 The Buachaille Etive Mòr from a distance A view to the south from the trail afer starting out from Kingshouse Hotel\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6535750 W 4.8408806 A view to the south from the trail afer starting out from Kingshouse Hotel The Buachaille Etive Mòr ahead on the trail\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6534806 W 4.8530556 The Buachaille Etive Mòr ahead on the trail The transition onto another section of military road.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6539222 W 4.8553944 The transition onto another section of military road. You can tell this road is old weathered and well-beaten down.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6549583 W 4.8570250 You can tell this road is old weathered and well-beaten down. Looking back southwest from the trail.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6550500 W 4.8571500 Looking back southwest from the trail. The Buachaille Etive Mòr commands the view\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6584389 W 4.8642278 The Buachaille Etive Mòr commands the view Another capture of this awesome place\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6584361 W 4.8642167 Another capture of this awesome place Buachaille Etive Mòr at right and the West Highland Way trail at left\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6584361 W 4.8642194 Buachaille Etive Mòr at right and the West Highland Way trail at left Heading deeper into the valley\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6592944 W 4.8785250 Heading deeper into the valley Getting closer to the Devils Staircase\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6619028 W 4.8928222 Getting closer to the Devils Staircase A trail marker with the hut called the Wee White House Glencoe in the background. It is owned by the National Trust and Scottish Mountaineering Club\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6640194 W 4.8998556 A trail marker with the hut called the Wee White House Glencoe in the background. It is owned by the National Trust and Scottish Mountaineering Club The Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase # The \u0026#34;entrance\u0026#34; to the Devil\u0026#39;s Staircase Then came the Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase. Honestly, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t overly nervous about the climb. A mindset had settled into my mind that I had signed up for this trek, and anything ahead, no matter how seemingly daunting, was simply part of what I had signed up for. There was no use whinging about what you were facing: it was simply to be accepted as what had to be done. There\u0026rsquo;s no bravado here. If I got tired, I\u0026rsquo;d rest. When I was rested again, I\u0026rsquo;d continue. It was as simple as that.\nIn the end, though, I admit, prairie boy that I am, I found the Devil\u0026rsquo;s Staircase to be a tough climb and I needed to rest fairly often on the way up. But it was the same for everyone around me. In fact, a pattern developed: a woman with a blue jacket, a guy with a black backpack and I just happened to continue leap-frogging each other as we gradually ascended the slope. While I rested, one or both of them would pass me by, and in turn I\u0026rsquo;d pass one or both of them while they took a breather.\nMe near the highest point on the West Highland Way. Notice how I\u0026#39;ve planted my feet wide apart. Otherwise the wind would have literally blown me over! My cold symptoms didn\u0026rsquo;t help while I climbed. My nose was stuffed up and I had to clear it of mucus pretty frequently. I had about a 15-minute coughing fit at one point while I continued to ascend. I think it\u0026rsquo;s because my nose was stuffed up and breathing through my mouth tickled my throat.\nAt the top — which is the highest point along the entire West Highland Way — the woman with the blue jacket signalled, asking if I wanted her to take a picture of me. I gave her my phone, she took a few, and I swear while she was doing that the wind at the top where we were almost blew me over. I had to plant my feet solidly just so the wind wouldn\u0026rsquo;t topple me over while she took the pictures. I offered to take her picture, but she indicated she wasn\u0026rsquo;t interested in that.\nDescent to Kinlochleven # Now, for almost the entire remaining section of the walk it was downhill all the way into Kinlochleven. Of course, going downhill generally wears harder on the knees than going up, so as I walked I did all I could to put pressure on my poles in front of me to ease the strain on the knees. My right leg did start to complain on the way down, but not to the degree that it slowed me down much.\nIt was a long, long steep descent to Kinlochleven, but almost entirely on established roads. I arrived around 1 p.m., and my accommodation at Allt Na Leven B\u0026amp;B was advertised as not being open until 3 p.m. I rested on benches for a while, checked out the local Co-op since I knew I\u0026rsquo;d be buying food there for supper, and walked around the village for a bit.\nAllt-na-Leven Guesthouse I eventually tried and was allowed to get into my room around 2:15, and after the proprietress\u0026rsquo;s explanation about the place I got into my room and had a glorious, warming shower. I followed that with an immediate hopping into bed under the covers. So there I am, lying in bed. It\u0026rsquo;s around 3 p.m. and I\u0026rsquo;m SO happy to be clean, warm and resting again.\nI later got up and walked across the street to the Co-op, where I got a prepared sandwich, a quart of milk and a protein bar for supper.\nI had a very good sleep again at Allt Na Leven B\u0026amp;B, again with the help of a muscle relaxant pill to help me sleep.\nTomorrow would be the very last leg of the entire West Highland Way.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nGallery # (Click to see a larger version) Looking back after crossing another bridge along the path. I couldnt let those stunning mountains leave my sight it seems\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6667889 W 4.9055806 Looking back after crossing another bridge along the path. I couldnt let those stunning mountains leave my sight it seems The fellow with the black backpack on the rugged trail\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6676722 W 4.9064694 The fellow with the black backpack on the rugged trail Again looking back to the valley Id just come from\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6744417 W 4.9138556 Again looking back to the valley Id just come from A view further north down the valley\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6744306 W 4.9138639 A view further north down the valley The fellow with the black backpack. We leapfrogged all the way to the top.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6748861 W 4.9143806 The fellow with the black backpack. We leapfrogged all the way to the top. The expansive view from the highest point\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6762111 W 4.9143556 The expansive view from the highest point The woman with the blue jacket continues on her way\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6763722 W 4.9144528 The woman with the blue jacket continues on her way Stepping stones over a boggy area\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6808472 W 4.9179333 Stepping stones over a boggy area Descending gradually but theres still a commanding view\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6878250 W 4.9160944 Descending gradually but theres still a commanding view A typical shot of the road descending to Kinlochleven\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7036111 W 4.9510778 A typical shot of the road descending to Kinlochleven Kinlochleven in view\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7111833 W 4.9521528 Kinlochleven in view A very large group of hikers passed me just before reaching town\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7119528 W 4.9552611 A very large group of hikers passed me just before reaching town Kinlochleven after a rain\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7134250 W 4.9630306 Kinlochleven after a rain Allt-na-Leven Guesthouse-my accommodation for the night\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7133194 W 4.9632611 Allt-na-Leven Guesthouse-my accommodation for the night The River Leven which runs through the center of the village\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7140389 W 4.9636722 The River Leven which runs through the center of the village Kinlochleven Parish Church\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7150444 W 4.9644361 Kinlochleven Parish Church A typical Scottish street— white lime-based paint provides the best weather protection\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7155472 W 4.9656944 A typical Scottish street— white lime-based paint provides the best weather protection A view from the bridge that connects the two areas of the village\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.7141722 W 4.9628972 A view from the bridge that connects the two areas of the village ","date":"April 11 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day6/","section":"Posts","summary":"After a needed day\u0026rsquo;s rest today\u0026rsquo;s hike offered grand views, a slog up the Devil\u0026rsquo;s staircase to the highest point on the West Highland Way, and a long descent into Kinlochleven.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 6 - Kingshouse Hotel to Kinlochleven","type":"posts"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nMaking the Decision to Skip the Next Itinerary Leg # I had spent the entire evening in my B\u0026amp;B room resting in bed and researching options for the next day\u0026rsquo;s walk. My itinerary had me walking 31 km, first to the Bridge of Orchy and then to the Kingshouse Hotel. Most others I\u0026rsquo;d talked to so far along the trail had signed up for the itinerary that split these two destinations into two days. I told them I questioned my sanity when choosing my itinerary.\nThis relatively long next leg of the itinerary would have no services and no option to use an \u0026ldquo;escape hatch\u0026rdquo; like a bus or a train except from the small village at the Bridge of Orchy. I looked into what bus connections there were from there, but the bus left far too early and again far too late to be of any use to me. Walking part way to test my ability to continue wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to be an option.\nThat lack of an \u0026ldquo;escape hatch\u0026rdquo;, my lack of energy, and the fact that the state of my health hadn\u0026rsquo;t changed much from yesterday — with full-on cold symptoms like constantly having to blow my nose and having to get rid of phlegm from my throat every few minutes — all sealed the deal.\nI decided my only sane option was to skip the next Tyndrum to Kingshouse Hotel leg.\nAfter making that decision, I purchased a bus ticket using a phone app, and since the bus left at just after 11 a.m., I had some time to at least do a quick tour around Tyndrum.\nBreakfast at Tigh-na-Fraoch B\u0026amp;B # Tigh-na-Fraoch B\u0026amp;B There were only a husband and wife duo in the breakfast room when I arrived for breakfast, and at first there was total polite silence. I\u0026rsquo;m sure it was the wife who broke the silence, as I remember her asking if I was doing the West Highland Way.\nThat started a conversation involving the inevitable \u0026ldquo;Where are you from?\u0026rdquo; question, and I answered \u0026ldquo;Alberta, Canada.\u0026rdquo; The reply was \u0026ldquo;We\u0026rsquo;re from Calgary.\u0026rdquo; They were doing a walking tour, but I\u0026rsquo;m still not sure if it involved undertaking the whole West Highland Way; it was clear, though, that they were taking things slowly and easily.\nWhat a small world it can be!\nExploring Tyndrum # I bade farewell to the proprietress of the Tigh-na-Fraoch B\u0026amp;B, thankful for her help in figuring out my next steps and helping me identify the bus stop I needed to buy a ticket for. It had the odd but practical name \u0026ldquo;End of Glencoe Chairlift Road\u0026rdquo;.\nThe Green Welly Shop I decided to go find a geocache just north of the Green Welly Stop, a popular convenience store and restaurant stop for hikers. I found the cache quickly, and as I made my way back toward the main road I met a couple of hikers I\u0026rsquo;d talked to in previous days on the Way. First was the German woman, now walking with a friend, who\u0026rsquo;d kindly and politely steered me away from thinking I had to negotiate my way down a minor cliff on Day 3 along the rocky-pathed shore of Loch Lomond.\nNext I met the New Brunswick couple to whom I\u0026rsquo;d spoken often over the past few days. I explained my health predicament and happened to mention that my 7- or 8-hour walk would be covered with a 38-minute bus ride instead, where I\u0026rsquo;d be able to at least rest for a day. They were just getting ready for their daily walk, and although it would be a relatively short one for them to the Bridge of Orchy, she said in fun, \u0026ldquo;Oh, don\u0026rsquo;t say things like that!\u0026rdquo; I knew what she meant. That messes with your head, especially if your legs are hurting.\nAfter buying a bit of food and water at the Green Welly Stop, I made my way to the dodgy-looking bus stop and caught the bus just after 11 a.m., using Google Maps to keep track of my position so I\u0026rsquo;d know for sure when to get off. When I did disembark, I needed to cross the highway and walk about 1 km to the Kingshouse Hotel.\nA pano shot of the magnificient view from the hotel At Kingshouse Hotel # I was anxious to make the most of my rest day, so I went directly to the front desk at the hotel and asked about check-in times. I started off by saying I was taking a rest day from the West Highland Way because I was feeling ill, and the efficient young woman at the front desk told me that the usual check-in time was 4 p.m. but to perhaps come back around 3 p.m. to see if I could check in then. I told her that was expected and I\u0026rsquo;d just wait around until then.\nThe couch in the sunlit lobby felt so comfortable, and it seemed like I was glued to it for a good while before the young woman came over to ask if she could get me a drink of water or coffee while I waited. I had plenty of water, so I declined the offer and thanked her very much for asking. That was \u0026ldquo;above and beyond\u0026rdquo; service right there!\nI decided to finally get up and walk around the grounds a bit, first exploring the bridge over the River Etive that runs immediately past the hotel. I migrated back to the hotel around 1 p.m., and the young woman must have spied me and came over to say that my room was ready and I could check in whenever I liked. I was so grateful to her and for this kind of thoughtful service! I\u0026rsquo;m sure she must have sent word to make up my room ahead of schedule.\nThe Kingshouse Hotel was not only the highest class accommodation I experienced during my entire time in Scotland in terms of the facilities, but also the highest class in terms of caring when caring was needed.\nAfter resting in my room for a while, I decided to try to get some laundry done because I was pretty well out of any clean clothes to wear. Laundry could be done in the \u0026ldquo;Bunkhouse\u0026rdquo; close to the hotel. It was made up of dormitory rooms usually used by backpackers. There was only one washer and one dryer, and I\u0026rsquo;d hoped to get two loads done, but in the end only got one done before hikers started to descend on the place. As it turns out, one load was enough.\nMy next task was to get some supper, so I went down to the Way Inn, the oldest part of the hotel, which was also a bar. I ordered a hamburger and chips, and while paying for it with my debit card, I noticed it was costing CDN $38. My goodness! A $38 hamburger and chips: ridiculous but necessary in the moment, so strangely, worth it. In the end, I ate the meal back in my room and it was very good.\nThen it was time for what I thought was going to be a real treat. This place had a bathtub, a first in all the places I\u0026rsquo;d stayed in Scotland so far. I\u0026rsquo;m used to baths at home, but today I thought a hot bath would be great for warming up my chest, perhaps speeding my recovery a little bit. The bath was good, but since the water never got all that hot, the lustre came off the idea that it would help health-wise.\nThat said, I did feel better just by resting for most of the day. The excellent, deep sleep I had that night — again aided by a muscle relaxant pill — was welcome and no doubt helped me gain the energy I needed to undertake the next day\u0026rsquo;s hike to Kinlochleven.\nLooking north from Kingshouse Hotel - At left is Buachaille Etive Mòr mountain, one of the most photographed in Scotland I learned later Gallery # (Click to see a larger version) I yielded a moment to take this picture\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4351667 W 4.7104528 I yielded a moment to take this picture The first time Id heard this saying was from Billy Connolly, Scot, and now here it was plastered on the wall.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4380861 W 4.7122056 The first time Id heard this saying was from Billy Connolly, Scot, and now here it was plastered on the wall. Just a typical shot of the street in Tyndrum\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4355722 W 4.7102500 Just a typical shot of the street in Tyndrum The path from the highway bus stop into Kingshouse Hotel\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6456611 W 4.8302694 The path from the highway bus stop into Kingshouse Hotel Kingshouse Hotel - the white portion is the oldest, now called The Way Inn\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6511444 W 4.8405611 Kingshouse Hotel - the white portion is the oldest, now called The Way Inn From the lawn at the Kingshouse Hotel\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.6511583 W 4.8413361 From the lawn at the Kingshouse Hotel ","date":"April 10 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day5/","section":"Posts","summary":"A head \u0026amp; chest cold had thoroughly sapped my energy, so I took a rest day and traveled to Kingshouse Hotel by bus.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 5 - Tyndrum to Kingshouse Hotel","type":"posts"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nMy Route Today # Breakfast at Ardlui Hotel # The food available at breakfast at the hotel was good, but the procedure for communicating what kind of breakfast you wanted was a little haywire. It caused some confusion for a few people and while tt\u0026rsquo;s too nit-picky to get into here, a few of us agreed later that they need to change how they do things there.\nLow morning cloud over the Ardlui marina We knew from seeing the ferry schedule the day before that the first ferry left at 9 a.m. As it turned out, only Bernie and Laura, the two Michigan women I\u0026rsquo;d spent the last part of yesterday\u0026rsquo;s hike with and had supper with last night, and I made it out to the ferry on time. So it was only the three of us who made the first trip over to the eastern shore of Loch Lomond to continue on the next leg, with Tyndrum being the goal of the day.\nThe ferry ride back to the eastern shore of the loch The Day\u0026rsquo;s Walk to Tyndrum # Despite how tough a day it was health-wise, I guess I could still manage a smile for the camera. (Photo by Bernie) This turned out to be a hard day for me. I had hardly slept during the night because my nose had become very stuffed up, and naturally I found it really hard to breathe. My notes recount that I felt like a dishrag in the morning.\nToday turned out to be a day of simply enduring, of just making it through, and I remember well thinking at one point that the physical effort wasn\u0026rsquo;t bothering me even though I was at that moment climbing yet another steep hill with rain and sleet splatting against my head and face. What was bothering me was the sheer lack of joy at being there in the moment. This day was more about sheer endurance than any joy in the experience.\nThat said, the mental images that flash through my mind of the experience of walking today conjure up a real variety of terrain and vistas we walked through: a number of logged-out areas, some real forest, and I remarked how this kind of forested terrain reminded me of home. The trees had a different flavour to them, but the sections of road through these forests felt familiar.\nRain was intermittent throughout the day, and when you were at higher altitudes the wind was fierce. I had elected to wear my rain pants for the first time today and they really came through, keeping me dry. Because of the rain we saw three different rainbows today, each one complete, stretching from one part of the earth to another. That was pretty cool indeed.\nWe Walked Through Open Valley # (Click to see a larger version) Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3727639 W 4.6562250 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3822250 W 4.6465861 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3837667 W 4.6450944 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3852611 W 4.6402250 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3857028 W 4.6384389 And We Walked Through a Forested Area # (Click to see a larger version) Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3969528 W 4.6520139 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3979056 W 4.6513139 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4045833 W 4.6559556 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4064972 W 4.6575000 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4082611 W 4.6578778 What I looked like from behind while walking through the Scottish Highlands (Photo by Bernie Wixson) St. Fillan Priory # We passed the mossy ruins of St. Fillan Priory (also called Strath Fillan Priory — \u0026ldquo;strath\u0026rdquo; meaning a low, wide valley), an old monastery building established in 1318 by the famous Robert the Bruce after he had been given sanctuary in a nearby building a few years earlier following a defeat in battle. I\u0026rsquo;d seen pictures while researching the trip. Now I was actually here in the presence of the fading ruins of the monastery, with a nearby ancient graveyard.\n(Click to see a larger version) My first view of St. Fillan Priory\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4193556 W 4.6611278 My first view of St. Fillan Priory The old graveyard near the St. Fillan\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4194139 W 4.6609750 The old graveyard near the St. Fillan A closer view of the ruins of St. Fillan Priory, orginally established around 1318\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4195222 W 4.6612611 A closer view of the ruins of St. Fillan Priory, orginally established around 1318 Onward to Tyndrum # By the time we reached Tyndrum we were all very, very, oh so very glad to have arrived. My GPS receiver registered a 23 km distance today.\nMy notes that night remind me that the undulating hills one had to climb and descend throughout the day made for a strenuous walk, but at least the quality of the trail was far more straightforward — mostly paths and even road to walk on, rather than the constant slow, puzzling effort of figuring out how and where to make your next step that a good part of the trail along the shores of Loch Lomond was like.\nMy right leg was hurting, but that was nothing new after a day\u0026rsquo;s outing. That in itself wasn\u0026rsquo;t much to worry about. It was the fact that this cold was sapping my strength, and the next day\u0026rsquo;s leg was 31 km through a remote area with no chance of choosing an escape hatch if I found I had to.\nThe Evening in Tyndrum With Big Decisions to Make # I found my B\u0026amp;B and, after guessing the next morning\u0026rsquo;s breakfast with the proprietress, I was shown to my room. I peeled off all my wet clothes and had an oh-so-welcome hot shower, and after that I spent the entire evening in my room at the bed \u0026amp; breakfast. My supper was the leftover lunch I\u0026rsquo;d purchased for the day and probably a Clif bar or two.\nI was fairly sure at that point that my health wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be allowing me to do this kind of walk, and in fact, in my case, it would have been a 31 km walk again the next day. The head and chest cold had sapped my strength. I felt pretty terrible, so I was looking at alternative plans.\nThat evening I spent far more time on my phone than usual checking bus schedules for options. I thought maybe I could try to walk the first leg to the Bridge of Orchy, and if I thought it would be too much, bail by taking a bus from there to the Kingshouse Hotel. The bus schedules just didn\u0026rsquo;t allow for that option; there was a bus, but far too early in the morning for me to get there on time to use it as my escape hatch if I needed it.\nIt was clear I needed to either walk the entire distance or skip the long leg and take the bus to the next accommodation and do my best to rest up. I thought that if I wasn\u0026rsquo;t rested enough, I would simply skip the next leg too. It didn\u0026rsquo;t come to that, but the feeling of being sick and weak made me consider the possibility.\nI thought I\u0026rsquo;d try to get the best rest I could, and although the scales were tipped decidedly toward skipping the next day\u0026rsquo;s leg in favour of a day of rest, I postponed the final decision about that until the next morning.\nThe pictures of my room that night show a pile of used Kleenex beside the bed from me having to empty my nose of mucus every few minutes. Not a fun fact, right? I only share it to underline that I sure wasn\u0026rsquo;t feeling well at the end of this day\u0026rsquo;s walk.\nI was nervous about my prospects for a good sleep because of the awful experience I\u0026rsquo;d had the night before at the Ardlui Hotel. But after taking a full muscle relaxant pill, I went right to sleep. I guess exhaustion — and the pill — won out over not being able to breathe very well: I had a huge sleep, not waking up once during the night.\nGallery # These images were taken through the at times cloudy, wet, clearing and even \u0026ldquo;rainbowed\u0026rdquo; day. (Click to see a larger version) Looking back south down the loch from the trail\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3027056 W 4.7039167 Looking back south down the loch from the trail The undulating trail begins, as does the rain\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3039528 W 4.7047528 The undulating trail begins, as does the rain Looking back down on Ardlui from the trail\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3047417 W 4.7174139 Looking back down on Ardlui from the trail Careful stepping required here\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3095111 W 4.7073556 Careful stepping required here This section was more straightforward\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3095139 W 4.7073194 This section was more straightforward Laura \u0026 Bernie\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3113972 W 4.7082111 Laura \u0026amp; Bernie Remi, Laura \u0026 Bernie\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3113806 W 4.7082083 Remi, Laura \u0026amp; Bernie Remi, Me \u0026 Laura\nRemi, Me \u0026amp; Laura Rocky sentinals\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3140750 W 4.7089583 Rocky sentinals We came upon a few other trail mates\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3191639 W 4.7120972 We came upon a few other trail mates A stretch of actual roadway makes things easier.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3310778 W 4.7165056 A stretch of actual roadway makes things easier. This was a fast-flowing, rocky creek\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3444472 W 4.7066944 This was a fast-flowing, rocky creek The water calms after the rocky obstacles\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3505194 W 4.6900639 The water calms after the rocky obstacles A cottage along the way\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3600972 W 4.6704667 A cottage along the way The trail runs along the River Falloch for a stretch\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3623944 W 4.6665833 The trail runs along the River Falloch for a stretch The trail beside the River Falloch\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3629722 W 4.6670472 The trail beside the River Falloch Slippery rocks over a small run off\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3690861 W 4.6582583 Slippery rocks over a small run off A West Highland Way signpost with character!\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3693139 W 4.6580556 A West Highland Way signpost with character! Bernie \u0026 Laura in the A82 highway underpass\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3707083 W 4.6570528 Bernie \u0026amp; Laura in the A82 highway underpass A full rainbow, one of three we saw today\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4088444 W 4.6597833 A full rainbow, one of three we saw today Laura \u0026 Bernie at the end of rainbow\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4088639 W 4.6598806 Laura \u0026amp; Bernie at the end of rainbow Highland cows\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4156833 W 4.6629333 Highland cows Sheep at the dinner table\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4164389 W 4.6626361 Sheep at the dinner table By this time in the hike, I felt how this signpost looks.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4226861 W 4.6784417 By this time in the hike, I felt how this signpost looks. Bernie crossing a stream near Tyndrum\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4228222 W 4.6856361 Bernie crossing a stream near Tyndrum Finally I reached the outskirts of Tyndrum\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.4325056 W 4.7081444 Finally I reached the outskirts of Tyndrum ","date":"April 9 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day4/","section":"Posts","summary":"This was the first day when both the rain and wind and my head and chest cold became factors.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 4 - Ardlui to Tyndrum","type":"posts"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nMy Route Today # Breakfast at Rowardennan Hotel # The breakfast at the hotel was buffet style, which gave me all the options available for a full Scottish breakfast. I was getting used to this kind of breakfast because it gave me the feeling of getting \u0026ldquo;fueled up\u0026rdquo; for the day\u0026rsquo;s walk. But eating too much brought its own feeling of weighing one down, so I went relatively easy on the buffet-style option.\nAfter breakfast, I went out to the convenience store-like shop just in front of the hotel and bought an overpriced prepared sandwich and an overpriced Coke. This kind of sugary drink is something I very rarely drink at home, but for the past few days, a sugary drink has been a nice treat on the trail: it delivers a brief shot of needed quick energy.\nBefore leaving the hotel, I took some time to capture the picturesque view from the nearby shoreline. It\u0026rsquo;s a beautiful place to behold and because of the overcast sky and calmness of the water a couple turned out to be nice \u0026ldquo;negative space\u0026rdquo; pictures.\nThe view from the beach outside of Rowardennan Hotel A view of the loch from the trail just a litte north from the Rowardennan Hotel Starting out from Rowardennan Hotel # Today\u0026rsquo;s leg was billed in the itinerary descriptions as \u0026ldquo;Arguably, the toughest section of the whole route.\u0026rdquo; At this point in the day, those were only words, difficult to judge how true until the trail is actually walked on.\nHigh Road Low Road # There\u0026rsquo;s a point in the trail where usually you have a choice between taking the path that follows the edge of the loch. Some blogs said this path was better so as not to miss the views from the loch side. The other option was to take the \u0026ldquo;high road,\u0026rdquo; which initially gains elevation but then follows a wider, easier-to-navigate path. My plan before arriving was to take the \u0026ldquo;high road.\u0026rdquo; This path eventually merges with the loch-side trail later, so any idea that you would miss anything especially memorable didn\u0026rsquo;t make much sense to me.\nAs it turned out, I got a message from Macs Adventures about a week before the trek started that the loch-side section of the trail was closed for repair work, and taking the \u0026ldquo;high road\u0026rdquo; was mandatory. That suited me fine.\nI spent the first section of the trail walking solo, but after a time, walked along with a duo of women, one a young Scottish woman, the other an American. At that point, we were walking on more of a road than a trail, and the Scottish woman who had walked this section in the past repeated a couple of times, just to manage expectations for the newbies, that \u0026ldquo;It\u0026rsquo;s not all like this.\u0026rdquo;\nThe First \u0026ldquo;Tame\u0026rdquo; Section of the Today\u0026rsquo;s Hike # (Click to see a larger version)\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1844278 W 4.6691917 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1853361 W 4.6713500 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1914694 W 4.6770472 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2013472 W 4.6798194 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2039750 W 4.6792750 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2075222 W 4.6776694 A blurry image of my temporary hiking partners,(l-r) the American and Scottish women and me\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2191806 W 4.6757750 A blurry image of my temporary hiking partners,(l-r) the American and Scottish women and me She was right: the majority of the trail was decidedly not like the wide trail we started out on in the morning.\nThe Trail Itself was the Main Story Today # The trail was decidedly rugged in many places Without question, in many ways, the trail along the shores of Loch Lommand was the toughest section of the entire Way. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t about gaining elevation like it was later during the last two legs. That\u0026rsquo;s a certain kind of tough.\nThis kind of tough is the pure ruggedness and gnarliness of the trail itself. There were few isolated sections that could actually be considered dangerous, but what really made it tough were the countless sections where you were simply forced to focus your attention completely on keeping three points of contact with hiking poles and legs and moving slowly over bare, sometimes slippery rocks in order to stay upright and not go for a tumble. That constant kind of focus isn\u0026rsquo;t overly taxing on the mind or body at any one time, but over the course of hours, it takes its toll on both.\nI have a raft of pictures of the trail in the gallery section below. There was a constant urge to document the trail, sometimes in an attempt to produce a nicely composed picture with mossy, jagged rocks and loch in the background, but most often to simply as evidence, communicating, \u0026ldquo;Look what we had to walk over!\u0026rdquo;\nMy voice notes at the end of the day branded the day as sometimes \u0026ldquo;hellish\u0026rdquo; and as a \u0026ldquo;very tough day\u0026rdquo;. Those were my judgments at that time. That said, a blister smack dab in the middle of my left foot I\u0026rsquo;d developed the day before, probably from the rock steps on Conic Hill, really didn\u0026rsquo;t hurt much because I\u0026rsquo;d lanced it and put blister bandages on it. My usually achy right leg did ache during the day, but it didn\u0026rsquo;t get progressively worse and wasn\u0026rsquo;t slowing me down in any way.\nOne favourite memory was when I\u0026rsquo;d climbed up from the trail below, veered to my left to find a sheer drop-off about 3 meters down towards the loch shoreline. I said \u0026ldquo;Holy Hanna!\u0026rdquo; out loud, with the thought, \u0026ldquo;They expect me to go down that??!\u0026rdquo;. I turned to my right, and a woman who I think was German was right behind me, said in perfect English, \u0026ldquo;I think it\u0026rsquo;s this way, Sir.\u0026rdquo; So polite and so reasonable!\nI looked over where she was pointing, and sure enough, that was the escape route. I agreed, thanked her, and followed her down the correct direction. I ran into her again a couple of days later in Tyndrum and recounted the story by way of thanks and as a way to pursue my much-practiced hobby of laughing at myself.\nI spent the last part of the day with the two American women from Michigan, Bernie and Laura, and have many multiple pictures of them along the way. Together, we came upon a bothy, which I later found out is called \u0026ldquo;Doune Byre\u0026rdquo;. It\u0026rsquo;s a place where backpackers can stay the night and sleeps around ten people.\n\u0026nbsp;\n(Click to see a larger version) (l-\u003er: Laura and Bernie)\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2594528 W 4.6916111 (l-\u0026gt;r: Laura and Bernie) Me on one of the many little bridges along way.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2594528 W 4.6916472 Me on one of the many little bridges along way. A long abandoned home with Ardlui in the background\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2923444 W 4.6957722 A long abandoned home with Ardlui in the background Doune Byre bothy\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2930250 W 4.6957861 Doune Byre bothy Inside the bothy\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2930778 W 4.6958361 Inside the bothy \u0026nbsp;\nRaising the Ball so the ferry knew there were passengers to be picked up By this time, we finally \u0026ldquo;escaped\u0026rdquo; the gnarly loch-side trail and after a while came to the spot where we needed to \u0026ldquo;raise the ball\u0026rdquo; on our side of the loch so the ferry would know someone was there to pick up. After about a 40-minute wait, the small boat arrived on schedule and ferried us across the loch.\nWe were surprised to find out that we needed to pay for the ride; the Macs Adventure description said the ride was pre-paid for its customers. Apparently, things have changed, and I see Macs Adventure descriptions have been edited to reflect the change. While it didn\u0026rsquo;t break any of us to pay the fee for the ferry ride at the end of this day and the beginning of the next, we all agreed it was annoying. We hadn\u0026rsquo;t chosen to stay in this place that required a tangent to reach nor a ferry schedule to be beholden to, yet on top of these things, we were required to pay extra for it.\nAs usual, I was SO happy to finally be able to check into my hotel room. First, a shower, then a rest, and eventually, meeting for supper, this time with Bernie and Laura, mainly because Bernie was kind enough to call ahead and reserve a spot for us while on the trail.\nArdlui Hotel A Portend of Things to Come # It was only at the end of the day, in the evening after supper, when I really felt a sore throat coming on and knew it was getting worse. This sore throat soon would be accompanied by a thoroughly stuffed-up nose and throat, making for a terrible night\u0026rsquo;s sleep at Ardlui Hotel.\nGallery # All of these images are from the long generally \u0026ldquo;gnarly\u0026rdquo; section of the trail along the edge of Loch Lomand today. None have captions because the majority would have the same caption, something like, \u0026ldquo;Look what this trail was like!!\u0026rdquo; 😃 (Click to see a larger version)\nThe Ben Lomond National Memorial Park sculpture\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1532389 W 4.6431556 The Ben Lomond National Memorial Park sculpture Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2247278 W 4.6776667 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2249056 W 4.6778722 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2251917 W 4.6779222 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2259556 W 4.6779444 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2265444 W 4.6783611 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2268056 W 4.6785778 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2276611 W 4.6790528 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2284667 W 4.6793222 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2296722 W 4.6795861 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2305028 W 4.6800278 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2314028 W 4.6813194 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2392528 W 4.6842389 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2418806 W 4.6843611 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2422889 W 4.6838361 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2481056 W 4.6877028 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2481639 W 4.6879222 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2483222 W 4.6889917 Camera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2488556 W 4.6897472 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2494472 W 4.6900139 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2512028 W 4.6922306 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2529972 W 4.6937389 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2533306 W 4.6939000 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2575972 W 4.6975111 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2544778 W 4.6953028 A cool set of benches after a particularly tricky section of trail\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2607750 W 4.7003056 A cool set of benches after a particularly tricky section of trail Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2594889 W 4.6916556 This was a tight squeeze!\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2612028 W 4.6914472 This was a tight squeeze! Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2614806 W 4.6912389 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2614889 W 4.6913306 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2625083 W 4.6914833 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2642139 W 4.6912722 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2689583 W 4.6919806 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2690528 W 4.6920278 A temporarily tame section with a distinctive loch island in the background\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2704889 W 4.6923833 A temporarily tame section with a distinctive loch island in the background The island close up\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2707583 W 4.6924556 The island close up Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2769722 W 4.6909278 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2776194 W 4.6912806 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2777139 W 4.6916139 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2787472 W 4.6916306 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2797194 W 4.6916806 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2864056 W 4.7087056 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2804139 W 4.6920028 Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2805500 W 4.6918944 I loved the texture on the stump\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2817722 W 4.6925389 I loved the texture on the stump Camera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.2845556 W 4.6935694 The marina outside Ardlui Hotel\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.3035361 W 4.7199972 The marina outside Ardlui Hotel ","date":"April 8 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day3/","section":"Posts","summary":"The hike today is usually billed as the most strenuous of the entire West Highland Way. It started tamely enough but eventually turned into more of a careful crab crawl than a hike.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 3 - Rowardennan to Ardlui","type":"posts"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nMy Route Today # Breakfast at the Drymen Inn # The Drymen Inn (Picture courtesy Google Street View) I\u0026rsquo;d had a horrible sleep the night before, making my way from Edinburgh to Mingavie and then undertaking the first 21 km leg of the West Highland Way. The combination of those things no doubt contributed to the excellent sleep I had at Braeside Guest House. I went to bed at around 9:30, set my alarm for 7:30 am and woke up before that around 7 a.m.\nI had chosen to have breakfast at 8:30 so I had time to wake up slowly, lollygag a bit, drink a cup of that awful freeze-dried coffee they have in hotel rooms, and get my luggage packed up to be moved to the next accommodation.\nThe Braeside isn\u0026rsquo;t set up to serve breakfast, so guests walk around the corner to the Drymen Inn. The busy and ridiculously efficient server there just asked if I was from the Braeside, and hearing \u0026ldquo;Yes,\u0026rdquo; seated me, and that\u0026rsquo;s when my first experience of a \u0026ldquo;Full Scottish Breakfast\u0026rdquo; began.\nAn example of a full Scottish breakfast - not my picture I\u0026rsquo;m not one to take pictures of my food - so here\u0026rsquo;s an image I grabbed from the internet that fairly closely shows what the breakfast was made up of. A full Scottish breakfast varies of course, but in my brief experience with it, the mainstay offerings are:\nTwo big slices of what Canadians would call \u0026ldquo;back bacon\u0026rdquo;, but much thicker than what we\u0026rsquo;re used to Eggs A cooked tomato Baked beans - this was a first for me; I haven\u0026rsquo;t eaten baked beans for many years, and here I was having them for breakfast. Baked full mushrooms - for me, these were the tastiest thing on the plate - just loved them. Blood sausage - this was my first time eating this, and I quite liked it. \u0026ldquo;Tattie (potato) Scones\u0026rdquo; - these were absolutely foreign to me. They were like flat, thick \u0026ldquo;crêpes\u0026rdquo; - I liked them too It was a bit difficult for me to finish the entire breakfast because at home for the last year or so, I\u0026rsquo;d been in the habit of eating no breakfast at all and recently during the trip only eating a small breakfast. The dining experience could not have been better here. I left satisfied, and maybe a bit too full.\nGeocaching My Way Out of Drymen # (road north out of drymen) There is a geocaching \u0026ldquo;power trail\u0026rdquo; that begins on the road leading from the north side of Drymen. It follows the \u0026ldquo;Rob Roy Way\u0026rdquo; trail, and eight of the caches from this trail are hidden along the road until it intersects with the West Highland Way. So this morning I decided to follow that route and find what caches I could.\nMy priority was the walk, not finding geocaches, so I made a point of not spending much time searching for caches I didn\u0026rsquo;t find immediately. In the end, I found 5 of the 8 possible hides, all placed along this picturesque country road.\nThe intersection of the West Highland and Rob Roy Ways At the road\u0026rsquo;s intersection with the West Highland Way, I happened to come up the last cache hide exactly when two women on the Way arrived. Rather than wait there out, I started to climb the embankment to get to the cache and simply announced to them, \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m looking for a geocache!\u0026rdquo; One of them seemed to know what that was, and they continued on their way.\nAs it turns out, I caught up with them soon later, and we started walking and talking together for the next hour or so. They were Bernie and Laura from Michigan, and as it turned out, I\u0026rsquo;d spend a lot more time walking with them on the third and fourth days of the trek. As it turned out, though, after going through a gate before the ascent to Conic Hill, they must have stopped for a rest, and before I realized that I was far ahead of them by that time.\nAscending Conic Hill # Conic Hill from a distance Conic Hill was the most substantial \u0026ldquo;obstacle\u0026rdquo; of the day, and it required a good bit of energy with pretty frequent rest stops to ascend. A lot of the path up was rough and natural, which required constant focus as to where to plant your next step. Some of the trail on the way up had man-made stone steps, which made it easier to know where to step. I was consciously trying to lead with my left leg today because my right leg is my weak point and hurt the most after the first day\u0026rsquo;s walk.\nThere was a virtual geocache at the summit of the hill that before today I\u0026rsquo;d assumed I would climb to, but once on site, given my energy level and given that it seemed like almost half of Scotland was climbing up the steps from the direction of Balmaha and further on to the summit, I decided without any guilt that I\u0026rsquo;d forego that extra climb. Perhaps the pictures I could have captured up there would have been more expansive, but other than that, I had no qualms about skipping that climb.\nLoch Lomand from Conic Hill As mentioned, there was a serious flow of people—adults, kids, dogs— coming up Conic Hill during my descent down. In this section, the path was almost entirely made of man-made rock steps, and I grew to thoroughly dislike those steps. The constant focus you needed to make sure you didn\u0026rsquo;t slip was mentally tiring. When the rock steps ended and the descent levelled out, I absolutely rejoiced.\nIt was almost like dessert to be able to search out a cache that took me a couple of minutes off trail, away from the flow of humanity up the hill. I made a quick find of the cache and returned to the trail and immediately set my next waypoint on another find, a \u0026ldquo;multi-cache\u0026rdquo; that I had figured out the final location of before the trip began.\nWhen I arrived at the promised location of the multi-cache, things didn\u0026rsquo;t go so well at all. I made a long search for the cache in multiple promising places. According to the hint, I was looking for a stump, and I\u0026rsquo;d say there were at least thirty in the area because of recent logging. I finally just gave up, sat on a large stump, had a bite to eat, and rested for a while. When I was ready to go on, I got up, said to myself, \u0026ldquo;Okay, one more quick look, and that\u0026rsquo;s it\u0026rdquo;. Well, would you believe it? I saw a promising place I hadn\u0026rsquo;t searched before, and there was the cache! That was a memorable find!\nBalmaha to Rowardennan Hotel # I spent a few minutes around the Balmaha shoreline but soon was off on the trail again. Until I reached my hotel at Rowardennan, I took a few pictures. The trail was straightforward to walk and even though one would expect there would be picturesque views along the loch side, trees between the trail and the shoreline were constantly in the way of a clear view of the loch.\nAnother reason for fewer pictures during this section of today\u0026rsquo;s walk was I ended up walking and talking for quite a while with a young Dutch guy whose English was very good. He was camping along the way and throughout our conversation the catchphrase I repeated out loud with him in mind was \u0026ldquo;Ah, the energy of youth!\u0026rdquo;.\nEventually I needed to stop for a rest and was glad to sit beside a gate and eat the rest of my lunch while a periodic stream of walkers went by. I felt like a Walmart greeter for this section of the trail.\nFinally just after 5 p.m. I reached Rowarddenen Hotel, my accommodation for the night. Two other women - I learned the next day they were Swiss - arrived just ahead of me and I announced to them that to me in single letters this was \u0026ldquo;O M G I M I\u0026rdquo;. One of them understood OMG immediately but the last part caused a frown; I filled that in \u0026ldquo;Oh My God, I Made It!\u0026rdquo; which got a laugh out of them.\nEvening at Rowardennan Hotel # Before supper, which I\u0026rsquo;d reserved at 7 p.m., I made a point of going out to ask the friendly woman at the front desk why on earth there were so many people walking up to Conic Hill today. I first asked if I could ask a dumb foreigner question, and I learned that since there were school holidays this week after Easter, and the weather reports were good, many people would decide on the spur of the moment to come out to enjoy Loch Lomond and climb the hill while the weather was good. Mystery solved! I ended our conversation with \u0026ldquo;Now I can sleep!\u0026rdquo;, which brought a laugh.\nI kept it simple at supper: I got a hamburger and fries with a pint of beer. I consciously ordered simple food like this, not wanting to eat anything exotic for fear of upsetting my stomach in any way.\nAfter supper, there was a nightly ritual of rubbing Voltaren on my right knee and calf, something I did pretty well every night during the entire trek.\nI slept well that night and woke knowing that the upcoming leg of the trek was billed as likely the most strenuous of them all.\nLooking north from the grounds of Rowardennan Hotel Gallery # Pictureque oaks line the road\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0725000 W 4.4507139 Pictureque oaks line the road A mosy old marker still pointing the way\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0843194 W 4.4441056 A mosy old marker still pointing the way A stream close to the foot of Conic Hill.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1000000 W 4.4954194 A stream close to the foot of Conic Hill. The ascent proper begins after this bridge\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0998500 W 4.5014556 The ascent proper begins after this bridge Another rocky creek\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0997056 W 4.5016917 Another rocky creek Climbing Conic Hill - these are bags of rock to be installed as steps\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1005722 W 4.5155111 Climbing Conic Hill - these are bags of rock to be installed as steps Looking north from the grounds of Rowardennan Hotel\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.1501806 W 4.6424333 Looking north from the grounds of Rowardennan Hotel Looking north from the grounds of Rowardennan Hotel\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nLooking north from the grounds of Rowardennan Hotel ","date":"April 7 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day2/","section":"Posts","summary":"The main obstacle of today\u0026rsquo;s leg was the ascent and descent of Conic Hill.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 2 - Drymen to Rowardennan","type":"posts"},{"content":" What is the West Highland Way? The West Highland Way is a 154 km (96 miles) walking trail in Scotland, running from Milngavie (near Glasgow) to Fort William. It passes through diverse landscapes, including Loch Lomond, open moors, and mountainous terrains. You can view entire route here. (Map by Westhighlandway.org\nNot the Best Start to the Big First Day # The West Highland Way officially starts in Milngavie (pronounced \u0026ldquo;Mull-Guy\u0026rdquo;), a northern suburb of Glasgow, but my day started at what had been my accommodation in Edinburgh for the three days prior.\nEarly morning light at Edinburgh\u0026#39;s Haymarket Station I hadn\u0026rsquo;t slept well at all the night before. Something had upset my stomach, causing me to get up a few times in the night to deal with that. The logistics were weighing on my mind too: an early start at 5:15 a.m. and then the necessary chain of events that had to happen: catching an Edinburgh tram to get to Haymarket train station, catching a train there to get to Glasgow Queen Street station, and then another train north to Milngavie.\nBut it\u0026rsquo;s amazing how even with a minimum of sleep, one is still able to function. In the end, that entire chain worked out as planned and without too much stress, partly because trains arrived exactly on schedule, and partly because I\u0026rsquo;d built in time in the plan for things to go wrong.\nI arrived in Milngavie just after 8 a.m., found the luggage carrier company van that would transport my luggage to Drymen, my end goal for the day, and after a nice chat with the friendly luggage guy, made my way just a couple of blocks from the train station to Douglas Street, where the West Highland Way starts.\nAfter stopping in to get a 6\u0026quot; Subway sub that would be my lunch for the day, I quickly checked out a few nearby monuments on Douglas Street. These were part of an epic multi-cache which asks questions about objects and features along the entire West Highland Way route. Although I was pretty sure I\u0026rsquo;d determined the answers already by doing internet research at home, I wanted to double-check a few of them. They all checked out perfectly.\nAnd that meant all there was to do was step over the threshold in the unknown and be on my way!\nA Few Pictures in Milngavie # (Click to see a larger version) A typical Milngavie street\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9418056 W 4.3170444 A typical Milngavie street The featured clock in the town square\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9408889 W 4.3185611 The featured clock in the town square The stylized thistle is the symbol of the West Highland Way\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9416194 W 4.3181028 The stylized thistle is the symbol of the West Highland Way My Route Today # Starting Out # The Fool - Embarking on a new adventure into the unknown The first steps of the West Highland Way involve walking under a large sign, down a short ramp, and then quickly onto walking paths that take you through the suburbs of Milngavie.\nI\u0026rsquo;m going to try to convey at least a part of what I was feeling as I took those first steps. I\u0026rsquo;m convinced it\u0026rsquo;s a universal human feeling when starting out into the unknown.\nThat said, in one sense, quite a lot was known: I had thoroughly researched the path I\u0026rsquo;d take today, and I had a GPS track log of exactly where I should be walking. Yet it was the feeling of walking into an unknown endeavour that supplied some support for the doubt lodged at the back of my brain. I love to hike, but I\u0026rsquo;d never undertaken a long-distance hike like this one where substantial hikes are necessary day after day after day. Accommodation was already booked all the way down the line for days, so one feels the pressure of having to do whatever it took - no matter the weather, energy level or terrain - to get me to the reserved accommodation each and every day.\nIn my 20s, I was interested in the symbols that made up tarot cards, and the card that matched this moment was The Fool, card 0. The Fool card shows a man walking toward a precipice on a new adventure with his modest pack. The standard meaning of the white rose he holds is \u0026ldquo;purity and innocence\u0026rdquo;, which I\u0026rsquo;d translate into meaning, \u0026ldquo;He really doesn\u0026rsquo;t know what the hell he\u0026rsquo;s getting himself into.\u0026rdquo; The mountains in the distance are said to symbolize the challenges yet to come. They are forever present, but The Fool doesn’t care about them right now; he’s more focused on starting his expedition.\nThat describes very well what I was feeling as I took the first steps this morning.\nFirst Experiences Along the Way # The West Highland Way starting point in Milngavie The trails leading out of Milngavie are public walking paths on the edge of the suburb, and as you\u0026rsquo;d expect, there are a few people jogging and a few others walking their dogs.\nWhat struck me first about the surroundings was the sheer mossiness of, well, everything. I took pictures of scenes that any local wouldn\u0026rsquo;t give a second glance; for me, this moss seemed to be sprayed onto every living and inanimate thing in sight. It was so different from home and I liked it!\nMy Initial Fascination with the Mossiness of Everything # (Click to see a larger version) Walking path in suburban Milngavie\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9445111 W 4.3204639 Walking path in suburban Milngavie I couldnt get over all these mossy trees!\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9452000 W 4.3214250 I couldnt get over all these mossy trees! One of the first waymarkers\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9453528 W 4.3214667 One of the first waymarkers A wet, early spring path leading out of Milngavie\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9599944 W 4.3338917 A wet, early spring path leading out of Milngavie A First Geocache Find and a Lesson Learned # After an hour on the trail, I was coming close to my first possible geocache find. I left the trail to follow a very soggy game trail up a hill, eventually making my way through a mini-swamp and found the geocache quickly. After signing the log and rehiding the cache, I made my way back down the soggy hill, suddenly slipped and found myself on my back in the mud. Oh, great. At least I hadn\u0026rsquo;t hurt anything but my pride.\nIt was then I decided that expending energy to find off-trail caches wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to be worth it, especially when I still didn\u0026rsquo;t understand what kind of long-term effort was being faced with. Finding geocaches wasn\u0026rsquo;t my main aim on the trip - it was a side hustle at best, so for then on, the norm was to ignore off-trail caches.\nThe Annoying Puddle Puzzles # One isolated example of the many puddle puzzles There had been occasional puddles of water to navigate around along the way. Of course, one expects this kind of thing on a trail in a country where it rains a lot.\nThere was a long, narrow - a former railway line - near the Glengoyne Distillery, where the puddles weren\u0026rsquo;t a feature on the trail; they were the trail. Each adjoining puddle presented you with a puzzle of how to around it, and I have to say it gradually became annoying and tedious to have to solve a new puzzle every 20 meters or so. At times, the oozing black muck rimming the puddle was the only way around the standing water. But it had been churned up by so many multiple walkers that it was unpredictable and slippery. The natural reaction was to slow down and carefully navigate the black muck or find a way around it.\nI grew tired of having to slow down to puzzle my way around the next puddle, so after a while, since I had what were supposed to be waterproof boots, I sometimes quickly judged that the standing water wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to be more than ankle-high and walked straight through it.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nLearning about Red Squirrels # Red Squirrels! Closer to Drymen, the end goal for today\u0026rsquo;s walk, I happened to start walking with a Scottish couple. Early on, the husband said something made it clear he thought I was from the US. I said \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m from Canada,\u0026rdquo; at which point he held up his arms in jest as if to shield himself from the blows I was going to give him. I apologized in jest if my statement was made with too much gusto. They were great people to walk with.\nWhile we walked, we saw a sign cautioning drivers about red squirrels. I said I had to take a picture of this because we have these kinds of signs in Canada, but they are about moose and deer, not squirrels. But they explained to me that red squirrels were an endangered species in the UK, hence the signs. That made a lot more sense then.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nReaching Drymen # Once I reached Drymen, the people I\u0026rsquo;d been walking with and I scattered, heading towards our booked accommodations. The problem was I found I was about 2 hours early to get into mine.\nTo pass some time, I sat on a picnic table in town \u0026ldquo;square\u0026rdquo;, drank some water, had a Cliff bar, and just watched a bit of small-town life play out. Older people greeted each other and sat and chatted. It was a familiar sight: this is the Scottish version of \u0026ldquo;coffee row\u0026rdquo; in small-town Canada.\nMy Accommodation in Drymen - the Breaside Guest House I got into my accommodation at the Braeside Guest House early with an energetic and personable woman showing me to my room, where luggage was stored, giving me a sheet to order an optional lunch for the next day, and telling me where breakfast was in the morning.\nI\u0026rsquo;d finished the first leg of the West Highland Way! My right knee was a little achy, but other than that, I was alive, not crawling on all fours, and not completely exhausted. And remember, this was after a very lousy sleep the night before, a very early start to the day, and after having walked just over 21 km.\nMaybe I could actually do this!\nGallery # (Click to see a larger version) Finally we're far enough away from Milngavie to experience a feeling of wilderness.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9675472 W 4.3463667 Finally we\u0026#39;re far enough away from Milngavie to experience a feeling of wilderness. A cute sign and gate\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9852278 W 4.3464389 A cute sign and gate A short stint along a road leads to the next section of the Way\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9869278 W 4.3472611 A short stint along a road leads to the next section of the Way A typical gate with a typical white Scottish house in the background.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9869722 W 4.3483639 A typical gate with a typical white Scottish house in the background. The details are different, but this scene is not that different from rural Alberta\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9873722 W 4.3502722 The details are different, but this scene is not that different from rural Alberta A path between fields\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9877806 W 4.3526972 A path between fields I was mesmerized by old rock walls covered by moss\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9886167 W 4.3522111 I was mesmerized by old rock walls covered by moss More old moss-covered walls - now crumbling\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9886167 W 4.3522111 More old moss-covered walls - now crumbling First views of hills in the distance\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9904222 W 4.3511861 First views of hills in the distance The trail was very wet at times\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9908389 W 4.3510889 The trail was very wet at times An expansive view of the trail with hills in the distance\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9912056 W 4.3510722 An expansive view of the trail with hills in the distance A cute little house along the way - with a giraffe on the roof no less\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9926472 W 4.3503361 A cute little house along the way - with a giraffe on the roof no less Signpost - were closer to our destination than we are from where we started!\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0143944 W 4.3694500 Signpost - were closer to our destination than we are from where we started! There is so much \"Horse Manure\" available on social media these days that farmers have to give theirs away for free!\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0214444 W 4.3713694 There is so much \u0026#34;Horse Manure\u0026#34; available on social media these days that farmers have to give theirs away for free! My first encounter with a field of sheep. Theyd become a common sight in later days.\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0493472 W 4.4245306 My first encounter with a field of sheep. Theyd become a common sight in later days. The winding road leading up to Drymen\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0505139 W 4.4273361 The winding road leading up to Drymen My boots at the end of day one. This day and every day they served me well.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 56.0661222 W 4.4523500 My boots at the end of day one. This day and every day they served me well. ","date":"April 6 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whw-day1/","section":"Posts","summary":"Starting out into the unknown on the relatively tame first leg of the West Highland Way.","title":"West Highland Way - Day 1 - Milngavie to Drymen","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"April 5 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/exploring-edinburgh/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Exploring Edinburgh","type":"series"},{"content":" Morning - The Royal Mile and Edinburgh Old Town # A classy Royal Mile street sign When planning my trip to Scotland, of course I researched \u0026ldquo;Things to do in Edinburgh\u0026rdquo;. It\u0026rsquo;s no surprise that the \u0026ldquo;Royal Mile\u0026rdquo; - a name coined in the 20th century for the sake of tourism by the way - came up in every list I saw. This street is described as the \u0026ldquo;historic spine\u0026rdquo; of Edinburgh\u0026rsquo;s Old Town and stretches from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse which has been and still is the official residence of royals.\nI\u0026rsquo;d walked from the east along \u0026ldquo;the mile\u0026rdquo; first on Canongate Street, then High Street from the Palace and the Scottish Parliament the day before, but before covering the western portion I veered off north towards Princes Street to catch a tram back to my accommodation.\n\u0026nbsp;\nSt Giles\u0026rsquo; Cathedral # St Giles\u0026#39; Cathedral on a Easter Sunday morning Today I covered that western portion towards Edinburgh Castle. By now I\u0026rsquo;d become completely accustomed to being surrounded by very old stone buildings, but that said, St Giles\u0026rsquo; Cathedral still stood out as being impressively grand.\nFounded in 1124, St. Giles\u0026rsquo; is the \u0026ldquo;High Kirk of Edinburgh, Scotland\u0026rsquo;s National Church\u0026rdquo; and the \u0026ldquo;mother church of Presbyterianism\u0026rdquo;.1 This was a Sunday morning on Easter weekend so as I walked around the building I sensed that today it wasn\u0026rsquo;t merely an object of tourism to be admired / ogled / photographed. Instead this grand building was serving in its role as an actual place of religious worship, evidenced by ministers welcoming parishioners at the entrance. Although I don\u0026rsquo;t share the religious belief, as a tourist I felt I was intruding on the true purpose this building was meant to serve.\nGreyfriars Kirkyard # After checking out St Giles\u0026rsquo;, instead of continuing west on High Street toward Edinburgh Castle, I\u0026rsquo;d planned to turn south on Bank Street to visit Greyfriars Kirkyard (cemetery).\nGreyfriars Kirkyard has been made famous for a couple of reasons. First, people want to visit the nearby statue of a small dog named \u0026ldquo;Greyfriars Bobby\u0026rdquo; just outside the entrance of the kirkyard. Bobby, a Skye Terrier, reportedly spent 14 years guarding his owner\u0026rsquo;s grave in the kirkyard before the dog also passed in 1872. It\u0026rsquo;s very likely the story surrounding Greyfriars\u0026rsquo; Bobby has been embellished over the years; nonetheless the dog became a symbol of steadfast loyalty, resulting in statues, books, novels and multiple films about him.\nFame has also come to the Kirkyard via the Harry Potter series of books. You may have heard of them. Apparently J.K. Rowling wandered through the cemetery and used some of the names on the headstones as character names in the books. Thomas Riddle (Lord Voldemort - the big baddy) is the most popular example.\nMemento Mori \u0026amp; Memento Vivere # \u0026ldquo;Remember Death\u0026rdquo; \u0026amp; \u0026ldquo;Remember to Live\u0026rdquo;\n(Click to see a larger version) A memento mori (\"Remember Death\") \"headstone\" on the front of the Greyfrairs Kirk. It actually marks the grave of a James Borthwick, a professor of anatomy, who died in 1676.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9465861 W 3.1918139 A memento mori (\u0026#34;Remember Death\u0026#34;) \u0026#34;headstone\u0026#34; on the front of the Greyfrairs Kirk. It actually marks the grave of a James Borthwick, a professor of anatomy, who died in 1676. After seeing the memento mori headstone I found this and call it memento vivere, \"remember to live\".\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9467778 W 3.1919111 After seeing the memento mori headstone I found this and call it memento vivere, \u0026#34;remember to live\u0026#34;. I enjoyed the quiet stroll around Greyfriars Kirkyard and as usual in most graveyards I visit, I was struck by the urge of humans to make some kind of mark on the world to be remembered. It\u0026rsquo;s a natural urge but in the long run misguided. Few face the reality of things better than John Keats\u0026rsquo; simple gravestone in a cemetery in Rome. It reads, \u0026ldquo;Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water\u0026rdquo;.\nRich people have the means to build larger, grander monuments to themselves and their families. Those without so much wealth can only erect simple gravestones. The grand, ornate gravesites are doing their job: they still exist, but it\u0026rsquo;s also obvious that large or small, all are fading and eroding with time.\nGreyfriars Kirkyard Gallery # (Click to see a larger version) Greyfrairs Kirkyard - I like the contrast between the headstone and the bright lively flowers around it.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9470139 W 3.1924278 Greyfrairs Kirkyard - I like the contrast between the headstone and the bright lively flowers around it. A Sibbald family plot and the head of row of wall-mounted headstones\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9471806 W 3.1926500 A Sibbald family plot and the head of row of wall-mounted headstones This simple gravestone amongst rubble caught my eye.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9470167 W 3.1932389 This simple gravestone amongst rubble caught my eye. This imposing burial plot can't help but command attention.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9466694 W 3.1933444 This imposing burial plot can\u0026#39;t help but command attention. A large, ornate gravesite, yet time has erased who it actually belong to.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9466528 W 3.1933222 A large, ornate gravesite, yet time has erased who it actually belong to. A row of large plots\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9465750 W 3.1935056 A row of large plots Greyfriars Kirk (church), a building that has seen centuries of religious and political turmoil.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9463222 W 3.1926861 Greyfriars Kirk (church), a building that has seen centuries of religious and political turmoil. Grassmarket Square # I headed over to Grassmarket Square to search for a geocache that I really wanted to find. After success there, I sauntered around a bit.\n(Click to see a larger version) Looking northward on Candlemaker Row, just outside Greyfairs Kirkyard\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9476889 W 3.1929611 Looking northward on Candlemaker Row, just outside Greyfairs Kirkyard Looking northward up Victoria Street\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9477917 W 3.1943306 Looking northward up Victoria Street Edinburgh Castle commands the view from Grassmarket Square\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9469306 W 3.1975139 Edinburgh Castle commands the view from Grassmarket Square Edinburgh Castle # After finding a geocache at a corner in nearby Grassmarket Square, I headed along Victoria Street and then back to High Street to finish my walk around Old Town at Edinburgh Castle. By this time there were throngs of tourists in the area as you can\u0026rsquo;t help but notice in the pictures I\u0026rsquo;ve taken. At Edinburgh Castle I even took a rare selfie in service to a virtual geocache that only requires proof you were at the castle.\nNear Edinburgh Castle # (Click to see a larger version) A memorial called The Witches Well, commemorating the execution of many - mostly women - accused of being witched.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9488861 W 3.1964583 A memorial called The Witches Well, commemorating the execution of many - mostly women - accused of being witched. The Witches Well signboard.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9488944 W 3.1964750 The Witches Well signboard. A rare selfie on the tarmack in front of Edinburgh Castle.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9486722 W 3.1972778 A rare selfie on the tarmack in front of Edinburgh Castle. The southwest view from Edinburgh Castle tarmack\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9484778 W 3.1971472 The southwest view from Edinburgh Castle tarmack Entrance to Edinburgh Castle\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9487444 W 3.1981167 Entrance to Edinburgh Castle At that point I felt I was well done with traipsing as a tourist. I made my way down the steep slope along Ramsay Lane generally toward Princes Street where I caught a tram back to my accommodation. I half-thought I\u0026rsquo;d spend the rest of the day getting ready for the next day\u0026rsquo;s early-morning journey from Edinburgh to Glasgow and then to Milngavie where I\u0026rsquo;d start the West Highland Way.\nBut once at the accommodation and after a short rest, on the spur of the moment I decided I should make the most of my time in the city and that I should make one more excursion along the tram line to Newhaven Harbour with the idea it would be exploration without expending too much energy.\nNewhaven Harbour # The Edinburgh tramline serves a substantial swath through the central part of the city. I\u0026rsquo;d used the tram every day of my visit to start me off on planned walking routes. Now I wanted to take the tram all the way to its northern terminus at Newhaven Harbour.\nEdinburgh Tram Line Map The tram ride north was fun as I gawked through the tram windows like the tourist I was. As mentioned, over the past couple of days I\u0026rsquo;d gotten quite used to streets lined with old stone buildings, but during this ride it struck me that these old buildings weren\u0026rsquo;t just in the \u0026ldquo;touristy\u0026rdquo; parts of the city, they were everywhere as far as the eye could see. Of course that makes complete sense because in earlier times the sea was a place of commerce and a method of travel and therefore the harbour historically would have been a crucial hub of the city.\nI got off the tram at the Newhaven stop and simply started walking toward the harbour. It was fun to simply walk and explore with no particular plan in mind. It was ridiculously windy though and the force of the wind seemed to get even more fierce as I decided to make a lighthouse along the shoreline my destination. I know now it\u0026rsquo;s called \u0026ldquo;Newhaven Lighthouse\u0026rdquo; and was originally built in 1869, eventually decommissioned in 1930.\n(Click to see a larger version) Fishing boats inside the breakwater at Newhaven Harbour\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9810722 W 3.1953694 Fishing boats inside the breakwater at Newhaven Harbour Newhaven Lighthouse. It doesnt serve as a lighthouse these days, but apparently shines coloured lights over the harbour at night.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9822778 W 3.1962944 Newhaven Lighthouse. It doesnt serve as a lighthouse these days, but apparently shines coloured lights over the harbour at night. \u0026nbsp;\nNewhaven Lighthouse. It doesn\u0026#39;t serve as a lighthouse these days, but apparently shines coloured lights over the harbour at night. One of my favourite images from the afternoon excursion was of nothing grand nor picturesque. Instead it's a portion of a little round structure one passes along the walkway to the Newhaven lighthouse. Only later I learned this small structure is what remains of the original lighthouse which dates to around 1830. It's amazing to me how the sea water and wind have weathered and eaten into the stone over the past two hundred years. That was the extent of my exploration in the area. Throughout the entire outing my attitude was that anywhere I happened to end up would be fun and rewarding, because it was all new to me. Plus for a prairie boy to be anywhere near a wide expanse of water is special. In this case the Firth of Forth, part of the North Sea.\nAfter this somewhat spontaneous afternoon outing it was time to ready myself to embark the next day on a multi-day excursion that I\u0026rsquo;d been planning for and anticipating for months: the West Highland Way.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nWest Highland Way - Day 1 - Milngavie to Drymen April 6 2026\u0026middot;2398 words\u0026middot;12 mins Hiking Geocaching Scotland West Highland Way Starting out into the unknown on the relatively tame first leg of the West Highland Way. Source: https://www.stgilescathedral.org.uk/\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","date":"April 5 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/edinburgh-day3/","section":"Posts","summary":"Today set out to see the most \u0026ldquo;touristy\u0026rdquo; spots in Edinburgh and later in the afternoon took a spontaneous tram ride to Newhaven Harbour.","title":"Exploring Edinburgh - Day 3 - The Royal Mile, Greyfriars Kirkyard \u0026 Newhaven Harbour","type":"posts"},{"content":"During the first full day of my exploration of Edinburgh, I used geocaches to provide me with the \u0026ldquo;waypoints\u0026rdquo; to walk to during the day. These caches were both \u0026ldquo;virtual\u0026rdquo;, where there is no container hidden and proof is required you were actually on scene, and regular caches where an actual container is hidden.\nPicardy Place # The Sherlock Holmes statue at Picardy Place My first stop of the day was at a virtual cache one stop further along the tram line at Picardy Place: a statue of Sherlock Holmes. The statue was erected in memory of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was born close to this spot in 1859.\nOld Calton Cemetery # My next destination was the nearby Calton Hill. On the way there, it seems I\u0026rsquo;m never able to walk past a graveyard, especially one named \u0026ldquo;Old Calton Cemetery\u0026rdquo;. The cemetery was divided by work on Waterloo Place, a large hotel, in 1819. I visited the smaller portion of the burial ground. The larger portion of the cemetery is more famous but it wasn\u0026rsquo;t on my itinerary today.\n(Click to see a larger version) A Blackwood family burial plot in the smaller section of the Old Calton Burial Ground.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9540889 W 3.1862417 A Blackwood family burial plot in the smaller section of the Old Calton Burial Ground. Headstone of the Smart family plot. The broken, leaning headstone at right caught my eye.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9540528 W 3.1862194 Headstone of the Smart family plot. The broken, leaning headstone at right caught my eye. Calton Hill # Calton Hill Street sign near the entrance to the hill The entrance to Calton Hill was not far away. It houses an observatory, a number of monuments to prominent individuals, an art gallery and a National Monument of Scotland which is a replica of the Parthenon in Athens and stands unfinished after running out of funds in 1829.\nThe monuments on the hill are of course in this elevated spot to be seen from the city. But once on top of the hill the real interesting thing for me was the view from the hill over the city. Unfortunately the overcast weather made for somewhat drab-looking images but the sheer vintage of most of the buildings makes an impression on a western Canadian like me where all buildings are relatively young.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nMouse over / Tap on the image to see to see description:\nA view over the city from Calton Hill\nHolyrood Park # The next destination on my planned route for the day was Holyrood Park, a set of prominent hills in the southeast part of the city. It\u0026rsquo;s clear humans have been building on these hills for centuries but all that remains is St. Anthony\u0026rsquo;s Chapel, a medieval ruin.\nOn the way over to Holyrood Park, these cobblestone-lined streets lined with stone buildings, no doubt normal to the point of being invisible to locals, made an impression on me.\n(Click to see a larger version) Cobblestone streets and stone buildings.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9549444 W 3.1717278 Cobblestone streets and stone buildings. Cobblestone streets and stone buildings.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9546056 W 3.1713528 Cobblestone streets and stone buildings. I had a number of possible geocaches that I could find in the park, some at high elevations, some near street level. My right knee was complaining a bit on this day so I opted to walk only to the street-level caches: I didn\u0026rsquo;t want to stress it too much, this being only a day away from starting the West Highland Way. I was able to find a \u0026ldquo;puzzle cache\u0026rdquo; and a \u0026ldquo;multi-cache\u0026rdquo; in the park, both fairly easily.\nOn the way back from one find, I spied St. Anthony\u0026rsquo;s Chapel on the nearby hill. My research tells me that surprisingly little is known about the history of this structure. It may date back to the 1300s. It was built in a spot that commands attention and it still does just that even while the structure slowly returns to the earth.\nSt. Anthony\u0026#39;s Chapel in Holyrood Park I slowly made my way back to the tram stop at Princes Street and then returned to my accommodation via tram.\nIt was an impressive first full day of exploring Edinburgh. Of course to many in Canada this is the \u0026ldquo;Old Country\u0026rdquo; so it\u0026rsquo;s no wonder that it was the sheer antiquity of the structures I experienced throughout the day that made the deepest impression on me.\nGallery # (Click to see a larger version) Just a typical street scene to the locals, but its all still new to me.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9546750 W 3.1868417 Just a typical street scene to the locals, but its all still new to me. A cool, narrow alleyway leading from High Street toward Waverly Train Station.\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9503694 W 3.1894722 A cool, narrow alleyway leading from High Street toward Waverly Train Station. ","date":"April 4 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/edinburgh-day2/","section":"Posts","summary":"Anything and everything was new to me in Edinburgh, so I let geocaches determine the general route while exploring parts of the city today.","title":"Exploring Edinburgh - Day 2 - Calton Hill \u0026 Holyrood Park","type":"posts"},{"content":" It Begins # After a taxi ride out to the Edmonton airport, getting my bags checked in, security, and the inevitable wait at the gate, I set out on the 11:15 a.m. flight to Toronto, where I\u0026rsquo;d have a 3.5-hour layover before the flight to Edinburgh.\nWe Flew Over My Old Stomping Grounds # We Flew Over Central Saskatchewan - where I was born and raised During the flight I could hardly miss the entertainment modules on the rear of the seats. These screens display movies, games, real-time maps showing the plane\u0026rsquo;s present position, and even camera views from outside the plane itself. This level of potential distraction during a plane flight was all new to me, since it\u0026rsquo;s been many, many years since I\u0026rsquo;ve flown.\nOne of the map views was a virtual \u0026ldquo;cockpit\u0026rdquo;, showing the plane\u0026rsquo;s speed, altitude, and a virtual display of what it would look like on the ground at the present location. I was tickled to see that we flew directly over the area in Saskatchewan where I was born and raised. Pretty cool.\nPearson Airport, Toronto # We reached the airport in Toronto, where the weather was rainy and gloomy. After traipsing up and down the long restaurant and newsstand-lined corridors in the Toronto airport, time already started to seem like a meaningless concept.\nEventually I was able to board the Air Canada flight to Edinburgh. It then seemed like an age before we were in the air. We had a long delay and just sat there near the gate. We had to be de-iced, then we learned there was a problem with the in-flight entertainment system. It never was fixed because during the flight all the cool maps that show the plane\u0026rsquo;s position had us flying to Dublin, Ireland.\nI double-checked my ticket. 😁\nThe Experience of the Trans-Atlantic Flight # The experience of the flight was as good as could be expected, and I was right not to expect very much. That\u0026rsquo;s not a comment on the service; I don\u0026rsquo;t see how it could have been better. This is a comment on the sheer amount of room airlines pack cattle human beings into the big tube that is a plane\u0026rsquo;s fuselage.\nAbout a month after returning from my trip to Scotland, I happened to watch an informative YouTube video that toured through the Tower of London\u0026quot; that describes a \u0026ldquo;Little Ease\u0026rdquo;, or sometimes called an \u0026ldquo;Oubliette\u0026rdquo;. These were medieval prison cells used throughout Europe, intentionally designed for interrogation and psychological torture. The cell was built so small that an inmate could not stand, sit, or lie down comfortably, forcing prisoners to crouch or contort their bodies for days at a time.\nAs a 6 ft, 1 inch human, I was immediately reminded of what I experienced as the slow torture sitting in an airline seat in economy during the flight over the Atlantic. It was hours at a time, not days, and the only \u0026ldquo;interrogation\u0026rdquo; was from the stewards and stewardesses asking if you wanted either pretzels or peanuts. But everything else in that description of the \u0026ldquo;Little Ease\u0026rdquo; seemed to match my experience. In short, it was an extended act of sheer endurance in what was a cramped prison during the entire flight.\nArriving in Edinburgh # Sunrise from the plane window just before we descend through the cloud cover At long last the entertainment console maps were telling us we were close to Edinburgh and about to land. This was a red-eye flight, so until now it was pitch black outside. But gradually a rising sun signalled a new day locally, and we descended through the thick cloud cover to land at Edinburgh airport.\nThe process of entering the country was very smooth. I had filled out and paid online for a \u0026ldquo;UK ETA\u0026rdquo; (Electronic Travel Authorisation) months before. At customs, half the room was set aside for Commonwealth nations as well as a few others— I noticed the Norwegian flag— and the other half of the room was for other countries. The \u0026ldquo;Commonwealth\u0026rdquo; side was completely empty and the \u0026ldquo;other\u0026rdquo; side was chock full of people snaking in lines waiting to talk to customs officials. At the end of the line on the \u0026ldquo;Commonwealth\u0026rdquo; side, there were only scanning machines. You simply placed your passport on the scanner, it matched the passport to the UK ETA, and in seconds the gate in front of you turned green, allowing you to officially enter Scotland.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t world travel much, so I had no idea that process would be so smooth.\nAfter fetching my luggage, I towed it out to the main corridor and found a cash machine in the hallway, just where a map of the airport I\u0026rsquo;d studied beforehand said it would be. I wasn\u0026rsquo;t sure at all how well Apple Pay on the phone or my debit or credit cards would act when I bought things, so I was determined to get some cash. That process was over in about 2 minutes - very smooth again. It turned out that was the only cash I needed my entire trip.\nThe impressive and unique Edinburgh sign at the airport To Chill or Go Sightseeing? # Then I had another decision to make. It was about 8 a.m. in the morning local time, but I\u0026rsquo;d completely lost track of what time was for me. With little to no actual sleep during the entire flight, I was running past 24 hours without sleep, I\u0026rsquo;m sure. (I have never bothered to do the actual time math, but I tell you 24 hours is what it felt like.) I couldn\u0026rsquo;t check into my accommodation until 3 p.m. that day, so I could either simply continue to chill and maybe slump over my luggage and cat nap a bit or take the tram downtown and do a moderate amount of sightseeing.\nI decided I had enough energy to go sightseeing. I took the tram from the airport to the Princes Street stop, used a service to stow my luggage near there and I started off on my mini-tour.\nWater of Leith Walkway # Walking down the slope toward the Water of Leith Before arriving, I\u0026rsquo;d planned a short route along a portion of the Water of Leith Walkway in case I had the energy on the first day. The vintage of the old stone buildings lining the streets in every direction was new and mesmerizing to me as I made my way down towards the river Leith. Pre-planned route and waypoints on the mapping app on my phone made it easy to navigate to a spot at the Dean\u0026rsquo;s Brae Bridge I\u0026rsquo;d seen often in pictures beforehand.\nWhat I wasn\u0026rsquo;t quite ready for was all the other tourists at the spot who had exactly the same idea as I had. I had to wait for a number of them to clear before being able to take a shot of what really did seem like a fairy-tale scene in front of me. I took a number of pictures of the same general area as I circled up and around on the streets along the riverbank.\nI continued across a local bridge and onto the actual \u0026ldquo;Walk of Leith\u0026rdquo; for a short stint. After reaching a walking bridge that took me to the south side of the river again, I made my way back to Princes Street as planned.\nThe Water of Leith Walkway # (Click to see a larger version) The view of the Water of Leith from the Deans Brae Bridge\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nThe view of the Water of Leith from the Deans Brae Bridge A same building as seen from the The Deans Brae Bridge from the opposite angle - thats the bridge on the right\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nA same building as seen from the The Deans Brae Bridge from the opposite angle - thats the bridge on the right The Water of Leith from a little further down the walkway\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nThe Water of Leith from a little further down the walkway Walking along the Water of Leith Walkway\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nWalking along the Water of Leith Walkway Locals wouldnt look twice at this scene, but I loved the new buildings and the old divided by the fork in the road\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nLocals wouldnt look twice at this scene, but I loved the new buildings and the old divided by the fork in the road Edinburgh Castle and Virtual Caches # My planned route took me a couple of \u0026ldquo;virtual\u0026rdquo; caches in Princes Street Gardens, a large area nestled between the street and the prominent hill on which Edinburgh Castle stands. Virtual caches usually require you to answer questions about the specific spot and almost always require you to prove you were there by taking a picture.\nFirst, I stopped at Ross Fountain, originally built in 1872. After that I walked over to another virtual cache, the unique \u0026ldquo;Wojtek the Soldier Bear Memorial,\u0026rdquo; commemorating a Polish bear who had actually been trained to carry artillery shell crates during WWII in Italy. After the war, he was housed in the Edinburgh zoo.\n(Click to see a larger version)\nThe Ross Statue in Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle commanding the scene\nCamera Model: RICOH GR IIIx\nThe Ross Statue in Princes Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle commanding the scene A Selfie at the Wojtek the Soldier Bear Memorial\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9508278 W 3.2021056 A Selfie at the Wojtek the Soldier Bear Memorial Now it was time to see if I could check into my accommodation early, which was in a kind of Airbnb-style setup in a flat in the Broomhouse area of the city near the Staughton tram stop. An email to the contact said I could check in early, and after arriving there, and not being able to get in, and another follow-up email, the owner drove over to let me in and give me the tour.\nTo be honest I was so exhausted that I felt like an extra in the Walking Dead at this point. And it was finally SO good to be near a bed I could lie down on, and even though it was the middle of the afternoon I fell into a blessed 2-hour nap almost instantly.\nI was now in Scotland. I was dog-tired, but the adventure had truly begun.\nGallery # (Click to see a larger version) Steps from street level down to Princes Street Gardens\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9503250 W 3.2049944 Steps from street level down to Princes Street Gardens Edinburgh Castle\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9501833 W 3.2035639 Edinburgh Castle An impressive wide angle view of Edinburgh Castle\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 55.9514389 W 3.1992333 An impressive wide angle view of Edinburgh Castle ","date":"April 3 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/edinburgh-day1/","section":"Posts","summary":"Despite a grueling \u0026ldquo;day\u0026rdquo; of travel from Western Canada to Edinburgh, Scotland, I managed mini-tour of a picturesque area before crashing into bed with serious jetlag.","title":"Exploring Edinburgh - Day 1 - Travel and First Day Arrival","type":"posts"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/1997-1998/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vTcZpXsLH0CMv3lDsFTn1FyxHkCIbM-oqM9CyoUAKI-wpr5FbyVhJKNlktUl91wK4s2mpM3bt25Fsca\u0026font=Bitter-Raleway\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"1997-1998 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/2007-2013/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vSKP6V5jw32V6FeHTMAkxfd-trRRTneODaKJDA4PuTqi-jhW6OIiy6u-VsApDOtTU7R6SPDPjzKjdxh\u0026font=Default\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"2007-2013 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/2017/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe 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src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vQ-rb_SSr1IFFVJYmGWOgwH8D1WQDC-R7YQKvj3P-LPA86IUGTzFYTYO3kCnTu433XQ4LL5oYBxDYAW\u0026font=Bitter-Raleway\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"2019-2021 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/2022/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vQs3DiEPM_tBwQnjZAxljWK7GHeB9Mh1BQaGrhNDCd-h1W7fcLTB9ddPtIsspQiWFoHxMvMw9n3Ymhm\u0026font=Bitter-Raleway\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"2022 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/2023/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vSAxRic205mlE27jgD9x5vct-9PNNp2k5w-M3PVGld9CEOE72TDbq0IrfgiSU-DZuyMuAyRvl_bFEpy\u0026font=Bitter-Raleway\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"2023 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/2024/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vQGU83ajR-wlQ5ICEdQeVjVV1ut9SdUJQktCSkB8pdNWmaOOSbLDLizp2TkbivweyEIaj7b_lYwTaHS\u0026font=Bitter-Raleway\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"2024 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Created with Knightlab TimelineJS","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/2025/","section":"Timelines","summary":"\u003ciframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=v2%3A2PACX-1vQfr7zSooKsxrJQF0w5GfrG73jmiZlQzXo3nGuMf9Zfir0ir9XTg1dpSJ5gIrHf9GkVUlR6QLwcjl_e\u0026font=Bitter-Raleway\u0026lang=en\u0026initial_zoom=2\u0026theme=contrast\u0026width=100%25\u0026height=525' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003ca href=\"https://timeline.knightlab.com/?_gl=1*7vu1nh*_ga*MjExNzU4MzM4My4xNzY4OTQxNTUx*_ga_8F4WPDMPL5*czE3NjkwNzAxMzckbzEwJGcxJHQxNzY5MDcxMjkzJGo2MCRsMCRoMA..\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eCreated with Knightlab TimelineJS\u003c/a\u003e","title":"2025 Post Timeline","type":"timelines"},{"content":"","date":"January 22 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/timelines/","section":"Timelines","summary":"","title":"Timelines","type":"timelines"},{"content":" Elmer Fudd setting out to find wascawwy geocaches The urge to explore Peace Hills Park near Wetaskiwin had been nagging at me for a couple of weeks. Why the urge? First, there were a number of new geocache hides added to older hides in the park, and second, it was somewhere I\u0026rsquo;d never been to, so there was a chance to explore a new place. One plan to explore the place with a buddy was aborted a few days ago due to lousy weather, but today the weather was perfect so this was the day I decided to make the solo trip from Edmonton.\nWhen thinking of a title for this post, the \u0026ldquo;w\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo; just seemed to flow out of the town\u0026rsquo;s name, Wetaskiwin. With those \u0026ldquo;w\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo;, obviously the Elmer Fudd character from childhood Bugs Bunny cartoons whose \u0026ldquo;r\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;l\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo; came out as \u0026ldquo;w\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo; came to mind. I was hunting geocaches this morning, not \u0026ldquo;wascawwy wabbits\u0026rdquo;,but as you\u0026rsquo;ll see in the photos below, I did encounter one \u0026ldquo;wascawwy squiwwoo\u0026rdquo;.\nAnd sure enough, as I started out from the parking lot, Elmer\u0026rsquo;s catchphrase was true: it was \u0026ldquo;vewy, vewy quiet\u0026rdquo;.\nI soon found out that there\u0026rsquo;s a disc golf course in the park, which meant that large stretches of open ground made for easy walking when off the established trails.\nThe cache finds were constant as I made my way clockwise around the loop trail around the park. Most finds were pretty quick, thankfully, but there was one hard-fought \u0026ldquo;Did Not Find\u0026rdquo; as well.\n\u0026nbsp;\nPrayer or Ribbon Trees Prayer Tree Merging Hopes and Desires With the Natural Processes of the Universe # In my explorations of out of the way places over the years, I\u0026rsquo;ve noticed bundles of bright-coloured cloth wrapped around trees. I knew this is a native tradition of making prayer and after some research I found that locally in Alberta it\u0026rsquo;s fairly safe to say that these \u0026ldquo;Prayer Trees\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;Ribbon Trees\u0026rdquo; are a Métis tradition.\nHumans follow similar practices all over the world, including the Celts in Ireland and other peoples in Europe, for example. Expanding on the basic idea, in Japan, people follow the same practices, but in the case \u0026ldquo;prayers\u0026rdquo; are written on wooden plaques and left at shrines and temples. Click the \u0026ldquo;Ema in Japan\u0026rdquo; tab above to learn a bit more.\nHere, in Canada, the prayer ties are left in a sacred spot, often tied to a tree, to weather and eventually disintegrate. It is believed that as the cloth breaks down and the wind and rain carry the material, the energy from the prayer is released and sent to the Creator. This reflects a deep spiritual connection to the earth and the belief that all elements of nature are intertwined\nEma (絵馬)in Japan Ema at Kasuga-taisha shrine in Nara. Image by Dariusz Jemielniak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Visitors to Japanese Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples can write prayers or wishes on wooden plaques called ema.\nOnce inscribed with a wish, ema are hung at the shrine until they are ritually burned at special events, symbolic of the liberation of the wish from the writer. So, just like the cloth tied to the \u0026ldquo;Prayer Trees\u0026rdquo;, the wishes are released into nature with the idea they become woven into, and perhaps influence, the processes of nature.\nThere was one memorable tragedy during today\u0026rsquo;s outing: while searching for a cache off trail, the pant leg of my nice, relatively new pants got caught on some barbed wire hidden in the grass. The result was a long gash of a tear in the lower part of the pant leg. Many loud, four-letter Anglo-Saxon words followed.\nThe loop hike around the edge of the park wasn\u0026rsquo;t demanding at all, and multiple detours off the main trail to make cache finds added to the feeling of exploring the whole park. When I\u0026rsquo;d finished finding all the caches, I felt I was done caching for the day, so I simply pointed the car back north and returned to Edmonton.\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e A Wascawwy Squiwwoo A lookout platform, looking out on, well, nothing really. This way to... A processed pic of the trail in late fall A forgotten bird feeder A fixer-upper bird house Another disc golf \u0026#34;hole\u0026#34; along the way As disc golf hole near the parking lot My Wandering Track Today # My Wandering Track Today ","date":"November 5 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/wandewing-awound-wetaskiwin/","section":"Posts","summary":"A late fall exploration and geocaching outing in a Peace Hills Park near Wetaskiwin, AB","title":"Wandewing Awound Wetaskiwin","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"November 5 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/wetaskiwin/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Wetaskiwin","type":"categories"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s been ten years since I visited Battle Lake, and like the last time I was here, the primary goal of the day was to find an old geocache hidden in 2001, just a year after geocaching became a \u0026ldquo;thing\u0026rdquo;.\nThe cache isn\u0026rsquo;t easy to get to: it\u0026rsquo;s at the top of a substantial hill. I vaguely remember that hill being a problem last time I was here, but the bigger problem during my visit back on May 22, 2015, was that I couldn\u0026rsquo;t find the cache no matter how hard I tried. I felt glum about that \u0026ldquo;DNF\u0026rdquo; (Did Not Find); but ten years is ample time for me to have forgotten all pain and suffering - both climbing the hill and not finding the cache.\nSince then, I\u0026rsquo;d learned from buddies that the coordinates posted on the cache page were incorrect by a good 30 to 40 meters, and had been corrected on the cache page, so I was confident I could make the find if I visited again.\nAfter visiting a nearby lakeside campground, an old cabin, and a geocache multi based on a local plaque describing early settlers to the area, I parked and was ready to make the trek to the cache.\nTHE hill - the picture does NO justice to the sheer vertical slope of this thing After finding a couple of newer hides on the way, I found myself at the bottom of the insanely steep hill the cache is hidden on. At that point, even on the approach to the slope, there was a hint about the trouble that would face me: my running shoes were slipping on the grass as I climbed the tame approach slope you see at the bottom left of this picture. Oh, oh. These Altra brand runners are ridiculously comfortable, but mine have almost no grip left.\nThat was a problem.\nI started making my way up the hill, and my goodness (those are the clean words I\u0026rsquo;ll use here, but my actual words were much more expressive), that hill was steep. I quickly found that I was forced to grab onto any bush I could find as I tried to stab my shoes sideways into the dirt so I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t tumble back down the hill.\nMost of the time, it was a struggle measured in single feet or less, as I (literally) inched my way up that hill. And of course, I thought of bailing, but it soon felt just as dangerous to retreat down the hill as it would be to continue on up.\nThe mantra I use in these situations helped yet again: \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve got all day\u0026rdquo;.\nThat helped me stop, catch my breath, scan the next couple of feet for a bush I thought would hold me, a bush that wasn\u0026rsquo;t a thorny rose bush, that is, and lunge forward to grab it for another foot or two of gain in elevation. It was lunge, rinse and repeat, all the way up that hill.\nI think I\u0026rsquo;ve painted enough of a picture of the experience of that climb. If I ever return, I\u0026rsquo;ll first be weighing the cost of renting a helicopter instead.\nA bench - a welcome chance to rest and recover Once at the top, I stumbled over to the lone iron bench at the top of the hill to rest my legs, but mostly my lungs. And after I regained some semblance of \u0026ldquo;normal,\u0026rdquo; the hunt for old geocaches was on. And I have to say that hunt was a complete anti-climax compared to the climb up the hill. The find was quick, and the geocache was large and not all that well hidden, given that it was a large ammo can.\nThat old cache has lured many a cacher to the top of the hill over the years, and some brave souls have hidden their own caches along the ridge to the south. I had a great time following a good trail and was able to find all the caches at the top of the hill in short order.\nNow it was time to descend, and because there were cache hides along another trail that promised a more gradual way down that monster hill, I gladly took that route down. There were sections where my gripless runners were completely useless, and I had to resort to inching down steep sections of the trail on my bum. But sometimes that\u0026rsquo;s the way (pun intended).\nThe geocache finds were made, and more importantly, I found my way back to the trail I\u0026rsquo;d walked in on when approaching the monster hill, something that isn\u0026rsquo;t too difficult with a GPRr in your hands.\nThe return to Battle Lake was a memorable, if somewhat traumatic experience, and for such a relatively short hike in meters.\nMy Route Today # Gallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e Battle Lake near a local campground An old cabin slowly returning to the earth The parking spot today The lake in view, approaching the bottom of THE hill Part way up the hill - photos can\u0026#39;t show the sheer steepness A triumphant feeling and an expansive view from the top A dreamy view of the oldest cache found at the top A painterly view of the lake The poplar trees with the lake far below On the way down - why did a Queen song start rattling around my head\\? ","date":"October 22 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/return-to-battle-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"I returned to the trails near the south end of Battle Lake today to avenge a 10-year old geocache DNF - \u0026ldquo;Did Not Find\u0026rdquo;.","title":"Return to Battle Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"In August 2010, I trained for and completed a public, walking half marathon in Edmonton. During the late spring of this year, I decided that starting the same kind of training regime I followed in 2010 would be great exercise and help with the weight loss goal I was working toward. But when I looked up upcoming marathons in the area, I saw I was just too late for one scheduled in August in Edmonton.\nSo I decided, \u0026ldquo;Heck, I\u0026rsquo;ll train for my private half marathon walk and use the same basic training schedule I\u0026rsquo;d used while walking with groups from the Running Room back in 2010.\u0026rdquo; Sundays were the \u0026ldquo;longer walk\u0026rdquo; days in that schedule, and today\u0026rsquo;s walk was one of those \u0026ldquo;longer walks\u0026rdquo;, a planned 15.5 km walk starting from the Islet Lake Staging Area in the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Recreation area, east of Edmonton.\nDespite what the sign commanded, I refused to walk on my head When I planned the hike, I saw that it looked very loosely like a dumbbell. After starting out from the Islet Lake Staging Area, the Moose Link trail led me to the Central Staging Area, and after doing a wide loop there, the return route back along Moose Link was followed by a roundabout path until returning to the Islet Lake Staging Area.\nIt was fun traipsing around the Central Staging section of the Blackfoot again; it has been a long time since I\u0026rsquo;ve walked these trails. And making my way along the Cycling Connector to the intersection of the Round Up trail really brought out a feeling of solitude and being \u0026ldquo;way out there\u0026rdquo;.\nAnd while the trails north of the Central Staging Area aren\u0026rsquo;t nearly as \u0026ldquo;way out there\u0026rdquo;, I did get the vibe they were seldom walked. That\u0026rsquo;s a feeling I love. Even though these are established, maintained trails, while walking along them one feels a sense of exploration and novelty.\nGallery # ","date":"September 21 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/a-dumbbell-hike/","section":"Posts","summary":"A planned 15.5 km hike took me from Islet Lake Staging Area to Central Staging Area and out to what felt like \u0026ldquo;way out there\u0026rdquo; places.","title":"A \"Dumbbell\" Hike from Islet Lake Staging Area to Central Staging Area","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"September 21 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/blackfoot/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Blackfoot","type":"categories"},{"content":"It was the last day of my 4-day Kananaskis visit, and knowing by this time during the trip my legs would be tested by the accumulation of many multiple meters climbing up and down mountains and hills, I saved this mostly flat ramble along established trails for this day.\nMy route today along Baldy Pass Trail then arcing around to Lusk Pass Trail promised to be relatively short but also \u0026ldquo;cache-a-licious\u0026rdquo;, meaning there were quite a view potential geocache finds along the way.\nThe sign said I had to march - but I ignored it. After parking at Lusk Creek PRA parking lot, the same place I\u0026rsquo;d started up Horton\u0026rsquo;s Hill the day before, I crossed Highway 68 and started along trails clearly marked on my OSM map and more importantly easy to follow in reality right in front of me.\nBefore my trip to Kananaskis, there had been multiple cautions posted online about the number of bear sightings in the park this season. Since berries had grown plentifully this year, and this is the time of year bears naturally gorge on food before their winter hibernation, the chance of a bear encounter was a definite possibility.\nThat possibility was enough motivation to be constantly wary of my surroundings and to remember to let out a \u0026ldquo;EHHHHH - OOOOOOOO\u0026rdquo; holler every so often. Bears generally want nothing to do with loud, strange-sounding, upright-walking beasts like us. The holler may have worked: there were no sightings of any large wildlife today.\nThe walk today was pleasant, but the finding of geocaches only partly so. My finding experience started off strong, but mid-way through the hike, I had a string of frustrating \u0026ldquo;Did Not Finds\u0026rdquo; (\u0026ldquo;DNF\u0026rdquo; it\u0026rsquo;s called). Spending sometimes 20 or 30 minutes looking for a tiny container in a tangle of shrubs and trees really wears on my patience.\nBy the time I reached the Lusk Creek Pass trail, I was frustrated enough that my geocaching \u0026ldquo;switch\u0026rdquo; had been switched to the \u0026ldquo;Off\u0026rdquo; position. When I \u0026ldquo;DNF\u0026rsquo;d\u0026rdquo; yet another hide, I simply started walking north back to the parking spot, ignoring the fact that I was walking past geocache hides, but enjoying the walk through this beautiful place for its own sake.\nThat is, after all, the point of the hike in the first place, isn\u0026rsquo;t it?\nGallery # Starting out from Lusk Creek PRA Parking\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0319472 W 115.0143500 Starting out from Lusk Creek PRA Parking Then - a legible sign - Now - not so much\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0317944 W 115.0184639 Then - a legible sign - Now - not so much An intersection sign along the way\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0319556 W 115.0232000 An intersection sign along the way A typical path into the woods\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0317306 W 115.0233222 A typical path into the woods I just love winding paths leading me into the unknown\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0292694 W 115.0220861 I just love winding paths leading me into the unknown An Alberta Government Geocache - that's a rare thing\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0259694 W 115.0173194 An Alberta Government Geocache - that\u0026#39;s a rare thing Heading back north along Lusk Creek Trail\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0201389 W 115.0050194 Heading back north along Lusk Creek Trail Lusk Creek Trail - that's \"Horton's Hill\" in the background\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0277833 W 115.0128028 Lusk Creek Trail - that\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Horton\u0026#39;s Hill\u0026#34; in the background My Route Today # ","date":"September 2 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/baldy-pass-to-lusk-pass/","section":"Posts","summary":"It was last day of my 4-day Kananaskis visit and I saved this mostly flat ramble along Baldy Pass Trail following a string of geocache hides over to Lusk Pass Trail","title":"Hiking Baldy Pass Trail to Lusk Pass Trail","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"September 2 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/kananaskis/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Kananaskis","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"September 2 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/kananaskis-summer-trip---2025/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Kananaskis Summer Trip - 2025","type":"series"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve harboured a recurring desire to climb Horton\u0026rsquo;s Hill for years. Years.\nMy past visits to Kananaskis have usually been centered around the north section of this big, beautiful park, with the dusty, graveled Highway 68 as the backbone of my visits.\nGeocaches hidden in this area have been the lure to keep me returning. I still think of my very first visit to Kananaskis in 2010 when I climbed up to find the Lusk Creek Central Summit cache as magical. That off trail, out of the envelope experience for me at the time simply put the hook in me and hasn\u0026rsquo;t yet let go.\nThe views are wonderful once you climb that hill Today\u0026rsquo;s goal was to climb \u0026ldquo;Horton\u0026rsquo;s Hill\u0026rdquo;, so named because of the nearby Tim Horton Children\u0026rsquo;s Ranch just to the northeast of the hill.\nAfter parking and getting geared up, I headed toward what promised on the OSM map to be the trailhead. Sure enough, the trail was there, and sure enough, echoing some comments in cache logs I\u0026rsquo;d read, the way up was steep!\nAs I ascended, I simply reminded myself of my favourite mantra: \u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve got all day\u0026rdquo; and added to that, \u0026ldquo;Just rest and recover when you need to\u0026rdquo;. The experience of what was for me a completely \u0026ldquo;out of the envelope\u0026rdquo; experience of climbing Mt Burke two days before gave me new, confident expectations that I would and could endure anything this \u0026ldquo;hill\u0026rdquo; was going to challenge me with. I\u0026rsquo;d endured that mountain climb; surely I could endure this.\nThat base of psychological assuredness simply erased any doubt of a successful climb today and turned the focus into a continuous mental cycle of \u0026ldquo;climb - rest - climb - rest\u0026rdquo; versus a \u0026ldquo;climb - will I make it? - climb - should I quit?\u0026rdquo; cycle.\nAs I ascended, there were stops and a couple of detours to find geocaches, some being easier to locate than others. But after I\u0026rsquo;d gained enough elevation, the real \u0026ldquo;finds\u0026rdquo; of the day were the views to the northeast. It\u0026rsquo;s amazing that such a relatively small change on the map can alter one\u0026rsquo;s perspective and deepen one\u0026rsquo;s sheer appreciation of the beauty of this Earth we inhabit.\nThis appreciation is the basic point of every activity you might see on this website.\nThe top portion of the summit register book cover - WOO! Once near the summit, I was both surprised and happy to find a summit register installed in a large, watertight ammo can. I signed the register after scanning a number of other amusing entries from the past.\nAfter that, I located one of the \u0026ldquo;must-find\u0026rdquo; geocaches of the day: an older cache, hidden by a geocacher known to create high-quality cache containers. And once I\u0026rsquo;d found this cache, I saw it was certainly another example of just that.\nI don\u0026rsquo;t usually publicly post images of found caches, but in this case, I\u0026rsquo;m making an exception: the cache container is just so nicely done that I feel compelled to share its double-double coolness. See it in the gallery below.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nI took an alternate route back down the hill because caches were hidden along what was said to be an alternate trail back to the trailhead. That \"trail\" mostly didn't exist, so the experience of descending the hill was part wayfinding, bushwhacking with the occasional practice of all the Anglo-Saxon words I knew, using them in different orders for variety. I managed to get back to level ground though, this time in view of some picnickers who gazed up at me and must have wondered about the state of my sanity as I emerged from the bush and returned to the parking lot.\nGallery # Parked at the Lusk Creek Provincial Rec Area\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0329056 W 115.0139083 Parked at the Lusk Creek Provincial Rec Area A shot of the trail as I started up the hill\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0344500 W 115.0162500 A shot of the trail as I started up the hill Barrier Lake nestled in amongst mountain and forest\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0374639 W 115.0109028 Barrier Lake nestled in amongst mountain and forest An arty version of a poplar grove\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0376861 W 115.0107278 An arty version of a poplar grove This tree wasn't completely sure of where it was going either\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0382389 W 115.0075917 This tree wasn\u0026#39;t completely sure of where it was going either One the first memorable geocache finds\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0387806 W 115.0069667 One the first memorable geocache finds How I found the summit register - which I didn't know existed before arriving\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0427389 W 115.0029667 How I found the summit register - which I didn\u0026#39;t know existed before arriving The summit register ammon can and contents\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0420417 W 115.0025111 The summit register ammon can and contents An exceptional geocache hide - first glimpse\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0418278 W 115.0019000 An exceptional geocache hide - first glimpse The \"Horton's Hill\" cache - what a fun find!\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0421528 W 115.0022667 The \u0026#34;Horton\u0026#39;s Hill\u0026#34; cache - what a fun find! The Tim's cup contains the log book\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0421139 W 115.0023111 The Tim\u0026#39;s cup contains the log book Barrier Lake with the slope of Horton's Hill in the foreground\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0426944 W 115.0040806 Barrier Lake with the slope of Horton\u0026#39;s Hill in the foreground Some human's attempt to point the way when the way is forever fluid\nCamera Model: iPhone 15 Pro\nClick for Map Location: N 51.0405528 W 115.0066611 Some human\u0026#39;s attempt to point the way when the way is forever fluid My Route Today # This 3D map shows that Horton\u0026#39;s Hill is indeed a hill, not a mountain, but it doesn\u0026#39;t begin to show the steepness of the ascent to the top. I found caches on the way down along what was supposed to be a trail, but I found only remnants of one. ","date":"September 1 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/climb-hortons-hill/","section":"Posts","summary":"The geocaches hidden on the way up to the summit of Horton\u0026rsquo;s Hill in Kananaskis have been on my bucket list for years. Today was the day I made the climb of this steep hill.","title":"Climb to the Summit of Horton's Hill","type":"posts"},{"content":"As I mentioned in another post in this small series documenting my August-September 2025 Kananaskis trip, I\u0026rsquo;ve perennially gravitated to hiking and geocaching in the northern section of Kananaskis along Highway 68.\nWhen map dreaming about future trips, I was sure to notice new hides in this particular area, and while doing just this years ago, I noticed a then-new puzzle cache called \u0026ldquo;Pathfinder\u0026rdquo;. \u0026ldquo;And oh, look!\u0026rdquo;, I think to myself, \u0026ldquo;it\u0026rsquo;s been featured on \u0026lsquo;Geocaching Puzzle of the Day\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;! I\u0026rsquo;m not sure what \u0026ldquo;Geocaching Puzzle of the Day\u0026rdquo; is, but at least that\u0026rsquo;s some indication that it\u0026rsquo;s cool in some way. 😃\nThis wasn\u0026#39;t a sign I wanted to see as I entered the woods today. 😀 I must have read and re-read that puzzle description 64,000 times over the years. With the frequent repetition of paths \u0026ldquo;less travelled by,\u0026rdquo; I had to suppress sudden urges to research Robert Frost\u0026rsquo;s family tree or other similar whacky theories that tend to present themselves when solving geocaching puzzles. And, over time, none of the more sane theories that I conjured up got me closer to the solution.\nEventually, I did clue into the structure of how one could extract numbers out of those words, but I just couldn\u0026rsquo;t figure out what to do to fill in the structure. If these sentences mean nothing to you, don\u0026rsquo;t worry. I\u0026rsquo;m trying to describe my experience and be vague at the same time: I want to preserve the integrity of the puzzle.\nIn the end, a geocaching buddy who had solved the puzzle pointed me in the right direction. After that, I knew how to extract numbers and saw how nicely constructed the text in the description is.\nAll of this explains why it was such a thrill to be able to make the hike to the puzzle today.\nThe cache description speaks often of a \u0026ldquo;lightly trodden path\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;paths less traveled by,\u0026rdquo; and sure enough I could tell the trail I chose to get to the cache was seldom travelled. Natural overgrowth was making for some face and ankle \u0026ldquo;bushwhacking\u0026rdquo; along the way.\nAnd during the walk I was sure to holler \u0026ldquo;EHHH-OOOO\u0026rdquo; every so often to tell any bears that loud, obnoxious human was in the area and it would be best to scram now to avoid meeting him.\nOnce near the promised hiding spot, the cache find was quick and let me tell you there was a 10-minute period filled with satisfaction as I was finally able to find this cache, sign the logbook.\nThe return trip to the trailhead seemed to happen quickly, maybe because this path was now a little more travelled.\nGallery # These image have no location data Although frequent visitors to Kananaskis can figure out where I started my hike today, I\u0026rsquo;ve removed all location data from these images to make sure they don\u0026rsquo;t offer clues to where this puzzle cache is hidden.\n\u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e A nice worn section of the trail A cool little bridge along the way The cache hanging in a tree The logbook signed I noticed this fixer-upper on the way back ","date":"August 31 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/finding-pathfinder/","section":"Posts","summary":"I did a short hike to find a long-solved geocache puzzle called \u0026ldquo;Pathinder\u0026rdquo;","title":"The Path to Finding \"Pathfinder\"","type":"posts"},{"content":" As I said to others today: “I was born and raised in Saskatchewan for crying out loud. How do you expect me to be comfortable climbing mountains?!?”\nI don’t think you could call anyone who made the climb to the \u0026ldquo;Fourteen Years Later @ the Mount Burke Summit\u0026rdquo; geocaching event comfortable exactly. But most of the other participants had made this climb multiple times in the past and all regularly climb other mountains in the area. So it would at least be fair to say they were accustomed to the effort required.\nI was not accustomed and not comfortable in any sense of the word: for me it was a test both physically and psychologically.\nWhere is Mt Burke? # Mount Burke is the in southern portion of Kananaskis Country, adjacent to Cataract Creek Provincial Recreation Area. In approaching from the east you need to get yourself to Longview, Alberta which is on HWY 22 \u0026ldquo;Cowboy Trail\u0026rdquo;. Then travel west on HWY 541 into K-Country and then south on the dusty, gravelled HWY 940.\nA \u0026ldquo;Mapbox Story\u0026rdquo; Showing Images In Context Along the Route # Click the image below to open the story in a new tab. This is a \u0026ldquo;scrolly\u0026rdquo; story, so use your mouse\u0026rsquo;s scrolling wheel or even the \u0026ldquo;down\u0026rdquo; arrow on the keyboard to progress through the story.\nThe Physical Toll # My GPS receiver tells me my geocaching buddy Dwaine and I started out just after 7:30 am and reached the summit just after 1 pm. That\u0026rsquo;s SLOW, much slower than anyone else in the group that summited today.\nThe trip computer on my GPSr device reported a little over 3 hours of stopped time during the trip. Some of that was logged resting and visiting with others at the summit itself, but the vast majority of it was spent taking frequent rest breaks during the relentless elevation gain on the way to the top and later on the way back down the mountain.\nBut the climb was made.\nThe Psychological Mind Game: Focusing on What\u0026rsquo;s in Front of You # GPSr devices measure one’s speed and the graph of my speed looks like a picket fence. Stop; get going; stop; move again. That’s where the psychological tests came in: the times you had to get going again. I found the best way to handle that psychologically was to think of tackling only the next 10 meters in front of me.\nOf course I knew - vaguely - that there was a lot more effort to come, but dwelling on all that effort ahead of me overwhelmed and throttled the urge to continue. Focusing on the next tiny 10 m segment, being determined to “conquer” it seemed doable. And in the end that mindset served me well.\nIn the end, against the odds, we persevered and were successful in reaching the summit today. Both of us had a terrible sleep the night before. I personally came to call my seldom used tent \u0026ldquo;the little hellhole of misery\u0026rdquo;. We both don\u0026rsquo;t climb mountains very regularly, so there weren\u0026rsquo;t those \u0026ldquo;baseline experiences of success\u0026rdquo; to build on, like \u0026ldquo;I climbed such and such a mountain, so I can climb this one!\u0026rdquo; We were very SLOW on the way up, and only slightly faster on the way down.\nBut as I\u0026rsquo;m now fond of repeating (and I admit, proud to be able to say): the climb was made.\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e At 7:40 am the parking Lot is almost full The direct route up the cutline Beauty shines when you attend to it This gnarly tree carcass show the harshness of the environment up here A sentinel outcrop above the treeline A Geocache Find Along the Way A rare selfie with the summit in the background The summit seems to be guarded by rock walls The Cameron Lookout - built in 1929 - is showing its age. Cameron Lookout A stylized view of the lookout Starting back down I asked Dan to pose just to get a sense of size of this outcrop Cataract Creek is completely dry Group Photo by Dextrous Dan-O-Can With His Drone ","date":"August 30 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mt-burke-summit-climb/","section":"Posts","summary":"It was both a physical and psychological stretch for me to successfully climb to the 2536m summit of Mt Burke today. It took a LONG time, but the climb was completed.","title":"The Climb to the Summit of Mt Burke","type":"posts"},{"content":" Push Shelter - Complete with Picnic Tables and Toilets Today was a combination hike: to train to increase my distance hiking and to perform maintenance on an old geocache hide that that had gone missing.\nI started out from the \u0026ldquo;Waskehegan Connector Trail\u0026rdquo;, a seldom-used trail that serves as a nifty shortcut to the southern portion of the Blackfoot. It\u0026rsquo;s been a very long time since I\u0026rsquo;d been here and I do believe the Waskahegan Trail Association maintenance crew have done some work on it this year.\nAfter getting onto the trails and replacing my geocache hide with a new container, I continued east to Push Shelter. I\u0026rsquo;d been here just a few weeks ago and the place was just as quiet today as it was then.\nThe return trip was via \u0026ldquo;Ed\u0026rsquo;s Way\u0026rdquo;, a trail that was new to me. It\u0026rsquo;s a park boundary trail which means it is long, straight and a bit boring to walk on to be honest. But now I can say I\u0026rsquo;ve been on it!\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e Over the turnstile and the hike begins! A Waskahegan Trail Yellow Marker An ungulate gate - lLarge lnimals can enter, but can\u0026#39;t exit A Thriving Mushroom on the Trail A Couple of Teenager Mushrooms Passing an expansive pond along the way I\u0026#39;m a sucker for bends in trails bathed in light What light shines from around this corner? A ground hugging mushroom It\u0026#39;s always a treat to stop off at a rest hut This Section is called \u0026#34;George\u0026#39;s Way\u0026#34; The Boundary Fence Hikers Climb Through the Bottom Hatch Pacman Lake Now I have to find where I parked that car The Route Today # ","date":"August 22 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-loop-hike-to-push-shelter/","section":"Posts","summary":"I accessed the Blackfoot trails from the Waskehegan Connector Trail, did some geocache maintenance, continued to Push Shelter and returned on Ed\u0026rsquo;s Way, a trail I\u0026rsquo;d hiked before.","title":"Blackfoot Loop Hike to Push Shelter","type":"posts"},{"content":" Beginning in mid-July, 2025 I decided to work up a walking schedule with the ultimate goal of walking a half-marathon, 21 km. The schedule involves walking progressively longer distances each week to gradually build up to walking the entire half-marathon distance.\nSundays are the \u0026ldquo;long walk\u0026rdquo; days and today the requirement was a 15 km walk.\nI\u0026rsquo;d used mapmywalk.com to work up various hiking routes at varying distances and the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Recreation Area (Blackfoot for short) is ideal for longer walks because of the variety and sheer length of trails and roads within the park.\nAfter parking at the Waskahegan Staging Area, I set off at 8:50 am to do a \u0026ldquo;figure eight\u0026rdquo; style route with the goal of resting at Meadow Shelter around the half-way point and returning to parking lot via a boundary trail called \u0026ldquo;Ed\u0026rsquo;s Way\u0026rdquo;.\nIf you squint really hard and use your imagination, you can conjure a figure eight from my route today.\nI felt sheer joy to be out on trails that hadn\u0026rsquo;t had my feet on them for years.\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e The lone car in the lot as I set out It\u0026#39;s been SO long since I\u0026#39;ve been on this trail I loved the vaulting trees here This spot was a bit eery A classic Blackfoot rest hut Connecting to the Spruce Hollow Trail A light-dappled trail Now on to Lost Lake Trail Meadow Shelter - it\u0026#39;s always a treat to visit Tables outside the Shelter Meadow Shelter Interior An old style Blackfoot Trail Map Candle holders for sleepovers A ski rack for the winter Map says \u0026#34;Flattail\u0026#34;; sign says \u0026#34;Wanisan\u0026#34; Tables along Don\u0026#39;s Way Don\u0026#39;s Way is a long straight away Where I came from along Don\u0026#39;s Way An \u0026#34;Ungulate Gate\u0026#34; I didn\u0026#39;t know existed Another Ungulate Gate After all this way, finally a \u0026#34;Don\u0026#39;s Way\u0026#34; sign! Onto the Lost Lake Trail for the final leg A trail pic in \u0026#34;Coloured Pencil\u0026#34; The beavers\u0026#39; domain is shrinking Getting closer - 400 m to parking More visitors have arrived The Route Today # The Figure Eight Loop Hike ","date":"August 17 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-figure-eight-loop-hike/","section":"Posts","summary":"I did a 15 km figure eight loop hike to Meadow Shelter in the Cooking Lake Blackfoot Recreational Area today.","title":"Blackfoot Figure Eight Loop Hike to Meadow Shelter","type":"posts"},{"content":" Where is the Islet Lake Staging Area? # The large shelter at Islet Lake Staging Area There are four staging areas in the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Recreation Area:\nWaskahegan: the largest, serving hikers, skiers and equestrians, Islet Lake: the most pictureque in my opinion, serving hikers and kayakers, Central: serving equestrians and hikers,and Blackfoot: serving equestrians and hikers. Extensive trails connect these staging areas for what seems like an endless supply of route choices.\nIslet Lake is on the near the southern boundary of the park.\nIslet Lake is the southernmost staging area in the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Recreation Area The Lollipop Route # You might be wondering about the \u0026ldquo;Lollipop\u0026rdquo; in the title of this post. No it has nothing to do with holding a big round lollipop in front of me as I hiked around the Blackfoot today. I learned that a \u0026ldquo;lollipop\u0026rdquo; route is one where you follow a path, do a loop and eventually meet up with the same path you took before when returning to your starting point. The shape of that route is kinda, sorta like a lollipop.\nWell, if you see the route I took below, I messed up the \u0026ldquo;lollipop\u0026rdquo; shape on the way in because I wanted to explore a trail I\u0026rsquo;d never been on before I reached my first destination, Push Shelter. But I hope you get the idea.\nThe walking conditions were excellent today: the sun was shinning, the wind was calm and the temperature was moderate. Those conditions, the chance to walk along trails I haven\u0026rsquo;t been on in years, and a few cool finds along the trail made this outing a pure pleasure.\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e The 400 m Marker A Glimpse of Islet Lake from the Trail Middle Trail intersects with Lost Lake Trail A Stylized View of Scraggy Tree Along the Trail Push Lake Shelter Today Cute White Mushrooms The Sunshine Wasn\u0026#39;t the Only Magic Thing on the Trails Today Lost Lake Shelter Backyard of the Lost Lake Shelter Lost Lake Shelter Interior The Intersection of Lost Lake and Hare Trails Hare we Go! A Punk Mushroom The Mushrooms Weren\u0026#39;t Only On the Trails Oh My, This Pond Used to be Much Larger A Rest Hut Along Siksika Trail Glorious Clouds Above Match the Ponds Below One of the Few Bridge Along this Trail I Just Love Light-dappled Trails! The Hut at Farley\u0026#39;s Outlook Circling Around to the Push Lake Shelter Again This kind of expansive view is rare in the Blackfoot The Hiker\u0026#39;s Way through the Fence Near Push Lake Shelter This sign means we\u0026#39;re heading back to Parking A nice umbrella with sash mushroom This is one of the few places you can view the lake from the trail A trusty little bridge along the way Ahhh, the last short leg to Parking The Route Today # ","date":"August 11 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/islet-lake-lollipop-route/","section":"Posts","summary":"I hiked from the Islet Lake Staging Area to Push Lake Shelter, then to Lost Lake Shelter and continued on in a wide loop back to the staging area.","title":"Islet Lake Lollipop Route to Push Lake and Lost Lake Shelters","type":"posts"},{"content":" The gate at the trailhead The seldom-traveled Ministik trails in the Joseph Lake area hold a special place in my heart because I \u0026ldquo;discovered\u0026rdquo; them during my very first visit to this southern section of Ministik way back in October 2008.\nI’d walked the trails around Mandy Lake first that day, but a cache called Joe Lake lured me out onto these trails as well.\nBack then, fall leaves carpeted the trails; today, those same paths showed signs of the first spring growth, with leaves just starting to green out in earnest.\nMy goal today was to do a reconnaissance loop hike to see if I should include it in the Ministik hiking website I’m developing. I’m glad I did the hike because it turned out that my expectations about trail conditions were more than a little off base. Sections I thought would be nice and clear weren\u0026rsquo;t, and sections I expected to be overgrown weren\u0026rsquo;t either.\nBut I encountered a bigger problem. In the past, on the southernmost west-to-east section of the hike, I’d taken a dodgy walking trail on the \u0026ldquo;public\u0026rdquo; side of the fence separating it from private land. Today, I saw no evidence whatsoever of a walking path on the public side. So, I crawled under the fence—where it was obvious others had done the same—and walked along a very well-worn quad trail on what I assume is private land.\nI was able to complete the hike that way, but if accessing private land is the only option, then I can’t include this hike on the website. It’s as simple as that.\nAside from the practical part of the hike, it was a joy to experience the trails on the east side of the loop and the secondary-highway-wide cutline on the west side. It’s so much fun recognizing trail sections I’ve walked before and seeing how much nature has changed them.\nUpon reflection, I wonder if the tables were turned, would the trails I walked today still recognize me after all this time?\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e This tree fort has lasted years The beavers are busy here Major intersection of trails A shedding birch. I crossed the fence here The other side of the fence An intersection of quad trails The cutline north begins here Intersection of two sled trails The Route Today # \u0026#9632; ","date":"May 18 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/joseph-lake-loop-may-2025/","section":"Posts","summary":"It\u0026rsquo;s been a long time since I\u0026rsquo;ve walked the trails near Joseph Lake. It was fun rediscoving the place all over again.","title":"Joseph Lake Loop Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"May 18 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/ministik/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Ministik","type":"categories"},{"content":" Light and shadows dance along the trail I first explored the southeast section of the Ministik Bird Sanctuary in August, 2014. To me it was a completely unexplored part of the earth. Who knew what was out there to find? What I found was a grand loop hike and after finishing the hike and contemplating the experience, I was reminded of another \u0026ldquo;grand loop\u0026rdquo;, read \u0026ldquo;cycle of life and death\u0026rdquo;.\nI found regular trails, trails that looked like former roads, and trails that were really swamps. I hid a cache relatively \u0026ldquo;deep\u0026rdquo; along the route that day and it remained one of my most \u0026ldquo;out there\u0026rdquo; cache hides.\nI toured the area once since with geocaching buddies after a load of geocaches were hidden in the area. Of course the focus of that kind of outing is on finding geocaches and visiting with friends along the way.\nToday was the first day since 2014 that I\u0026rsquo;ve solo-hiked the entire loop. When you hike solo your senses are not filled with \u0026ldquo;where do we go next?\u0026rdquo;, or social interactions with friends. The immediate environment and your impressions of it get your full attention.\nTintern Abbey # I\u0026rsquo;ve started with my \u0026ldquo;hike history\u0026rdquo; of this particular area because after finishing the hike I was reminded of a poem that made a tremendous impression on me in my 20s: Wordsworth\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Tintern Abbey\u0026rdquo;. The actual, full blown title of the poem is \u0026ldquo;Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798\u0026rdquo;. So you\u0026rsquo;ll see why I\u0026rsquo;m going with \u0026ldquo;Tintern Abbey\u0026rdquo;: the length of the title is half as long as the Wye River itself!\n\u0026ldquo;Tintern Abbey\u0026rdquo; situated in Monmouthshire, Wales was in a state of ruin at the time and in the entire first section of the poem, Wordsworth emphasizes repeatedly that he\u0026rsquo;s returned to experience the \u0026ldquo;beauteous forms\u0026rdquo; of nature around the abbey. In fact, the poem doesn\u0026rsquo;t mention the abbey at all. It\u0026rsquo;s not about the abbey; rather it is about the natural world surrounding it. The poem focuses on the remembered experience of feeling at one with that natural world:\n—that serene and blessed mood, In which the affections gently lead us on,— Until, the breath of this corporeal frame And even the motion of our human blood Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and become a living soul: While with an eye made quiet by the power Of harmony, and the deep power of joy, We see into the life of things.\nIt is this opportunity to \u0026ldquo;see into the life of things\u0026rdquo; and to at least sometimes feel first hand that I\u0026rsquo;m a part of that \u0026ldquo;life of things\u0026rdquo; that keeps me returning to hiking trails.\nToday, I too was returning to a place that had made a strong impression on me in the past. I\u0026rsquo;d returned partly with the perennial urge to ease into \u0026ldquo;non-ego\u0026rdquo; mindset enough to experience becoming a \u0026ldquo;living soul\u0026quot;as Wordsworth put it. It\u0026rsquo;s a chance to experience a glimpse of what Japanese poet Matsuo Basho called the \u0026ldquo;underglimmer\u0026rdquo;, to \u0026ldquo;see into the life of things\u0026rdquo;, to see things just as they are without any distractions like \u0026ldquo;Where do we go next\u0026rdquo;?\nAlong with that search, there\u0026rsquo;s the exhilaration of exploration. \u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s around that next bend?\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Oh, my god, this has to have been a road at one time; here in the middle of the bush!\u0026rdquo;. I remember thinking those things during my first visit and I experienced them again today - this time along with the vague memories of the first outing to compare today\u0026rsquo;s experiences with.\nMitchell Cabin # Wordsworth used his return to the locale of Tintern Abbey to express his thoughts about nature; I had the chance to return my version of an \u0026ldquo;old ruin\u0026rdquo;: Mitchell Cabin. It\u0026rsquo;s a small log cabin that has long been in a state of disrepair. I don\u0026rsquo;t know much about the history of the cabin except that a local trail guide says it was originally built by the Mitchell family.\nThe structure still standing speaks of a small, rustic hide away in the woods built near what no doubt was once a substantial lake.\nThere is a moment when the water is not in one vessel nor in the other.\n― Anne Carson , Short Talks Any man-made structure certainly makes an impression in a place where natural cycles are allowed to flow uninterrupted by human intervention. And the lack of that intervention inevitably returns those man-made things to their natural components. The unifying force that the \u0026ldquo;life of all things\u0026rdquo; imposes on the elements gradually gives way to the death of all things.\nThat truth is laid bare across the trail from Mitchell Cabin where a second structure, maybe a second cabin, maybe a storehouse, has completely pancaked back to the earth from which it came.\nThis is a reminder, one we should hardly need; nevertheless, we do need it: when immersing ourselves in nature, hoping to \u0026ldquo;see into the life of things\u0026rdquo; we are surrounded by, and equally immersed in the death of things.\nThe life of things leads inevitably to the death of things, which inevitably supports the life of things.\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e The trailhead gate at Fairbrother Corner Messy off trail - clear on trail Trail intersection - we\u0026#39;re going left today The east-west crosstrail Light and shadows along the trail Nearing a perennial wet spot The beaver\u0026#39;s kingdom A lone spruce reflected My cache from the better side Looking south toward Larry Lake The grand meadow The collapsed structure near Mitchell Cabin Mitchell Cabin Mitchell Cabin - front window The well-constructed corner of Mitchell Cabin The Waskahegan has some deadfall The Route Today # \u0026#9632; ","date":"May 13 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mitchell-loop-hike/","section":"Posts","summary":"I after a long absence, I \u0026ldquo;rediscovered\u0026rdquo; a grand loop hike in the southeast section of the Ministik Bird Sanctuary. It\u0026rsquo;s a route I call the \u0026ldquo;Mitchell Loop\u0026rdquo;, named after a cabin tucked in the woods along the way.","title":"Mitchell Loop Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":" Mid-September leaves already carpet the U of A Access Road Unlike my last outing in the Ministik, which was more like a prolonged struggle than a hike, today\u0026rsquo;s outing was nothing but pleasant.\nGeocaching was the lure that brought me out onto the trails, but as is often the case, that initial intention faded in my consciousness as the experience of simply being on trails in early fall flooded my senses.\nYellow leaves have already begun to rain down and carpet the U of A Access Road. There\u0026rsquo;s a sense that plant life is pivoting towards dormancy as temperatures drop and winter approaches.\nDespite that, I still see the odd dragonfly flitting and darting just above the ground in front of me. Once in the adult stage, most dragonflies live only a few weeks or months at best, so the ones I\u0026rsquo;m seeing today won\u0026rsquo;t survive the winter. That said, it\u0026rsquo;s the fact they\u0026rsquo;re still here at all and zipping around with such energy and finesse that sparks joy in the moment.\nGeocache Finds # The Red Chair Resurrected The highlight of the day was the chance to find two new geocaches hidden the road. I found all the caches along this road in 2007 and 2008, about 17 years ago now, so the appearance of two new caches was something special.\nOne of these new hides was \u0026ldquo;Red Chair Lookout\u0026rdquo; named for the nearby lookout at Williams Lake where a red folding chair sat for years. You can read more about it in a post on this site. Unfortunately, the original red chair disappeared just over a year ago. Its absence was strangely unsettling because it had been such a fixture at the lookout.\nThe Red Chair is dead; long live the Red Chair! A geocaching buddy undertook a personal mission of replacing loss by finding a similar folding chair at a thrift shop, spray-painting it red and installing it at the lookout. Good on him I say!\n\u0026nbsp;\nHoof Fungus \u0026amp; Amadou # Today along the road I noticed the fairly common sight of \u0026ldquo;hoof fungus\u0026rdquo; on various trees and resolved to learn more about them. Here are the results of some of that learning: Hoof Fungus Hoof fungus on a waning tree What I\u0026rsquo;m calling \u0026ldquo;Hoof Fungus\u0026rdquo; is just one of the many common names for Fomes fomentarius which is variously called \u0026ldquo;tinder fungus\u0026rdquo;, \u0026ldquo;tinder conk\u0026rdquo; or even \u0026ldquo;ice man fungus\u0026rdquo; because the 5,000-year-old Ötzi the Iceman found in Austria was carrying four pieces of the fungus, probably to serve as tinder for his camp fires.\nSpores of this fungal parasite attach directly to the bark of trees usually on wounds on older trees. Gradually root-like mycelia secure the fungus to the tree and each year it grows at the bottom of the \u0026ldquo;fruit bodies\u0026rdquo; - what we see on the side of the tree. The fungus can survive up to 30 years and continues to find nourishment even after the tree host has died.\n\u0026ldquo;Hoof fungus\u0026rdquo; is best known for the layer of material just under the hard outer layer that we see. That layer is called \u0026ldquo;amadou\u0026rdquo;. Click the tab above to learn more.\nAmadou The layer just inside the hard outer shell is called amadou. Just inside the outer layer of the fungus is a layer of distinctive flesh called \u0026ldquo;amadou\u0026rdquo;, a name that comes from the \u0026ldquo;middle French\u0026rdquo; meaning tinder, or kindling.\nThis YouTube video demonstrates the use of amadou as tinder and as a tinder bundle.\nAs the name suggests, amadou is best known for its use as tinder, and \u0026ldquo;was a precious resource to ancient people, allowing them to start a fire by catching sparks from flint struck against iron pyrites.\u0026rdquo; (Source: Wikipedia) It has proven to be useful in many other ways by cultures all over the world: as a wound dressing, or as a disinfecting inflammatory. It was used by bee keepers to produce a thick smoke to calm bees and in more modern times as way to dry flies while fly fishing. (Source)\n(Photo by Paul Kirtley)\nLearn More Here are some informative web pages about \u0026ldquo;Hoof fungus\u0026rdquo; and amadou:\nA Legend Reborn Fire - How to Make Amadou Tinder And here are a few YouTube videos full of information about \u0026ldquo;Hoof fungus\u0026rdquo; and amadou: This Ice-Man Knew About the Hoof Fungus - Do You? Paul Stamets in French Alps discussing Amadou Fomes fomentarius A series of two videos showing amadou preparation and use in the field\nPreparation: Best way how to make natural tinder Amadou, Horse hoof fungus, making fire with flint \u0026amp; steel, taula Using tinder in the field: Best way how to use natural tinder Amadou, Horse hoof fungus, making fire with flint \u0026amp; steel, taula Big Grassy Fields # Hay bales both near and far After finding the \u0026ldquo;Red Chair\u0026rdquo; cache and another along the road, my next goal to was make my way to one of my own caches called \u0026ldquo;Big Grassy Fields Forev-va\u0026rdquo;, a reference to the many grassy meadows in the Ministik and a take-off on the Beatle\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Strawberry Fields Forever\u0026rdquo;. The cache container had gone missing in the past and a couple of very kind local cachers replaced it with a \u0026ldquo;micro\u0026rdquo; container. I wanted to switch out that tiny container for a larger one, which I had with me today.\nOn the way to \u0026ldquo;Big Grassy Fields\u0026rdquo;, I looked in on another of my hides, \u0026ldquo;Penny Lane\u0026rdquo; and even after a pretty long search couldn\u0026rsquo;t find it. Sheesh. I think it might have been knocked from its hiding spot by other trees falling on it, but I\u0026rsquo;m not sure. Now I knew I had to disable the cache listing and return to hide a new container in the future. It\u0026rsquo;s just another excuse to come back and walk these trails again.\nGo Fish! # After replacing the \u0026ldquo;Big Grassy Fields\u0026rdquo; container I started on the return leg, this time on alternate paths so that I could check up on another of my hides: \u0026ldquo;Go Fish!\u0026rdquo;. I found the cache, but it was in a state of serious disrepair. It\u0026rsquo;s obvious a coyote had been playing with the container, which I found open and the logbook inside the \u0026ldquo;ziplock\u0026rdquo; bag was completely soaked and unusable. Now I knew two of my hides had to be temporarily disabled and replaced: such is life.\nMy work and play for the day was done. All that was left was to make my way slowly but surely back to the parking spot. On the way, I savoured the opportunity to experience such pleasant surroundings free of clouds of bugs which can torment the mind during summer outings and free of drifts of snow which can torment the legs in winter.\nMy Route Today # Gallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e The entrance gate of the U of A Access Road The new red chair finds its place at the lookout Fall is overtaking Summer along the road Everything is food Farmer\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;back road\u0026#34; on the way to \u0026#34;Penny Lane\u0026#34; Hay bales dot the open fields An off trail meadow A convenient tiny portal trail A cheeky wasp nest at end of branch ","date":"September 19 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/grassy-fields-return/","section":"Posts","summary":"The hike today was a thoroughly pleasant outing to find a couple new caches and perform maintenance on a few of my own.","title":"Ministik Hike to My 'Grassy Fields' Cache and Return","type":"posts"},{"content":" No this isn\u0026#39;t a random shot of the bush; it\u0026#39;s what most of the trail looked like today In retrospect, when I think about my decision to hike the trails in the eastern Ministik today, I question my common sense. The temperature was forecast to rise to 32°C today. On top of that, I knew from experience that the Ministik trails explode with growth in the summer.\nEither one of these factors should have stopped me from walking those very seldom traveled trails, but I was so in need of a walk in the wilds that I forgot common sense and went anyway.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s difficult not to sink into a \u0026ldquo;whine-fest\u0026rdquo; while describing my experience today. It\u0026rsquo;s just that the experience I was hoping for and the actual experience were so very different. I intended on practicing the mindset of \u0026ldquo;being in the moment\u0026rdquo; as I walked, not necessarily walking to get somewhere but walking simply to experience the moment. As the saying goes,\nDo what you\u0026rsquo;re doing when you\u0026rsquo;re doing it;\nBe where you are when you\u0026rsquo;re there.\nBut the reality today was that the trails were so overgrown that by far the majority of my attention was spent either trying to make sure I didn\u0026rsquo;t face-plant by tripping over a fallen log or deciding if I was still on a trail or indeed bushwhacking off-trail.\nI slowly made my way though, and after finding a geocache, reached \u0026ldquo;Dead Fall Alley\u0026rdquo; and followed that with head bowed, constantly staring at the ground to see when I should step over the numerous fallen trees the \u0026ldquo;Alley\u0026rdquo; is named for.\nEventually, I arrived at what I call \u0026ldquo;The Northeast Passage\u0026rdquo; and almost didn\u0026rsquo;t recognize it because of the amount of vegetation spilling out onto what is usually an ample trail here. A large gate that stood in tact when I first encountered it in 2015 is slowly being broken down and reclaimed by nature.\nThe Slow Demise of the Northeast Passage Gate First Time at the Gate Nature Begins to Erase the Gate Nature is Enveloping the Gate April, 2015 - the gate leaning, but intact June, 2022 - the gate smashed by fallen tree Sept 2024 - nature seems to be enveloping the gate After finding another geocache along better trails to the south, I decided to continue with my original plan of walking west in a clockwise loop toward the U of A Access Road. And my goodness, if I thought the first leg of the journey was tough, this section was on another level of challenge. Most of the images I took today are completely uninteresting shots of walls of vegetation in front of me. I\u0026rsquo;m sorry about that, but that\u0026rsquo;s all I had in front of me to take a photo of! This section is when my fun-o-meter1 went into negative numbers, and the most common thought knocking around in my brain was, \u0026ldquo;What have I gotten myself into now?\u0026rdquo;\nA sweat mark left after I sat against a log for a while At first, there were vestiges of a former trail in this area, but in time any trace of a trail disappeared and I was simply relying on walking in the right direction always. Despite attempting to focus on what was underfoot I managed to drop both boots straight into a former beaver trench filled with stinky swamp water. Oh joy. But what can you do but go on?\nHeat exhaustion started affect me. It was tough pushing through all this vegetation, like wading through 1 km of thick pea soup in 32°C heat. I started to take more frequent rests in any shade I could find and I was so glad I\u0026rsquo;d brought enough of water to at least try to keep hydrated. My body was telling me that I was a losing battle though.\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nAhh! I\u0026#39;d reached to the U of A Access Road Like the gate at the \"Northeast Passage\", a feeling demise was weighing on me: I was being broken down by nature too. That's what made arriving at three simple trail-side posts in the ground so special because I knew I'd reached the U of A Station Access Road and now could simply walk freely on a road. This last portion was a hike, and not a constant struggle like I'd experienced for the past few hours. And the meters now seemed to fly by until I reached the parking spot again.\nMy Route Today # The image markers show where I took photos today. Click the marker to view the photo.\nGallery # Most of the photos I took today are clearly of nothing but masses of the green - and sometimes bristling with thistle-fluff white - vegitation in front of me. That doesn\u0026rsquo;t make for very interesting photos, but it does document the reality of my experience today.\n\u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e I can never resist a picture of these trees mirrored in the pond water Here the trail is quite clear A bevy of swans on the water Taken at my chest level - the vegetation is thick and grows high The thistles are five and six feet high through here The vegitation doesn\u0026#39;t grow too high here The skull actually marks the access to a trail So much easier moving compared here Hay bales at one end of \u0026#34;Big Fish\u0026#34; Meadow I thought of the word \u0026ldquo;fun-o-meter\u0026rdquo; while on the trail, and even thought it might be original. After returning home, however, I looked it up, and it seems it was already thought of long ago. I\u0026#160;\u0026#x21a9;\u0026#xfe0e;\n","date":"September 6 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/deadfall-alley-to-uofa-road/","section":"Posts","summary":"I lived through what turned out to be a very challenging hike through overgrown trails today.","title":"Ministik Loop Hike From Deadfall Alley to the UofA Road","type":"posts"},{"content":" Parked at the \u0026#34;Blackfoot Back Door\u0026#34; Trailhead In 2008 I hid a small series of geocaches based on what was then and probably still is now my favourite movie: The Shawshank Redemption. These caches are in the southwest section of the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Provincial Recreational Area (- phew, that\u0026rsquo;s a mouthful - let\u0026rsquo;s go with \u0026ldquo;Blackfoot\u0026rdquo; for short) and accessible from a trailhead geocachers have come to call \u0026ldquo;Blackfoot Back Door\u0026rdquo;.\nWhen you start the hike from the \u0026ldquo;Back Door\u0026rdquo; the trail is one-track path, often with plant growth reaching across the trail. But for most of the day I was on the \u0026ldquo;main\u0026rdquo; Blackfoot trails that are used for two-lane cross-country ski tracks in the winter so they are easily two vehicles wide, mowed, trimmed along the edges and generally free of any deadfall. They are a dream to walk along.\nRecently, one of these older hides hadn\u0026rsquo;t been found by an experienced cacher, so I went out today to check on the cache, yes, but more as an excuse to experience walking these trails again.\nA new hide to replace a cache that disappeared. If you\u0026#39;re a geocacher this could be nice spoiler photo. 😃 I couldn\u0026rsquo;t find that cache either. Nature seems to have completely changed everything in area where it was hidden and the 4, 5 and 6 foot tall thick sea of thistles didn\u0026rsquo;t make the job of searching any easier. I ended up hiding a new container in a new spot and continued on to the other hides in the series of three geocaches.\nI found the next two caches in the series, not immediately, but fairly easily and decided to move both to more accessible hiding spots to minimize the bush-whacking needed to get to them.\nAfter that cache maintenance, I made my way to the ultimate goal for the day: Meadow Shelter.\nThe shelter was built by volunteers during November-December 1991. A framed series of photos in the shelter shows the shelter taking form and notes it took \u0026ldquo;900 hours of labour\u0026rdquo; to build. My gratitude goes out to the people who applied their skills, time and energy to the building of this gem of a place.\nA post-processed pic of my hiking boots after I shed them in the shelter - AHH! After checking on my geocache hide at the shelter which is still going strong after 16 years, I had a much-needed rest and a quick lunch in the shelter. Then it was time to head south again toward the initial trailhead.\nOn way, I dipped in for a quick visit to Wanisan Lake Stopover. From the amount of things stored there and the number of \u0026ldquo;art installations\u0026rdquo; in front, I\u0026rsquo;d say this place is very well used.\nAlthough it was an extremely pleasant day on the trails with few bugs to worry about, my legs and feet were more than happy to see the car parked at the trailhead.\nMy Route Today # This track log has been edited to remove the position drift that happens during long stops at a location.\nPicture Galleries # Natural Details Along the Way # Meadow Shelter # Trail Pictures (Probably WAY too many, but I like it out here) # A Few Ponds Along the way # ","date":"August 26 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-meadow-shelter/","section":"Posts","summary":"Using geocache maintenance as an excuse, I hiked a 10 km loop along the always excellent trails in the southwest section of the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Prov. Recreation Area today.","title":"Blackfoot Loop Hike to Meadow Shelter","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 19 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/cartrip/","section":"","summary":"","title":"CarTrip","type":"categories"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s been a while since I\u0026rsquo;ve done a solo car-caching trip down some rural Alberta roads. My meander around Millet, Alberta today was planned weeks ago. High temperatures prompted me to postpone a few weeks ago; this Canadian boy really doesn\u0026rsquo;t do well in the heat. More recently forest fire smoke and poor air quality caused more delays.\nMillet, Alberta # Today the weather was warm, but not too hot, the air smoke-free and the skies blue. It was time to go meandering.\nAfter making my way south along busy Highway 2, the main corridor between Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary, I exited onto a secondary highway and immediately things got more calm, more simplified. This is just the way I like it.\nA replica of a rural school house serves as an outdoor museum. This picture has been given a painterly look. After finding a few caches along some rural roads I arrived in Millet and stopped first at the Millet \u0026amp; District Museum, Archives and Visitor Information Centre. They have some very tasteful displays here and some very cool carved benches and displays. I couldn\u0026rsquo;t find the geocache hidden here, but that didn\u0026rsquo;t matter to me: the entire place was obviously the result of care, creativity and pride in the community and that\u0026rsquo;s the \u0026ldquo;find\u0026rdquo; that meant the most to me.\nAfter visiting another cache in town I started finding a series hidden along the road that leads east out of town. The caches were hidden by a caching buddy of mine so I knew all the caches were there and in good order because he\u0026rsquo;d visited them recently to replenish log sheets in almost all of them.\nThese caches were hidden along the side of the road and I was soon reminded how different small town life is from the city. When I stopped to find a geocache, I\u0026rsquo;d park my car as far off of the road as I was able and put on my four-way flashers. Twice while looking for caches, a local slowed down to make sure I was okay. An \u0026ldquo;OK\u0026rdquo; hand signal was all it took to let them know I didn\u0026rsquo;t need help. There\u0026rsquo;s an ingrained ethic about helping others in need that demonstrated so much more readily in rural areas. I\u0026rsquo;ve experienced exactly the same kind of thing along rural roads in Saskatchewan.\nIn the end, I found all the caches in the series despite a few of them being tough finds. That gave me a satisfied feeling as I turned the car around, pointed it north toward Edmonton and proceeded to drive home.\nGallery # Some of these images have been post-processed using Topaz Studio 2 to give them a \u0026ldquo;painterly\u0026rdquo; look.\n","date":"August 19 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/meandering-around-millet/","section":"Posts","summary":"I meandered down some rural Alberta roads on the way to Millet, AB today.","title":"Meandering Around Millet","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 17 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/chickakoo/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Chickakoo","type":"categories"},{"content":" One obligatory trail picture to offer an idea of what most trails looked like today. Three of us decided to do a grand loop hike at Chickakoo Lake Recreation area today. There was an \u0026ldquo;International Geocaching Day\u0026rdquo; event scheduled for 4 pm in the main parking lot and our plan was to do our hike and land up in the parking lot when the event started. It would be the \u0026ldquo;dessert\u0026rdquo; for our \u0026ldquo;eat-your-peas-first\u0026rdquo; outing.\nAs it turns out, we found a few caches, didn\u0026rsquo;t find a few and even took a nice long rest break at one point, complete with fun tales of geocaching exploits. These exploits involved the climbing of dodgy trees in London and even enlisting the help of an innocent passer-by, a young mother pushing a pram no less, to assist in the find. But those details will stay on the trail.\nIn the past I\u0026rsquo;d found almost all the geocaches on the route we were taking today, so even though I helped search for the hides my buddies needed, I often had some free time to focus on the details of the natural world we were traversing.\nThe result of that focus? I was able to capture a few of those \u0026ldquo;magic\u0026rdquo; details you see in the images here.\nA very cool, thankfully abandoned, wasp nest. They built their nest completely surrounding the spruce twigs The focus on this one is a little off, but it looks like the dead leaf in the middle was hovering in mid air! It was a spider\u0026#39;s web doing the heavy lifting of course. Wasn\u0026#39;t it nice of that big green leaf to catch the tiny orange leaf on the way down? The Route Today # ","date":"August 17 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/natures-magic-tricks/","section":"Posts","summary":"It was some of nature\u0026rsquo;s magic tricks I noticed along the way that impressed me the most during a hike along the trails of the Chickakoo Lake Recreation area today.","title":"Nature Does Some Clever Magic Tricks","type":"posts"},{"content":"Car-caching a series of caches along a road is all about surviving monotonous repetition. One comes up near a cache hide, stops the car on the side of the road as safely as possible, and gets out to zero in on a cache that has been hidden somewhere in the trees that line the road.\nAs you might guess, this repetition can quickly become monotonous. When doing it solo the monotony one feels can be smothered with the idea that many caches are being found. But the silenced part of your reason asks, “What’s the point of finding these things just for the sake of a higher cache find count - the \u0026rsquo;numbers\u0026rsquo; as it’s referred to in the caching community?” In other words, what’s the point of more numbers when the experience itself is monotonous?\nWe found this little guy while looking for a cache But car-caching with a buddy or a group is much more fun because the finding experience becomes a group activity and it’s that group interaction that becomes the point of the outing, not the cache finds.\nAll this is to introduce an afternoon car-caching outing with my caching buddy Hugh today. After attending a “Cache In, Trash Out” (CITO) event in Fort Saskatchewan this morning where we and a few others did a pretty admirable job of gathering a bunch of bags of garbage from a small park, we had some lunch at a Subway and then travelled a good hour north of Fort Sask to a series of cache hides along a country road.\nThe cache-finding mojo pendulum swung around during the outing today: at first, we made quick finds, some more quickly than others, but then we got spotty results and didn’t find a few either. It’s sobering when you are the first ever to log “Did Not Finds” on caches, but that’s exactly what we were doing.\nWe were getting more and more tired as the trip went on, no question and sometimes that can affect the amount of patience one can exercise when not finding a geocache. But we attempted each find until we both were satisfied there was no sense continuing.\nOne factor that tired us out more quickly than usual was the amount of deadfall in the ditches: mostly poplar trees that we had to navigate around while looking for the caches. I wouldn’t say these barriers weren’t a factor at the majority of the caches but they were enough of a factor to be increasingly annoying the more tired we got.\nWe ended up flipping the “off switch”, as I call it, without attempting the last ten hides in the series. We were done and decided to return home.\nIt was fun rambling down roads we’d not been along before though. There’s joy in exploring places you’ve never been to before, even when it’s about 161 meters at a time (the mandatory spacing between geocache hides) and especially when done with friends.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"August 7 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/lamont-county-car-caching/","section":"Posts","summary":"Car-caching with a buddy in north Lamont County","title":"Car Caching Along the Backroads of Lamont County","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 7 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/lamont-county/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Lamont County","type":"categories"},{"content":"There\u0026rsquo;ve been more than a few barriers to doing extended hikes lately, with high temperatures and forest-fire smoke topping the list. That\u0026rsquo;s why doing what was even a modest hike starting in Goldstick Park this morning seemed like a memorable outing.\nIf they know about the park at all, it seems to me Goldstick Park is probably not at the top of the list in Edmontonians\u0026rsquo; minds when it comes to considering a nice walk in a local park. That\u0026rsquo;s because it\u0026rsquo;s quite a small sliver of land oddly sandwiched between a residential area and golf driving range to the west and, get this, an oil refinery to the east. Yeah, not a location that screams \u0026ldquo;Get away from it all!\u0026rdquo;, is it? I guess it\u0026rsquo;s meant to be a different kind of a park though: a \u0026ldquo;sports-focused\u0026rdquo; park with three baseball diamonds and a soccer field complete with scoreboard and night-lights.\nGoldStick Park # The Imperial Oil boundary fence - Keep Out! My path today took me past the ball diamonds and soccer pitch and down the long hill toward the North Saskatchewan River. Near the bottom of the hill I recognized the trail I needed to take and started east along the path that skirts around the Imperial Oil Refinery which is bounded by a tall chain-link fence topped by barbed wire.\nIn fairly short order the path starts long the lower banks of the river and the boundary fence is forgotten. With all the tree cover the existence of the huge refinery is also forgotten and the feeling of being \u0026ldquo;away from it all\u0026rdquo; settles in.\nThe substantial roots snaking across the trail What struck me today the most was the number of tree roots snaking across the trail today. Of course that\u0026rsquo;s really nothing new but these roots somehow seemed to have \u0026ldquo;character\u0026rdquo; as they reminded me of the life of each tree extending into the ground to extract nutrients needed for life.\nThe thing that lured me out onto this trail today was a geocache I hadn\u0026rsquo;t been able to find in December, 2023 when I walked the trails starting from Science Park east of here. I spent about 30-45 minutes searching for that cache back then; today, my phone lead me to a different place and starting from there, this time around I found the cache in about 2 minutes time. Wow! That seemed positively magical!. That\u0026rsquo;s just the way it goes with this geocaching thing sometimes.\nAfter that, it was just a pleasure to retrace my steps back west toward Goldstick Park, this time glowing with the aura of a successful geocache find. I continued on with the feeling of zero haste and an intention of infinite attention to the beautiful surroundings.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s my post about my December, 2023 hike from Science Park to Goldstick Park: Edmonton Science Park to Rundle Park Via Gnarly Mountain Bike Trails December 6 2023\u0026middot;126 words\u0026middot;1 min Geocaching Edmonton Walking I really didn\u0026rsquo;t know what I was getting myself into when I started the loop hike from Science Park, but I not only survived the hilly mountain bike trails I ended up walking on, but I enjoyed the experience. Gallery # ","date":"July 31 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/short-hike-along-mtn-bike-trails-east-of-goldstick-park/","section":"Posts","summary":"I returned to these trails with the goal of finding a cache I\u0026rsquo;d been unable to find in Dec. 2023. Compared to that visit, this summer outing today provided a far different experience - and I loved it.","title":"A Short Hike Along Mtn Bike Trails East of Goldstick Park","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"July 31 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/edmonton/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Edmonton","type":"categories"},{"content":"To get to a remote cache today, I walked down familiar trails but then covered ground that I\u0026rsquo;d only once been near before 10 years ago - and that was in the winter months.\nMy Route to Today with Markers Where Photos Were Taken # Gallery # ","date":"June 1 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/finding-a-fairly-remote-cache-south-of-mandy-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"To get to a remote cache today, I walked down familiar trails but then covered ground that I\u0026rsquo;d only once been near before 10 years ago - and that was in the winter months.","title":"Finding a Fairly Remote Cache South of Mandy Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Ding Dong tree - named after the cache hidden on it. I undertook a 14.7 km \u0026ldquo;grand loop\u0026rdquo; hike in the Ministik today, what I call the \u0026ldquo;Five Meadows Hike\u0026rdquo;. It was a gloriously beautiful day to do it too.\nWhen I started the hike at the UofA Access Road gate a constant swarm of small blue-ish dragonflies accompanied me down the trail. You may have to look closely to see them.\nMy Route Today # Click the markers on the map to see photos taken at that place on the map.\nGallery # ","date":"May 29 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/five-meadows-hike/","section":"Posts","summary":"I undertook a grand loop hike in the Ministik today, what I call the Five Meadows Hike. It was a gloriously beautiful day to do it too.","title":"Ministik Five Meadows to Waskahegan Loop Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"Three of us did a two part hike today in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary today, first north of Township Rd 510 and then south to Deadfall Alley.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"May 26 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-north-of-510-and-south-to-deadfall-alley-may26-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"Three of us did a two part hike today, first north of Township Rd 510 and then south to Deadfall Alley","title":"Ministik Geocaching Hike North of 510 and South to Deadfall Alley","type":"posts"},{"content":" Gallery # ","date":"May 24 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-explore-trails-northeast-of-mandy-lake-may-24-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"In the past I\u0026rsquo;d walked on stub trails northeast of Mandy Lake and today I wanted to see if they really were actual trails - spoiler alert - there were.","title":"Ministik Hike to Explore Trails Northeast of Mandy Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e A large drying pond near the trailhead. The trail is overgrown, but it\u0026#39;s there. There\u0026#39;s been some trail maintenance here. A clearing near the end of my hike. A spruce and a poplar growing from the same spot A type of trail marker I\u0026#39;ve never seen before. Back to the parking spot ","date":"May 18 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/walking-a-mostly-forgotten-trail-off-spilstead-road-18-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"There are some out of the way trails in the Ministik that start but eventually just peter out into nothing. This is one of them.","title":"Walking a Mostly Forgotten Trail Off Spilstead Road","type":"posts"},{"content":"I made the trek down the trails of a corner of the Ministik I seldom visit today. After navigating around the initial pond near the parking spot, I found long, straight, sometimes deadfall-covered trails leading south.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"May 14 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-near-joseph-lake-may-14-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"I made the trek down the trails of a corner of the Ministik I seldom visit today.","title":"Ministik Hike Near Joseph Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"April 13 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/chickakoo-lake-caching-hike-april-13-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"After parking at the Chickakoo Equestrian lot, we proceeded to scour the eastern side of Chickakoo for caches","title":"Chickakoo Hike With Geocaching Buddies","type":"posts"},{"content":"Four of us hiked south from the UofA Access Road gate all the way down Deadfall Alley today.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"April 8 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-along-deadfall-alley-april-08-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"Four of us hiked south from the UofA Access Road gate all the way down Deadfall Alley today.","title":"Ministik Hike Along Deadfall Alley","type":"posts"},{"content":"When the Cache and Release - 2024 (CARW2024 for short) caches were published, it was this treasure trove of \u0026ldquo;out there\u0026rdquo; caches on Ministik Lake that really caught my eye. It took a while to come and get them though: first there was the snow and frigid temperatures, later the alignment of schedules. Today was the day our group of three made the trek clockwise around the lake and I have to say, despite the occasional \u0026ldquo;creepiness\u0026rdquo; of 💧💧standing water💧💧 in many places around the lake, it was an excellent day to visit.\nAfter visiting a few caches along the way, we got to the shoreline and \u0026hellip; gulp \u0026hellip; were faced with what looked like standing water. Before this there\u0026rsquo;d been a brief text exchange with an intrepid, earlier-rising group ahead of us and key information was that there were \u0026ldquo;wet spots\u0026rdquo;, but the ice was solid.\nWhen we reached the shoreline a large pool of water greeted us, but when we ventured out onto the ice we soon found, despite little screams of 🛑 STOP, YOU FOOL! 🛑 inside the brain, the ice was indeed solid.\nAnd seeing the other group across the lake at one point gave us proof that they\u0026rsquo;d visited the same caches were going to visit and they were still living. So, we very often intentionally followed their tracks across the ice toward hides: they\u0026rsquo;d walked this way and lived so the odds were we would too. 😆\nAll that said, the experience on the lake itself was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Coming out today meant there was above zero temps, and no snow to trudge through and it was really straight-forward to make our way from island to island. It was just a joy to be out in the fresh air with geocaching friends. At far end of the loop, near a cache called \u0026ldquo;Ding Dong Doorway\u0026rdquo; we had a great, relaxing, chatty sit down lunch complete with beer-y refreshments supplied by VP.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"March 16 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-lake-watery-ice-walk-2024-march-16/","section":"Posts","summary":"It\u0026rsquo;s March and the ice between islands on Ministik Lake can still be walked on. Or can it? Yikes! There\u0026rsquo;s standing water on a lot of it!","title":"Ministik Lake Watery Ice Geocaching Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"I hiked down the Mandy Lake road, past the old cabin and shelter to hide a geocache today.\nGallery # ","date":"March 8 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-hide-a-geocache-march-08-2024/","section":"Posts","summary":"I hiked down the Mandy Lake road, past the old cabin and shelter to hide a geocache today.","title":"Ministik Hike to Hide a Geocache","type":"posts"},{"content":" My route today looks like a ball falling down to the flippers in a pinball machine. I\u0026rsquo;d waited to make the trek - and it was bit of a trek while also being a bit of a shortcut - for a while. But the weather promised to be great today and as it turned out it was.\nI drove out to Francis Edward Williams trailhead and set off at about 10 am. I was trying to focus on capturing images with the intention of writing a non-fiction piece (as opposed to a simple hiking description) because I had just finished up the Non-Fiction course on Domestika. That piece hasn\u0026rsquo;t been written yet, but I\u0026rsquo;m liking some of the images I captured - because of the potential to use in the piece and just because.\nI got to what I realized later was an unnamed lake north of Ministik Lake on the map. It would have been part of Ministik Lake in the past, but with the area drying up over the years it\u0026rsquo;s a completely separate thing now.\nI gingerly started off across that flat, white expanse after finding come cool \u0026ldquo;snow dunes\u0026rdquo; near the shoreline. My goal was to walk across to Coyote Camp. I the location marked on my GPS and was able to walk almost exactly to the entrance from the lake side. I\u0026rsquo;ve seen the little inlet from the shoreline of Coyote Camp before, but of course never walked to the camp from the water.\nThen there were only two \u0026ldquo;meadows\u0026rdquo; to walk through before I got close to the little portal alleway that is the transition to the trails beyond. Normally, I call it the \u0026ldquo;Five Meadows Hike\u0026rdquo; - today, because of the ice walk, it was only two. It was crazy how much faster it was getting there by being able to walk directly across the ice.\nThe hike had a real feeling of exploration and novelty at covering new ground, and a feeling of risk as I started out over the lake ice for the first time. During that time of year there is actually no risk and a few weeks later a group of us even did an ice walk with some standing water on the ice. Now that was a feeling of risk, at first, at least. As long as you continue to not fall through the ice, you get used to it.\nGallery # ","date":"February 16 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-across-ice-2024-feb-16/","section":"Posts","summary":"I\u0026rsquo;d waited to make the trek for a while. But the weather promised to be great today and and as it turned out it certainly was.","title":"Ministik Hike to Two Cache Hides Near Ministik Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"December 27 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/peers/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Peers","type":"categories"},{"content":" (l-r) Licwid, VP and protonspinner start out on the sometimes spooky, always crunchy ice walk Eight of us met at Shiningbank Lake to do a grand loop around the shoreline where geocaches were hidden. First we needed to walk straight across the middle of the lake though. Pucker up and walk! It was really fun. We could hear the ice groaning as it shifted in the depths of the lake which at first was quite eerie.\nThere was very little snow on the ice so we could see how the thick the ice was and there was really no danger at all of it breaking under our weight.\nOur Route Today # A Short 360 Clip of the Group Walking Over the Ice # Gallery # ","date":"December 27 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/shiningbank-lake-group-caching-2023-12-27/","section":"Posts","summary":"Eight of us met at Shiningbank Lake to do a grand loop around the shoreline where geocaches were hidden. First we needed to walk straight across the middle of the lake though. Pucker up and walk!","title":"Shiningbank Lake Group Ice Walk to Geocaches","type":"posts"},{"content":"I really didn\u0026rsquo;t know what I was getting myself into when I started the loop hike from Science Park. First, I knew I had get around around a big gully formed by water flowing to the North Saskatchewan River. Then I found the mountain bike trails along the south side of the river west toward Goldstick Park were some gnarly in spots. After those challenges, the rest was a breeze. It took me along the north side of the river through Rundle Park and finally across the Science Park bridge and back to parking.\nThe leg south of the river had some very steep hills. I had to go down one on my bum; there was no other way.\nMy Route Today # Image Gallery # ","date":"December 6 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/science-park-to-bike-trails-to-rundle-park-loop-2023-dec-06/","section":"Posts","summary":"I really didn\u0026rsquo;t know what I was getting myself into when I started the loop hike from Science Park, but I not only survived the hilly mountain bike trails I ended up walking on, but I enjoyed the experience.","title":"Edmonton Science Park to Rundle Park Via Gnarly Mountain Bike Trails","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"December 6 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/walking/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Walking","type":"categories"},{"content":" My Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"November 29 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-misasin-trail-hike-2023-nov-29/","section":"Posts","summary":"This was fun and challenging outing. I was anticipating a LOT more bush whacking than I ended up experiencing.","title":"Ministik Misasin Trail Geocaching Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"October 10 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/calgary/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Calgary","type":"categories"},{"content":" Gallery # ","date":"October 10 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/calgary-caching-for-specific-caches-october-10-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"I made a long-awaited trip to Calgary to target finding specific caches across the city.","title":"Geocaching in Calgary for Specific Caches","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of my cache containers was the victim of a bored coyote so I hiked in to replace it with a new one today.\nThe weather was excellent and the leased hay fields were dotted with round bales making it a true picture of fall.\nGallery # ","date":"September 25 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-replace-cache-container-september-25-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"One of my cache containers was the victim of a bored coyote so I hiked in to replace it with a new one today.","title":"Ministik Hike to Replace Cache Container","type":"posts"},{"content":"I walked the familiar route from the UofA Access Road gate to the unfamiliar boggy shoreline of a large pond in the Ministik.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"September 15 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-spruce-point-cache-2023-sept-15-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"I walked the familiar route from the UofA Access Road gate to the unfamiliar boggy shoreline of a large pond in the Ministik.","title":"Ministik Hike to Spruce Point Geocache","type":"posts"},{"content":"Dwaine and I had worked on some challenging puzzles and after we solved them a trip to the Dogpound area of Alberta was in order.\nGallery # ","date":"September 12 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/car-caching-trip-to-dogpound-september-12-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"Dwaine and I had worked on some challenging puzzles and after we solved them a trip to the Dogpound area of Alberta was in order.","title":"Car Caching Trip to the Dogpound Area","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 11 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/devon/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Devon","type":"categories"},{"content":"Two geocaching buddies and I traversed some seldom-walked trails along the North Sask River today to find some geocaches, but more importantly great views of the river.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"August 11 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/geocaching-along-the-north-saskatchewan-river/","section":"Posts","summary":"Two geocaching buddies and I traversed some seldom-walked trails along the North Sask River","title":"Geocaching Along the North Saskatchewan River Near Devon","type":"posts"},{"content":"It was my first time hiking around the trails at in Glory Hills Natural Area. There were a few caches here, but in the end it was the trails that I remember.\nThe track log says the distance was 3.6 km - it seemed a LOT further than that, but I can\u0026rsquo;t dispute it.\nMy Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"June 26 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/glory-hills-hike-2023-june-26/","section":"Posts","summary":"It was my first time hiking around the trails at in Glory Hills Natural Area. There were a few caches here, but in the end it was the trails that I remember.","title":"Glory Hills Geocaching Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"June 26 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/stonyplain/","section":"","summary":"","title":"StonyPlain","type":"categories"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;d been on this trail a couple of times before but it\u0026rsquo;s been a long time since the last visit. It\u0026rsquo;s named Misasin by fellow geocachers, so I\u0026rsquo;m going with it. It was fun exploring new sections of it today.\nIn the photos you can see how the earth explodes in growth over the spring and summer months out here. That\u0026rsquo;s in sharp contrast to the lack of any foliage at all during the cold winter months.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"June 7 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/caching-and-recon-on-misasin-trail-ministik-june-7-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"I\u0026rsquo;d been on this trail a couple of times before but it\u0026rsquo;s been a long time since the last visit. It\u0026rsquo;s named Misasin by fellow geocachings, so I\u0026rsquo;m going with it. It was fun exploring new sections of it today.","title":"Geocaching and Exploring on the Ministik Misasin Trail","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wow. This is a geocaching outing where I was SO glad to be with other cachers. The first hide was diabolically hard to find and it was Dwaine who spotted it. They weren\u0026rsquo;t all like that but some were oh so nicely crafty indeed.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"May 31 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/sturgeon-river-stroll-series-2023-may-31/","section":"Posts","summary":"This is a geocaching outing where I was \u003cstrong\u003eSO\u003c/strong\u003e glad to be with other cachers. The first hide was diabolically hard to find and it was Dwaine who spotted it. They weren\u0026rsquo;t all like that but some were oh so nicely crafty indeed.","title":"Geocaching the \"Sturgeon River Stroll\" Series of Caches","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"May 31 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/gibbons/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Gibbons","type":"categories"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;ve always just loved hiking in the Chickakoo Lake Recreation Area. There\u0026rsquo;s is a great mix of tree species that line both the well-travelled main trails and the less-travelled \u0026ldquo;goat tracks\u0026rdquo;. This was a solo geocaching hike and I found all but one of the caches I looked for today.\nThe Route Today # Image Gallery # ","date":"May 26 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/chickakoo-caching-hike-may-26-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"I\u0026rsquo;ve always just loved hiking in the Chickakoo Lake Recreation Area. There\u0026rsquo;s is a great mix of tree species that line both the well-travelled main trails and the less-travelled \u0026ldquo;goat tracks\u0026rdquo;. This was a solo geocaching hike and I found all but one of the caches I looked for today.","title":"Chickakoo Caching Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"I traveled down the winding road to Mandy Lake today to find two caches. I felt confident about finding them because I was with the cache owner when he hid them. Now I\u0026rsquo;m returning to find them fair and square.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"May 14 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-caching-hike-to-mandy-lake-2023-may-14/","section":"Posts","summary":"I traveled down the winding road to Mandy Lake today to find two caches. I was with the cache owner when he hid them, so I\u0026rsquo;m returning to find them fair and square.","title":"Ministik Hike to Mandy Lake for Two Geocaches","type":"posts"},{"content":"I had multiple goals today: to find a challenge cache near Dorward Lake and to capture as many time lapses as I could in the Dorward Lake area. As the images and video show, it was a gloriously beautiful day, with the water all too ready to reflect the sky and clouds above.\nThe Route Today # Timelapses and Short Movie Clips Near Dorward Lake # Gallery # ","date":"May 10 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-dorward-lake-for-two-challenges-2023-may-10/","section":"Posts","summary":"I had multiple goals today: to find a challenge cache near Dorward Lake and to capture as many time lapses as I could in the Dorward Lake area.","title":"Ministik Hike to Dorward Lake for Two Challenge Caches","type":"posts"},{"content":"The walk from the Terwillegar Dog Park to Fort Edmonton takes you over the N Sask River through mountain bike trails and then over the river yet again.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"April 19 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/terwillegar-to-ft-edm-walk-2023-04-19/","section":"Posts","summary":"The walk from the Terwillegar Dog Park to Fort Edmonton takes you over the N Sask River through mountain bike trails and then over the river yet again.","title":"Terwillegar Dog Park to Fort Edmonton Walk","type":"posts"},{"content":"Way back in 2008 I hid a series of geocaches in the Blackfoot / Cooking Lake Recreational Area in the shape of the Big Dipper constellation. These days, with so many more geocaches available and easy for the picking without too much effort, these remote hides don\u0026rsquo;t get visited much at all.\nBig Dipper Series in the Blackfoot Originally, most of the containers for these hides were ammo cans and because the low traffic I decided to swap the ammo cans for lock \u0026rsquo;n lock containers so I could use the ammo cans elsewhere for new hides.\nToday\u0026rsquo;s trek was to do that swapping and get myself reacquainted with this corner of the Blackfoot which I came to know so well when I was hiding that series.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"April 15 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-hike-to-switch-caches-apr-15-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"The main purpose of today\u0026rsquo;s hike was to swap ammo can geocaching containers for lock \u0026rsquo;n lock containers. These caches were hidden quite a distance from parking in the Blackfoot / Cooking Lake Recreational Area.","title":"Blackfoot Hike to Maintain Two Geocaches","type":"posts"},{"content":"I made walk over early spring, still somewhat snowy ground to a remote cache today.\nGallery # ","date":"April 9 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-the-twins-cache-ministik-2023-04-09/","section":"Posts","summary":"I made walk over early spring, still somewhat snowy ground to a remote cache today","title":"Ministik Hike to the Twins Cache","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"April 2 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-from-stove-lake-trailhead-to-new-caches-2023-04-02/","section":"Posts","summary":"Four of us crunched through the snow, on trail and off to find geocaches in the area accessible from the Stove Lake trailhead in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary.","title":"Ministik Hike From Stove Lake Trailhead to New Caches","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"March 26 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/mactaggart/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Mactaggart","type":"categories"},{"content":" Gallery # ","date":"March 26 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mactaggart-geocaching-hike-2023-march-26/","section":"Posts","summary":"The four of us traversed a good portion of the MacTaggart Sanctuary today looking for geocaches","title":"Mactaggart Geocaching Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"The five of us tackled some steep slopes to get to some geocache hides along the North Sask River and after that hiked through the MacTaggart Sanctuary to find more geocaches.\nGallery # ","date":"March 19 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-north-sask-river-hides-and-mactaggert-sanctuary-march-19-2023/","section":"Posts","summary":"The five of us tackled some steep slopes to get to some geocache hides along the North Sask River and after that hiked through the MacTaggart Sanctuary to find more geocaches","title":"Hike to North Sask River Geocache Hides and MacTaggart Sanctuary","type":"posts"},{"content":"I traversed the snowy inclined trails of the Whitemud Ravine today with a couple of geocaching buddies.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"March 4 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/whitemud-ravine-carw2023-2023-march-04/","section":"Posts","summary":"I traversed the snowy inclined trails of the Whitemud Ravine today with a couple of geocaching buddies.","title":"Whitemud Ravine Geocaching Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Route Today # A Timelapse Captured on the Mandy Lake Shoreline # Gallery # ","date":"October 30 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-mandy-lake-october-30-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I followed the road to Mandy Lake to find one cache and do some maintenance on one of my own","title":"Geocaching Hike to Mandy Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Route Today # Some Short Clips Captured Along the Trail # Gallery # ","date":"October 6 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-in-northern-section/","section":"Posts","summary":"I hiked on a kind of disjointed trail today with a buddy where I have a string of caches hidden.","title":"Hike in the Northern Section of the Ministik","type":"posts"},{"content":" If you're not familiar with geocaching and more specifically geocaching near Edson, Alberta, I forgive you for thinking the title of this post is pure click-bait. No I didn't run with actual bulls. If you thought you were going to be reading about that, I understand the confusion. This \u0026ldquo;Running of the Bulls\u0026rdquo; is a geocaching series near Edson, Alberta hidden by chipchic, a geocacher from the area. That \u0026ldquo;Running of the Bulls\u0026rdquo; is what some foolhardy people do in Spain and in areas of France during summer festivals. If these people aren\u0026rsquo;t candidates for individual Darwin Awards, I don\u0026rsquo;t know who is.\nRunning of the Bulls in the Hornbeck Rec. Area # My geocaching buddy Hugh and I planned a two-day, one-sleep trip to Edson to tackle as many of the Running of the Bulls series as we could. We knew that there were too many caches hidden over such a wide area that we\u0026rsquo;d never be able to find them all during one trip.\nAfter the drive to Edson from Edmonton (and for Hugh, a bit further from Leduc), we made our way to the northeast corner of the Hornbeck Recreation Area where the series is hidden. We thought these more remote caches would be the most challending of the bunch and so chose to tackle these first.\nAfter parking at a gas well site, we set of on the trek. We were met with overgrown, but completely walkable trails. And we frequently bellowed out the forest, which we hoped was empty of bears. What was it like? I think this movie produced by Relive tells the story better with video and images than I can with words. It give you a bird\u0026rsquo;s-eye view of our trek. Many of the pictures are the same as those in the image gallery below, but this puts the images in context on the map.\nOur Route and Pictures Taken - From a \u0026ldquo;Relive\u0026rdquo; video # These are examples of the containers we were looking for. Some we quick finds, while others took us a while.\nAnd we stopped along the way to take some \u0026ldquo;hero\u0026rdquo; shots:\nWe were right to think this section of the series would be on the more difficult side. The black diamond markers on the cross-country ski trails told us there plenty of hills ahead. Add to those a few water hazards we had to bushwhack around where the trail was completely flooded with water or consumed with swampy muskeg. All this made for a tiring trek.\nBut we made it, just as the sun was setting. We\u0026rsquo;d made the loop, found most, not all, of the caches we\u0026rsquo;d looked for and were ready for a good shower in our hotel rooms and a good night\u0026rsquo;s sleep.\nImage Gallery # Here are a few pictures from the outing today.\nAnd just for fun, at the beginning of the hike I tried a bit of photo trickery. On the left, taken as we started out: \u0026ldquo;OMG, the gas is leaking!\u0026rdquo;. When we got back as the sun was setting, \u0026ldquo;OMG, the gas is exploding!\u0026rdquo; 😉\n","date":"September 26 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/running-of-the-bulls-westmost-loop/","section":"Posts","summary":"See what a fairly remote section of the Hornbeck Recreation Area northwest of Edson, Alberta looks like a the end of September as two geocachers do a loop trek on overgrown trails.","title":"Running of the Bulls","type":"posts"},{"content":"Still very new to kayaking, I had great paddle around Islet Lake today.\nMy Track # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"August 17 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-islet-lake-kayak-paddle-aug-17-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"Still very new to kayaking, I had great paddle around Islet Lake today.","title":"Islet Lake Kayak Paddle","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 17 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/kayak/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Kayak","type":"categories"},{"content":"This was the first time I was out on my new Delta 12.10 kayak. Woah, Nelly! Here we go!\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"August 8 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/maiden-voyage-of-the-delta-12/","section":"Posts","summary":"This was the first time I was out on my new Delta 12.10 kayak. Woah, Nelly! Here we go!","title":"Maiden Voyage of the Delta 12.10","type":"posts"},{"content":"Despite the title of this blog I\u0026rsquo;m including a post about an outing where no tracks at all were left behind.\nWhat, was I levitating? Well, no, but I was floating, and was happy to have stayed that way throughout the entire maiden \u0026ldquo;voyage\u0026rdquo; of my inflatable kayak this morning.\nAfter a couple of years of deliberating about purchasing a kayak, I finally broke down and bought one late in the fall of 2021. I decided on an inflatable kayak mainly because of the ease of transporting it to wherever I was going to use it. You simply take it out of its carrying bag, inflate the three separate chambers - bottom, right side and left side - attach a \u0026ldquo;skeg\u0026rdquo; to the bottom for better control and be on your way.\nThat\u0026rsquo;s the upside.\nThe kayak is inflated and ready to launch The downside is what you have is essentially a streamlined, yet still bulky dingy, a water craft that isn\u0026rsquo;t really built for speed or appropriate for long trips. I decided I didn\u0026rsquo;t care very much about either speed or long trips so the ease of transportation won out in the end.\nAnd this week was the first time I\u0026rsquo;d actually used the kayak in the wild.\nA couple of days ago I drove out to Islet Lake in the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area , got the kayak inflated and proceeded to learn \u0026ldquo;on the job\u0026rdquo; as I attempted to launch the kayak with me it in and then paddle around the cove. I got about 150 meters from shore about 4 or 5 times that day and was happy with just having gotten out on the water. The wind was blowing in some big dark rain clouds from the north which cut my visit short that day.\nToday, I was out to the same spot much earlier in the morning and this time the lake water was like glass. It was liberating to \u0026ldquo;break free\u0026rdquo; from the 150 meter limit I was comfortable with a few days before. I made my way around a large island in the center of the lake and then generally meandered around to different small islands before heading back to where I\u0026rsquo;d launched.\nWater, Land and Sky This is on the east side of the largest, central island\nIt was lot of fun just finding myself in this \u0026ldquo;new\u0026rdquo; environment, and being able to view these island while drifting along in the water. I\u0026rsquo;d seen them from these angles before years ago but that was by walking between islands on the frozen lake during winter.\nAnd there was a surprise, when I reached my launching spot on the shoreline: I realized my left leg was pretty well completely \u0026ldquo;asleep\u0026rdquo;. That made getting out of the kayak interesting to say the least.\nI still have a lot to learn, no question there. My paddling technique feels closer to \u0026ldquo;flailing\u0026rdquo; than an actual paddling. But it\u0026rsquo;s a start.\nAll in all, it was a fun and successful first paddle flail.\nImage Gallery # The kayak deflated again after the paddle\n","date":"June 23 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/kayaking-on-islet-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"My first forays in my inflatable kayak were tentative, but memorable all the same.","title":"Kayaking on Islet Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hiking to one of my geocache hides to do some maintenance was my excuse to experience a beautiful day in a remote, beautiful place.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e It\u0026#39;s wild rose country here The Deadfall Alley sign A large pond along the way Bunchberry The Jeep parked at the trailhead The UofA Access Road gate Looking back after crossing the dam The view across a large pond The spiders have been busy here A new home for some lucky bird family A gnawed stump A tree has completely destroyed a former gate Another view of the destroyed gate A hunter\u0026#39;s chair The contents of my cache Logook - first page Logbook - second page Logbook - third page Logbook - fourth page Just look at nature naturing! ","date":"June 9 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-replenish-dragon-s3-cards-june-9-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"Hiking to one of my geocache hides to do some maintenance was my excuse to experience a beautiful day in a remote, beautiful place.","title":"Ministik Hike Past the Northeast Passage and Return","type":"posts"},{"content":"The Bluejay - Charron Community Cemetery is located northeast of Atmore, Alberta which is near the junction of Highway 55 and Highway 63.\nA simple white patriarchal cross The cemetery is tidy and well-maintained. It also has a distinctive number of wooden \u0026ldquo;patriarchal\u0026rdquo;-style Christian crosses which have two crossbars as opposed to the far more common one crossbar or distinctive three crossbars of Eastern Orthodox crosses.\nThe meaning of the double crossbars is vague, with at least one source simply stating that the meaning is unknown. But Wikipedia covers as couple of theories:\nMany symbolic interpretations of the double-cross have been put forth. One of them says that the first horizontal line symbolized the secular power and the other horizontal line the ecclesiastic power of Byzantine emperors. Also, that the first cross bar represents the death and the second cross the resurrection of Jesus Christ.\nSource: Patriarchal cross - Wikipedia\nIt seems to me that local people must ascribe some meaning to this style of cross given that they\u0026rsquo;ve chosen to have their family members buried with this style of cross planted at the head of their graves. The symbol is common on coats of arms from Hungary, Russia, Lithuania, and Slovakia so perhaps the choice is simply following the customs from the \u0026ldquo;old country\u0026rdquo;.\nGallery # Location # ","date":"June 3 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/bluejay-charron-community-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"A visit to the well-maintained Bluejay - Charron Community Cemetery northeast of Atmore, Alberta.","title":"Bluejay - Charron Community Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"June 3 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/cemeteries/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Cemeteries","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"June 3 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/photography/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Photography","type":"categories"},{"content":"I hiked in what was for me a new area in the northeast section of Ministik today and that\u0026rsquo;s always fun.\nGallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e A former gate being reclaimed by nature A cool \u0026#34;portal\u0026#34; into the woods The area transitioning from wet to dry A cache hide All that is left of what was all water A stump hide! My favourite! A beaver lodge in a shrinking pond A closer view of the beaver lodge There\u0026#39;s a \u0026#34;spooky\u0026#34; edge this scene ","date":"June 2 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-caching-hike-for-new-hides-june-02-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I hiked in what was for me a new area in the Ministik today and that\u0026rsquo;s always fun.","title":"Ministik Geocaching Hike to New Hides","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"May 27 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/churches/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Churches","type":"categories"},{"content":"St. Anthony of Padua Church and Cemetery are located southwest of Medicine Hat. The church has fallen into disrepair and seems to stand as a symbol of a past reality now fading.\nSt. Anthony of Padua Church A story entitled written by Gillian Slade and published in the Medicine Hat News on July 24, 2020 is the sole source of information I could find about the church and nearby cemetery. It seems that story has faded away as well; it\u0026rsquo;s no longer available on the newspaper\u0026rsquo;s website.\nThe article says the 10-acre site was acquired in 1911 with local families each contributing $50 in order to make the purchase. Parishioners built the church between 1912 and 1916 when it was officially opened and named St. Anthony of Padua.\nAttendance waxed and waned over the years and when funds were raised, the building was augmented in a major way in 1951 and also later through the 1970\u0026rsquo;s. The final formal event at the church was a wedding in 1986.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s saddening to hear the only noteworthy events since then were major attacks of vandalism and theft from the building in 1991 and later in 2014.\nThe cemetery located behind the church has a sparse number of graves.\nGallery # ","date":"May 27 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-anthony-of-padua-church-and-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"St. Anthony of Padua Church and Cemetery are located southwest of Medicine Hat, Alberta. The church has fallen into disrepair and seems to stand as a symbol of a past reality now fading.","title":"St. Anthony of Padua Church and Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"Aetna is a hamlet in Cardston County, Alberta. Its namesake, strangely enough, is Mount Etna, an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily. Etna is fact one of the world\u0026rsquo;s most active volcanos and is in an almost constant state of activity.\nA Google search of the place name brings up many other towns in the US named Aetna, so perhaps the Morman pioneers who settled the area in the 1890\u0026rsquo;s brought the name with them.\nCensus statistics extending back to 1911 set the highest population at 164. Clearly there has never been as much activity in the hamlet as in the hamlet\u0026rsquo;s volcano namesake.\nAetna cemetery is sparsely populated with graves but the surrounding fields and the mountains to the south provide a nice background for photos.\nGallery # Location # Sources:\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aetna,_Alberta\nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Etna\n","date":"May 13 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/aetna-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"A visit to Aetna, a hamlet in Cardston County, Alberta.","title":"Aetna Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"A stylized image of some of the grave markers. There is very little information online about Prospy Cemetery save what is inscribed on the large cairn on site. William Jasper Hackworth donated the land for the graveyard in 1914 where his wife was buried that same year.\nThe images from this cemetery are few. But when post-processing I had a lot of fun taking one image in multiple different creative ways. Each of the results speaks to me in a different way and I couldn\u0026rsquo;t find any I was willing to discard.\nNone of the images of the single, skewed cross bears any resemblance to what the object looked like in real life. It has been enhanced, dressed up and presented in different ways, each evoking a different reaction.\nThe image isn\u0026rsquo;t pretending to depict how this single cross really looked to my human eye that day. Rather, it\u0026rsquo;s a small study of how different presentations of an object can be manipulated to arouse different feelings.\nA Study in Post-Processing # Obviously I just couldn\u0026rsquo;t get enough of this tilted, extremely weathered wooden cross. I find the different directions I took when post-processing the image bring out different feelings. Click on an image to view full screen.\nLocation # Sources # Find a Grave\n","date":"May 8 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/prospy-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"Prospy Cemetery was generally unkept with graves markers lightly scattered across the small enclosure. Despite that, one grave marker in particular caught my eye.","title":"Prospy Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"It\u0026rsquo;s nearing the end of April, 2022 here in Alberta, Canada. The cherry blossom season has already come and is long gone in Japan this year.\nSo I don\u0026rsquo;t think it is too much to ask to expect to capture a little bit of spring \u0026ldquo;springing\u0026rdquo;, or nature \u0026ldquo;naturing\u0026rdquo; as I embark on a little photography-minded hike from the parking spot near Mandy Lake in the Ministik Game Bird Sanctuary today.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s a modestly-sized body of water right next to the parking spot and right away a pair of Canada geese - harbingers of spring - loudly share their opinion about my visit. Judging by the tone, I get the sense they have something against it. At any rate, it\u0026rsquo;s clear they\u0026rsquo;ve got a lot to say about it.\nTwo geese a grousing at my arrival Despite that questionable welcome, I decide to linger to tease out a few photos of the pond\u0026rsquo;s shoreline (see the image at the top of the page) and an example of a common feature of the Ministik, a sign that has long since shed its message.\nA withered sign near the parking spot Spring still hasn\u0026rsquo;t arrived as far as parts of the road was concerned: parts of the road are still covered with crusty snow and hard-packed ice. Snowmobiles pack down the snow on the road during the winter so it\u0026rsquo;s the last to melt in the spring.\nAfter an obligatory photo of the gate at parking, I continue down the road toward Mandy Lake. Today, unusually, I actually have a camera with attached lens in hand and I\u0026rsquo;m hunting for signs of spring.\nThe gate at the parking spot A scan of the trees along the road doesn\u0026rsquo;t reveal any of the trees budding yet. Despite the humans\u0026rsquo; calendar proclaiming spring, winter still has its hold on the earth here today so becomes clear to me that obvious signs of spring aren\u0026rsquo;t revealing themselves just yet. I decide instead to simply take photos of what catches my eye along the way.\nAnd when stepping off the road a few meters into the bush, the last remnants of snow that once blanketed the world here records my presence.\nA stylized picture of my boot print in the snow. An old gate along the road is a rare artifact of past human activity in this area.\nAn old gate, gradually returning to the ground. The Mandy Lake shoreline is still in dormant as the lake ice recedes.\nThe Mandy Lake shoreline rendered with a sidewalk chalk filter A dilapidated log cabin along the shoreline is itself slowly returning to the earth.\nThe corner joins of an old log cabin At the end of the road, beside a small pond the local beavers maintain, a former \u0026ldquo;officially-built\u0026rdquo; shelter is also slowly disintegrating. It looks like snowmobilers use the shelter as a handy place to stop and roast a few wieners in the winter.\nThe disintegrating shelter The inside of the shelter. Someone brought an old bed frame along to make it easier to warm feet beside the fire. And finally, the shelter with a painterly look\nThe shelter with a painterly look ","date":"April 29 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/searching-for-spring-along-the-road-to-mandy-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"An early spring hike in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary southeast of Edmonton. Will I find some spring to help thaw my winter-frozen brain?","title":"Searching for Spring Along the Road to Mandy Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"I did a loop hike over what has become very familiar ground today. But even on familar paths, the experience of them is always changing.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"April 23 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-mandy-lake-loop-hike-april-23-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I did a loop hike over what has become very familiar ground today. But even on familar paths, the experience of them is always changing.","title":"Ministik Mandy Lake Loop Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":"Seven Persons in 1911 - Jason Woodhead, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Seven Persons is a hamlet in Cypress County, Alberta about 20 km southwest of Medicine Hat.\nThe first thing I wondered is how \u0026ldquo;Seven Persons\u0026rdquo; got its name. Most assume the hamlet was named after nearby Seven Person\u0026rsquo;s creek, which of course begs the question of how the creek got its name. There are a few legends about the origin of the creek\u0026rsquo;s name.\nOne holds that the area was the site of a clash between Blackfoot and Cree braves and seven Cree were killed. It\u0026rsquo;s not difficult to imagine who was telling this version of the story.\nAnother version, holds that while crossing the creek, a group of Blackfoot found seven unidentified bodies lying on the banks of the creek. The bodies were all bald, but not scalped and had no battle wounds. The group waited in the area for others to come to collect the bodies and while they did so the bodies remained fresh with no signs of decay.\nAfter no one came to claim the bodies, the group decided to leave the bodies where they were, and surround each with stone cairns.\nThe following spring they returned to the spot and found that both the bodies and stones remained as exactly they\u0026rsquo;d left them, the bodies not at all decomposed. Ever since then the creek has been known as Seven Persons Creek.\nFinally, yet another less \u0026ldquo;mythical\u0026rdquo; version holds that the creek was actually named after the small community of Seven Persons by a Canadian Pacific Railway tie gang. The town itself was named by this same gang who had come across seven rough graves not far from the tracks they were building.\nAs for the cemetery, well, it has definitely seen better days. But it is the unkept \u0026ldquo;wildness\u0026rdquo; of the small enclosure that gives it its character.\nGallery # Location # Sources: # How Seven Persons Got Its Name\n","date":"April 22 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/seven-persons-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"Seven Persons is a hamlet in Cypress County, Alberta about 20 km southwest of Medicine Hat. There are various stories about how the hamlet got it\u0026rsquo;s name.","title":"Seven Persons Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hillcrest Cemetery is located in Hillcrest, Alberta (also known as Hillcrest Mines), and is a large sprawling place. The images below don\u0026rsquo;t do justice to the number nor the variety of different types of grave sites in cemetery.\nThe event that naturally overshadows one\u0026rsquo;s visit is the Hillcrest Mine disaster which occurred on Friday June 19, 1914. At 9 am that morning, a pocket of methane gas in the Hillcrest Mine ignited, which set off a larger coal-dust explosion. 189 men died as a result. It was the worst coal mining accident in Canadian history and at the time the world\u0026rsquo;s third worst mine disaster.\nA placard at the site Most of those men who died in the disaster were buried in two mass graves in the cemetery and it is sobering to find out these deaths made up almost half the mine\u0026rsquo;s workforce and 20% of the community\u0026rsquo;s population. (source)\nThe effect of the disaster would have reverberated in families around the world because of the 189 men, 17 were born in Canada and of those only 2 in Alberta. There were sizeable numbers from England, Austria and Italy. (source)\nA large, black memorial to the disaster is the first thing you encounter when you arrive and the magnitude of that tragedy lingers throughout your visit. Information placards in the area so an excellent job of explaining the history of the disaster in detail.\nA website dedicated to the disaster suggests that, despite its magnitude, it has been \u0026ldquo;forgotten,\u0026rdquo; probably because World War I was declared nine days after it occurred.\nGallery - Cemetery Grounds # Gallery - Gravestones # Location # Sources: # https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillcrest,_Alberta http://hillcrestminedisaster.com/ ","date":"April 15 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hillcrest-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"Hillcrest Cemetery is memorable partly because of the location and partly because of the mine disaster of 1914 that took so many lives.","title":"Hillcrest Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"April 8 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/musings/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Musings","type":"categories"},{"content":" “I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,\nfor going out, I found, was really going in.”\n― John Muir\nThe trails in the Ministik Game Bird Sanctuary are largely unmaintained, wild, and unpeopled. That\u0026rsquo;s what gives the whole area its unique character and it\u0026rsquo;s that character that keeps me returning to it time and again.\nExperiencing a simple walk in a place like this really can help ease the mind into the \u0026ldquo;going in\u0026rdquo; that John Muir mentions in the quotation above. It\u0026rsquo;s not guaranteed and it\u0026rsquo;s often fleeting, but the transition to such a state seems to happen more easily in this kind of place.\nThere\u0026rsquo;s evidence that others feel the same way. It\u0026rsquo;s the urge toward the \u0026ldquo;going in\u0026rdquo; that caused one person to bring an \u0026ldquo;assist\u0026rdquo; to help with the process: a small, plain, folding red chair.\nThe Ministik is a big place with many trailheads leading into its interior. But I think it\u0026rsquo;s fair to say the \u0026ldquo;front door\u0026rdquo; is a gate to a road that leads to a research compound owned by the University of Alberta.\nAnd after a twenty-minute walk down that road one can climb a small embankment to arrive at a lookout over Williams Lake. It\u0026rsquo;s a simple, beautiful scene.\nThe View From Red Chair Lookout For almost a decade now a small, red folding chair has been a constant sentinel at the lookout. The chair provides a place to sit down, slow down, unwind, and stay a bit longer as Muir decided to do in the quotation above. It\u0026rsquo;s the chance to experience a \u0026ldquo;going in.\u0026rdquo;\nRed Chair Lookout on OpenStreetMap The red chair has been such an enduring fixture of the place that a local contributor to OpenStreetMap has labeled the place \u0026ldquo;Red Chair Lookout\u0026rdquo;.\nThe red chair endures as something man-made in this ever-fluxing scene of grass, water and trees. Nature\u0026rsquo;s cycle of growth, death and dormancy continues around it as it shifts positions, moved by humans who visit so they can perhaps reconnect with the unseen force powering the cycle, a force they intuitively know they too are a part of.\nAnd before you read about it in the tabloids, I need to give you the honest truth about red chair: yes, it\u0026rsquo;s true, it does have a checkered past. But don\u0026rsquo;t judge it: I think you\u0026rsquo;ll agree it was merely an unwitting accessory to a crime.\nReturning from a hike in the Ministik, I once happened to meet a gentleman just he was leaving the lookout and it as it turns out he is person who brought the red chair to the lookout years ago. He had found in a spot elsewhere in the sanctuary where some n\u0026rsquo;er-do-well thieves has been burning the sheathing off of copper wire. Near the remains of the spent fire was \u0026hellip; the red chair.\nSince this gentleman, who turns 82 this year, has been visiting the Ministik for four decades, it must have easily occurred to him to relocate the chair so as to put it to a more \u0026ldquo;upstanding\u0026rdquo; use at the lookout, far away from a life of crime. And people familiar with the spot are certainly glad he did.\nThe Red Chair: A Retrospective Gallery # I\u0026rsquo;ve made it a point to capture an image of the view and the red chair itself whenever I passed Red Chair Lookout. It\u0026rsquo;s a kind of ritual that I think unconsciously pays homage to the urge to Muir\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;going in.\u0026rdquo;\nAll these images are post-processed to some degree and I\u0026rsquo;ve done that in an attempt to depict the constant beauty and eternal change that naturally takes place at at one small spot on the earth like this one.\nAs you\u0026rsquo;ll see, other wooden chairs have joined the red chair at the lookout. Although their appearance was jarring at first, they too have come to settle in and belong.\nJune, 2014 # The Red Chair in the early days October, 2014 - The cycle of the year is coming to a close # October, 2014 - The cycle of the year is coming to a close May, 2015 - After extensive research and a full environmental review, new \u0026ldquo;anti-sinking\u0026rdquo; technologies are applied to the red chair\u0026rsquo;s front legs. # anti-sinking August, 2015 - A stylized memory - (It seems the batteries ran out on the previous \u0026ldquo;anti-sinking\u0026rdquo; gizmo. That\u0026rsquo;s okay; the red chair can stand on its own.) # anti-sinking October, 2016 - Someone has added a cushion to help prolong sitting sessions # Someone has added a cushion to help prolong sitting sessions October, 2016 - Later in the same month, in harsher weather, the cushion is still here. # Later in the same month, in harsher weather, the cushion is still here November, 2016 - The wooden chairs have arrived and at first, a cold war. # The wooden chairs have arrived and at first, a cold war June, 2021 - Years have passed and the chairs are far more cordial # Years have passed and the chairs are far more cordial ","date":"April 8 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/the-red-chair/","section":"Posts","summary":"For almost a decade a single red folding chair has been stationed at a lookout over Williams Lake in the Ministik Bird Santuary. The landscape is in constant flux around it, but the red chair remains.","title":"The Red Chair","type":"posts"},{"content":"I walked along the crusty snow first on familiar trails, then off trail on new ground to get to the south end of Oliver Lake today.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"April 4 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-south-end-of-oliver-lake-april-04-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I walked along the crusty snow first on familiar trails, then off trail on new ground to get to the south end of Oliver Lake today.","title":"Ministik Geocaching Hike to the South End of Oliver Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"I had to do some maintenance on a cache near Mandy Lake in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary and had great outing walking along the still snowy trails to get to it.\nImage Gallery # ","date":"March 29 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-on-snowy-road-to-mandy-lake-and-north-march-29-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I had to do some maintenance on a cache near Mandy Lake in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary and had great outing walking along the still snowy trails to get to it.","title":"Ministik Mandy Lake Hike Over Snowy Trails","type":"posts"},{"content":"I had waited for awhile for optimum weather conditions to do this hike. And optimal they were today: the snow was hard-packed, the temperature was reasonable and the sun was in full force.\nI started out from the Mandy Lake Parking spot today and proceeded to so something I\u0026rsquo;d never done before: walk directly over the nearby frozen pond. In other, warmer, seasons one has to take the trails that skirt around the edge of the pond, but today it was the express route, of course with that initial doubt about the thickness of the ice and the quiet fear of just breaking through.\nBut the ice was solid, as were most of the trail because the snow on them had been packed down by snowmobiles. It was like walking on a city sidewalk really. And with microspikes attached to my boots, there was no chance of slipping and sliding on the ice or the trails.\nIt was a memorable day because, as it turned out, most of the walking was on pond or lake ice, places you can\u0026rsquo;t go and shortcuts you can\u0026rsquo;t take in other seasons.\nGallery # ","date":"March 18 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-mandy-lake-to-fire-tower-via-trails-and-ice-march-18-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"This was a memorable day of geocaching for a few remote caches int he Ministik Bird Sanctuary.","title":"Ministik Mandy Lake to Waskahegan Fire Tower Geocaching Hike Via Trails and Lake Ice","type":"posts"},{"content":"I made the snowy walk to scout out a geocache hide, realized I wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to be able to get to it, so continued on to visit the Ministik fireplace and Red Chair Lookout.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"March 9 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-ministik-fireplace-and-return-via-red-chair-lookout-march-09-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I made the snowy walk to scout out a geocache hide, realized I wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to be able to get to it, so continued on to visit the Ministik fireplace and Red Chair Lookout.","title":"Hike to the Ministik Fireplace and Return via Red Chair Lookout","type":"posts"},{"content":"I had a glorious trudge through (not over) the trails to Dorward Lake today to find two caches.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"March 6 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-hike-to-dorward-lake-for-two-caches-march-06-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I had a glorious trudge through (not over) the trails to Dorward Lake today to find two caches.","title":"Ministik Hike to Dorward Lake for Two Remote Geocaches","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hugh and I were planning on walking over the ice to the caches on Farming Island on Lac St Anne. But we saw ice fishers on the ice, so we drove instead. On a sad note, it was during this outing that I lost the micro-spikes from one foot and only realized probably 20 mins after it went missing. Finding it in the snow and scrub brush we\u0026rsquo;d been though on the island would have been difficult indeed. It\u0026rsquo;s the cost of doing business, I guess.\nOur Route Today # Gallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e Hugh gearing up at the parking spot A selfie before heading out A boat launch in other seasons Change of plans - there are vehicles out there! Out first find of the day A shot from one of the hides We\u0026#39;re up here - the car\u0026#39;s way down there The snow was a factor at times Yeah, just squeeze through here One of the containers we found Hugh holds a cache logbook Navigating down ice slopes Back at the meeting spot ","date":"February 28 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/driving-on-lac-ste-anne-ice-to-farming-island/","section":"Posts","summary":"Hugh and I were planning on walking over the ice to the caches on Farming Island on Lac St Anne. But we saw ice fishers on the ice, so we drove instead.","title":"Driving on Lac Ste Anne Ice to Find Farming Island Geocaches","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"February 28 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/lacsteanne/","section":"","summary":"","title":"LacSteAnne","type":"categories"},{"content":"I met my buddy Hugh and we spent hours walking over crusty lake ice to find geocachings hidden on islands on Oliver Lake in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary.\nThe Route Today # \u0026#9632; Gallery # ","date":"February 15 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-oliver-lake-caching-hike-feb-15-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I met my buddy Hugh and we spent hours walking over crusty lake ice to find geocachings hidden on islands on Oliver Lake in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary","title":"Ice Walking to Island Geocaches on Oliver Lake","type":"posts"},{"content":"I had an excellent walk over hardened trail snow and lake ice to get to remote cache in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary.\nThe Route Today # Gallery # ","date":"February 11 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-mandy-lake-to-dorward-lake-over-lake-ice-feb-11-2022/","section":"Posts","summary":"I had an excellent walk over hardened trail snow and lake ice to get to remote cache in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary","title":"Ministik Hike from Mandy Lake to Dorward Lake Over Lake Ice","type":"posts"},{"content":"The journey wasn’t a particularly difficult one.\nA geocaching buddy Hugh and I trudged across lake ice early in March, 2021 to get to an island on which a “puzzle” geocache was hidden. The story of that experience could be made more dramatic if two of us were hunched over walking into howling wind and pelting snow, icicles hanging on beards and eyeballs freezing in their sockets.\nThe actual experience was nothing like that, but there’s a story to be told about events well before the day of the journey in addition to the lake trudge experience itself.\nBefore we get to the actual trudge across the lake, just in case some readers aren’t familiar with how geocaching works, I should start with a short explanation.\nA Short Geocaching Primer # Geocaching is built on a simple concept. Hide something with some sort of “logbook” in it. Record the coordinates of where you hid that thing. Post the coordinates on the geocaching.com site. Other people use those coordinates to guide them to the spot where you hid the thing. They find it, sign the logbook to prove they were physically there and also log the find on the geocaching website.\nThat’s all quite simple, right?\nIn fact, it’s so simple, it’s so “open-ended” that it allows geocachers - “cachers\u0026quot; for short - to make the hobby whatever they want it be. Cachers can make a cache easy to find after a long walk either down a hiking trail or up a mountain. They can make a cache purposefully difficult hard to find by disguising it somehow. They can make the cache easy to find but hard to get into: for example, some people with a “maker” bent build “gadget” caches that cachers have to figure how to open on the spot.\nSome hide “multi-stage” caches that require you to visit multiple stages before reaching the final cache. Usually there are two or three stages, but I’ve done one that is 21 stages and it was well worth the effort too.\n“Puzzle” Caches # The Domino puzzle cache page Then there are geocaching puzzles. Instead of simply posting where the geocache is hidden, a puzzle cache (the proper name is actually “Mystery” cache) requires the working out of a puzzle in order to come up with the coordinates where the cache is hidden. Puzzles range from straightforward, fun and easy to dastardly, mind-boggling and difficult.\nThe geocache my geocaching buddy Hugh and I were on a mission to find today was a puzzle cache and to me, it was of the dastardly, mind-boggling and difficult sort. It is called “Domino Cache” and the puzzle creator was another geocaching buddy, Dwaine. During the pandemic isolation of 2020, to pass some of the time, I focused far more than usual on solving geocaching puzzles. I even spent time solving multiple level, one 10 levels, one 12 levels, one a more than slightly insane 50 levels. So I’m not completely unable to solve geocaching puzzles.\nBut I was completely unable to solve the puzzle we were going for today. I’d tried multiple times over the years and just couldn’t crack it. I even had very good hints from Dwaine about what to do. I just didn’t get it. After I shared my pain with Hugh, who I think it’s fair to say does not love geocaching puzzles, he solved it in very short order! I was so happy and relieved to hear that because I know that someday I had an outside chance to do something I’d been wanting to do literally for years: go find the Domino Cache I strongly suspected and now knew was hidden on an island in the middle of Thunder Lake near Barrhead, Alberta.\nThe Journey to Thunder Lake # We started off trip to Thunder Lake with Hugh leaving his car at my place and setting out in mine. Despite the pandemic, we’d decided to travel together in one car because each of us knew the other was being very careful and isolating as much as possible over the past months.\nDuring the drive from Edmonton, we stopped at a couple of geocaching find most, but not all we attempted. Finally it was time to check out how we were going to approach the cache. There was a possibility of simply driving out onto the ice with the car, something we’ve done that at different lakes while geocaching in the past. But when we got to the “dock” at Thunder Lake we saw no evidence of people driving out onto the ice to go ice-fishing or otherwise. There were old “sled” tracks but no vehicle tracks.\nThat made me, the driver, nervous. It might have been just fine to drive out onto the ice. But with no evidence that others were doing it, I wasn’t comfortable being the first.\nThe next option was to check out places to park and from that spot we’d make our way to the cache. The problem was the places we had in mind were inside the Provincial Park and we found the provincial park was locked up to vehicle traffic for the season.\nThe Hike Begins # So we had no choice but to park at the locked gates at the entrance and walk in from there. Getting ready at the parking spot. First we had a road to walk on, which of course was easy going. We had a good chuckle as we passed the park registration building. A NO REFUNDS sign, complete with a misspelling, informed guests that no, they wouldn’t get a refund if they didn’t like the mosquitoes, if it rained or if it was too hot or too cold for them. The amusing sign at the entrance gate. The park staff must hear it all!\nSoon we were at the shoreline and time to venture out onto the ice. At first there was a little minor “post-holing”: our boots sank into the snow with each step. But in fairly short order that stopped with most of the snow was crusty from being wind swept on the open ice. Soon we caught a couple of “ski-doo” tracks which made the walking quite a bit easier and we were able to follow those tracks all the way to the island.\nThe Find # Once near the island the map on my GPS receiver hinted that we might need to travel overland for a bit. But as we got closer it was clear that wasn’t the case: soon we were 20 meters away from where the cache was supposed to be.\nWe found the cache quickly (Phew!), exactly where it was supposed to be because both of our GPSr receivers read 2 meters while we standing beside the cache hiding spot. There’s an understood 3 meter margin of error when using these devices so the coordinates we had were obviously precise.\nGrant on the island We had found the cache and as is the practice of the times, we each posed for victory photos both during and after the signing of the logbook stored in the geocache container.\nThe quest for the Domino Cache was completed. It’s fulfilling to finally reach a goal, to so something that you didn’t believe would ever happen. Personally, I\u0026rsquo;d had many \u0026ldquo;map-dreaming\u0026rdquo; sessions over the past few years wondering if I\u0026rsquo;d ever manage to come and find this cache.\nAnd that had just happened! 😁\nIt was the time for periodic “happy dances” to punctuate the trudging steps over the crusty, wind-swept ice back to land and the waiting car.\nPicture Gallery # ","date":"March 12 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/a-satisfying-hike-over-lake-ice-to-the-domino-puzzle-cache/","section":"Posts","summary":"A geocaching buddy Hugh and I trudge across lake ice early in March, 2021 to get to an island on which a “puzzle” geocache was hidden.","title":"A Satisfying Hike Over Lake Ice to the Domino “Puzzle” Cache","type":"posts"},{"content":" Some movies stand out from the rest. Often that’s because they do a good job of dramatizing situations from which you can learn essential truths about the human condition. The Shawshank Redemption and Gravity both excellent example of doing just this and both are worthy of your time and attention.\nThese are very different movies, but they share one identical message at a crucial point in their plots: if one decides not work to improve present circumstances and instead simply passively accepts whatever circumstances fate has provided, one becomes essentially “dead.”\nIt’s a choice we humans are making constantly: do we chose the “safe” stasis or the risky path to “becoming” and growth.\nFirst, The Shawshank Redemption. The movie was adapted from Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and released in 1994. Although critics seemed impressed, and it was nominated for seven Oscars that year, but won none. And it “landed with a hollow thud at the box office,” in the words of the director, Frank Darabont.” Since then, however, this movie it has grown in popularity to the point where it is the highest rated movie on IMDB.com and has been for years.\nWhy the initial cool reception by the general public? Most people probably assumed the movie that is set in a prison that depicts the lives of prisoners was a movie about prison life and the lives of prisoners. It’s not that at all.\nIt’s a movie about life, any human’s life …in a metaphorical prison of the someone’s own making. This is not the kind of prison that has walls. It’s a psychological prison we either build for ourselves or allow others to build for us.\nThe main character is Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins. He’s a man wrongfully convicted of killing his wife and her lover. Once in prison, he’s the one who ordered a rock hammer through the black market run by Red, played by Morgan Freeman.\nHe’s also the one (spoiler alert!) who took years to tunnel - mere pocketfuls of ground down prison wall at a time - out of his cell to eventual freedom.\nGet busy living or get busy dying At a crucial point in the plot we hear the memorable, quotable words: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying_.”_ It’s only after we realize he’s escaped that Andy has been choosing to “get busy living” almost the entire time he’s been locked up in prison.\nWhen we see that Andy has been chiselling away at the tunnel hole in the wall of his cell for years see understand that he’s consistently chosen to not simply accept his present circumstances. Instead, despite the risk of being caught, Andy is doing what he can do to provide himself with hope for the future.\nWe all know it’s more comfortable not to take a risk. Instead we simply fit in, acquiesce to the loudest voice in the crowd, float along being defined by others. That’s a choice we make and it leads to a life in “prison.” Brooks Hatlen, a lifer, is an extreme example of this choice in the movie, and the message is clear: if you can’t leave your own mind-made prison, you might as well be dead.\nBrooks\u0026#39; end In the movie, the head guard Byron Hadley snarls out the reality of prison life to the new prisoners: “You eat when we say you eat, piss when we say you piss and shit when we say you shit.” A more elegant way of saying the same thing is, being stuck with others’ definitions of you, with the scripts that others write for you, the expectations that others define for you is a sure way to imprison yourself.\nAs Red explains, Brooks is an example of someone “institutionalized,” so used to the confines of prison life that he can’t function outside of it. It seems his hope was snuffed out long before we meet him. And after he’s released, Brooks can’t endure freedom and in the “fight or flight” urges produced in the lower brain stem, he decides for “flight” in the extreme by taking his own life.\nGravity - Different Movie, Same Message # “Get busy living or get busy dying”. Dr. Ryan Stone, played by Sandra Bullock in the movie Gravity is faced with this same decision. Life can be shitty and just how will you decide to react to that? You can decide to give up and just take it, or you can get up the courage to work your way through it somehow. It\u0026rsquo;s the same call to action, just stated differently and in a completely different context, this time in space in low earth orbit.\nIn Gravity, released in 2013, after the International Space Station has been wiped out by the orbiting debris of a destroyed satellite, both Ryan and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney, are left to survive in space. Circumstances force Kowalski to cut the tether between them so that Ryan can survive. He drifts helplessly into the void of space, and because of this courageous act, Ryan - eventually - makes her way to a Russian Soyuz module and is able to get safely inside.\nShe’s now safe in a womb-like space capsule but finds that its thrusters are completely out of fuel. She’s adrift. All the frantic scrambling she has gone through with Kowalski and his sacrifice of his life for hers has still come to nothing. She faces a slow, cold and lonely death.\nAfter repeated attempts to contact Mission Control, Ryan manages to connect with Aningaaq a man back on earth who happens to be using a ham radio. There is a touching back and forth between the two, but seemingly resigned to her fate, Ryan simply turns the dials in the spacecraft to decrease the oxygen supply to nothing in an attempt to speed her death.\nShe asks Aningaaq, now the only human contact she has, to sing her to sleep.\nDespite this, her subconscious has other plans. It has decided to “get busy living.”\nIn quick succession, we see Matt Kowalski thump on the Soyuz hatch window, open the hatch from the outside and swing himself into the spacecraft.\nWe see Kolwalski there, bantering about his new record time in space, finding the bottle of vodka he knows is stashed under a Soyuz seat and turning on the lights to brighten the mode of the place. But we know very well he can’t be real. This is Ryan’s mind rebelling against the decision to quit on life.\nAs the “two” converse, Ryan enumerates the reasons why she’s completely out of options, why there’s no hope. Kowalski interrupts the pattern of defeat:\nBut still, it’s a matter of what you do now. I get it, it’s nice up here. You can just shut down all the systems, turn out all the lights\u0026hellip; and just close your eyes and tune out everybody. There’s nobody up here that can hurt you. It’s safe. I mean, what’s the point of going on? What’s the point of living? Your kid died. Doesn’t get any rougher than that. But still, it’s a matter of what you do now. If you decide to go, then you gotta just get on with it. Sit back, enjoy the ride. You gotta plant both your feet on the ground and start livin’ life.\nThis is Ryan’s subconscious piping up: saying you have to “get busy living or get busy dying.”\nNo matter what you choice you make, you are always carrying through on some kind of action. You can choose a path that you believe will lead to growth and becoming or a path of inaction that seems safe yet ultimately leads to a “dead” life, a life of “Living and partly living” to borrow a phrase from the poet T.S. Elliot. These two movies have multiple themes but it seems to me this universal message they have in common is what makes them so satisfying to watch. That message is that in each moment of our lives we need to make choice between living - despite the pain, sometimes suffering that comes with it - and “death”, a passive life scripted by others.\n","date":"February 25 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/the-endless-loop-of-decision/","section":"Posts","summary":"Two very different stories share one identical, fundamentally important message.","title":"The Endless Loop of Decision","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"February 15 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/japan/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Japan","type":"categories"},{"content":" A recent post introduced you to my ugly mug from Tobe. It has to be said though that having a coffee mug as a souvenir from Japan is more than little odd.\nIn Japan, tea rules.\nThe everyday tea that people drink is green tea, generically called Ocha (お茶), and it is the fuel that drives the Japanese business world.\nSo it makes far more sense that I’d have Japanese tea cups as souvenirs from Japan. And strange as I might seem, while in Japan I actually did the thing that makes sense. Whenever I got the chance to travel, I made a point of buying a tea cup at my various destinations.\nThe beautiful Bizen tea cup I bought. As you can see, Bizen pottery is not your grandma’s china. One place I had the good fortune to visit was Bizen in Okayama prefecture. During the time I worked in Hiroshima, the student of my teaching colleague drove us first to see Kōraku-en, a famous park in Okayama Prefecture. He then took us to meet some craftsmen who produced Bizen pottery.\nApparently, the clay in the area doesn’t lend itself to having glaze applied to it. Instead, Bizen pottery is fired at very high temperatures and one technique potters use is to throw charcoal into the kiln near the end of the 10-to-14 day firing period to act as partial glaze.\nSpeaking of the potter\u0026rsquo;s, here are a few pictures that were taken during our visit. I\u0026rsquo;m not completely sure that these are craftsmen who made the teacup above, but they were, master and apprentice in the middle of firing some pottery when we visited.\nGallery # The techniques used by Bizen potters results in a rough, imperfect and decidedly burnt-looking teacup. To our western eye it might look closer to a mistake, a reject.\nTo the Japanese eye the obvious “imperfections” of Bizen pottery can be seen as fundamentally beautiful.\nOnly recently, many years after leaving Japan, I think I’ve found out just why that is: it’s an appreciation of things that suggest imperfection because of that in turn suggests impermanence.\nIt’s part of the aesthetic that’s called wabi-sabi:\nMy understanding of wabi-sabi only is only Wikipedia-deep at this point, but here’s the best description of it I can find: The aesthetic [is] defined as the beauty of things \u0026ldquo;imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete\u0026rdquo;. Things in bud, or things in decay, as it were, are more evocative of wabi-sabi than things in full bloom because they suggest the transience of things. As things come and go, they show signs of their coming or going, and these signs are considered to be beautiful.\nWikipedia\nThis appreciation for the impermanence of things comes from the Buddhism where absolutely everything around us is considered to be “evolving from or dissolving into nothingness.”\nThis \u0026ldquo;nothingness\u0026rdquo; is not empty space. It is rather a space of potentiality. If the seas represent potential then each thing is like a wave arising from it and returning to it. There are no permanent waves. At no point is a wave complete, even at its peak. Nature is seen as a dynamic whole that is to be admired and appreciated.\nWikipedia\nI don’t know about you, but this makes complete sense to me. We are born made of the stuff of this earth and we’ll eventually return to again be the stuff of this earth. Our existence is like a wave welling up, traveling for distance, and returning to the ocean from which it came.\nIf tea cup you use reminds you of the nature of existence, that things are impermanent, perhaps constant reminders might change your view of life? Perhaps you might remember there’s a end to things and your time on earth is brief?\nPerhaps you might savour the tea you’re drinking in this moment just a little more?\n","date":"February 15 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/my-beautiful-teacup-from-bizen/","section":"Posts","summary":"I had the rare opportunity to visit with two potters who made Bizen pottery in Okayama Prefecture in Japan. The purposely rough, charred style of pottery conjures an aesthetic called wabi-sabi.","title":"My Beautiful Teacup from Bizen","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s over 35 years old now. These days it’s not my first or even second choice when it comes to choosing a coffee mug in the morning.\nBut the mug I painted up with glaze to be fired as a souvenir from Tobe, Japan still tells me an important truth when I free it from the darkness of the cupboard. Here’s my mug from Tobe. My Ugly Mug from Tobe You calling it ugly? That’s okay, I can’t disagree very strongly. Marin Burch, the principal of the English conversation school in Matsuyama Ehime where I’d just started working in the fall of 1985, drove a group of us to nearby Tobe to try out painting glaze on plain, blank, unfired pottery mugs.\nWhy Tobe? Because it’s a town that has been famous for a style of blue and white pottery, called sometsuke, since the 1700’s. Our group of budding artists consisted of Aya, Marin’s teenage daughter, Kirsten from Tacoma, WA, another teacher already working at the school, and me, the “new guy” from Canada.\nWhen the time came to paint glaze on the blank mug, I distinctly remember a moment of panic. “What? Me an artist?” I searched my brain for any similar past experience to build on. Nothing. The brain was a blank as the mug I was holding up to paint.\nI vaguely remember there being pictures hanging about the pottery studio and I chose one to copy: a Chinese-style ink brush painting of misty mountains towering up over a lone boat on a meandering river. That’s what the squiggles you see on that mug are trying to be.\nBut the urge I remember most vividly from that painting session is that I felt I had fill up all the space. Leave no blank spot untouched! It was a kind of “I paid for the whole mug, so I have to paint on all of it” urge.\nNow fast forward to almost two years after that painting session. My teaching contract finished, I was packing up to leave Japan to return to Canada. Of course the souvenir mug I painted in Tobe was returning home with me.\nIt was only then I had an intense realization. After two years of living in Japan, if I were to sit down and paint the same mug, I would have painted it with an entirely different aim. The urge would not have been to fill the space up, but leave as much open space as possible. An artistic sense of appreciating negative space had quietly infiltrated my brain by some invisible cultural osmosis. After two years in Japan, the ink brush painting below is the kind of thing I would have wanted to imitate.\nA group of panels with obvious negative space. Of course my lack of artistic skill wouldn’t have rendered anything close to this, but the point is my idea of beauty had changed after having been immersed in the Japanese culture.\nIt’s not like I was focusing on any “artistic” theories during that time. Far from it: I was just living day-by-day, teaching English conversation, and when I was able, taking trips to a few places around Japan like Kyoto, Kyushu and Tokyo to name a few destinations. There was no conscious study of aesthetics whatsoever.\nBut living immersed in the Japanese culture had altered my brain. And it had altered by brain silently, with no warning. It was that invisible re-wiring of my brain that came as a complete surprise.\nIn contrast, it was easy to see my behaviour had been altered in day-to-day life. When living in a foreign culture it’s “do as the Romans do”: one molds oneself to fit in with the “flow” of the culture. One obvious example is the language of personal interactions that becomes become part the daily routine. For example, one wouldn’t dream of asking someone to do something without adding an ”おねがいします” （onegaishimasu - translated “Please do it for me” or simply “Please”). Months after returning to Canada, I was still muttering this phrase under my breath while asking for a favour from someone. In Japan, I couldn’t finish a class and return to the office without someone bestowing a “おつかりさまでした！” on me as I entered the room. “Otsukarisama deshita” translates variously as “Good job!”, “You must be tired”, “You worked hard!” These common expressions serve a cultural “grease” that make for smoother group interactions. It was obvious to me they were changing my behaviour because they were being repeated every day. But during my every day interactions with others no one was attempting to influence my personal aesthetic, my touchstone for deciding what was and what wasn’t artistically beautiful. No one once mentioned “negative space” during my time in Japan. That aesthetic simply surrounded me without me even noticing.\nThe saying “Fish discover water last” comes to mind. My version has always been “A fish is the last creature I’d ask for a definition of water”. To a fish, water just is. How do you notice, much less question, what simply is?\nMy ugly mug reminds me that I once swam in a pond that contained a different kind of water. And it changed me.\n","date":"February 10 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/my-ugly-mug-from-tobe/","section":"Posts","summary":"I still have my \u0026ldquo;ugly mug\u0026rdquo; from Tobe, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. I think of it as an important momento of my time living in Japan but I still think it\u0026rsquo;s ugly.","title":"My Ugly Mug from Tobe","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"February 1 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/note-taking/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Note Taking","type":"categories"},{"content":"Do you love learning new things?\nYeah, me too.\nBut if you think about it, you’re not going have someone answer that question with, “Not me! Learning’s just not my thing!” You won’t because humans simply like to learn new things. It’s in our nature.\nThat said, I think you’ll agree that there are differences in the effort different people put into constantly learning new things. Doing that isn’t easy. Constant learning means challenging the mind-constructed comfort zone of one’s current world view. It means taking a risk to learn, test and absorb new ideas that ultimately change that worldview. And while all that is happening one is very likely to feel a bit lost, a uncertain and maybe a bit stupid. All that can can be uncomfortable, scary even.\nAnd if you’re really serious about making a habit of learning new things, I think you’ll agree that you’ll want to be just as serious about doing whatever you can to first, retain that learning and second use it to change how you think, do and act in the future.\nIn the recent past when reading a book to learn from - as opposed to pure pleasure-reading - I thought I was doing all I could to retain the ideas I’d gleaned.\nFor example, I knew I’d learn best if I was actively engaged with what I was reading. That usually meant having a pen in my hand - or a highlighter - to mark passages that seemed to most important. Comments or questions would be also be scribbled in the margin.\nSound familiar?\nActive reading means having your pen ready to scribble and interact with the text. Underlining and making marginal notes is a good habit, but it only goes so far if you want any learning you\u0026rsquo;ve done to last\nIn my opinion this method of interacting with the material should be second nature. If it’s not, I would whole-heartedly suggest you get a pen in your hand while you read a book or learn from any other content source like a blog post, movie, podcast, and so on. To be honest, even though I’d done that work, I found myself opening up a book I’d read a few months before to see the text marked with underlines, and the margins dabbled with scribbles, and any learning I’d done back then was pretty well completely forgotten.\nWhat was the point of all that, if I was just going to forget it all anyway?\nThe Promise of a Better Way # Before you continue to underline text and scribble in the margins, consider another way of engaging with the content you’re reading. It’s a method that’s gotten quite a lot of buzz during the past few years and I’ve just started to wrap my brain around it recently. I’m not going to say the method promises an easier way of learning and remembering, but I honestly believe it has the potential to be a much more effective on both counts.\nIt’s called the Zettelkasten method. I know what you might be thinking: that I’m going to tell you it was invented by someone named Baron von Zettelkasten in the late 1800’s in Bavaria. But no, there are no over-sized moustaches and faded portraits of spikey-helmeted German barons involved here.\nA Zettelkasten or \u0026quot;Slip-box\u0026quot; It’s a lot more basic than all that. Zettel is simply German for “note” and kasten translates as “box”. Literally, “Note-box”. Zettelkasten is generally translated as “slip-box.” Frankly, this is not a word I remember ever using in English. I would more likely call a “slip-box” a small version of a card catalogue, you know the kind you used to see taking up most of the first floor of any library in the “olden days” before computers.\nBut what does a “slip-box” have to do with a different way of learning?\nFirst, let’s go back to the underlined text in the books you’ve read. That underlined text and the scribbles in the margin are all that remain from the time you decided which passages were the most important in the book. When you made those marks in the book you were engaged with the ideas it was describing. But that time has passed.\nWhen you close the book the learning experience gradually washes away from your memory. Be honest, despite your hard work and maybe an A on an exam, that’s what happened. This is simply the way things are if you rely solely on this technique of learning.\nSure, you can can go back to the book and now it’s easier to zero in on what you seemed to think was important. But close that book and in a couple of sleeps, poof, it’s all gone again. It’s like some perpetual, evil magic trick.\nHow to Take Smart Notes, by Sönke Ahrens Sönke Ahrens, the author of How to Take Smart Notes points out this problem: merely underlining sections of text and writing the odd comment in the margin will very soon become useless to you. He has alternative method. It may not be easier, but in his opinion - and mine, I’ve decided - it many times better.\nAhrens says that instead of merely underlining text, you have to do something with important ideas you’ve gleaned from the book and the Zettelkasten method tells you exactly what to do.\nFirst you should have a pen in your hand and make what he calls “Literature Notes”. Since his book is primarily aimed at an academic audience, the word “Literature” means the collection of research amassed on a certain subject. I prefer calling these “Raw Notes”.\nNotice I didn’t say that you “take” notes; no, you’re expected to make the notes, that is, reword or translate the ideas you learn into your own words as you make notes on the content. This forces you to interact with the material, question your understanding of it, and look for ways to fill any gaps in that understanding as you go. Now you’re both engaged and thinking about the content.\nEventually, you will be archiving these “Literature Notes” so it’s important that you’ve captured as much as you can from your source, be it a book, an article, blog post, or YouTube video, and so on.\nEither while you’re taking these “Literature Notes” or soon after you’ve finished, you then make “Permanent Notes”. These are the notes that Niklas Luhman, the original developer of the Zettelkasten method, would add to his slip-box on what we would call index cards.\nTattered index cards Examples of Luhman\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Permanent Notes\u0026rdquo;. These would find a permanent home in his Zettelkasten (Slip-box\nPermanent notes have some unique qualities. They are “atomic” in that they describe, as briefly as possible, a fundamental, core idea or concept. They are written in full-sentences so that it stands on its own, meaning the note should be able to be understood by you or anyone else outside of the context from which you just extracted the idea.\nPut another way, you write this note for an audience of one: your future self, who will inevitably forget the concept and having ever written the note in the first place.\nAlready the demands of this method are “forcing” you to think, grapple, and question with ideas and concepts in two different passes, first when creating “Literature” notes and second, when creating “Permanent” notes. Compare this to simply underlining words in a book. I think you’ll agree that while this method is more demanding, it will certainly lead to a greater understanding of whatever it is you’re trying to learn.\nThat said, the real power of the system comes with the next step: saving your Permanent Notes in slip-box system and linking those ideas to others already there. When Luhman undertook this step, he used a system of numbers to identify each and every new note he added to the system. It allowed for chains of related ideas to form and because the notes were “self-contained” it also allowed for ideas to be connected to other notes no matter where they were stored in his slip-box. But, yikes, that sounds like a lot of tedious work, doesn’t it?\nSoftware Makes the Zettelkasten Method Far Easier # These days the idea of “hyperlink” from one document to another is second nature to us and linking notes together is extremely easy with the right software.\nWeb-based Roam Research has produced a lot of praise for its ability to store and link notes, but it comes with no free option and at what I personally consider too steep a subscription price at $US 15/ month or $US 165/ year. It is housed entirely online and so there’s always a nagging question about the status of the content you create with the software.\nThe relatively new Obsidian, a free, open-source option, offers similar features, but runs locally in a stand alone application on your computer. It also stores files locally so you always know exactly where your work is. There are many options for safeguarding your work and storing inside a file sharing and syncing service like Dropbox, iCloud, or OneDrive are popular choices. I happen to have simple Network Attached Storage device so my \u0026ldquo;vault\u0026rdquo; of notes is kept there and accessible from any computer in the house.\nLike Roam, Obsidian uses Markdown exclusively so you can add formatting to your text similar to HTML (bold, italic, bullet points, etc), images and other HTML tags if needed. Since Markdown has become a standard import / export format for many applications, and files are stored in text format, your work is extremely portable and future-proofed. Learn more about Markdown if it\u0026rsquo;s new to you.\nThere are other promising applications like Remnote, Tiddlywiki, Stroll, and org-roam which I’ve only poked at in passing.\nObsidian with the \u0026quot;Graph view\u0026quot; displayed. Each \u0026quot;dot\u0026quot; on the graph represents a note and the lines between notes represents a link them. I’ve personally decided to climb the Obsidian learning curve and I’ll use it to save and link any notes created while reading (books, blog posts), listening (podcasts) or watching (YouTube, Vimeo). Obsidian’s features are impressive even though it’s still relatively early days in its development: at this writing, it hasn’t yet reached the version 1 status yet.\nAt this point, I’m still a Zettelkasten newbie. I’ve got the theory down but I honestly don’t yet have much experience actually working to create, link and think through a significant number of linked notes.\nI’ll be sure to add new posts in the future describing my software of choice Obsidian and my experience working with it in the future.\n","date":"February 1 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/zettelkasten-the-promise-of-a-truly-effective-method-of-learning/","section":"Posts","summary":"A brief introduction to the Zettelkasten method of note making as described in How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens.","title":"Zettelkasten: the Promise of A Truly Effective Method of Learning","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 24 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/cool-apps/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Cool Apps","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"August 24 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/mapping/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Mapping","type":"categories"},{"content":" Welcome to Part 3 of the StoryMapJS Tutorial # StoryMapJS is free online software that lets you tell a story with media — including images, video or audio - and augment that story by displaying specific locations on a map. It’s one of many projects developed, hosted and freely shared by Knight Lab, part of Northwestern University.\nIn Part 1, I introduced StoryMapJS.\nIn Part 2, I covered the process of building StoryMap slides.\nIn this third and final part of the StoryMapJS tutorial, I’ll cover\nUnderstanding the Publish Changes Button Adding your Your Map Markers Configuring How Your StoryMap is Displayed Sharing Your StoryMap Understanding the Publish Changes Button # StoryMapJS saves your work to two separate versions of your StoryMap: the Draft version (named “draft.html” if you link to it) and the “Final” version (named “index.html”). In Part 1 of the tutorial we covered the “Save” button. This saves your most recent changes to the Draft version. Those changes are saved to the “Final” version only when you click the “Publish Changes” button. This way you can work on making changes to the StoryMap in the background and not publish those changes until you’re sure you want to.\nAdding Your Own Map Markers # The temple icon By default, the markers on the map reflect the kind of media you’ve added: an image will have a certain icon, a YouTube video another.\nThe “Marker Options” button lets you add your own marker images to the map which will display instead of the default markers you see.\nSince my StoryMap is about Buddhist temples, it might be a nice touch to add map marker icons that remind one of a temple.\nI can upload this icon to the StoryMapJS site and it will display instead of the default markers.\nEach slide icon is independent of other slides so you could upload icons that represent the location such as a store, or airport or museum, etc.\nOptions Dialog Box # The options button The Options dialog box contains a number of important settings that affect how your StoryMap is displayed. Open the dialog box by clicking the Options button at the top left.\nOptions Dialog Box StoryMap Size # These numbers determine the size of an embedded StoryMap. My recommendation is always keep the width at 100%. You may need to alter the Height once your StoryMap is embedded on your webpage, depending on the space available on the page and the amount of content on your slides.\nLanguage # This setting changes the navigation buttons and messages in your StoryMap to the the selected language.\nFonts # StoryMapJS offers a number of font combinations for your headline and text. Take the time to try a few of the combinations because they can enhance the aesthetic of your StoryMap substantially.\nTreat as Cartography or Image # The primary difference between these too settings is the that lines are drawn between map location markers when “Treat as Cartography” is selected. Those lines do not appear when “Treat as Image” is selected.\nTreat as Cartography Call to Action # If you choose “Yes”, a button appears on the title screen of your StoryMap under the headline and text you’ve added. The button is meant to prompt the visitor to continue to the next slide.\nThe default text of the button reads “Start Exploring”, but you can change that in the text field here. As an example, I’ve changed the text to “Start Exploring The Temples.”\nStart Exploring Button Map Type # StoryMapJS allows you to change the basemap that displays on the left side of the screen. You may want to change the baseman depending on the aesthetic you want your map to present.\nBuilt-in map typesStamen maps are generally present a low detail, subdued look. Open Street Maps offer an accurate, highly-detailed map.MapboxMapbox is a mapping service that is completely separate from StoryMapJS. Mapbox offers both free and paid accounts and with the free account, your maps are allowed a generous allotment of up to 25,000 views / month. Mapbox has a number of built-in styles including “Streets”, “Light”, “Dark”, “Outdoors”, and “Satellite”. Check out various styles on the sample map here. You’ll need to do a little research on how to best use Mapbox, including creating an account to obtain an “Access Token” in order to access your maps.Gigapixel mapsGigapixel maps allow you to use a large image as your map instead of the usual map of the earth. For example, the “Game of Thrones: Arya’s Journey” map example on the site uses an image of Westeros from the Game of Thrones as the basemap. You’ll need special software to break any large image into map tiles, allowing your visitor it zoom in certain parts of the map. To learn more about the software and the concept, check out this page o the StoryMapJS site to learn more about gigapixel maps.Custom maps\u0026nbsp; If you are using custom maps, the assumption is you are hosting your map and all the tiles that make up the zoom levels of your map, on your own web server. Sharing Your StoryMap # The share button lets you share your StoryMap with others. Let’s go through the options it offers you.\nShare Dialog Box Share Link # The share link is a simple URL which, when accessed, will open your StoryMap in a web browser window.\nNote that if you paste a link into a post on Medium.com, the service will automatically render the link into an embedded version of the StoryMap (more on embedding below).\nSocial Media Shares # StoryMapJS also provides links to a few social media services like Twitter, Facebook, and reddit.\nYou can add a brief description and provide a “Featured Image” to enhance your post on Facebook or Twitter.\nFor example, if you provide a featured image, your post would look like this on Facebook.\nFacebook with Image added to Post If you don’t supply a featured image, an image of the Knight lab logo is attached instead.\nA Facebook post with no image Embedding Your StoryMap on a Webpage or Blog Post # Embedding your StoryMap on a webpage or blog post displays it on the page itself by using the HTML “iframe” tag. The advantage of embedding your StoryMap on your web page or blog post is your visitors don’t leave your site in order to experience the cool content you’ve created.\nShare Dialog - Embed Code For example, here are the steps to embed your StoryMap in a WordPress post.\nCopy the embed code from the Share dialog box. Assuming you’re using WordPress’s newer Gutenberg editor, you’ll want to use the “Custom HTML” block. Paste the embed code into the “Custom HTML” block, save the post as a draft (or publish it) and view the post. Note: If you’re using WordPress’s “Classic” editor, you’ll need to paste the code into the “Text” tab which displays your post along with any HTML markup that has been applied to it.\nThat wraps it up for Part 3 of the StoryMapJS tutorial and for the entire series.\nIf you missed them, check out Part 1 where I introduce StoryMapJS and Part 2 where I go through the process of how to build StoryMap slides. ","date":"August 24 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/storymapjs-part-3-sharing-a-storymap/","section":"Posts","summary":"In Part 3, the final part of the series, we cover how to share your StoryMap with others.","title":"StoryMapJS - Part 3 - Sharing a StoryMap","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"August 24 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/storymapjs-tutorial/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"StoryMapJS Tutorial","type":"series"},{"content":"","date":"August 24 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/storytelling/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Storytelling","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"August 24 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/tutorials/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Tutorials","type":"categories"},{"content":" StoryMapJS is free online software that lets you tell a story with media — including images, video or audio - and augment that story by displaying specific locations on a map. It’s one of many projects developed, hosted and freely shared by Knight Lab, part of Northwestern University. Check it out here at the Knight Lab site.\nThis is Part 2 of a three-part tutorial on StoryMapJS. In Part 1, I introduced StoryMapJS, reviewed a couple of StoryMap examples and briefly covered the authoring tool. Here we’ll focus on how to build a StoryMap and in Part 3 I’ll cover how to share a StoryMap. First you’ll need to log in to StoryMapJS and that is covered in Part 1: click here to review.\nThe StoryMapJS Authoring Tool # After logging in, the first screen you see is the StoryMapJS authoring tool ready for you to add content to the StoryMap’s title slide. Here’s a brief overview of the sections of screen.\nThe parts of the authoring tool. Map Location This is where you set the location on the map. In your completed StoryMap, the title slide displays all the locations of the slides in your StoryMap. So you don’t specify a location on this particular slide. Slide Icon Column The left hand column displays the icons for the title slide, shown in red here, and the slides you add to your StoryMap. This let’s you select a certain slide to edit as you’re building your StoryMap. Add Media You can upload images or provide links to images, video streaming services (YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion are supported), and many other services such as Wikipedia, SoundCloud and DocumentCloud. The media you add here displays on the right side of the screen above any headline or text you add. Add Headline or Text You’ll want to add a headline (or think of it as a title for the screen) and some descriptive text to your slide. The editor has bold, italic and hyperlink buttons. It also includes an “Edit Code” button so you can view the content with any HTML tags. Background Color or Image You can add a background color or image to the right side of the slides. In my experience, adding a background color makes any text you’ve added more difficult to read. My recommendation is to either avoid adding a solid color or add background image instead. When you add a background image, the opacity is automatically changed so that text is easy to read. Adding Media to Your Title Slide # To add media to your slides — in most cases, images being the one exception — you add links to media that already exists somewhere else on the web.\nRetrieve the URL ( that is, the link to that media) and paste it in the “URL to your media” field at the top of the Media section.\nAdd Headline and Text Add Headline and Text # For example, the URL of the tutorial video hosted on YouTube that accompanies this post is \u0026quot;https://youtu.be/Uagc-s\\_yA9c\u0026quot;.\nTo add that video to the slide you would simply copy and paste that URL into the field. It will take StoryMapJS a couple of seconds to connect and then you’ll see a thumbnail of the video appear. Vimeo and Dailymotion videos are supported in the same way.\nAdd Media with Thumbnail Add Media with Thumbnail # Follow this same process to add many other kinds of media to your your slide.\nImagesPaste in the link to image. Note that the default share link from Flickr doesn’t work. You need to extract the images address from the the Flickr embed code instead. Look for the link beginning with “live.staticflickr.com”.Wikipedia PagesPaste the page address.Tweets from TwitterPaste the share link from the tweet.Audio hosted at SoundCloudPaste the share link from the audio.Services like Dropbox or Google Photos don't workIn my experience pasting links to images hosted on a service like Dropbox or Google Photos will not work. If there are methods to makes these services work, I’d be happy to learn about them, so please comment below. Uploading Images # As mentioned, adding images are an exception to the adding of links to media because you have the option of uploading images directly to the StoryMapJS site. This may be your only option if you don’t have an option to store your images elsewhere on the web.\nThe process of uploading images is simple:\nClick the “Upload an Image” button, Search for the image on your computer, Click Open and The image will be uploaded and resized on the StoryMapJS site. Finally, remember to give credit where credit is due. Provide an attribution to the owner of the image if the image is not yours. Adding a Headline and Text to Your Title Slide # Add Headline and Text This section allows you add a “Headline” (or title if you want to think of it that way) and text to your slide.\nText Editor Buttons In the text editor you see four buttons.\nThe bold and italic buttons are straightforward enough. Click the “Edit HTML” button to change the editor to “HTML mode” where you can see any HTML tags in the content. A blue glow appears around the field when it’s in “Edit HTML” mode. Finally, the link button allows you to add web links to content in the editor. Select some text, then clink the link button, supply the URL in the pop-up dialog box, check the “Open link in new window” box and click “Insert Link”. Adding a Location to a Slide # You add new slide by clicking the Add Slide Button in the left column.\nAdd Slide Button The only change you’ll see from the title slide is you now have a search field to find locations on the map. You can search for a location like a city or an address. Once you have located the place you’re looking for, you can zoom in on the map using the “+” button in the upper left and then click, hold and drag the map marker to wherever you want on the map. Since I tend to travel to places that don’t have addresses, I often use GPS coordinates instead.\nEntering GPS Coordinates on the Map # To create a map marker using GPS coordinates, first you’ll need the coordinates in Decimal Degrees format, meaning the degrees and minutes need to look like this: DDD.MMMMM.\nWhere to find GPS coordinates with Bing Maps You can easily get GPS coordinates from online mapping services like Google Maps or Bing Maps. For example, on Bing Maps, simply right click the location on the map and copy the coordinates at the bottom of the context menu.\nIn Google Maps, it’s a tiny bit more manual: left click a location on the map. A information dialog box should appear at the bottom of the screen. Select the GPS coordinates and copy them.\nWhere to find GPS coordinates with Google Maps Finding Coordinates with the StoryMapJS Search Field # Here’s the process for making StoryMap recognize your GPS coordinates:\nPaste the GPS coordinates in the “Search for a location” field at the bottom of the StoryMap map section. Remove any punctuation between the two numbers. Add “lat:” (without the quotation marks) in front of the latitude and “lon:” in front of the longitude, like this:\nStoryMap Coords When you’ve done that, the map should recognize the coordinates and automatically create a marker at those coordinates. You can then reposition the marker manually by clicking and dragging it with your mouse.\nAdding a Background Image (or Color) to a Slide # You can add a background color or a background image to the right side of the screen.\nTo see the “Slide Background” dialog box, click the “Background Options” button at the lower right.\nBackground Options Add a Background Color # To add a background color, click inside of the “Background Color” field and a color picker appears. The field only accepts color hex values but the color picker lets you find the hex value if you drag the picker and use the coloured column at the right to chose the color you want.\nAdd a Background Color In my experience, adding a background color tends to make any text you have on the screen less readable. I suggest to you check this out yourself.\nAdd a Background Image # You can add a background image by pasting the URL of an image hosted on the web into the “Background Image” field or by uploading an image. Other images you have uploaded to this StoryMap are available by clicking the down arrow at the left.\nThe opacity of background images is automatically altered so that text is easy to read, even with a somewhat busy image in the background.\nWhat to learn more? In Part 3 of the tutorial I’ll cover:\nAdding your Your Map Markers Configuring How Your StoryMap is Displayed Sharing Your StoryMap ","date":"August 17 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/storymapjs-part-2-building-a-storymap/","section":"Posts","summary":"In Part 2 of a three-part series we cover how to build StoryMap slides.","title":"StoryMapJS - Part 2  Building a StoryMap","type":"posts"},{"content":" When you’re telling others about where you’ve gone and what you’ve experienced, wouldn’t it be cool to show them the exact locations of your travels on a map while you’re telling your story?\nStoryMapJS is great way for you to do just that.\nThis will be part one of a three part series about StoryMapJS. Here in Part 1 I’ll introduce you to StoryMapJS. Part 2 will cover building a StoryMap and Part 3 will cover sharing or publishing the finished result.\nWhat is StoryMapJS? # StoryMapJS is free online software that lets you tell a story with media — including images, video or audio - and augment that story by displaying specific locations on a map. It’s one of many projects developed, hosted and freely shared by Knight Lab, part of Northwestern University.\nA screengrab of one of the example StoryMaps on the site shows what a “slide” might look like.\nSample from StoryMapJS A slide is made up of four elements:\nA map location on the left side of the slide. A location is required for each slide. Then at least one of the next three elements is required, but you can include any combination of the three on the right side to the screen.\nSome kind of media such as an image, a video or even audio. A headline and some textual content which can include HTML and A background color or image to provide a nice aesthetic feel to the slide. So slides always require a map location on the left, and on the right side need to have at least one kind of media, but can have any variation of the other three elements.\nCreating a New StoryMap # Logging in to the StoryMapJS Authoring Tool # StoryMapJS uses your Google Account for authentication so naturally you’ll need a Google account to make use of the service. Make sure you’re logged in to a Google service (Gmail for example) and then browse to https://storymap.knightlab.com/\nClick on the big green Make a StoryMap button. You can’t miss it! :-)\nMake a StoryMap button Sign in with your Google account by clicking the button\nSign in with your Google account by clicking the button Choose an account to sign in with.\nChoose an account to sign in with. The “Your StoryMaps” dialog will appear. To create a new one, click the “New” button.\nYour StoryMaps Dialog Box Give your StoryMap a title (you can change it later if you want) and then click “Create”.\nTitle and Create button The StoryMapJS authoring Tool will appear ready for you to add content to the StoryMap’s title slide.\nA Quick Tour of the StoryMapJS Authoring Tool # When you create a new StoryMap, the title slide is the first screen you see in the authoring tool. Let’s go through the sections of the authoring tool. We cover the process of how to build a slide in Part 2 of the tutorial.\nThe parts of the authoring tool. # The parts of the authoring tool 1. Map Location # This is where you set the location on the map. In your completed StoryMap, the title slide displays all the locations of the slides in your StoryMap. So you don’t specify a location on this particular slide.\n2. Slide Icon Column # The left hand column displays the icons for the title slide, shown in red here, and the slides you add to your StoryMap. This let’s you select a certain slide to edit as you’re building your StoryMap.\n3. Add Media # You can upload images or provide links to images, video streaming services (YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion are supported), and many other services such as Wikipedia, SoundCloud and DocumentCloud.\nThis media displays on the right side of the screen above any headline or text you add.\n4. Add Headline or Text # You’ll want to add a headline (or think of it as a title for the screen) and some descriptive text to your slide. The editor has bold, italic and hyperlink buttons. It also includes an “Edit Code” button so you can view the content with any HTML tags.\n5. Background Color or Text # You can add a background color or image to the right side of the slides. In my experience, adding a background color makes any text you’ve added more difficult to read. My recommendation is to either avoid adding a solid color or add background image instead. When you add a background image, the opacity is automatically changed so that text is easy to read.\nThis was just a quick introductory overview of StoryMapJS and its the authoring tool. I hope it gives you a general idea of what the software can do. If you’re the kind of person who likes to learn by hunting and pecking through a piece of software, this might be all you need. Dive in and start using StoryMapJS for yourself!\nContinue to Part 2 where I go through the process of how to build StoryMap slides. ","date":"August 10 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/storymapjs-tutorial-part-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"This is Part 1 of a three-part series on how to use StoryMapJS. Here I\u0026rsquo;ll introduce you to the software and review examples of what it can do.","title":"StoryMapJS Tutorial - Part 1 - Introduction","type":"posts"},{"content":" It was a beautiful, clear day on Sunday, January 5th, when I decided to take a winter walk in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary starting at the U of A access road gate with the final goal being the Waskahegan Fire Tower. Along the way I stopped at some key waypoints and took photos with my seldom-used 360 camera, a Ricoh Theta SC. I thought I\u0026rsquo;d share the experience using some software I\u0026rsquo;m trying out:\nKnight Lab StoryMapJS which displays a map along with media like images or video in a slide format, and the Kuula image sharing site for the first time. There\u0026rsquo;s a 360 image hosted on Kuula on each slide in the StoryMap and the images were sometimes slow to load. Please have patience. Also, if you see a \u0026ldquo;play\u0026rdquo; button on the image, click it to load the 360 image, then use your mouse to drag the image around. And I have to say all of this is much better experienced on a computer screen vs a smaller mobile screen. Sharing the trip experience in this way is a bit of an experiment, so if some of it doesn\u0026rsquo;t work out, well, I\u0026rsquo;ll just chalk it up to science. Click the image below to launch the StoryMap in a new browser window.\nMy Route Today # My route today ","date":"January 8 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/winter-fire-tower-walk/","section":"Posts","summary":"A hike to a fairly remote fire tower in the Ministik Bird Sanctuary southeast of Edmonton is brought to life with StoryMapJS, software that combines maps with images and text.","title":"Winter Walk to the Waskahegan Fire Tower","type":"posts"},{"content":"I\u0026rsquo;m working on developing tutorials for pieces of software that I think are outside-of-the-box cool. One example is Knight Lab\u0026rsquo;s TimelineJS. For practice, I decided to create a Timeline of the studio albums REM released over the years. You\u0026rsquo;ll find it below, but first, why REM albums? They aren\u0026rsquo;t a band I know and love from my youth. Nonetheless, their music has been infused into my brain and I doubt by brain will purge it. And that\u0026rsquo;s a good thing; I like having their music rattling around in there.\nHere\u0026rsquo;s the thing: starting in my middle-age years, one thing led to another and it seems I just kind of gradually became an REM fan.\nMy first conscious memory of being aware of REM was while I was house-sitting in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut while I finishing up a 10-month teaching contract at Nunavut Arctic College. I discovered a cassette tape in the music collection of the people I was house-sitting for. It had a big blue dog on the cover. I think I may have been aware the album was by REM, but not knowing any better, I dubbed it the \u0026ldquo;Blue Dog\u0026rdquo; album.\nLater I found out the album was called Monster, but the most important thing was that I really liked the music on it. What struck me about it was that no two songs seemed to sound the same on the album. That was different: usually bands have their \u0026ldquo;sound\u0026rdquo; and songs are simply variations on that sound. That\u0026rsquo;s a overstatement, I know, but REM\u0026rsquo;s sound was from all over the musical spectrum it seemed to me and that\u0026rsquo;s what I liked about them. Obviously, these were musicians that didn\u0026rsquo;t surrender to the path of least resistance and do the same thing over and over again.\nIn Feb, 2007, completely out of the blue I suffered a detached retina. After an emergency operation and some time healing, instead of driving I started to ride the bus to work from the suburbs to downtown Edmonton. Riding the bus and listening to music during the ride became a habit and it\u0026rsquo;s during this time that I really began discovering REM catalog of music.\nIn this Timeline I\u0026rsquo;m highlighting REM\u0026rsquo;s studio albums and choosing one song from each of those albums that I like the most.\n","date":"December 1 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/timelinejs-in-action/","section":"Posts","summary":"Using a restrospective of REM\u0026rsquo;s discography, this post walks through the capabilities of TimelineJS a piece of timeline software hosted by Northwestern University\u0026rsquo;s Knight Lab.","title":"An Example of TimelineJS in Action","type":"posts"},{"content":" The front gate of Monitor Cemetery The gate was open when I arrived. This is usually an indication that the cemetery is being taken care of.\nPhoto Gallery # ","date":"November 20 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/monitor-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"Located on the side of a long, sloping hill, I visited Monitor Cemetery when the surrounding crops were in full bloom, justaposing new life with other part of the cycle: inevitable death.","title":"Monitor Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery lies 32 kms northeast of the town of Athabasca, Alberta and serves the Spruce Valley district.\nThe church is painted with an unusual colour scheme compared to the many other churches I\u0026rsquo;ve visited in rural Alberta, and it seemed to match fall colours surrounding it.\nOur Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church And I, for one, kind of like it.\nThe small cemetery is situated behind the church and is well-kept. Strangely, the cemetery is listed as \u0026ldquo;Mother of Perpetual Help\u0026rdquo; on all the cemetery-related internet databases, so searching for it using the name on the sign on the grounds makes it somewhat difficult to find on the web.\nPhoto Gallery # Click on any image to see a larger version.\nLocation # ","date":"November 5 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/our-lady-of-perpetual-help/","section":"Posts","summary":"Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery lies 32 kms northeast of the town of Athabasca, Alberta and serves the Spruce Valley district.","title":"Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":" If you reach for the stars, you just might land on a decently sized hill. - Stuart Hill, The Cry of the Icemark\nI’d say the four guys who made it to Grizzly Ridge Tower on Sawridge Hill southwest of Slave Lake today weren’t exactly reaching for the stars; we were all out to experience the terrain and find some geocaches as prizes along the way. Yeah, that\u0026rsquo;s about it, really.\nBut while doing that, we did manage to make our way up a decently sized hill.\nAnd to do that we travelled by quad and at times, two of us at least, on foot when the terrain got too dicey for doubling up on the quads. It was a 20 km round trip along grassy, hummocky terrain, deteriorating former roads, and around and through a LOT of bathtub- and small swimming pool-sized mud holes.\nWas it worth it? You’re damn right it was. Here’s what happened.\nStaging # Finding the \u0026#34;What 4\u0026#34; cache. After meeting at a restaurant mid-morning, we made our way west out of town in a convoy of three trucks, Dwaine and Bryan with their quads as cargo.\nAfter leaving Highway 2 and travelling about 9km south on Canyon Creek Road, we came to a convenient, but pretty muddy pull out. This was near the “Amazing Tree” cache, where we planned to start our trek today.\nBryan, Hugh and I left Dwaine to unload his quad while we scampered further south to find a cache that Dwaine had hidden about a week ago. The road near the cache was muddy and in fact a truck was stuck in the mud fairly close to the cache when we arrived. With the help of a buddy, they’d gotten themselves unstuck and were gone by the time we all were ready to make the walk over to the cache. It was found quickly and we all signed in as “First to Find”-ers.\nOnce we returned to staging area and were ready to go, the two-quad convoy began with the first stop being the “Amazing Tree” a cache and a tree which were unfortunately mostly destroyed in the 2011 Slave Lake wildfire. Even so, that tree is still a sight to see.\nWe then struck out eastward across a few spots with fairly challenging terrain, but tame compare to what we’d see later in the trip. The next major waypoint was meeting up with the road that once connected the area near Grizzly Ridge to the south with Highway 2 which passes through Slave Lake and the city dump to the west where this road originates.\nIt’s a Road That Has Seen Better Days # The road is no doubt a shadow of what it once was, the little traffic it sees not damaging the weeds that are beginning to reclaim it.\nNot too long later we reached the steel hulk of a bridge that had been burnt out by the 2011 Slave Lake wildfire and subsequently dragged up the hill from the creek it once crossed. There’s a cache, “Burnt Bridge”, hidden here by Bryan, one of our group, so three of us dismounted and began our search for it. It took a while, but Dwaine was finally able to come up with the goods. Having the owner the cache with us tossing out hints didn’t hurt either.\nThe next leg of the trip was relatively straightforward. We were on a actual road, with only minor obstacles to go around or over. That was the case until we got to “Grizzly Gateway”, another new waypoint on the earth now named for a geocache hidden there.\nPast the Gateway, Things Get Gnarly # Bryan makes his way through the gateway. After meeting at a restaurant mid-morning, we made our way west out of town in a convoy of three trucks, Dwaine and Bryan with their quads as cargo.\nPast the “gateway”, that is, past where any four-wheeled vehicle has gone for years and I dare say no four-wheel vehicle could go these days, the trail gets real gnarly.\nMy track log shows that the 2.8 km of trail to the top of the ridge took me 1 hour and 25 minutes to travel. That’s because the obstacles the quads met in this section, one getting briefly stuck in a bog and both being stopped up by a large piece of deadfall that had to be chainsawed into pieces and removed before we could continue.\nAnd as a passenger there were spots where it just wouldn’t have been safe to go through doubled up, so to get off I would shoot my not-so-small leg up toward the sky — groan like a bull moose just because it helped — and swing the leg around behind Dwaine’s back to dismount and, yeah, sometimes just roll off the back of the quad like a sack of potatoes.\nSometimes just me and at other times Hugh and I would walk through and around the dicey spot or up a slope to return to the waiting quads. That all took a while and, yes, it took a bit out of the walkers’ gas tanks. But it couldn’t be helped.\nI Don’t Need No Stinking Rubber Boots! # This section of the trail wasn’t without comic relief, which I supplied. As I was attempting to make my way through a nasty bog that had stopped up the lead quad for a bit, I took a wrong couple of steps, and sunk to my knees in mud. But there was still forward momentum so, suddenly I was on my knees falling forward into even more mud with both of my old black farmer-type rubber boots ripped off my feet, and impossibly stuck in the filthy ooze.\nIt took a two-armed heave to retrieve the boots from the massive suck of the mud hole. After that my feet were so soaked and my pants so filthy that getting muddy or getting my feet wet didn’t really matter anymore. Bonus!\nAnd for about three - or was it four or five? - more times during the afternoon, I lost a boot again after sinking into the muskeg ooze of mud hole that needed to be crossed on foot.\nIt was all part of the fun.\nGrizzly Ridge Tower # Group shot (minus me) at the tower. Nearer to the top of the ridge, both Hugh and I needed get off the quads to trudge to the top because the slope at that point made it just too dangerous to double up on the machines.\nWe made our way - oh, so slowly - to the top and then rested within sight of the tower, both of us too winded to march any further. Upon recovering, the tower was a such a cool sight. Its exterior looks weather-beaten but it’s been refurbished with new ladder-stairs so it’s very safe to climb.\nAfter retrieving the ultimate prize, Grizzly Ridge Tower Cache, hidden not too far away from the tower, we all eventually climbed the tower to take in the expansive view. There’s a lot of nature out there, plant, tree and animal and it it’s all part of a protected area, Grizzly Ridge Wildland Provincial Park.\nIt was time to make the trip back. The nastiest section of the trek had to be travelled again and even though we’d already covered the ground between the tower and “gateway”, I was still continually impressed at what kind of nasty terrain these quads could go through.\nI’ve had precious little experience driving quads - some in my teens in Saskatchewan and then later in my late 30’s on the Arctic tundra in Nunavut - both relatively flat-terrain, fairly dry places. This terrain was not that, so I learned a lot and have far more respect for the drivers who can deftly maneuver the machines through hellishly nasty terrain.\nDwaine and Grant Brian and Hugh We returned by an alternate route, opting to take an east-west quad trail just north of the “gateway”. Dwaine had gotten a scouting report from his neighbour about this leg and so we thought it would be at least passable.\nThere were a couple of very nasty spots along here, no question, but all-in-all it was a good decision to return this way. It seemed like the “fight” of staying on the back of the quad actually seemed to pass more quickly now. Was I getting used to this or was I just getting numb?\nSoon, after getting through a very nasty spot and descending a steep hill, we reached an actual road, maintained by an oil / gas company operating the area.\nA real road. And we made real time.\nBack to the Staging Area # On the way back to the staging area, we covered some of the same ground that three of us had travelled earlier that day to get Dwaine’s cache before our trek. It was cool actually recognizing familiar ground, a first for me during the trek through this new area to me.\nSince these were good roads we could pick up the pace, and soon we were back at staging area where high fives were in order.\nBut there was no time to rest. From the south a nasty rain squall was coming up on us quickly and before we could get out of there, nature congratulated us with some large cold rain splats. There was no big downpour, thank goodness, but that potential wetting of this road, which we had seen on the way in was greasy enough in some sections, made the guys load their quads with that much more haste.\nIt was such a great trip today and huge THANK YOU’s go to Dwaine and Bryan who man handled their quads with two bulky passengers for the 20 km round trip. It was the highlight of my outdoor experience this year, no question.\nEpilogue # Believe it or don\u0026#39;t, these washed up good as new the next day! Three days later, I’m pretty sure I can still feel the indents in my butt from the metal rack that was my seat at the rear of the quad.\nBut I’m very sure that I’ll feel the impact of the experience of the trip for a much longer time to come.\nAnd for some comic relief, this is what my pants looked like after stopping along Canyon Creek road before arriving back in Slave Lake.\nAmazingly, after an overnight soak, they washed up looking like new the next day.\nPhoto Gallery # The 20 km Route Today # Click on the \u0026ldquo;Play\u0026rdquo; button in the middle of the map and then click the individual waypoints to travel to and view a picture at that spot.\n","date":"October 18 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/quad-trek-to-grizzly-ridge-tower/","section":"Posts","summary":"I\u0026rsquo;d been \u0026ldquo;map-dreaming\u0026rdquo; for literally years about making the trek to Grizzly Ridge Tower. I\u0026rsquo;d even tried and failed once foiled by muddy roads. But because of the kindness of friends, I was finally able to get there.","title":"Quad Trek to Grizzly Ridge Tower","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"October 18 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/slave-lake/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Slave Lake","type":"categories"},{"content":" St. Laurence Anglican Church St. Laurence Anglican Church is located in the hamlet of Monitor, Alberta. Constructed in 1915, it is registered in the Canadian Register of Historic Places.\nIt’s been home to the local Anglican parish for over a century, but at times was also the meeting place for Methodist and Lutheran congregations and served as the hamlet’s schoolhouse, public library and as a meeting place for the Boy Scouts and Red Cross when the need arose.\nIt seems to me, the church has been one of the true hubs of the community over the years.\nWhen I visited on a summer day in 2019, I admit that it was a geocache hidden in the church (that’s unusual) that lured me here initially. But as so often happens with the hobby, even though the geocache was very nicely done and craftily hidden, it was the place I was lured to that made a lasting impression.\nAfter parking nearby, the front walk led me past the church\u0026rsquo;s welcome sign, and to an unlocked door, not something you’d generally find in the city or most small towns, I\u0026rsquo;d say.\nThe somewhat cramped musty, darkish vestibule gave you little choice but to notice and read the framed invocation on the wall, a reminder to pray for yourself, and for those who worship here including those “ministering” and those “worshiping”.\nThe framed invocation in the church vestibule. It struck me that this reminder (or was it closer to being a command?) was simply asking me to act outside of myself, to send a “prayer”, as I would frame it, good karma to others.\nThat set a kind of tone for my whole visit: I was being asked to at BE present and even to DO something during my visit to this place. I was no longer just a passive visitor.\nA second door opened to the church itself, and revealed five rows of pews all bathed in the summer sun radiating through the windows. The creaky floors, the Story \u0026amp; Clark organ and impressive stained-glass windows on the far wall gave me the feeling that I wasn’t in an everyday place. That’s exactly what a church is supposed to do: take you out of your “normal” world and transport you by being a physical space that reminds you of an “other” space, no matter how you conceive of that.\nThe inside of the church on a bright summer day. After finding the geocache, and admiring it, I signed the church register near the organ and couldn’t help lingering a while to admire the church itself.\nAs I write now, in a sense, I’m obeying the invocation in the vestibule: with these words, I’m offering a “prayer” to the place and the local people who continue to maintain it.\nSource: HeRMIS\nPhoto Gallery # Location # ","date":"October 12 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-laurence-anglican-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"St. Laurence Anglican Church is located in the hamlet of Monitor, Alberta. Constructed in 1915, it is registered in the Canadian Register of Historic Places.","title":"St. Laurence Anglican Church - Monitor, Alberta","type":"posts"},{"content":" A quick rest while hiking up Mt. Stearn, near Grande Cache, Alberta Hi there, I\u0026rsquo;m Grant Wilson from Edmonton, Alberta. Wherever I’ve happened to settle down, I’ve always loved to explore. That could mean exploring anything from city streets to trails through the bush to an almost featureless arctic tundra. I grew up in small town Saskatchewan, Canada, but I’ve been lucky enough to be able to change “habitats” a few times in my life: a summer working in Germany beside the Baltic Sea, a couple years of living and working in Hiroshima and Matsuyama Japan, and a year living above the arctic circle in Nunavut.\nAnd no matter where I’ve been, there’s always been a strong urge to record my experience. I’ve failed to do this enough times throughout my life to want to make it a priority these days. However I can, I try to make it a priority to record what I’ve been up to, what I’ve seen and what it was like to be where I was.\nThis urge to record experience is hardly unique these days. The web, then blogs, then YouTube: the possibilities are endless for people to “publish themselves”. Will what you see here be much different? Probably not, but for my own selfish sake, I hope that this site is a repository of my attempts to expand my “capacity for experience”.\n","date":"April 25 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"Grant's Tracks","summary":"\u003cp\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"box-right-40\"\u003e\n  \u003cpicture\u003e\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \u003csource type=\"image/webp\" srcset=\"/about/images/gsw-300x300-1_hu_aacba787b11386ad.webp\"\u003e\n    \n    \n    \u003csource type=\"image/jpeg\" srcset=\"/about/images/gsw-300x300-1_hu_aecb51476bd28ae2.jpg\"\u003e\n    \u003cimg src=\"/about/images/gsw-300x300-1_hu_aecb51476bd28ae2.jpg\" class=\"nozoom\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A quick rest while hiking up Mt. Stearn, near Grande Cache, Alberta\"\u003e\n  \u003c/picture\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"img-right-40-caption\"\u003e\n    \u003cfigcaption\u003eA quick rest while hiking up Mt. Stearn, near Grande Cache, Alberta\u003c/figcaption\u003e\n  \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\nHi there, I\u0026rsquo;m Grant Wilson from Edmonton, Alberta. Wherever I’ve happened to settle down, I’ve always loved to explore. That could mean exploring anything from city streets to trails through the bush to an almost featureless arctic tundra. I grew up in small town Saskatchewan, Canada, but I’ve been lucky enough to be able to change “habitats” a few times in my life: a summer working in Germany beside the Baltic Sea, a couple years of living and working in Hiroshima and Matsuyama Japan, and a year living above the arctic circle in Nunavut.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"About Me","type":"page"},{"content":"It seemed as if I was floating along the Ministik trails today.\nOf course I wasn\u0026rsquo;t. Gravity was actually in full force.\nBut during a couple of snowy hikes this winter, even when walking on snowmobile tracks, it was hard going, having to push, sink and sometimes slide in the snow with every step.\nIt wasn\u0026rsquo;t at all like that today. The snow along the trails was packed down by sled tracks, but more importantly it was crusty-hard and supported my weight with every step. It was almost like walking on a sidewalk, I thought to myself.\nLeft goes to Mandy Lake; right goes to Oliver Lake...eventually. But I didn\u0026rsquo;t think too loudly, not wanting to jinx my good luck.\nMy goal for the day was to find two new caches hidden by Jazzhiker, a relatively new geocacher who, like me, came to geocaching via hiking. And I know for a fact that he\u0026rsquo;s even a member of a hiking club, so that makes him even more of an \u0026ldquo;official\u0026rdquo; hiker than I am.\nI made it a little hard on myself when I reached the large meadow at the end of the snow-packed trail. There was a fence slicing its way through the middle of the meadow that I\u0026rsquo;m quite sure I\u0026rsquo;d never seen before.\nI thought I had to go over that fence, and so I did. Later I realized that all snowmobile traffic goes around the fence not 100 meters from where I veered off the trail into deep snow to go over the fence.\nOh well, live and, hopefully, learn.\nThere was more deep snow and much post-holing after getting over the fence, but that didn\u0026rsquo;t last now. In no time I was a wide supremely packed down sled \u0026ldquo;highway\u0026rdquo; which made it easy to get to the first cache hide.\nI was First-to-Find on both caches today, something that\u0026rsquo;s not very common for me. After the finding the first cache, I saw the \u0026ldquo;bee-line\u0026rdquo; route would take me into a world of deep snow post-holing. Nope, that\u0026rsquo;s not for me, so I continued along the sled track to my cache, checked in it and continued around along the shoreline towards the second cache.\nLuckily there were sled tracks here too. These were a little softer than the others I\u0026rsquo;d been on, but still quite good and hard.\nAlong this stretch I saw human tracks and as I got closer to the cache I was 100% sure they were the cache owner\u0026rsquo;s tracks laid down as he was hiding the his cache. That made it quite easy to make my way straight to the cache, aside from the fact that I had a GPSr device in my hand.\nThe cache was found quickly.\nMy this trek was working out well. I still had lots of energy and was having fun making my way over ground that was new to me. On the way back, I was forced to cross a fence again, but after that blessed sled tracks kept me away from the deep snow. In fact, I followed those tracks to take the long way back to where I needed to go versus bee-lining the shortest route possible.\nSometimes the long way is the easiest way.\nThe trek back along the trail was uneventful, but I noted that with the temperature increasing, my tracks from the walk in were completely melted away.\nIt was indeed the first last of spring and the memories of that long, cold February will be erased too.\nPhoto Gallery # ","date":"March 20 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-oliver-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"My goal for the day was to find two new caches hidden by Jazzhiker who, like me, came to geocaching via hiking.","title":"Hike to Oliver Lake to Find Two New Geocaches","type":"posts"},{"content":" Before the Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church (Spas Moskalyk) church was built, Peter Siracky hosted services in his home for family members and neighbours. In 1940 he had this chapel built on his property in the style known in Europe as the “Church of the Weary Traveller” or the “Church of the Road”.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nThe front of the small chapel. Viewed from the back corner. Location # ","date":"May 21 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/siracky-chapel/","section":"Posts","summary":"A tiny, quaint chapel built from stone.","title":"Siracky Chapel","type":"posts"},{"content":"A log church was first completed at this site in 1904 and named “The Congregation of the Greek Catholic Church at Beaver Lake in the District of Alberta in the North West Territories of Canada”. In 1908 the name was changed to “The Congregation of St. Dimitry Greek Catholic Church at Beaver Creek on the River” to include the patron saint, St. Demitry.\nSt. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Jaroslaw) Although originally Ukrainian Catholic, “religious differences” in 1925 caused a reorganization and renaming as the “Ukrainian Orthodox Parish of St. Demetrius the Martyr” causing a some parishioners to split away and eventually build the “Descent of the Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Church” nearby.\nThe present structure was built in 1939-40 “utilizing some of the logs and part of the foundation from the original church”.\nThe cemetery north of the church serves both the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic communities at Jaroslaw.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 18 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-demetrius-ukrainian-orthodox-church-jaroslaw/","section":"Posts","summary":"St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Jaroslaw) is a compact structure which stands near a well-kept cemetery.","title":"St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Jaroslaw)","type":"posts"},{"content":" Work started on this church in the Peno district in 1909. Local logs were cut and hauled to the site and the church built with volunteer labour.\nThe interior was painted in 1918 by Peter Lipinski, from Edmonton, who worked adorned the interiors of many of the churches in Lamont county.\nThe “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet notes that this church is one of the earlier examples of an “open-dome” cruciform church: a large, single central dome is built on an octagonal base.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 16 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/russo-greek-orthodox-church-of-st-michael-the-archangel/","section":"Posts","summary":"This church is one of the earlier examples of an “open-dome” cruciform church: a large, single central dome is built on an octagonal base","title":"Russo Greek Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel","type":"posts"},{"content":"After reading about the history of this church, the phrase that comes to mind is, “It’s never easy, is it?”.\nEarly settlers, both Catholic and Orthodox were encouraged by their ministers to build a place of worship in the area and did so together, completing the first church in September, 1899. The church was consecrated by priests of both faiths and was shared until 1901 when both groups wanted to use the church at the same time to celebrate Easter. Each side wanted the church and the issue was taken to court.\nTimelapse Movie # The local court didn’t render a decision. In 1904, the court in Edmonton awarded the church to the Catholics. That decision was appealed, but dismissed in 1905 by the court of the Northwest Territories but later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada who reversed the decision and awarded the church to the Orthodox congregation. That decision was appealed in 1907 to the Privy Council in England but was dismissed, upholding the Orthodox ownership. My goodness, the engrained ill feelings all this must have created among the people of the district!\nIn 1909, a local farmer donated two parcels of land to build a Catholic Church and cemetery and work was completed in 1911 on a new church located about a half a mile away from this present church.\nUnfortunately that church burned to the ground ten years later in 1922. In 1926, work on a new church commenced on the land originally set aside for the cemetery. This third church was completed and consecrated in 1927 and that\u0026rsquo;s the structure you see here today.\nThe church’s interior was painted in 1930 by Peter Lipinski and remains the same to this day.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 14 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/","section":"Posts","summary":"A visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church (Star-Peno) and cemetary with a timelapse video and photo gallery.","title":"Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church (Star-Peno)","type":"posts"},{"content":"A simple log sanctuary was built on this land in 1904 by local Russian Orthodox parishioners. That church was destroyed by fire in 1914 but with financial help from the American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church another church was built by 1916.\nProtection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church (Krakow) Around this time war and revolution in Eastern Europe made it very difficult to secure the services of priest. With the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church established in Saskatoon and a sense of nationalism growing in the parishioners of Ukrainian background a group of Ukrainian Orthodox believers split off from the congregation, eventually building the church directly across the road from this one.\nLightning hit St. Michael’s in 1978 and it burned to the ground. The present church was constructed in 1980 - 81.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 11 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/protection-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-ukrainian-catholic-church-krakow/","section":"Posts","summary":"The history of this church echos many others in the area: early churches built, destroyed by fire in this case multiple times and always rebuilt again.","title":"Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church (Krakow)","type":"posts"},{"content":" This church was built in 1907 and is named “Farus” after the original owner of the land on which it was built.\nAs the “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet notes, “the church’s tripartite shape points to its early construction date, as does the closed dome and the absence of a choir loft, both of which required sophisticated construction methods that were not readily available.”\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 9 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-john-the-baptist-russo-greek-catholic-orthodox-church-farus/","section":"Posts","summary":"This church stands at the top of a small hill overlooking a cemetery and farmland beyond.","title":"St. John The Baptist Russo-Greek Catholic Orthodox Church (Farus)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"May 9 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/time-lapse/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Time-Lapse","type":"categories"},{"content":"A simple log sanctuary was built on this land in 1904 by local Russian Orthodox parishioners. That church was destroyed by fire in 1914 but with financial help from the American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church another church was built by 1916.\nAround this time war and revolution in Eastern Europe at this time made it very difficult to secure the services of priest and with the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church was established in Saskatoon and a sense of nationalism growing in the parishioners of Ukrainian background a group of Ukrainian Orthodox believers split off from the congregation eventually building the church directly across the road from this one.\nLightning hit St. Michael’s in 1978 and it burned to the ground. The present church was constructed in 1980 - 81.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # ","date":"May 7 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/church-of-the-archangel-st-michael/","section":"Posts","summary":"As was the case with many churches in the area, a history of nationalism inherited from the \u0026ldquo;old country\u0026rdquo; affected the lives after settling half way around the world in Canada.","title":"Church of the Archangel St. Michael","type":"posts"},{"content":"Like a number of other churches in the area, differences of belief and cultural background have separated groups of people who originally worshiped together. In this case the congregation of the St. John Ukrainian Orthodox Church originally shared the St. Michael’s Russo-Greek Orthodox Church across the road.\nIn 1918 the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada in 1918 was formed and the Ukrainian members of the St. Michael’s made arrangements for a priest to serve them, “inspired by patriotic sentiment and emboldened by the fact that the Russian Orthodox Mission was unable to provide regular pastoral care to St. Michael’s”. They believed that the culture and the church had been “russified” by the leadership in Moscow. In 1920, the group organized themselves as “the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of St. John of Suchava, the first organized Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Alberta”.\nIn 1923 priests serving this new organization were asked to vacant the premises and did so. Later in 1929, the Ukrainian parish was established and despite the opinion of some that that new church should be built in the village of Andrew itself, work was started in 1934 and completed in 1935.\nSources:\n“Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (2018, February 18). Sachava (Andrew) AB Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Cemetery 1929 Retrieved from http://orthodoxcanada.ca/Sachava_(Andrew)_AB_Saint_John_the[ngg src=\u0026ldquo;galleries\u0026rdquo; ids=\u0026ldquo;31\u0026rdquo; display=\u0026ldquo;basic_thumbnail\u0026rdquo;]_Baptist_Ukrainian_Orthodox_Church_and_Cemetery_1929 Image Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 4 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-john-ukrainian-orthodox-church-sachava/","section":"Posts","summary":"The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of St. John of Suchava, the first organized Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Alberta","title":"St. John Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Sachava)","type":"posts"},{"content":"The land for this church was donated in 1911 and the church itself was built in 1917. The nearby bell tower was built in 1939.\nA stylized image taken in front of the church. Canada’s Historic Places website points out that, like many of the churches in Lamont County, the building is significant because of the “the transference of religious traditions in the building of churches and devotional expression of immigrants from eastern Galicia and northern Bukovyna, provinces in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that are today located in Ukraine.”\nIn 1925, Peter Lapinski painted the interior. I didn\u0026rsquo;t attempt to venture in during my visit, but images of the beautiful interior can be found here. Sources:\n“Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nCanada’s Historic Places: http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7921\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"May 2 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/","section":"Posts","summary":"Another immaculate church in that speaks to the devotion and work ethic of the people from Europe who settled this part of the province.","title":"Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church (Delph)","type":"posts"},{"content":"After arriving in the Wostok area in 1896 Polish settlers began work on a log chapel in 1900, completing it in 1905. A few years later a church bell was purchased and a belfry built to house it.\nThe church with a glowing steeple Work started on a new church in 1914 and was completed the next year.\nAnd in a twist one doesn’t hear about too often, the local church committee asked the CPR to name the local station, and by extension the hamlet of St. Micheal in honour of the church. So the hamlet was named for the church, not the other way around.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 30 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-michael-the-archangel/","section":"Posts","summary":"This church provides an interesting historical twist: here\u0026rsquo;s an example of a town being named after a church.","title":"St. Michael The Archangel Roman Catholic Church","type":"posts"},{"content":" Built in 1900 after three years of labour, this church has the distinction of being the oldest original church in Lamont county.\nLater, the land the church and cemetery were built on was purchased from the CPR over a six year period from 1903 to 1909.\nIn 1922 the nearby bell tower was built and a bell, made from Lake Superior copper, was purchased for $422.\nOver the years the church has undergone numerous renovations including the addition of a concrete foundation and an excavation for a basement. Among other renovations, electricity was added in 1967.\nIn June of 2000, the parish celebrated its 100th anniversary.\nSources:\n“Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents Wostok-Bukovina AB Saint Nicholas Russo Orthodox Church and Cemetery 1900 Image Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 27 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-nicholas-orthodox-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"Built in 1900 after three years of labour, this church has the distinction of being the oldest original church in Lamont county.","title":"St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Bukowina)","type":"posts"},{"content":" The original settlers in the area around this church were Romanian Bucovinian (https://www.britannica.com/place/Bukovina ). Early services were held in homes. Although the cemetery was in use beginning 1907, land for the church was purchased in 1910 and the church built over 3 years, completed in 1913.\nThe nearby “bell-house” was built in following years at a cost of $350, the bells donated by parishioners. In 1962 the bell house was rebuilt and a parish hall was built nearby.\nSources:\n“Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents Sunland AB Holy Trinity Russo Orthodox Church and Cemetery 1905 Image Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 25 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/holy-trinity-orthodox-church-sunland/","section":"Posts","summary":"This church, bell-tower, and ajoining cemetery continue the theme of being well-kept and picturesque.","title":"Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (Sunland)","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Ukrainian Orthodox parish members of this church separated from the Holy Trinity Church in Sunland in 1929 and after purchasing the land this church was built in 1932.\nThe church was destroyed by fire only one year later in 1933, with another being built in 1934.\nIn 1960 the interior was completely remodelled with a new iconostasis added; this serves as a separation from the nave and the sanctuary behind it. And notable is the bronze colour of the main dome and two supporting cupolas toward the front of the building.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 23 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/holy-trinity-ukrainian-orthodox-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"The dome and supporting cupolas of this church are a distinctive bronze colour.","title":"Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kahwin)","type":"posts"},{"content":" After the original congregation of this church was formed in 1898, services were held in private homes for a number of years before work was completed on a church in 1904.\nThis structure lasted about 30 years before it burned down in the late 1930’s. The present church was built in 1939.\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 20 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-michael-the-archangel-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"Like so many others, this church is an example of a structure rebuilt after a previous church succumbed to fire. Now in need of some repair, the building is still an imposing structure.","title":"St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church","type":"posts"},{"content":" The original church on this site was built from 1901 to 1904. A second, larger church was started in 1917 and completed the next year.\nBetween 1945-51 funding for a new church was gathered with the old church being dismantled in 1959 and a new church, the present structure, was completed in 1960.\nThis solid-looking red brick structure is an impressive sight indeed.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 18 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/our-lady-of-good-counsel-roman-catholic-church-skaro/","section":"Posts","summary":"The church and the surrounding grounds are expansive and impressive.","title":"Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church (Skaro)","type":"posts"},{"content":"On July 18, 1897 two priests sent to this area from Seattle celebrated the first Orthodox liturgy on Canadian soil for some 380 settlers who had gathered at a homestead across the road from this the original church “Wostok” church, about 1 mile north from the present church.\nA church and cemetery were completed in 1899 and was the first Orthodox Church in Canada. Unfortunately, as was the case for many other churches in the area through the years, in 1907 the structure caught fire and was destroyed. A new church was built quickly a couple of years later at the present site.\nThat church was also consumed by fire in 1932 and another, the present structure, was rebuilt on the same spot in 1938.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 16 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/holy-trinity-russo-orthodox-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"In 1987 the first Orthodox liturgy on Canadian soil was celebrated near this church site. Completed in 1899, this church was the first Orthodox Church in Canada.","title":"Holy Trinity Russo Orthodox Church (Old Wostok)","type":"posts"},{"content":" Timelapse Video # Without the Orthodox cross mounted high on the steeple of this church, this church could pass for a United Church.\nThat’s because it originally was a United Church.\nAs the “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet explains, a number of local people became disenchanted with the Catholic Church in the area and in 1925 started to hold services in a local home and by 1936 an official Ukrainian congregation was created.\nAfter 1938 services were held in the nearby community hall and a decade and a half later the parish purchased the Unwin United Church building, originally built in 1917, for $350 and moved it to the present site.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 16 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-john-the-baptist-ukrainian-orthodox-church-peno/","section":"Posts","summary":"The more you read about the history of rural churches, the more you see instances of parishioners breaking off from a congregation to build a new church and form a new congregation.","title":"St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Peno)","type":"posts"},{"content":" After a small chapel was built on this land in 1914, work on the present church began in 1918 and was completed eight years later in 1926.\nThe full name of the church when it was incorporated was “Ruthenian Greek Catholic Parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Leeshore”.\nThe church bell was donated in 1930 and the bell tower built in 1938.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery - Church Grounds # Image Gallery - Gravestones # Location # ","date":"April 13 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/nativity-of-the-mother-of-god/","section":"Posts","summary":"A quaint church has as beautiful, imposing bell tower and well-kept cemetery beside it.","title":"Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church","type":"posts"},{"content":"Little did I know when I visited this church that this congregation “can be traced back to 1897–1898, making it one of the first Russo-Greek Orthodox parishes in Canada.”\nA modest log church was built on this land at that time and served until 1920. The logs from that church were saved and sawed into lumber for the present church built that year.\nThe church bell, the subject of the time-lapse movie here, was purchased in 1942 and mounted on the tower built from local fieldstones.\nAlthough I wasn’t able to see it, the “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet describes the interior of the church as being impressive: there’s a dominant chandelier hanging from the central dome and a four-tiered iconostasis, the partition between the central nave and sanctuary, painted in sky-blue.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery of the Church Grounds # Image Gallery of Selected Gravestones # Location # ","date":"April 11 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/holy-ascension-russo-greek-orthodox-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"This parish can be traced back to 1897–1898, making it one of the first Russo-Greek Orthodox parishes in Canada.","title":"Holy Ascension Russo-Greek Orthodox Church (Skaro)","type":"posts"},{"content":" The original church on this site, then called “Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church of Chesnoho Khresta at Skaro”, was built from 1900 to 1917 and was destroyed by fire in 1942. The present church was built in 1945. The bell tower, however, is the original built in 1920.\nThis is a very impressive church, first because of its sheer size and how immaculately well-kept it is. Second, its design is distinctive in that it has four rooms added to the usual “cruciform” (i.e. “Cross”) structure at the corners of the building. On each of these form rooms is a small tower adding to the beauty of the building.\nMany of the churches in the county are quaint and unassuming; not this one. When you see the structure and walk up the front steps you can’t help but get the feeling you are about to enter another realm. That\u0026rsquo;s exactly what churches are for.\nSource: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"April 9 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/exaltation-of-the-holy-cross-ukrainian-catholic-church-skaro/","section":"Posts","summary":"This church is extremely impressive. Almost everything about it seems to stand out: the form, the surroundings and how well it is maintained.","title":"Exaltation of the Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Church (Skaro)","type":"posts"},{"content":"The temperature was brutal in Alberta during the last couple of weeks of December, 2017. For me it caused a sort of forced confinement during a holiday period when I\u0026rsquo;d normally be taking day trips, maybe taking some photos, maybe doing some geocaching. But when it\u0026rsquo;s -30 or -35 C with the wind chill it seems to me the sane thing to do is just hunker down and wait out the frigid cold.\nBy January 7, 2018 the temperature were far higher, near 0 C , and it was like a sweet release when I was finally able to wander out on a trip to east central Alberta, first, to find a couple of caches on Birch Lake Isle near Innisfree, AB and then continue on to Vermillion and finally Elk Point.\nAs I backed the car into its parking spot at the Birch Lake Isle campground gate, Bruce Cockburn\u0026rsquo;s All the Diamonds was playing on the car stereo system. Fate had choosen it from the thousands on an SD card packed with my favourite songs.\nAll the diamonds in this world\nThat mean anything to me\nAre conjured up by wind and sunlight\nSparkling on the sea\n-- All the Diamonds by Bruce Cockburn\nBut I had to leave the story it was weaving to go weave my own by walking across the frozen lake bed to Birch Lake Isle.\nMy footprints on the windswept snow on the ice. After gathering what I needed - GPS receiver, hiking pole, camera, micro-spikes in case I needed them on the ice, two touques and gloves - I set out through the campground and soon began walking on the snow-crusted ice.\nThe 11 am sun was beating down on crusty, windswept snow on the lake bed and with the song still wafting through my consciousness there was a strong moment of synchronicity: as I walked the sunshine glinted off the lake snow conjuring up a billion sparkling diamonds around me.\nThe short definition of synchronicity is \u0026ldquo;meaningful coincidence\u0026rdquo;. That song prefacing this sparkling moment that seemed to be welcoming me to a new reality was truly meaningful to me. I was no longer cooped-up in the house, the world of manmade things. Now I was experiencing a sparkling moment of beauty as I embarked on a journey into nature.\nAnd a journey it was. After finding the first cache, I circled the island on the north side, which ended up making things harder on myself than they needed to be. The snow that built up around the shoreline sometimes held my weight, but most of the time I was post-holing through it. That saps the energy.\nOn the westmost end of the island I noticed a series of game-trail switchbacks up the steepest end of the island. I put on my microspikes and once I got started they were like a magic wand, allowing me to follow the snow-packed icy trail in zig zag legs up the side and to the top.\nAfter spending some time taking a waypoint for the cache (it was an earthcache - there\u0026rsquo;s no physical container to find) and taking some pictures, I made my way down the established trail on the south side of the island, across the ice again to meet my tracks in and back to the car.\nIt was a fun mini-adventure and a worthy release from the cage December\u0026rsquo;s weather had imposed on me and my mind.\nMy Track Log Today # See full screen\n","date":"January 13 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/all-the-diamonds-in-this-world/","section":"Posts","summary":"A winter walk over lake ice to Birch Lake Isle near Innisfree, Alberta.","title":"All the Diamonds in This World","type":"posts"},{"content":"A small church was built on this site in 1907 and then replaced by the current building, built in 1934-35. This makes it the oldest Polish parish in Alberta.\nAlthough the paint and the steeple need some work, it seems to me this building stands tall and proud.\nThese days, mass and grave blessings are celebrated once a year here.\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"August 19 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/roman-catholic-church-of-the-precious-blood/","section":"Posts","summary":"Although mass is only held here once a year, this church remains in pretty good shape.","title":"Roman Catholic Church of the Precious Blood","type":"posts"},{"content":" The St. Demetro Ukrainian Catholic Church you see today is the third iteration of the church. In the past, it was nicknamed “The Farm” or alternately “Seniuk” in honour of nearby early homesteaders Peter and Apolonia Seniuk. (Source)\nA monument to the original church The original church at this site, a small two-room structure, was built in 1903 for $380: $300 for the materials and $80 for the carpenter. In 1926, a larger church as built with a belfry being built in 1935 and situated at the site of the original chapel.\nThis new 1926 church was a beautiful building as you can see in this thumbnail from the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton site. It lasted a good, long time, but unfortunately it burned down in 2007. The monument commemorating the second church displays the dates 1922 - 2007, perhaps including the years when the parish raised funds for the materials.\nA plaque commemorating the second iteration of St. Demetro (1922-2007) There’s a brand new church here now, the one you see here from my August, 2017 visit.\nPhoto Gallery # Location # ","date":"August 18 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-demetro-ukrainian-catholic-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"The present church is an architectural departure when compared to other rural churches in the area. But when you read about the history of past buildings being lost to fire, you realize that compact, practical buildings may be the wise choice in the long run.","title":"St. Demetro Ukrainian Catholic Church","type":"posts"},{"content":"The local residents of Beaver Lake originally constructed St. Jacob’s Church (now known as St. James) in 1901-02. The church was renovated and placed on a concrete foundation in 1942 and is one of the oldest churches in Lamont County. (Source)\nIf this church is one of the oldest in the county, you certainly wouldn’t know that by looking at the church. Russo-Greek Orthodox Catholic Church of St. James The church is quaint, that’s for sure: I’d be tempted to call it a “medium-sized miniature”. But the most striking thing about it is the excellent condition of the structure, just like the nearby “garden”, hall and cemetery. All are obviously very well looked after. St. James isn\u0026rsquo;t a large church, but its definitely got character. As the “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” guidebook points out, “St. James is unusual in that the belfry, which is situated over the narthex [i.e. the front entrance way] is an integral part of the church, whereas the majority of the churches built by the Ukrainian pioneers have freestanding bell towers, as was the tradition in the Old Country. (Source)\nImage Gallery # Click on an image to view a larger version. Location # ","date":"August 15 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/russo-greek-orthodox-catholic-church-of-st-james/","section":"Posts","summary":"Russo-Greek Orthodox Catholic Church of St. James is one of the oldest churches in Lamont County.","title":"Russo-Greek Orthodox Catholic Church of St. James","type":"posts"},{"content":"St. Mary’s Holy Dormition Russo-Greek Orthodox Catholic Church (Shishkovitzy) is located on Range Road 182, near Township Road 540, 13 km west and 2 km north of Mundare, AB.\n“Shishkovitzy” is front and center on the tasteful gate to the church grounds. “Shishkovitzy” is front and center on the tasteful gate of the church entrance and is “derived from the village of Shyshkivtsi, Bukowina, in Western Ukraine, where some of the founders of this church emigrated from at the end of the 19th century” (source).\nMost local settlers arrived in the area around 1898, started building a church in 1903 and finished the next year. A monument just north of the present building marks the location of the original church. Parishioners gathered funding for a new church for a decade beginning in the early 1950’s and the present church was built in 1963. In 1965 The original church was relocated to the Shandro Historical Museum and Village on Secondary Highway 857, north of Willingdon.\nPlease take the time to check out this page which provides even more information about the construction of the original church, complete with pictures of the interior.\nThe church is in excellent condition, nicely painted and strikes me as “compact” and “proper”. The photographer in me wasn’t all that happy with the large natural gas tank situated above ground right beside the church, but of course practically demands that it be there.\nInstead of a belfry, three church bells are fastened to a post just west of the church. The bells were donated by one of the early pioneer families. Instead of a belfry, three church bells are fastened to a post just west of the church. The bells were donated by one of the early pioneer families.\nPhoto Gallery # Click on an image to view. Then click on the left or right arrows to navigate through the gallery.\nLocation # ","date":"August 13 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/st-marys-church-of-shishkovitzy/","section":"Posts","summary":"St. Mary’s Church of Shishkovitzy is a very well-maintained church and stands on the same piece of land that housed an original structure built from 1898 to 1903, before Alberta became a province.","title":"St. Mary’s Church of Shishkovitzy","type":"posts"},{"content":"When I arrived in early August, 2017 at the “Spas Moskalyk” church, a short name for \u0026ldquo;Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church\u0026rdquo;, I was greeted with a “No Trespassing” sign and padlocked gates. \u0026ldquo;Hmm, that\u0026rsquo;s different for a rural church\u0026rdquo;, I thought to myself.\nThe church exterior is in a very “weathered” state with paint peeled to bare boards and the space under the church is open, revealing cans, pails and material that looks like trash.\nNot knowing any better, I thought that the structure was in such bad shape that the grounds were closed off for public safety.\nBut after a little more research when I returned home, I found out my assumption was completely wrong; in fact, this church in the midst of a slow process of re-birth or, borrowing from the official name of the church itself, a transfiguration.\nFirst some history. Early settlers in the area built a small chapel here in 1904, but this burned to the ground while the present church was being built in 1924. The belfry beside the church was constructed in 1938.\nFor the past number of years the church has been used only for annual services.\nBut the church gradually must have fallen into disrepair and “In 2013, an engineering report stated the foundation was unstable and it could cost up to $400,000 to repair it.” (Source)\nIn 2013, a meeting was held to decide on the church’s fate and instead of proceeding with a controlled burn of the building, with the local funding raising and the help of local businesses, it was decided save the structure and move the church to a new foundation. That’s what I was seeing today: the result of a move that was completed in December, 2016.\nAnd as I was researching the church, I found some evidence on my own computer: photos I’d taken of the church back in 2008 show that I’d been here before to find a geocache. One photo shows the church in its original spot with the belfry close by. So really, I should have been able to recognize the church had been moved, but the memory of a previous visit had already faded away.\nMy July, 2008 photo (top cross cut off and all) shows the church in its orginal spot, fairly close to the belfry. At first glance, the money, time and energy being spent now to save a structure that will be very rarely used as a church and seldom used by the community doesn’t make practical sense. But, there’s another, stronger urge at play here. No different from my forgetting, the local population recognizes that simply letting the church disintegrate to nothing means the memory of the church and its place in the lives of their ancestors will simply fade away as well.\nThis church provided a place that helped give their forebears some sense meaning during their lives. In fact, many of those people are buried in the adjoining cemetery. In a sense, erasing the building is the beginning of the erasing of all memory of their existence.\nIn the long run, erasure is inevitable. Make no mistake about that. But the will to fight against it is part of what makes us alive. So I can’t help but think the core meaning of a Dylan Thomas poem infuses the community’s current transfiguration of the church building:\nDo not go gentle into that good night, …\nRage, rage against the dying of the light.\n-Dylan Thomas\nPhotos # Sources # Source: “Lamont County’s Self-Guided Church Tours” booklet. Available online at: Lamont County Public Documents\nCBC News stories:\nParishioners vote to save Lamont County church 92-year-old church near Mundare surviving lift onto new foundation ","date":"August 7 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/spas-moskalyk/","section":"Posts","summary":"The \u0026ldquo;Spas Moskalyk\u0026rdquo; church is an example of historical building almost slipping off into oblivion. This one didn\u0026rsquo;t slip away, but was saved by the local residents.","title":"\"Spas Moskalyk\"","type":"posts"},{"content":"The Tofield Cemetery is a large, well-kept enclosure about 1.8 kms north of Tofield on highway 843.\nAlthough the main entrance is marked by a arched gate displaying the cemetery name, the southern entrance may catch your eye first as this is marked by the flags of Canada, Alberta and the Royal Canadian Legion which flank a memorial to fallen soldiers in past wars.\nMost of the grave markers in the cemetery are modern markers made of stone, but there are also older wooden markers, a few showing the ravages of time.\nMy photographic goal during my visit was to capture simplicity. During visits to previous cemeteries it was the extremely simple images that I liked the most so I was constantly attempting to remind myself to just keep it simple. A few of the images below show I succeeded at least some of the time. During the post-processing phase later, it was a lot of fun to explore taking the same or similar images different directions using different post-processing software. That\u0026rsquo;s why you may see the same image with completely different treatments. In addition to Lightroom to give images the beginning touches, I used a new program for me, Luminar by MacPhun, and also Nik Software\u0026rsquo;s Analog Effects Pro, Silver Effects Pro.\nImages from Tofield Cemetery # ","date":"August 1 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/tofield-cemetery/","section":"Posts","summary":"Tofield Cemetery is a large, well-kept enclosure about 1.8 kms north of Tofield on highway 843.","title":"Tofield Cemetery","type":"posts"},{"content":"When I parked in front of the Wilhelmina Evangelical Lutheran Church near Hay Lakes I was immediately struck by the nicely-built and obviously well-kept church. The place made a strong and positive first impression.\nThe church\u0026#39;s welcome sign I was there primarily to visit the adjoining cemetery to see if I could add to a “cemetery photo” project I’d started up a couple of weeks before. In the end though, most of my keeper photos turned out to be of the church itself.\nAs detailed very well on the church’s website, the majority of the people in the area, the \u0026ldquo;Wilhelmina community\u0026rdquo;, immigrated from Vilhelmina, Västerbotten in the northern part of Sweden. There the church played a large role in their lives and once settled in this area of Canada, some were attending Fridhem Lutheran Church, about 10 miles away. Many, however, felt the need for a local church closer to home so that families could attend.\nThe church website details the options considered for the church’s location, and the political fallout from the choice, but after all this work began on the church at the present location in 1912. The work was finished the next year, an organ purchased in Winnipeg (for $114.30) and over the next 5 years money was raised to pay for internal furnishings like the altar, lectern, and pews. Years later, money was raised for a church bell purchased for $221.47 from the St. Louis Bell Foundry in St. Louis, Missouri.\nWilhelmina Evangelical Lutheran Church near Hay Lakes, AB The church website goes on to provide many more details about additional changes and enhancements to the church and using the date of the first initial meeting regarding the building of a church in November, 1908, the endeavour’s centennial was commemorated in 2008. The place certainly doesn’t look 109 years old, a testament to how well it was built and how well it’s been maintained since.\nSource: http://www.wilhelminachurch.ca/\nImage Gallery # Location # ","date":"July 29 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/wilhelmina-lutheran-church/","section":"Posts","summary":"Wilhelmina Evangelical Lutheran Church near Hay Lakes is nicely-built and obviously well-kept church.","title":"Wilhelmina Lutheran Church","type":"posts"},{"content":"Starting in childhood, as we experience the world around us, we are continually forming and reforming mental conceptions of things, what they are, how they act, what they\u0026rsquo;re for, etc.\nIf you were to review the category called \u0026ldquo;Things that grow vertically\u0026rdquo;, I think it\u0026rsquo;s safe to say that flowers, plants, and trees would be in that category. That\u0026rsquo;s an easy one, right? Well, maybe not.\nSometimes, not even the simple, core conceptions you have about the world around you are true and things don\u0026rsquo;t always act like they \u0026ldquo;should\u0026rdquo; according to the conceptional mould you\u0026rsquo;ve been forming about the world around you since birth.\nThe first sign you\u0026#39;ll see just off Hwy 40 That\u0026rsquo;s why visiting the \u0026ldquo;Crooked Trees” (or \u0026ldquo;Crooked Bush” depending on what sign you read) is so interesting. Here are aspen trees that don\u0026rsquo;t simply grow vertically. Instead they seem to grow UP and then sideways, UP again, sideways again, and so on.\nNoticed as early as the 1940’s, this small stand of trees is located approximately 16 km north of Speers, Saskatchewan at N52° 52.266\u0026rsquo; W107° 32.229’ and is bounded by a road, so they’re not likely to break out of their small plot any time soon.\nTrees across the road outside this little plot of land seem perfectly normal so since they were noticed people have speculated about why what these trees act so differently. Was it UFO’s, meteorites, maybe radioactive soil?\nAs an experiment, parts of the trees were propagated in Manitoba. Dr. Bill Remphrey’s archived web page (now unavailable) pointed out that\nWhen the trees are vegetatively propagated and grown in sites in Manitoba, the crookedness is retained, and it is likely that the crooked trait stems from a genetic mutation.\nIn essence, because the trait can be propagated, it has little to do with location or soil factors. And Dr. Remphrey notes on the same page that the specific genetic mutation probably has to do with a lack of strength of the tree shoots at critical times during its growth may be the reason.\nThat sounds reasonable to me.\nPhoto Gallery # Additional Links # Wikipedia’s “Crooked Trees” page\nWant to visit the Crooked Trees? # If you’re a geocacher, you can simply route yourself to https://coord.info/GC166TF.\nIf not, use these coordinates to get there using an automotive GPS device:\nFirst get to this corner at N52° 43.535\u0026rsquo; W107° 34.574\u0026rsquo;(shown below) and turn north at this intersection (notice the sign pointing the way) Then turn right (east) at N52° 52.274\u0026rsquo; W107° 34.573\u0026rsquo; and drive the approximately 2km to the site. Location # ","date":"July 14 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/crooked-trees/","section":"Posts","summary":"I found out about the \u0026ldquo;Crooked Trees\u0026rdquo; from my sister so I made a point of visiting on my way back to Edmonton from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. My scientific opinion?: \u0026ldquo;They\u0026rsquo;re weird!\u0026rdquo;","title":"Crooked Trees","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"July 14 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/saskatchewan/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Saskatchewan","type":"categories"},{"content":"It was only a week ago I\u0026rsquo;d even heard about the Cardinal Divide, which is south and west of Hinton, near Cadomin. It\u0026rsquo;s a \u0026ldquo;divide\u0026rdquo; because on one side of it, water flows north and eventually empties into the Arctic Ocean; on the other side the water flows west and eventually empties into Hudson\u0026rsquo;s Bay.\nMy goal for the day was to climb the modest ridge, and walk along it for about 3 kilometers to find a survey marker (some, like this one, can be logged as geocaches) and a nearby geocache. The weather was excellent and the only worry was getting too much sun, so I slathered on sun screen (no mosquito repellant needed, thank goodness - the noon sun and strong winds kept them at home I think).\nThis was a really unique ridge to walk along. It was so impressive to see it curve out into the horizon and on the edge see the gradual, saw tooth disintegration of the ledge.\nThe impressive long sloped ridge at Cardinal Divide I made it to my goal, had some lunch and then made my way back both losing and gaining elevation along the top of the ridge, until I followed the approach trail and back to the parking spot.\nIt was a great experience and I highly recommend the visit to anyone.\nTips: # Park at N52 53.682 W117 14.856. The road is rough for the last 8 km or so. My mid-sized sedan made it and there were others like it at the parking spot, but the majority of vehicles, rightly so, were trucks and SUV\u0026rsquo;s with lots of clearance.\nLocation # ","date":"July 1 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-up-cardinal-divide-ridge/","section":"Posts","summary":"Although not at all easy to get to even by vehicle, the Cardinal Divide is a memorable place to visit.","title":"Hike up Cardinal Divide Ridge","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"July 1 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/hinton/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Hinton","type":"categories"},{"content":"Winter seemed to sneak in and pounce a little early this year. A couple of significant dumps of snow during the past few weeks seemed to bring us that mid-winter, snow and cold everywhere feeling in what seemed like a blink of an eye.\nMy reaction to all that was to snap into hibernation mode, something I’d expect to happen in February, not November or December. Because of that I really hadn’t ventured out on any substantial weekend hikes yet this winter season.\nThis weekend I was determined to snap out of hibernation and get out on some trail, somewhere. The Ministik Bird Sanctuary is always a good choice because there are options for long, or short hikes and you never really know what you’re getting yourself into when you tackle one of them: trails might be frequented by snowmobiles, skiers or… no one.\nI started out from what I call “Ministik South Parking” near Mandy Lake and was aiming to explore a branch trail where a couple of geocaches have been hidden for years and where I hid one recently. I was boldly going where I hadn’t gone before.\nAlthough my snowshoes where in the back seat when I started out, I decided to tackle the trail without them. I do find them a bit cumbersome and it’s always a trade off between how much I’m going to have to fight with them as opposed to how much they’ll help me navigate through the snow. Today, for the first leg of the trail anyway, I really doubted my decision to leave them off: there was no trail to speak of, only a consistent deer track, so the trail breaking really put my heart rate up for the first half hour or so.\nOnce I reached the junction of the main trail and the side trail I wanted to explore I was so grateful to find that a snowmobile had traveled the trail in the not too distant past. While following the side trail, the going was tough in sections, but the sled track helped a lot, making it easier to make good time down the trail and lose the energy-sapping “drunken sailor” method of walking that one gets into while slipping and sliding through soft snow.\nSoon I was in what seemed like new territory. For me that’s where the fun starts because the senses start to get a workout, something they don’t always get in the city. Now that might sound strange: out in the “middle of nowhere” the senses get more of a workout than they would on a city street?\nI’ve just been reading a photography book where the author, Ben Long, talks about “seeing” the world around us. The brain, out of necessity, filters out a very large amount of what we see around us; most times we’re in familiar territory and the data we bring in isn’t a threat or isn’t relevant so it’s filtered so that we can concentrate on what’s at hand, like not hitting other cars or people while driving, for example. He notes that when traveling to new, unfamiliar places, a person\u0026rsquo;s senses tend to perk up so that suddenly rich details seem to pop out of what would be common, everyday experience for the locals. In new and different surroundings, so much of what is around us isn\u0026rsquo;t \u0026ldquo;common\u0026rdquo; anymore, so the brain doesn’t have the experience of knowing what is safe to filter out. The scenes in front of us seem richer with detail, more alive and more interesting because we\u0026rsquo;re evaluating more of the details we\u0026rsquo;re experiencing.\nOne aspect of this is that the animal part of our natures are awakened and we\u0026rsquo;re a little more aware of the threat of dangers. In unfamiliar territory, the brain hasn\u0026rsquo;t learned what is a threat and what isn\u0026rsquo;t. I find that the awareness that danger could be lurking, maybe around the next bend in the trail is ever present when I\u0026rsquo;m on new trails in the wild. It’s not a fear, or dread by any means, but when I’m in places that are new to me, the awareness of possible danger is definitely present.\nThis maybe explains why I was suddenly constantly aware of the noises in the thickets around me and constantly scanning the trail ahead for other creatures. For me, this is part of the allure of exploring new places. There’s the experience new places, but there’s the constant feeling that danger could be lurking, and puts me just a little bit on edge, providing a bit of thrill as new trails are traveled.I had a cache container with me ready to hide somewhere along the trail today, and once I made it to a clearing absolutely packed with cattails, I thought I’d hide the cache and call it “Cattail Cocktail Party”; that’s just what the mass of swaying cattails looked like: a crowd mingling at a party. I couldn’t find a good spot though and had no way to simply hang the cache in a tree, so I gave up on the idea of hiding one today.\nOnce I’d made it to a waypoint I’d called “EastWestCutline”, sure enough there was a definite cut line that would have taken me to new places to the east, but it was fenced off and not knowing the area well, nor where the southern boundary of the sanctuary really was, I decided to backtrack instead of exploring it. I see now that the cutline is well within the sanctuary boundary so I could have made my way along the cut line without any guilt. Some day that will happen.\nAfter considering simply returning along the path and calling it day, I decided I had more gas in the energy tank and decided to follow a well-worn snowmobile track leading east. I had plenty of waypoints loaded that would keep me from wandering too far east and perhaps making it tough to get back to the parking spot, so I felt confident I could bail off of this eastbound track anytime. In the end the track took me in a very nice loop around to the old abandoned cabin on shoreline of Mandy Lake.\nThis winding leg of the trip offered up a lot of open expanses that in warm weather would be boggy or full of water, making them difficult to reach in summer. These were prime spots to capture with the sweep panorama feature on my camera, so I ended up with far more panos today than usual.\nIt was a fun trek. The snowmobile packed trail made for relatively easy going and finding traffic signs for snowmobiles in what I considered to be deep in the bush was pretty amusing.\nIn the end I found myself walking across Mandy Lake itself; if a sled and driver had made it across, I thought I was safe enough to venture there too.\nI stopped for a rest and bite to eat at the shelter near the old cabin. That was a welcome break, but I found that after sitting around and then standing still to take a few pictures, I’d become quite chilled. The warmth that comes from moving along the trail wasn’t being generated and the sweaty layers under my jacket were starting to cool down my core in an uncomfortable way.\nI had to get moving again so I gladly donned my pack and made my way back towards the parking spot along what is familiar trail in warmer seasons. A snowmobile had traveled this way in the past as well, although the track was quite old, so I was happy again to mostly be walking on the snow instead of ploughing through it. The movement helped though, and very slowly I warmed up again.\nAfter a few full stops for rest along the trail – my legs, especially my calves, were really feeling the effects of this snow trudge by this time – I finally spied the gate near the parking spot again, and soon enough my parked car too.\nIt was a fun trek to new places today. I look forward to trying to follow a similar path in warmer weather and exploring new trails I only spied for the first time along today’s walk.\nMy Track Log # See full screen\n","date":"December 16 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/ministik-south-recon-hike/","section":"Posts","summary":"This recon hike was made and the blog post written early in my explorations of the Ministik Bird Sanctuary. It\u0026rsquo;s fun for me to relive the experience these days when the area is well-known to me.","title":"Ministik South Recon Hike","type":"posts"},{"content":" One of the little islands that dot Islet Lake Okay, I knew it was going to be a long hike. I knew that. But knowing is only a mental concept until you actually do it. It still surprises me that this hike added up to 22 km and took me 5 hrs twenty minutes to do, 4 hrs moving, and 1 hour and 20 minutes stopped either resting, taking pictures or checking on others\u0026rsquo; caches.\nMy goal as I started out from the Islet Lake Staging Area in Blackfoot on a holiday (for me) Monday was two caches hidden by Kickbuttedmonton an Edmonton cacher who usually works in the word “Cigar” into his cache titles because, well, he likes cigars I guess! The first cache was in relatively easy walking distance, but the second one, well that one wasn\u0026rsquo;t. It was hidden at the northernmost edge of Blackfoot where the recreational area borders Elk Island National Park. It was going to be a long walk to that one.\nA November 15 without snow; that was a treat. All the same, the cool winds of November blowing today were like the “advance team” for an old man winter who was certainly not far behind. Even though I\u0026rsquo;d pretty much just returned from a hiking trip in Kananaskis two days ago, I knew I had to go for these caches before the snow came wafting down. Otherwise those pesky cache symbols – and not smilies (what the map shows once you\u0026rsquo;ve logged a cache as found) – would be staring me in the face the entire winter. I just couldn\u0026rsquo;t have that! :-)\nI started out on the hike feeling strong and had a nice walking rhythm early. The Islet Lake trails are really interesting since one starts beside a beautiful lake dotted with little islands. I\u0026rsquo;ve been to this area enough to say I\u0026rsquo;ve been able to witness the same ground with quite a few different characters: foggy, sunny and now, well, November-y.\nI quickly made my way to the first cache which was hidden at one of the many huts placed strategically throughout the rec area. After the making the find, I noticed that the logbook, an official geocaching logbook ordered from the website, was actually a German version. This prompted me to try to dredge up my German from years past and write part of my log in German. It was fun and frustrating at the same time, since I had to strain a bit to remember spelling (which in German is usually very easy – unlike English, in German, if you can say it, you can spell it – that\u0026rsquo;s so darn practical and logical!).\nPush Lake Shelter After re-hiding the cache, I steeled myself for the long, long next phase to the second cache. The trail took me to Push Lake Shelter where I was thankful to make use of the facilities and took a few pics. Then I scaled a couple of fences and was on my way north on a road called N.U.L. North. I guess I must be losing my Sask. roots a bit because walking that long straight, featureless road became a tad boring.\nI was able to break the monotony by looking in on a cache called “Highest Point” because, not coincidentally, this spot is the highest point of elevation in Blackfoot. I didn\u0026rsquo;t have the coordinates to the cache and was just going on memory of the time I first found the cache with my friend Amy on Nov. 10, 2007 a little more than 3 years ago. Well after rolling commando style under the fence, I walked over to where I thought it was, experienced a strong bout of deja vu and literally found it in 20 seconds. The ammo box looked fine the way it was, so I didn\u0026rsquo;t open it, just put another nearby log over top to keep it snug for the winter months.\nThe final stretch of road to the \u0026#34;crossroads\u0026#34; intersection. The next stop was another cache I\u0026rsquo;d found before, another by Kickbuttedmonton. This one wasn\u0026rsquo;t so healthy and I spent some time fixing it up, finding some better cover for it and adding some paper from a notebook I was carrying because the logbook seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. Now that I think about, that probably made up a good 20 minutes of my “stopped time” noted above.\nThe road\u0026rsquo;s gummy soil was sticking to my shoes in the intermittent spitting rain (mixed with at least a few snowflakes) so I was glad to dip onto Wapiti trail for the rest of the walk to the second cache. That trail is used by equestrians so it too was worked up and sticky in places, but on the whole was a nice change from the long, straight road.\nAlong this leg I was really struck with the amount of beaver activity in the area. I had chuckle when I saw a completely chewed tree which normally would have been a fallen trophy for the beaver, but had only fallen into the branches of its neighbour which were still holding it up. I could just see the beaver having to call back the contractor on that one!\nAt another spot beaver had fallen a huge tree which was partly obstructing the trail. I took some pictures and had fun composing captions for them. There\u0026rsquo;s time to think about these kinds of things during a long, long hike.\nI finally made it to the cache site and made the find pretty quickly; it wasn\u0026rsquo;t meant to be a hard hide. Then I just sat and ate a hiking power bar and drank a good bit of water. Looking at my GPSr, I saw I\u0026rsquo;d just walked 11 km to get here. Now I had to get back! I had joked in the cache log that I\u0026rsquo;d just wait for the helicopter I\u0026rsquo;d ordered, but the hard truth was that I had to walk all the way back now.\nI decided to take what looked like a longer but much more scenic route back, mostly along trails I\u0026rsquo;d walked before during past hikes. I took Wapiti back to Winter trail and followed that for 2.4 km until it met up with Lost Lake trail which is a long, long trail that spans a good part of the rec area. Whenever I\u0026rsquo;d get to a trail intersection, I would feel I\u0026rsquo;d accomplished something, smile and then continue on, trying to keep a good pace because the clouded sky was losing the light fast.\nOn the way along Lost Lake trail I checked in on one of my own caches, one which has been reported as being found right out in the open a few times: no doubt due to some frisky coyotes using it as a play toy. On this my first maintenance visit to the cache, I found it snugly hidden away by some conscientious finders and I\u0026rsquo;m thankful that they hid it so well.\nOne of the islets at Islet Lake. I took Push Lake trail on last leg back to Islet Lake and by this time I really could feel that my little toe of my right foot was hurting. Later I found a small blister on it, but since that was the only real indication on my feet of such a log walk, I really don\u0026rsquo;t have too much to complain about.\nBlackfoot staging areas all have signs at 400 meters away from the trailhead which tell seasonal hunters there\u0026rsquo;s no discharging any closer to the staging area parking. After such a long walk, to a non-hunter like me, seeing those sign is like a gift from heaven. It means I\u0026rsquo;m close to being able to rest and recuperate. As I walked by the sign I smiled a broad smile and was actually quite proud I\u0026rsquo;d been able to keep up the pace on leg after leg of this hike and return tired, sure, but pretty much unscathed from the trek.\nI honestly think it\u0026rsquo;s such a privilege to be able to walk safely, in solitude in such naturally wild places.\n","date":"November 15 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-islet-lake-hike/","section":"Posts","summary":"A hike to inner depths of the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area. Starting from the Islet Lake Staging Area, I was on the hunt for \u0026lsquo;cigar\u0026rsquo; caches.","title":"Blackfoot Islet Lake Hike for \"Cigar\" Caches","type":"posts"},{"content":"The hike / climb up Folding Mountain on Aug. 10, 2010 turned out to be both challenging (especially during the tough first 2 kms that involved a steep elevation gain) and thoroughly delightful once most of the elevation was gained and the walks through the alpine meadows began.\nThis trek was on my wish list for a long, long time. I remember a co-worker at MacEwan mentioning he\u0026rsquo;d gone hiking with a buddy and that they\u0026rsquo;d had a lot of trouble finding the trailhead. Then a year or so later I happened to be reading the logs of geocaches I\u0026rsquo;d like to do someday and saw the cache owner had a picture of a log book signed by \u0026ldquo;non-cachers\u0026rdquo; - none other than my MacEwan co-worker and his buddy. So this is where they\u0026rsquo;d gone. I wanted to go too!\nThe context of the climb up Folding Mountain. I had another more selfish reason for wanting to do the hike up Folding Mountain: there were two caches with the same Difficulty / Terrain rating, a combination I needed to fill my \u0026ldquo;Difficulty / Terrain\u0026rdquo; matrix, a goal I\u0026rsquo;d been working on since Dec. 09. I needed either of those caches to fill that spot on my chart.\nThe trailhead sign. After spending the night in Hinton, I arrived at about 8:00 am the parking spot near the trailhead (both of which I\u0026rsquo;d scouted out the day before while caching in the area). Then the long, hard slog up the first section trail began. The UP was relentless, with an early start I knew I had lots to time to get as far as I could during the day and get back again. The first cache I found along trail was named HTEG Micro (\u0026ldquo;Half the Elevation Gained\u0026rdquo;). I wrote in the find log afterward that I\u0026rsquo;d mentally renamed this cache AATLJG (Almost All The Leg Juice Gone). But once I\u0026rsquo;d gotten there and found that well camo\u0026rsquo;d cache, there was still elevation but somehow it didn\u0026rsquo;t seem so bad.\nOnce I made my way up a little more, I could start to see south across Highway 16 to the Athabasca River. At this point the views were filled with dark clouds and a light mist was falling, making me worried that if the weather worsened I\u0026rsquo;d have to retreat and try this ascent another day. Luckily, as the day wore on, the bad weather simply blew past and left vegetation green and glistening with water in the sunlight.\nA resting spot on the way up It was a refreshing sight, but the problem was the water on the bushes and grasses along the trail was splashing onto my legs, running down through my socks and actually filling my boots with water. If there was ever a time for gaiters, this was it, but alas I didn\u0026rsquo;t have any with me. By the time I\u0026rsquo;d found a cache that required me to project a waypoint from a certain set of rocks \u0026ndash; and it took me BACK along the trail I\u0026rsquo;d just hiked and UP for little bit again \u0026ndash; I was ready to dump the water from my boots and wring out my socks. From then on, I could walk properly without squishing at every step.\nThe summit in sight Gradually, I made my way to find six of the seven caches along the way, including the two that had the D/T combination I needed. Then came the summit and as I neared it, well, it looked foreboding. From here on, I think I\u0026rsquo;ll just let what I wrote in the online log for the summit cache tell the story:\nThe summit. There it sits in its almost naked grandeur. I\u0026rsquo;d seen the various log pictures, and played the climbing movie in my brain beforehand, but, as usual, the actual experience was different than the movies. The actual climbing to the summit was a real challenge for me and I\u0026rsquo;m proud of myself for having done it. When one gets closer and closer, the quiet summit gets a little more intimidating with each step toward it, until you kind of hurt your neck because of the extreme angle while peering up as you find the trail on the way up. Little mantras did help me on the way though, like (since I\u0026rsquo;d gotten a fairly early start) “I\u0026rsquo;ve got all day”; “ One step at a time” was useful, but actually there was more like 10m between my rest breaks; and also popular, just so I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have to look the thing in the face anymore, was “Don\u0026rsquo;t look up!\nWhen I reached the top (Halleluiah!), and suddenly spied the summit cairn, I only had the energy to let out two sounds: “Ha – Ha”; that was all I had the energy for, and then I had to have a rest, at least for a few minutes.\nAfter that, not paying any attention to my GPSr at this point, I immediately spied a container nestled in the rocks of the summit cairn. Given the cache name, I just assumed these were the goods. After uncovering and opening the plastic container, I found only a large hollowed out book with some paper inside. The only signatures were from what looked like a church (?) group of I guessed were mostly teenagers (?) and dated August 5, 2010, just five days ago. My sleuthing powers were at their peak when I said out loud, “This is not a geocache!” They don\u0026rsquo;t call me the Master of the Obvious for nothing! After fetching my GPSr I realized the cache was a little ways away and made my way over to make a quick find in the well-chosen spot and it was a thrill to find the cache as a kind of tangible symbol to acknowledge the hard work it had taken to get to the summit.\nAfter re-hiding the cache best I could in the same way I\u0026rsquo;d found it, I had lunch and explored the area and took in the 360 degree views. What a great spot, with so much character. To the west in the foreground it looks hard and sharp, but to the south it looks, in this season anyway, soft, with subtle green slopes. To the east simply vast, with views of the Hinton area and beyond. I lingered for quite a while, and didn\u0026rsquo;t want to leave, so just continued to take in the view and take pictures. Making my way down was faster, but required much more focus than ascending. I\u0026rsquo;d been happy to be at the top, but now it was also comforting to make my way to what seemed like solid ground on the trail below.\nI made my way more along the trail more quickly, of course, because elevation wasn\u0026rsquo;t a factor, but the toes really did hurt quite a bit once I finally reached the highway and heard what seemed like the sweet sounds of cars whizzing by to and from Jasper.\nCivilization again, now with a fresh glow of accomplishment to make it seem better.\nPhoto Gallery # \u003c!DOCTYPE html\u003e Summit - looking west towards Brule Lake Looking westward - Roche a Perdrix at left A typical trail pic on the way up Summit - westward toward the south end of Brule Lake Summit - northwestward and north end of Brule Lake My Track Log # See full screen\n","date":"August 10 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/climb-to-the-summit-of-folding-mountain/","section":"Posts","summary":"A made the memorable climb to the summit of Folding Mountain mid-August, 2010.","title":"Climb to the Summit of Folding Mountain","type":"posts"},{"content":" Along the way on the logging road I drove to Kananaskis from Calgary in the morning and just after 8:30 was parked and on the way towards the summit of Lusk Creek Ridge, my main goal for the day. At this point in the hike, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into and my plans were grand: to nab five geocaches on the ridge during the day. If you read on you’ll see why that once I started up the ridge and found out how strenuous this off trail hiking can be, my lofty goals quickly shrunk to getting ONE cache if I could successfully stay alive to manage it. In the end I managed to get two caches and felt proud and thoroughly satisfied to have accomplished that.\nOver a month or so before I arrived that morning I\u0026rsquo;d had such a great time reading the logs of all the caches along Lusk Creek Ridge. I saw there are a select few cachers who consistently showed up in the logs and who are obviously in to challenging themselves with hikes and climbs to seldom-reached spots. Just reading their logs and seeing that they had climbed this ridge time after time from different access points made me admire their tenacity and their energy!\n\u0026nbsp;\n\u0026nbsp;\nMy first glimpse of the \u0026#34;tree soup\u0026#34; logged out area When I reached the first waypoint that I’d named \"Head UP\" on my GPS receiver, **I saw what looked like an almost a vertical path UP**. I just said, _out loud_, \"He can't mean I'm supposed to go up there\". I guess I just couldn’t believe and ended up skirting that spot to try another route further along and to this day I’m not sure if that was a wise decision. The route I’d elected to try to access the ridge was the not usual one used by most others to reach the top of the ridge. But this route started out on a logging road, a more or less flat trail to follow: something that I, an original native of Saskatchewan could relate to. But that relatively familiar and flat terrain would soon be a fond memory.\nInstead of the direct route up, I took kind of a right flank on the first two waypoints I’d planned to head for, all supplied by a cacher, Sleepy_Hollow, who recommend the route over the one usually used to get to the top. I actually got close to Sleepy Hollow\u0026rsquo;s third waypoint, but that was a while later. Making this flank move just seemed a little more \u0026ldquo;sane\u0026rdquo; at the time, but of course anyone who has experience this kind of climb will know that \u0026ldquo;sane\u0026rdquo; is just a relative, and actually pretty meaningless, concept. In short, it was just me muddling through the situation, best I could.\nWhat\u0026#39;s this? A human is barging right through our living room! I made my way up slowly, oh, so slowly with frequent stops. On the way, unfortunately, I managed to barge right into the living room of couple of jumpers. They retreated and stood watching me for a while and I could just hear them saying, \u0026ldquo;Like, he\u0026rsquo;s not coming up any further is he?\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Of course not!\u0026rdquo; was the reply, \u0026ldquo;Look at him! He\u0026rsquo;s only using two legs and those silly pole things.\u0026rdquo; When I did manage to move upward again, they literally pranced four hooves at time like they do UP the nasty slope away from me like it was nothing, leaving me behind panting and in awe of their energy and speed.\nAt little later, I had to climb a couple of ledges to continue up. I wasn\u0026rsquo;t entirely happy with that because it\u0026rsquo;s just not something I\u0026rsquo;m used to doing, but it had to happen. And you know, speaking as a relative newbie at this \u0026ldquo;off trail\u0026rdquo; hiking thing, I think that\u0026rsquo;s where the allure is in doing this kind of thing: you meet situations where you just do what has to be done, even if it\u0026rsquo;s a hard thing to be done. All theorizing stops. At first thinking helps out a to be sure, but soon it stops and then the doing starts. And what you\u0026rsquo;re doing becomes ALL you\u0026rsquo;re doing. I know that kind of attention to the moment was essential for me while climbing up those small ledges.\nHighway 68 below (that\u0026#39;s where I parked!) and Barrier Lake in the background Gradually, what I was calling \u0026ldquo;The Cliffs of Insanity\u0026rdquo; (a la \u0026ldquo;Princess Bride\u0026rdquo;) changed into actual tree cover and the climb became much more manageable. For instance, I didn\u0026rsquo;t have to walk at a 45 degree angle ALL the time, only sometimes. A little later, open areas were welcomed too because it was such a luxury to actually walk in a straight line to a destination as opposed to making my way around deadfall and minor rock cliffs.\nStill, ever so slowly, I made my way to the summit, , and when I reached the top and glimpsed the metal of cache container, a loud \u0026ldquo;YES\u0026rdquo; of triumph was heard, well, by no one but me. I would have done a happy dance had I had the energy and I guess I would have pumped my fist when I said, \u0026ldquo;YES!\u0026rdquo;, but again, no energy. What a great way to celebrate Canada Day!! July 1, 2010 These were my first few hours ever in Kananaskis and let me tell you the views in every direction were truly breath taking. I can\u0026rsquo;t name any of the other peaks in the area as I see done in the logs of others who know the area so much better, but I honestly appreciated the power and grandeur of this place.\nI admire those who have managed to make their way to the cache at the summit; I can\u0026rsquo;t imagine doing it in the snow as many have done. What I admire is that the names in this cache log are also in the logs of many if not all the other caches on the Lusk Creek Ridge. That means that getting here wasn\u0026rsquo;t merely a \u0026ldquo;one-off\u0026rdquo;, that they undertook this challenging trek and then some other morning got up and did it again, and again some other morning…. That\u0026rsquo;s what I admire.\nAfter taking a bunch of pictures, resting and having a bite to eat, I contemplated going for few cache south of this spot and on to another summit to the south. But I knew my energy just wasn’t there that day to do all that. What’s more I would have had to go DOWN and then UP again in order to get where I was going. Psychologically, I just didn’t think I could do it.\nInstead made my way over to another cache and, thankfully, I was going down now, so the trek didn’t seem as difficult by far. Mercifully, the path to this cache was along a ridge, complete with a game trail to walk along for most of the way. It was absolute luxury compared to the hike up to the summit. I made my way to the cache and with the help of the hint made the find quickly.\nThe view from nearby was awesome. It gave me a clear view of the road I’d taken to get to my parking spot a few hours before. I honestly felt I was being spoiled with the wonderful views during my first few hours in Kananaskis. As I write this I know there is much, much more to see in the great area.\nSprays of lichen in a river of wood All I needed now is to make my way down to logging road to where I’d started. This part of the hike was uneventful until I reached the sheer slope that I’d avoided at the beginning of the climb up. I swear, on the whole going down that slope hurt almost as much as the climb up. The downward slope was such that my toes were always scrunched into the front of my boots and of course I had to go down so there was no let up in this. Strange to say, but it was hard climb down because of the toe pain, not the lung pain and exhaustion I’d felt on the way up.\nEventually, however, I was able to get down to level ground again and make my back along the logging road to the car.\nIt was a challenging, memorable and somehow magical trek to the top of Lusk Creek Ridge and back. Since it was my first experience ever in Kananaskis, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the experience.\nMy Track Log # See full screen\n","date":"July 1 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-lusk-creek-ridge-central-summit/","section":"Posts","summary":"It was my first ever visit to Kananaskis where I made the very memorable off-trail climb to the central summit along Lusk Creek Ridge. It was July 1, Canada Day, too!","title":"Hike to Lusk Creek Ridge Central Summit","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"June 13 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/grande-cache/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Grande Cache","type":"categories"},{"content":" Grande Cache in the distance as seen from the summit of Mt. Louis Mt. Louie (elevation 1844 m / 6050 ft.) is one of the six Bronze mountains in Grande Cache\u0026rsquo;s now defunct \u0026ldquo;Passport to the Peaks\u0026rdquo; program. During the 5.5 km (one way), sometimes challenging hike to the summit, there\u0026rsquo;s an elevation gain of 714 meters and along the way the reward of some breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys that surround Grande Cache.\nOn June 13, 2009, my friend Amy and I had little trouble finding the Cowlick Creek Staging Area parking spot (mostly because we\u0026rsquo;d done a recon the day before!). The trail started along a flat road, continued along a canal that connects Grand Cache and Victor Lakes. After crossing the somewhat funky bridge over the canal, it felt like the hike had really begun.\nThe ascent to the summit is done entirely on a ridge and that ridge just continues, unrelentingly, up. Because the ridge is, of course, mostly rock, we lost the trail a couple of times but were able to find trail markers fairly soon to get us back on track\nOn the way up we were overtaken by a local couple who were climbing Mt. Louie as something a little different from their usual routes to prepare for the locally hosted Death Race. I remember them counselling that we really should have some kind of bear deterrent with us, something I have carried along on all hikes since.\nBy the time we were near the summit, I have to say felt kind of like a pack mule. I was was just plodding dumbly forward, by this time too tired to be aware of my surroundings. Amy, who\u0026rsquo;d decided to take a more \u0026ldquo;switchback-like\u0026rdquo; path up, suddenly called out to me that I was actually making my way past the summit cairn! I still remember the elation when I realized we\u0026rsquo;d reached the goal.\nThe cairn box and an inukshuk at the summit of Mt. Louie The cairn box and an inukshuk at the summit of Mt. Louie\nWe rested had some lunch and after I searched around a little, had fun playing in the snow that was still lingering near the summit in June.\nAfter taking the photos at the Passport to the Peaks \u0026ldquo;mailbox\u0026rdquo; at the summit, we made our way down slowly having accomplished a really nice hike that brought some excellent views of Grande Cache from afar.\nGallery # ","date":"June 13 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-to-the-summit-of-mt-louie/","section":"Posts","summary":"My friend Amy and I hiked to the summit of Mt. Louis. There was an elevation gain of 714 meters and along the way the reward of some breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys that surround Grande Cache, AB","title":"Hike to the Summit of Mt. Louie","type":"posts"},{"content":"My friend Amy and I climbed up Mt. Stearn near Grande Cache on August 23, 2008. That sentence hardly tells the tale about how strenuous we both found this hike. This was the first time either of us had visited Grande Cache and little did we know we just happened to choose one of the more challenging trails in the area.\nThe sign near the trailhead - do the math, it\u0026#39;s a 1000m gain in elevation. After checking out the hiking possibilities at the Information Centre we decided on Mt. Stearn. To be honest, neither of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. We understand the distance involved and felt comfortable with that, but speaking for myself anyway, I had no conception of the elevation gain involved, about 1175 m (3854 ft) from the trailhead to the summit. It was a about a 16.6 km hike for me (I went a couple of extra kms near the summit while I looked for a geocache which I didn’t find - and don’t feel bad at ALL about giving up on it).\nOn the way up we were passed by a couple of groups of equestrians, one of whom said, \u0026ldquo;Boy, you guys must be in shape\u0026rdquo;. I forget what was actually said out loud in response to that - and there\u0026rsquo;s a good chance we were just to tired to respond at all \u0026ndash; but I know I was thinking, \u0026ldquo;Boy, am I ever NOT in shape, but I\u0026rsquo;m going to do this anyway\u0026rdquo;.\nWe agreed at the end of the hike that there was new psychological constant equation in life: 1200 m elevation gain = HELL. (Well, when you are in the physical shape we were in at the time, that is.)\nWe were both very proud to have finished this hike. It was a real accomplishment. In a masochistic kind of way, this hike awakened a goal: to climb all of the Bronze peaks in the local “Passport to the Peaks: program\nB1 Grande Mountain 6520\u0026rsquo; (completed July 26, 2009)\nB2 Flood Mountain 6000\u0026rsquo; (completed July 1, 2009)\nB3 Mount Louie 6075\u0026rsquo; (completed June 13, 2009)\nB4 Mount Stearn 6625\u0026rsquo; (almost made it once on this hike, but we weren\u0026rsquo;t aware of the \u0026ldquo;Passport to the Peaks\u0026rdquo; program when we did this hike; still have to do it. Again.)\nB5 Ambler Mountain 6275\u0026rsquo;(completed July 4, 2009)\nB6 Mount Hamell 6986\u0026rsquo; (The highest elevation of the lot and still has to be done.)\nIn order to meet this goal, I’ll have to make a number of trips out to Grande Cache, get into getter physical shape and also get into better hiking shape. It will be a real challenge, and I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll TRY!\nPhoto Gallery # ","date":"August 23 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hike-up-mt-stearn-near-grande-cache/","section":"Posts","summary":"We arrived in Grande Cache wanting to do some hiking and chose almost randomly to climb Mt. Stearn. Boy, did pick a day for a workout!","title":"Hike up Mt. Stearn near Grande Cache","type":"posts"},{"content":" A neat corridor to follow from the parking spot. The second day of my excursions to the Cooking Lake – Blackfoot Recreational Area was on Sunday, November 4, 2007. This was good day. The first significant snowfall of the season had fallen over night, so the ground was blanketed by fresh snow. It’s funny how that is a treat, even after having lived though what seems like countless winters of waist deep snow.\nI got out to the same place I’d just left the afternoon before, (if you’ve read the November 3 account you’ll know I missed ONE cache completely the day before and I was determined to go find it).\nBut this day had a completely different feel to it.\nThe fresh snow covered the trail and mine were the first human steps on the path that morning. It was fun coming up on animal trails, trying to figure out what kind of animal it was and then seeing the trail disappear into the bush. This made the trip to that one cache a real treat. Once I got close, I dipped into the bush to find the cache and not 15 seconds later a couple of women jogged by on the trail, doing a morning run. They probably wondered what happened to the big human tracks that disappeared into the bush.\nI distinctly remember finding this cache. The GPSr has a margin of error of about 10 ft at the best of times. So if the person who hid the cache wasn’t very accurate with coordinates and you are about 10 feet off yourself, you know you could be looking within at least a 20 feet radius for this container\u0026hellip;.under a blanket of snow. Well, isn’t this special, you say to yourself. Where to start?\nI stood in one spot, put my gloves back on ready to start swishing the snow in the area, but before I started the brain kicked in and my eye started to look for cache-worthy spots. The first such spot was right beside my foot, so I bent down to move a piece of bark and VOILA, a cache was revealed! I laughed out loud. After that initial feeling of hopelessness and discouragement, I hadn’t moved a muscle and there was the cache, a cylindrical plastic container just as advertised in the description. That was special. :-)\nThe log book. I had done my duty, found the one cache, so I made my way back to the car and drove around to the southern part of the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot Rec. Area looking for a backdoor entrance. The cache owner had given parking coordinates to this back door, but my keen spidey directional sense managed to miss the turn off to the parking spot the first try. I found it eventually, parked and made my way down a really neat corridor of trees, again making the only human prints that morning.\nThis entire walk this morning was certainly shorter than the day before, and there weren’t the same number of caches to be found, but there was something almost spiritual about the experience. I honestly felt cleansed as I walked down the narrow trail. The new snow definitely contributed to this feeling, but I think it was the remoteness of the area as well.\nThe animal track activity had certainly increased, possibility because of the proximity of the lake. And the lake itself seemed to be in a strange state: half rippling and half frozen. The lake was deciding what it was going to become and in a sense so was I.\nI walked down the little trail, crossing a beaver damn that I’d seen in the log pictures of others, passed a little hut which seemed to used very little, and on to the cache area which promised to be on a point on the lake. The description suggested following blue diamond ski markers to the cache area, which I did, all the time wondering how anyone could ski on this very hilly terrain (Sask. roots showing there).\nThe path took me up an incline and finally to the tip of the point with a fairly sharp drop to the shoreline. Well, walking down that incline seems a bit hairy, so I just used my brains, so to speak, sat down and skidded to the shore on my bum. It worked pretty well.\nOnce thriving grass now frozen solid in winter ice. True to form, I followed the GPSr pointer through some bush, to a spot that was close, but nothing revealed itself at first. Then I just stood and looked. Sure enough, about 20 ft away a collection of wood looked, well, too human in configuration, so I made my way over to it and under that pile was the cache container, an ammo can. I sat for a while, signed the log, took pictures of the cache and savored the find. I felt truly thankful to the cache owner for having found this spot, hiding the cache and providing me with an excuse to come walking out here, a place were things just ARE, not maybe or sort of, but just are. I wrote that sentiment of thanks in the cache log later that evening and really meant it.\nI decided to snap away, creating a series of pictures in an attempt to try to capture the experience, to capture the moment. The pictures never really quite do capture the experience, but they are a valiant attempt at least. I remember being quite taken by the newly frozen water along the shoreline. Some of the pictures show the effects of the recent freeze: translucent water with bubbles and foliage trapped in what will be a solid state until spring: the first effects of a familiar cycle that has happened at this shoreline for countless centuries.\nThese plants had that “fly in amber” quality to them. And if the shoreline plants had feelings and they did feel distressed at being trapped in the newly formed ice, the cycle that caused the distress will in turn free and nurture come Spring. Wounds will heal. The emotional wound I was expecting to feel as a short-lived relationship was promising to come to an end at that time, well, that wound would come, perhaps make me feel trapped and distressed for a while, but would also heal in the future as well. I don’t think I consciously thought of these things while I was on the spot, but in retrospect, this process of rethinking and writing about the experience is possibly revealing why I felt like the experience of the walk that day was cleansing me somehow. The new snow was the sign of a familiar cycle; the animal tracks were a sign of resilience, perhaps of coping with whatever new reality descends.\nAnd maybe this is simply a completely fabricated mental model painted on past experience, I honestly don’t know.\nI slowly, I remember, somewhat reluctantly made my way back to the trail and then to the car. The battery on the GPSr held out the whole way. I made it to Sherwood Park and stopped at the first gas station I saw to fill up on fuel and with that had reentered civilization with it’s own man-made cycles measured by the second, minutes and hours not by the millennia.\nPhotos from the day # ","date":"November 4 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-hike-wanisan-lake/","section":"Posts","summary":"A second visit to Cooking Lake – Blackfoot Recreational Area in two days. After a fresh snowfall, I broke trail to out of the way places that were brand new to me.","title":"Blackfoot Hike (Wanisan Lake)","type":"posts"},{"content":" The Cooking Lake Blackfoot Recreational Area was all completely new to me when I first decided to geocache in the area on November 3, 2007. There was a feeling of being able to explore the unknown, of not knowing what is around the next bend. I love this aspect of geocaching: the chance to “discovering” what for me is a new part of the world, and in this case so close to home, for the first time.\nParked in a freshly-snowed-on lot at the Waskahegan Staging Area I arrived late-ish morning, had that “Where the heck should I start?” feeling and then just headed out on what seemed to be the trailhead. My main aim of the day was to try to find all the caches in the area and I won’t give a blow by blow account of the each one; instead I’ll just mention a few glimmers of memory that stand out.\nOne of my first pictures of the morning was as I was approaching a cache from what turned out to be the single most difficult way one could ever want to approach. The picture is taken in a dense bit of bush and comes as a result of me laughing at myself asking the question, “What the HECK am I doing here, in the middle of nowhere? And why am I asking myself this question so early in the day?” This tends to happen about half the time: one gets to the cache by bushwhacking and wondering how anyone find such a place much less have the evil will to hide a cache in a place so hard to get to and find at the cache a perfectly nice trail leading back to the main path I was on and presenting an opening that was completely ignored. I joke that there’s a “Take single most difficult and round about route to cache” button on my GPSr.\nThe geocache container - this one is going to LAST! After that find, I proceeded to another cache close by. My receiver is set to beep 80 meters from the cache coordinates, and just as I’m passing a Mom with her two kids who are resting in one of the shelter huts, my pocket began to beep like crazy. Now this caching thing is supposed to be surreptitious to a point, so one doesn\u0026rsquo;t want to whip out the receiver in front of everyone as it kind of gives away what you\u0026rsquo;re up to. So as my pocket is beeping wildly I just say “Hi there!!” with a smile and the Mom says “Hi!” back with what I think is a knowing smile.\nThis next cache is right beside a trail, and on a hill no less. With no tree cover at all in the Fall, this kind of proximity to the trail makes a person completely exposed as the hunt for the cache goes on. I always mutter and curse in these situations because you have to keep on eye on searching for the cache, but also keep an eye on the trail to see if people are coming who will see you searching through the trees and grass and obviously immediately assume you’re picking up drugs or something like that. And the thing is with me these days that I’m really only working with one good eye, so the attention is split between the task at hand and the keeping watch. Anyway, I came up empty at that one: the frustration level builds to a point where one simply says, “Why, that is enough of that!” (well, that’s the clean version anyway) and moves on.\nThere were a few more caches found until I came to one whose hint promised that it would be under one of the rest huts along the path. This one was near the picture of the little squirrel on top of his little hill. I looked and looked and looked. No cache that I could see. I’m circling this hut four times, pretty much on my stomach the whole time. No cache. When I got back home I reported it as a “Did not find” and the owner said he’d check it out in the future. About a month later someone reported finding it though, so I guess somehow I just missed it.\nThe next cache of note was actually hidden on what is an island surrounded by swamp. Apparently there is a way in during the summer, but only if one jumps across to the island at one specific spot. The weather was on my side for this one: I just walked across the newly frozen water to the island. Even so, the approach to this one as a fairly significant bushwhack. After about 20 minutes of this kind of thing, one really wonders about the point of hacking through trees and searching like a ferret to get around fallen logs. But this kind of thinking also makes it kind of fun.\nI found the cache cleverly hidden inside the bark of a fallen tree, sat down for a little rest with some water and an energy bar and then proceeded to bushwhack out in a different direction from what I’d entered the area. I had already marked a waypoint on the main trail, and was heading for it, so I knew I was going the right direction. Even so, there were doubts.\nFinally I see the drainage trench I knew would be the close to the main trail and suddenly the trail appears and just as suddenly an older gentleman ambles directly toward me just as he is passing along that point on the trail. He looks at me with some incredulity; imagine walking on a quiet trail and suddenly some guy comes crashing out of the bush with a big “Hi!” and a smile. He had to wonder about my sanity. Funny, I was just thinking that about myself.\nI think I found one more cache after that one, but I have to tell you that bushwhack kind of tuckered me out. I was ready to get back to the car after what was then about a 4.5 hour hike. But not before going back to the scene of the cache on the little hill I couldn’t find. After a second search of the area, I finally found the silly thing very well hidden under a piece of bark no less. This little piece of bark had been stepped on a bunch of times, once by me I think. I felt lucky and a little perturbed.\nThat was it for the day. It was a good, tiring day with my first experience of that area of the Cooking Lake - Blackfoot area explored. When I got home and logged all my cache finds, I realized I had missed one cache. I completely walked by it. Drat.\nI decided to go back the next day to get that one cache, but more importantly to check out the Wanisan Lake area. Cache logs characterized it as being the “backdoor” to the Blackfoot area. That sounded exotic. And there were a couple of caches to be found.\nA Few Photos of the Hike # ","date":"November 3 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/blackfoot-geocaching-waskahegan/","section":"Posts","summary":"A memorable day of geocaching in the Cooking Lake Blackfoot Recreational Area. I was new to geocaching and this area was completely new to me at this time. The experiences of the day really made an impression on","title":"Blackfoot Geocaching (Waskahegan)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"April 11 1998","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/cambridge-bay/","section":"","summary":"","title":"Cambridge Bay","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"April 11 1998","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/living-in-cambridge-bay-north-of-the-arctic-circle/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Living in Cambridge Bay, North of the Arctic Circle","type":"series"},{"content":"This post is another in my series about Cambridge Bay, but unlike most of the other posts which were originally pages on the Grant Wilson\u0026rsquo;s Slice of Life website I maintained back then, this post is written from pure, and perhaps faulty, memory in 2020. That\u0026rsquo;s some 22 years after the actual incident so there is a distinct lack of detail and large helping of \u0026ldquo;Maybe it was like this or that, don\u0026rsquo;t quite remember\u0026rdquo;. Despite all that, I did want to tell the story because the whole experience was, just as the title says, anticlimactic.\nLate during my stay in Cambridge Bay, I was part of what turned out to be a memorably odd chartered ice-fishing trip. My memory is very hazy about most of the particulars of the trip, including about exactly when it took place, but it certainly during the spring of 1998. Ice-fishing in spring? You might be thinking that sounds less than safe. But in the arctic spring doesn’t mean a massive melt; it just means more light, almost 24 hours of it for a while. Yes it\u0026rsquo;s the beginning of a long slow melt that may finish sometime in late July or early August. But in the months of spring everything that was ridiculously cold and frozen during the winter is now just merely really frozen.\nThis ice-fishing excursion involved a large group of people piling onto a chartered plane with the aim of flying out of town, landing on a frozen lake, and augering some ice-fishing holes to do some fishing.\nNow, I don’t think I’ve ever ice-fished in my life and apologies to all you ice-fishing fans, the thought of it has me ranking it just above watching paint dry.\nSo for me it couldn’t have been the lure of ice-fishing that got me on that plane. No, I’m 100% sure the draw was the chance of being part of an excursion out of town - by plane or by any other means possible. Obviously many others felt the same. I’d say there were about 25 people all told.\nI can’t quite remember if we paid for the excursion or if it was a free promotional thing for the airline charter company. Now that I think of it, maybe the bunch of us were just oblivious ballast for the pilots to get some practice ski landings in on a frozen arctic lake.\nIn any case, we took off and someone must have had an idea where to go because we flew for a while before descending to land on a frozen lake. We made a number of passes at the landing spot, I’m thinking three or more. Having seen TV shows about bush piloting since then, I know now that it’s quite normal to scout out the landing spot first and even attempt and abort landings in arctic conditions. But at that time, having only flown on commercial flights in the south where there are paved runways, the multiple attempts thing wasn’t part of my experience. I distinctly remember my stress level increasing at each attempt. But what can you do? You’re a captive sardine who is still euphoric from having the opportunity to escape the confines of town for a few hours.\nWe landed (finally) on a frozen lake and people piled out of the plane. Okay, now what? But we landed safely and piled out of the plane. I remember the gender roles kicking in without anyone saying anything: a tent was set up quickly and the women-folk started on making food, including the heating up the chilli that someone had made.\nThe ice auger The men-folk, a couple of them schlepping an ice auger, made their way out a bit onto a spot on the ice to drill holes to begin ice-fishing. I was part of that group.\nAnd one-by-one the men-folk took turns yanking on the pull cord to get the ice auger motor started.\nAnd we yanked on the cord. And the motor did nothing.\nWe yanked on the cord, and the motor did nothing.\nWe yanked on the cord, and the motor\u0026hellip;\nWe yanked on the cord.\nWe yanked.\nWe\n…gave up, hauled the stupid thing back to the tent and everyone just ate chilli. And I remember it being really good.\nWe no doubt all agreed that we didn’t want fish anyway and besides ice-fishing is stupid and boring.\nThe tent That’s my very vague recollection of the group ice-fishing trip. It’s more than a little anti-climatic I know, but that’s the way reality goes sometimes. Not with a bang, but a whimper.\nTIm S. and I did take some time to walk a ways to do some hero shots of each other with the plane in the background. Here they are even though the quality of them is sub, sub par.\nTim S. Grant Epilogue # And I’d like to think that on the flight back someone opened a hatch and dropped that ice auger out onto the frozen tundra below. Where it belonged.\n","date":"April 11 1998","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/the-odd-ice-fishing-excursion/","section":"Posts","summary":"These are my memories about an ill-fated group ice-fishing trip by plane from Cambridge Bay to somewhere on the artic tundra. Everyone came out completely safe and unharmed, but let\u0026rsquo;s just say that no fishing of any kind happened.","title":"The Anti-Climactic Ice-Fishing Excursion","type":"posts"},{"content":" The finished igloo at night. Soon after the group “igloo building bee”, the first brave souls to sleep in the igloo (the first night after we built the thing on March 22, 1998) were Doug S., Suzanne and Alex T. The rest of us had VERY legitimate excuses not to sleep in the igloo all night in -30°C weather. (Yeah, right) Well, they reported the next day that they were warm, and aside from some reports of strange dreams, all was well.\nThe next shift about a week(?) later was to be Tim S., Keith W. (a visiting CBC \u0026ldquo;producer for hire\u0026rdquo; from Vancouver), me and Suz B. At the last minute a sleeping bag Suz thought she had lined up didn\u0026rsquo;t materialize so she dropped out. Doug, our igloo builder, decided to join us for what would be his second night in this igloo.\nWe started to get ready to \u0026ldquo;move in\u0026rdquo; at about ten o\u0026rsquo;clock. We went to Doug\u0026rsquo;s place where we collected a bunch of caribou hides, a muskox hide and even a grizzly bear hide, all of which would serve as insulation on the floor of the igloo.\nAll four of the guys slated to sleep in the igloo. Just before we all finally got into the igloo and sealed the door from the inside to keep in the warmth that would be created by a lantern and our body heat, I took the chance to rid myself yet once more of that pesky body fluid so I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t feel the need to get up in the night.\nThis was no small thing to consider. And you have to understand that when you’re in an igloo for the night, you’re IN. Once everyone’s inside, the door is sealed shut by maneuvering a snow block into place and then packing the cracks with snow. Of course this is necessary to trap the heat inside during the night.\nIt\u0026rsquo;s funny that the whole time getting ready for this venture, this “no escape” and therefore “no pee\u0026quot; factor was the heaviest weight on my mind.\nThe igloo was situated on the west edge of town. It was quiet and DARK. There’s very little light pollution even on the edge of a small town in the arctic, so the stars really made an impression on me. Everywhere I\u0026rsquo;ve gone in the world, the familiar constellations have been there to remind me that no matter how different it might be on the ground, I’m still living under the same night sky.\nIt was a tight fit for four guys. The Big Dipper was there that night and the North Star was almost straight overhead. You had to tilt your head back to see pin point it. It’s the arctic, right?\nMore group shots We got all the sleeping bags and skins into the igloo by about 11 p.m. and started to settle down to choose places. Doug started the Coleman lantern which was going to be our sole source of heat. All of the sudden, being on the outside wall of the four sleepers wasn\u0026rsquo;t a good thing. I was the tallest of the bunch so pretty much had to be in the middle two sleepers just so I could fit.\nWe rummaged through the sleeping bags, tried to get comfy and in time had our spots and positions for the night. And my goodness it was tight for this six foot tall guy.\nDoug had brought along a good number of bags and a couple including mine were spread across everyone. There was no problem with keeping warm. The sensation was strange on the nose, though, because the air was cold and the steam would billow out the nostrils with every exhalation. Just a nose sticking out of the sleeping bag. All in all, the sleep was like a camping sleep to me. (That means it took me LONG time to get to sleep and I only ever slept lightly, it seemed). The cold wasn\u0026rsquo;t a factor at all, but the comfort level was. I finally went to sleep after a long while of staring at the snow dome over me.\nIt was a great experience sleeping in the igloo I\u0026rsquo;d helped to build.\nThe epilogue? Well after waking at about 7:00 a.m. we parted slowly. Doug and I sealed up the igloo again from the outside, because we\u0026rsquo;d left all the hides and bags inside for the day.\nI made the 10 minute walk home and after looking at the clock I realized that I was exactly on schedule with my usual morning routine. I had to laugh out loud. What a strange feeling. You sleep IN the elements over night and the routine of the work-a-day world grabs you again and makes you march. To top it off I then got a phone call from the computer lab at work: \u0026ldquo;Grant, what\u0026rsquo;s the password for Computer #4?\u0026rdquo;\nThis age\u0026rsquo;s BEAST never lets go of you Virginia.\n","date":"March 29 1998","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/sleeping-in-an-igloo/","section":"Posts","summary":"After an igloo building bee, and hearing the stories from the brave women who were first to try out sleeping overnight in the little dome, it was the guys turn.","title":"Sleeping in an Igloo","type":"posts"},{"content":" My commentary in 2020 # Helping to build and later sleep in an igloo still remains a strong memory from my time in Cambridge Bay. After all, it’s not a common thing to be able to do anywhere south of the arctic. In the original version I included everyone’s family name, but I’ve decided to edit those here just in case privacy is a factor for those involved. The real reason we were able to get an igloo built at all was because Doug S. knew the skill and art necessary to construct one. The rest of us just cut snow blocks for him to do his thing. Doug was originally from the Toronto area (I believe) and lived pretty much like a traditional Inuk. He seemed to knew more about the traditional Inuit ways than any of the younger generation. I honestly forget the level of gratitude for his work that I had at the time, but I certainly feel the gratitude now. Thanks Doug for making that memorable experience a reality way back on the day in late March, 1998!\nMy original post was essentially a short series of digital images with short captions beside each. That’s the format I’ll follow here.\nOn March 22 a great group of people got together to build an igloo. This was a first for most of us and it was truly a fun time. We built a snow house and maybe some new friendships too.\nAlex T. cutting one of the first blocks for the igloo. Doug S. (standing inside the igloo) was the brains of the outfit. Tim S. cuts out a block. Doug adds to the spiral of snow blocks that eventually circle around to the top of the dome of the igloo. Suzanne, a volunteer teacher from Germany, cuts out a block. “Help!” Doug adds to the walls. The group in front of the finished structure. It was a great time! I also took a picture later at night. ","date":"March 22 1998","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/building-an-igloo/","section":"Posts","summary":"Helping to build and later sleep in an igloo still remains a strong memory from my time in Cambridge Bay.","title":"Building an Igloo","type":"posts"},{"content":" My 2020 Commentary on this article written in 1998 # As the resident \u0026ldquo;computer guy\u0026rdquo; during my tenure with Nunavut Arctic College, I got the unexpected, but very welcome, opportunity to travel to other communities that were part of the western \u0026ldquo;Kitikmeot\u0026rdquo; region of the College.\nThis fairly long account covers a work trip I made by air from Cambridge Bay to Taloyoak, formerly known Spence Bay. This was the name I preferred calling the place because it’s the option I had a fighting chance of pronouncing correctly.\nAnd speaking of pronouncing \u0026ldquo;Taloyoak\u0026rdquo;, I made a minor hobby of asking native inuktitut speakers how to pronounce it correctly. I was surprised at the range of responses I got. Students were at the college in Cambridge Bay from all over the north because some programs were only offered there. Their local dialects rendered this four-syllables worth of sounds - a couple of which English speakers just don\u0026rsquo;t make - slightly differently. This made me feel just a tiny bit better when this native English speaker butchered the pronunciation. Incidentally, Taloyoak is the northernmost community on the North American mainland. Remember that when you get hit with the question during your next trivia challenge.\nWhy make such a big deal about a trip to another town? # In the post Traveling to Cambridge Bay, I wrote about my initial trip to Cambridge Bay. It was a long day, and about as antiseptic as modern air travel can be. On the other hand it was trip in the new, the unknown. The day ushered me into a new reality: a small town north of the Arctic Circle.\nAnd I’ve been in Cambridge Bay ever since. I don’t mean I haven’t moved away from Cambridge. I don’t mean I haven’t gone because of the strong emotional ties to the land. I mean that was August 25, this is November and I have been in the town of Cambridge Bay for the entire time.\nI mean, like it or not, I’ve been here ever since because there is nowhere else to go.\nIf that statement seems rather final, and perhaps a little harsh, you have to remember that, although I come from a small town in Saskatchewan, in the past I was mobile. I could jump in a car any weekend and travel somewhere to bike, to ski or go shop in the city. I could change my surroundings with the simple act of pointing the car out of town and stepping on the gas pedal.\nCan’t do that here.\nWith the exception of couple of brief trips on an ATV, I have been in the confines of the town since I got here. It isn’t the cold that keeps me in, nor is it the lack of time or inclination to travel. It’s the vast expanse of The Land and the lack of good transportation to travel over it that keeps me here.\nI’ve been calling this confinement and its effects the fish bowl mentality. You can swim around and around and pretend you see life from different depths and angles and for a while exploring the fish bowl is fun. There are the pretty rocks on the bottom. There are other fish to meet and there is the routine of regular feedings. But after a while the novelty wears off of things like the fake diver standing beside the plastic chest blowing up the bubbles. It’s not that you don’t like it; it’s just that you want to get the chance of looking at something else, changing your perspective.\nOn Monday, November 17 I got the chance to change my perspective.\nThere Was a Job to Do # Cambridge Bay is the main campus of the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut Arctic College. There are five “sub-campuses”: Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven, Holman, Pelly Bay and Taloyoak. Having worked for a Regional College in Saskatchewan, I am quite used to the idea of large distances between College offices. We used to think travelling an hour and a half to get to one of our offices was a big trip. But three hours in a plane to get to another office is something else again.\nHere’s why I was going. The six computers used in the small lab in Taloyoak needed new hard drives. Another fellow who works for the local Health Board was good enough to try to install the drives on a trip through town, but he had trouble with them and didn’t have the time in his schedule to spend musing on what the problem might be.\nThe job still had to be done, so I was asked to travel to Taloyoak on Monday, November 17. Once I got there, the next plane back out to Cambridge Bay would be Wednesday, November 19, so had about a day and half to do the job. Normally this would be plenty of time, but I was a bit apprehensive because of the former troubles getting the job done. I parked all the tools and software I could. I made boot disks, and tested the procedure on a test computer before going. I thought I was ready, but I the computer fix-it business, who ever really knows what’s going to come up. In fact, I coined a phrase during this job that I’ll probably use for the rest of my life. When it comes to dealing with these beasts: \u0026ldquo;No promises; no predictions.\u0026rdquo;\nLeaving Town # On the way out of town I picked up a care package requested by the College folks in Taloyoak: the biggest bucket of KFC chicken I could get there. I also was serving as a mule to carry cheques for another government agency to take to Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. I got to the airport about 45 minutes early for a 12:30 departure.\nAnd I waited.\nAnd waited some more.\nIt was noon and I was hungry. I’d done everything to get ready except eat. Then I remembered a small package of caribou jerky I’d stuck in my pocket after the charity auction the weekend before. I ate the jerky slowly and, man, it really hit the spot.\nAuthor’s note: On the way out of Cambridge Bay, we flew over my house. Weeeee……\nThe Flight OUT # The path from Cambridge Bay to Taloyoak The flight to Taloyoak was a milk run kind of affair with stops in other communities, Gjoa Haven, and Pelly Bay. The airline was FirstAir. Apparently it has a reputation for landing and taking off in any kind of weather and in this climate what choice would they have, really?\nI’ve forgotten the model number of the plane. It had two props, ample room for cargo in what would normally be the first class section of the plane and sat about 30 people (I would guess) in the rear.\nThe thing that struck me the most about the plane flight was the complete absence of gloss. No gloss here. On a commercial airline you expect to fly in womb-like comfort in an antiseptic environment designed to gloss over the animal herding incident that a plane flight really is. There are antiseptic seats, antiseptic noises and antiseptic diversions like today’s paper and headphones twinkling out elevator music. Some of these things were present on this flight: sure, we had seats, there were papers to read (News North and a Toronto Globe and Mail that looked ridiculously out of place), and there were things to eat.\nBut the entire experience was different. When the props revved up, the fuselage rattled and when you glanced at the rattling fuselage, you noticed the dented vents and the peeling paint. The flight attendant wore a jumpsuit, the kind you’d see on a jet pilot with zippers on the sides, back and across the chest. (Was she just dressed that way to be ready to jump out quickly?) And the food offered was all pre-packaged snack food. The people from the Christie company would be very pleased with the contract to supply this airline.\nThis was the reality and who could expect otherwise? With the extreme conditions, a person doesn’t expect frills. Think of how silly it seems to be transporting a grand piano by canoe to a new settlement. It just doesn’t fit in. Well, niceties and frills and fluff just don’t fit in here.\nOn the day of the flight the sun was setting at about 1:45 in the afternoon. The first leg of the trip to Gjoa Haven started in the light and gradually grew dark as we traveled East. The sun was orange on the horizon and it was a beautiful sight.\nThe ghost of the grand piano was on the plane though. It spoke to me. The French flight attendant would announce the safely regulations and again in English with a heavy French accent, and then a recorded voice would announce the same thing in Inuktitut, I assume. All this was squeaking out of tiny speakers that almost physically hurt my usually deaf ears.\nThat is all fine and dandy, but at seemingly random intervals a pre-recorded voice would announce something about the seat belts in a game show host voice that seemed completely out of place. Out of the blue a homogenized, filtered, groomed Bob Barker voice emits out of the squeaky larynx of the rattling old bones of the plane. An alien voice in this environment, and it was just tad bizarre.\nLanding in Gjoa Haven # When the announcement came that we were landing, I naturally looked out of the window anticipating the earth would be appearing larger and larger as we descended. No earth. We had descended into a cloud and the cloud didn’t seem to want to let go of the plane.\nStill no earth.\nI looked back at the newspaper I was reading. After about a minute there was still, you guessed it, no earth. I remember thinking \u0026ldquo;Land already!\u0026rdquo;\nThen the ground appeared briefly and the pilot was still making corrections on the approach. This made me nervous. We touched down with no incident and then I realized what was going on. We were in the middle of a snowstorm. The snow screamed down the runway and gave me the illusion that we were still flying.\nEveryone is required to leave the plane during refueling so we got a taste of the storm we’d just landed in. It wasn’t cold at all, but it was amazing that we had landed in this snow-filled soup. \u0026ldquo;Unbelievable,\u0026rdquo; I said out loud a few times both in and out of the airport waiting room.\nAfter the stay in the airport waiting room, after talking about the weather and musing about the pilot’s sanity, we took off amidst a definite murmur amongst the passengers. Would we make it or not? As it turned out, no problem. We lifted slowly off the runaway and the tundra melted into the darkness below.\nOn to Taloyoak # After about a forty-five minute flight, we landed in Pelly Bay. After a 15 or 20 minute wait, we continued on to Taloyoak. The flight took about 30 minutes this time. I got off the plane and wondered if the box with my tools and software had really followed me. I would be picking my nose and talking to the wall for two days if it didn’t. It was there.\nWhile in Gjoa Haven I met a couple of guys, Robert and Gary, who worked for the Power Corp. I’d met Robert, a Newfoundlander, in Cambridge Bay just couple days after he’d arrived in town. We made fools of ourselves on opposing teams of a hotly contested charades game. Anyway these guys were getting picked up by a Power Corp co-worker and invited me to travel into town with them. Louie, a great guy originally from Gjoa Haven, welcomed us and after we got our stuff (it did get there) we made our way into town, about a 2 km drive. We were all going to the same place, the Boothia Hotel.\nAh, the Boothia Hotel\u0026hellip; # I had a $120 / night room (plus $60 for meals) with three single beds in it. That\u0026rsquo;s not a ridiculous hotel home charge these days, but remember, this was 1997. $120 was expensive! The room had a disabled sink, cupboards full of hotel supplies, soup, Kleenex etc, and a small 14\u0026quot; T.V. with no channels to watch. Notice I didn’t mention a bathroom? It was down the hall a bit.\nLater that night I found that this room was also…HOT! It was so hot I couldn’t sleep until 3:30 a.m. the first night. I’m staying in a hotel above the arctic circle and I’m complaining about the heat. Go figure. Actually there was a Yin / Yang to this: Gary, one of the Power Corp. guys was in a nearby room and he was freezing the first night, so much so that he opened his door into the hallway just to let in some warm air.\nWhile on the topic of sleeping, I should skip ahead to the second night. I was suddenly sharing my room with someone else. A fellow asked at the supper table (at which guests are fed a $30.00 supper) \u0026ldquo;Who is I Room 3?\u0026rdquo;\n\u0026ldquo;That would be me,\u0026rdquo; I said.\n\u0026ldquo;I snore,\u0026rdquo; was the first thing he said.\n\u0026ldquo;You’re looking a man frown deeply,\u0026rdquo; I said.\nI have traveled before. This ain’t my first time. I’ve slept on floors of boats crossing the English Channel, in youth hostels in Europe, Canada and Japan. And I really can’t stand snoring. I have learned to ALWAYS take ear plugs with me when I travel, just in case. Well do you think that I remembered them as I looked forward to sleeping in my $120 / night room? NOPE.\nThat night he snored. I was dog tired from a big day’s work and not having slept the night before and I’d taken a sleeping pill to make sure I got my sleep that night. But that night he snored and I woke up four times throughout the night, even after being \u0026ldquo;drugged up\u0026rdquo; with a sleeping pill. At the five o’clock waking I got my pants on rather noisily to wake him up and informed him curtly he was snoring. He was a very nice man, and was very apologetic and we actually joked about the whole matter at breakfast. But, in a way, I guess this paragraph is my revenge. Maybe this goes to show you \u0026ldquo;The pen is mightier than the snored.\u0026rdquo; apologies for that\nDoing The Job # In Taloyoak Backing up a bit, the work during the day went very well for the most part. After an initial hour and a half of torture, the computers started to behave and fall into a routine of being upgraded with hardware and software. I was very happy with how things went in Taloyoak. I actually had to THINK, experiment and use some problem solving abilities to get the job done. I actually felt fear when things didn’t go right during the first part of the morning. This made what turned out to be a successful job so much more satisfying in the end.\nTaloyoak as a town was very interesting. I could tell things were more traditionally Inuit there. Stop signs were in English and syllabics. My new face was definitely noticed as I walked to the Co-op with Denise Ouellet, the Office Administration instructor. I remember three different kids coming up to me and saying \u0026ldquo;Who are you?\u0026rdquo; or \u0026ldquo;What’s your name?\u0026rdquo; All in all, as a white person I felt more isolated in the town. This maybe isn’t a fair take, but those were definitely my feelings during the short time I was there. It shed a little light on my experience in Cambridge Bay, because Cambridge, I realized only now, had much more white influence everywhere.\nThe town of Taloyoak was built around two bays and the terrain is hilly and rocky, a big difference from Cambridge Bay. The sun was setting during the noon hour and the sunsets were really beautiful with the rugged rocks of the bay in the foreground.\nIf you look at these images and see a pretty but not too spectacular sunset, you might think, \u0026ldquo;So, what?!\u0026rdquo; But remember I took these sunset pictures just after 12 noon that day.\nAs I was leaving town I was given a ride to the airport by Louie, the same kind soul that drove his Power Corp. co-workers and me into town from the airport. Louie and I somehow got into a 10 minute conversation about racism. It was interesting to talk to such an open person.\nThe Return # The flight to Cambridge Bay was direct and, really quite uneventful. I sat beside a fellow who worked for the cable company and had been in Pelly Bay for the last two months, away from his family, I gathered. He talked about doing pole work, but he was hardly dressed for the winter though. He was going to Yellowknife, then Edmonton and then east to Iqaluit. I mentioned that it was going to be a long hard trip. \u0026ldquo;I don’t mind,\u0026rdquo; was the understated answer. He wanted OUT.\nWhen I left Cambridge Bay, I felt like I was getting out of jail. When I returned, for the first time, it felt like I was returning home to a place of familiarity at least. That night I slept in my bed, had a bath in my bathtub ate my food.\nIt was good to be back.\n","date":"November 17 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/a-trip-to-taloyoak/","section":"Posts","summary":"A complete - fairly long - account of a trip from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut to Gjoa Haven, Pelly Bay and finally Taloyak.","title":"A Trip to Taloyoak","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"November 17 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/arctic/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Arctic","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"November 17 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/cambridge-bay/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Cambridge-Bay","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"November 17 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":" My 2020 Commentary on this Content Written in 1998 # This post is about an afternoon quad ride out of town with a co-worker, Brian S. and his girlfriend Tracey a nurse. Our goal was to get to “Mount” Pelly, a bump on the horizon and the highest point in this region of Victoria Island. What made the trip memorable was that it was snowing with a strong wind the whole time we were traveling, making for a challenging, but fun, almost other-worldly experience.\n“Mount” Pelly is an esker and is called “Uvayuq” in inuktitut, the native language of the Inuit.\nI know this now because Wikipedia told me so. There was no Wikipedia the day we undertook this trip. It would first appear a little over 2 years later. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uvayuq\nSaturday, September 27, 1997\nAfter a morning of taking pictures, I returned to town, a little cool and a bit hungry. I had some lunch and dressed up very well, with heavy-bibbed ski pants, my winter parka, and leather gauntlet mitts. I was VERY glad I did. Comment in 2020: these winter clothes were purchased just before coming to Cambridge Bay. I still have them all, except the large mitts which have vanished to somewhere. Even though I live in Edmonton, Alberta now, known for having its share of cold winters, these clothes are generally too just much for an Edmonton winter. I’ve only worn the whole get-up together once in the last 22 years and that was for a -40 C crazy mid-winter hike a few years ago.\nI met Brain and Tracey at Tim\u0026rsquo;s where they were borrowing an ATV. Just as we headed out, it started to snow. As we made our way to Mount Pelly, the snow blew straight into our faces. I swore at myself for not wearing my glasses at least. I could have chosen a helmet with a visor. NO. Apparently I chose pain.\nAbout 10 or 15 minutes out of town we saw four large swans in a pond. It is quite unusual for swans to be hanging around these parts at this time of the year. Just as we stopped, the four of them spooked and started to take off. That was a beautiful sight. The wings had power, while the landing gear flippered feet seemed to walk them along the water.\nWe made our way to Mount Pelly on the windy road. It was fun trying to avoid the puddles across the road. Because my lack of appropriate face covering, I was squinting hard the whole way. It was a constant struggle to adjust my balaclava so that the least amount of snow would fly into my eyes. It was one those times when driving slowly would have meant less pain but a longer ride. Driving faster would make for a shorter trip, but more pain. What to do?!\nA blurry picture of Grant on the quad I was on the quad alone, so as we left the road, going across the raw rocky tundra was fun for me. The furrowed cut lines created by yearly run off were fun to buck over. You had to have your wits about you to avoid sharp rocks, bad lines of attack, all the while trying to get to where you thought you wanted to go.\nWe stopped the quads pretty much at the foot of the \u0026ldquo;mountain.\u0026rdquo; Anywhere else, Mount Pelly would be thought of as large-ish hill, but because this is flat, arctic tundra, this is called a “mountain”. It’s all relative.\nWe trudged up the slope into the now heavy blowing snow. It was surreally real. We found a big rock to lean on and Tracey broke out the hot chocolate and Bailey\u0026rsquo;s. NUM NUM. Then we pretty much just sat.\nBrian and Tracey And those moments of sitting in the blowing snow will make up the mental snapshot of the trip that will remain with me the longest.\nI thought about people living in this harsh environment. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t terribly cold, but if a person\u0026rsquo;s stomach was empty, there wasn\u0026rsquo;t much chance of hunting much in this kind of weather. We talked about it. My initial conception is that it is such an inhospitable land. Given the choice, I really wonder why people didn\u0026rsquo;t migrate south and even fight for the opportunity to migrate if need be. Why here? I hope to get this question partially answered.\nI really felt content just lying down on the wind packed snow. The atmosphere was filled with blowing snow, visibility had worsened during the 15 minutes of our rest stop. The wind blew by, through, and around you. On the ground small lichen covered rocks were resigned to being covered in snow for another season. Blades of grass were covered in sheathes of ice many times their thickness. Was this a protective ice covering, or a clear coffin for them?\nWe decided to make our way back since the visibility was deteriorating so quickly. The lay of the land on the way back was all downhill and the telling of the story will reflect that. We motored very quickly back to town, this time with the wind at our backs. Again it was fun making the twisty turns on the quad. This time the puddles were less of a factor because may were simply covered with snow. Driving through them didn\u0026rsquo;t make a splash, just a slushy tire track.\nIn all likelihood, that will be the last trek out onto the land this season. The snow seems to be staying. The cold weather is creeping in. Let it. After returning the quad, and going back home, I wrapped up the day with a steaming hot bath with a hot cup of coffee. \u0026ldquo;AHHHHHH,\u0026rdquo; I said, as I turned lobster red.\n","date":"September 27 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/snowblind-on-a-quad/","section":"Posts","summary":"During my 10-month stay in Cambridge Bay, any chance to get out of town to was a chance not only to explore, but also escape.","title":"Snowblind on a Quad","type":"posts"},{"content":" My 2020 Commentary # This little piece is about a jaunt out of town just across a small bay to the east where the rotting hulk of a boat sits on the shoreline. The story starts out about the prospect of being able to leave town, but then, when I start hunting for photographic subjects, it becomes about leaving my normal way of seeing and thinking to get into the “photographer” zone of seeing the world.\nIt’s Saturday, September 27, 1997 and the weather was still holding. Most people have been saying that the icing up of the water in the bay is unusually late this year. So the available time for being able to roam out of town on a quad was fast decreasing.\nThis Saturday morning was chilly. No question. As I walked over to Vicki B.’s house to borrow her ATV (hereafter known a the “quad”), I puffed out some breath. I could almost blow \u0026ldquo;breath rings.\u0026rdquo; It was an overcast day and there was a chill in the air.\nBut the weather was still holding. There wasn\u0026rsquo;t four feet of snow on the ground. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t -25 °C. There was still another chance for what could be the last outing, the last escape from town for the next few months.\nI picked up the quad and helmet, pumped up one of tires with a bike pump - it has a slow leak - and got ready to go. Brian S., a co-worker, and his girlfriend Tracey, a nurse, wanted to go on a ride in the afternoon, but I was itching to go in the morning. We were planning on going to Mount Pelly again, this time toward the front side of the \u0026ldquo;mountain.\u0026rdquo;\nI started off east of town and decided to go to the old stone church again. I wanted to explore the side of the bay opposite the town site and take some pictures, despite the overcast weather that made things seem a little dreary.\nFlashback: One of the first lessons in the first photography book I every bought suggested going into your back yard and taking a roll of pictures (ummm, these were the ancient days when cameras used film) of the most mundane things in the yard. This would teach a person to look at everything around them in a different light. This was the state of mind I fell into after I passed the churchyard and gazed across the bay toward the town site of Cambridge Bay. I started just looking quietly at things, part hunter, part priest.\nThe first obvious thing to take a picture of was a boat stranded on the shoreline, propped up where it had been left for years and years. An information sign nearby said that one of the original priests of the stone church bought the boat and had it towed from Tuktoyaktuk. Apparently, it leaked all the way. And by the time it arrived, the priest had been stationed elsewhere. No one was sure what plans he had for the boat. It just sits there, a carcass of an idea, a carcass of a boat.\nA pair of carcasses At first, such an obvious object is a magnet for a picture. After all, the visual stimulation on the tundra is a bit sparse. Sure, you have your rocks and your boulders and your ponds and your…Wait…that\u0026rsquo;s ALL you\u0026rsquo;ve got.\nI was trying to get into the picture composing frame of mind. And trying to get a tasteful shot of the boat was difficult because the first impulse to take a picture of it was merely because it was there and stuck out in what was mostly moonscape around it. But the hunter / priest see-the-world-with-a-child\u0026rsquo;s-eye thing kicked in. I got what I hope is a good shot of the decaying hulk of the boat, with a carcass of what was probably a caribou in front of it. That got me going.\nThe rocks in the crusty snow, suddenly looked like a Japanese rock garden. How do you capture that? A black rock had come cool bright orange lichen on it. What could I do with that?\nOn the tundra, any colour catches your eye. The ATV I was riding idled patiently about 50 feet away, slowly burning its fuel. A part of my \u0026ldquo;creative fuel\u0026rdquo; was starting to burn too.\n","date":"September 27 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/taking-pics/","section":"Posts","summary":"This little piece is about a jaunt out of Cambridge Bay just across a small bay to the east where the rotting hulk of a boat sits on the shoreline.","title":"Taking Pics","type":"posts"},{"content":" My commentary in 2020 # When I first reviewed the original “Arctic Slice of Life” website I rediscovered this page which I\u0026rsquo;d completely forgotten existed. The title says it’s about a meal and yes the post, eventually and briefly describes an actual meal.\nBut the real topic is adapting to new and different realities. I’d been forced to adapt to a new “minimalist” reality when I first arrived in Cambridge Bay. Then I was introduced to someone else’s reality which I found to be SO much better, when it comes to quality of food anyway.\nFirst, a preamble to set the context. I feel I need to explain why I went out of my way to create a page on the website to talk about the experience of eating just one meal.\nI arrived in Cambridge Bay on August 25, 1997 and the story of the meal took place on September 9. The days surrounding THE MEAL were filled with activity. All College instructors completed a two-week Certificate in Adult Education course during my first two weeks in town. The days were busy. The after hours were filled with trying to settle in to a new job, learn about new responsibilities, new people, and a new environment.\nThis time was also a new experience for me in that I was \u0026ldquo;roughing it.\u0026rdquo; Now \u0026ldquo;roughing it\u0026rdquo; is really a relative idea. For some it is living on the land, sleeping close to the earth, with the barest of essentials. To me, it meant living with whatever I brought on the plane the day I arrived. Granted in my case that was five big bags full of clothes, toothpaste, a cup, etc. People here have shared some really important tools for getting through a day like toilet paper, a kettle, a pan, and more recently, even a T.V. and a radio. What’s more, I had a very nice roof over my head, a $989 furnished apartment. So I had somewhere to sleep and sit, even if my stomach was relatively empty for a while. I say \u0026ldquo;relatively\u0026rdquo; because it really wasn’t ever empty; it just wasn’t as full with the same amount of food as usual.\nLiving in a minimalist way was something I’ve always conceived of, but have never been in the situation where I had to do it. This was a very interesting time for me. This is where the conception of being minimalist and the reality of really having to experience some of it met. I tend to spend a lot of my time in my mind. This is a strength and, yes, a weakness too.\nBut here was a real life situation. I have often thought about the idea of living in an isolated place where the only thing to do was learn and study and get closer to knowing things. In Japan I wondered how I would REALLY react if I lived in a Zen temple for a year. You know, that austere lifestyle of getting up at 4 am, washing your face in a basin of cold water before you starting sweeping a dirt path with a straw broom.\nWhere would my mind go? Would it crave the stimulation of flashing pictures on a screen or would it mellow into a state of serene knowing of the greater oneness flowing through all things? Was I now living in a situation that would allow me to test this for myself? No, not really. But at least I had a touch of this concept, living with a fork, a knife, a spoon, a cup, a kettle and some oatmeal (quick cooking, of course).\nIt was a memorable time. When you don’t have much, everything you do have and lay your hands on tends to mean something. For example, when you get a new luxury like a second empty plastic container of milk to store water, or a radio after two weeks without any electronic devices in the house. When those things enter your experience after so long of an absence, it makes a huge impression on you.\nWhat is it like to actually LIVE in these “minimalist” circumstances for an extended period of time? I had one living example in my past.\nFlashback Tangent: # When I worked in Germany for a couple of months during the summer of 1982, I spent a lot of time with a wonderful woman named Frau Lotte. At that time, she was about 65-70 years old, I would guess. She was Polish and had lived through the Second World War. Frau Lotte saved EVERYTHING. Nothing went into the garbage unless it was totally and absolutely spent, finished, kaput! I know the experience of war and scarcity influenced a whole generation across the world, but unless one gets a taste of scarcity, it doesn’t mean anything to someone like me who was born into a time of prosperity.\nThe Meal # This meal made a huge impression on me. First, let’s get it straight. It was only pork chops, carrots and rice. That is the hard, cold reality. Someone reading this who has three squares a day might think this was some feast of delicacies sprinkled with caviar. No it wasn’t. But it had been SO long since I’d experienced a decent home cooked meal. The experience of sitting down and eating a well cooked meal was dim in the reaches of my memory.\nHere’s the scene. I was invited by Suz B. to have dinner with her and her roommate Danielle M. Of course, I refused at first. I didn’t want to put them out. But the concept of an actual meal intrigued me. What was it? It was something I hadn’t experienced for quite a while. I didn’t bother refusing three times just to be polite. I said \u0026ldquo;Yes\u0026rdquo;!\n\u0026ldquo;You have to bring the vegetable,\u0026rdquo; I was told. This was a no brainer. I had carrots in the fridge, you know, the little miniature formed carrots that just don’t look natural anywhere but a veggie and dip tray. These things are as big a mystery to me as how they get the caramilk in the Cadbury Caramilk bar. Some things are must meant to remain unknown, mysterious, and strange.\nAn hour later, I carried my meagre contribution of carrots and apples across the street. Soon I was to see just HOW meagre my contribution really was. After a bit of chit-chat, Suz asked Danielle if this was a special occasion. I told them it was for me. This was a MEAL after all. It was special, they agreed, because I was their first visitor for a meal. That was enough of an excuse to \u0026hellip;..have a glass of \u0026hellip;..WINE. Yes wine, people. It was red and dry and even though I prefer wine white and little sweeter, that one glass of wine was like the nectar of the Gods.\nDespite the big build up, I won’t give a play-by-play, bite-by-bite, MMM-by-MMM, of the meal itself. It tasted excellent. And what made it even more excellent was the awe I felt, the thankfulness for such a relatively simple thing. I say \u0026ldquo;simple\u0026rdquo; because I didn’t have to cook it. But I got a glimpse of how much I take for granted in life. Just that glimpse was enough to try to get the message across to you.\n(The ending to this story turned into a bit of a Wonder Years clone: try reading this last paragraph with a young Fred Savage face in your mind and the narrator of the show in your brain. — Hmm, that “Wonder Years” reference might be completely lost on most readers. It was a TV show. There was always a narrated voiceover by the lead character as he looked back on his childhood experiences that had played out in the episode).\n","date":"September 9 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/the-meal/","section":"Posts","summary":"The title suggests this post is about a meal, but the topic is really about adapting to new and different realities.","title":"The Meal","type":"posts"},{"content":" My commentary in 2020 # During my time in Cambridge Bay, I was able to borrow someone’s all-terrain vehicle (ATV, but we generally call them “quads”) only a few times. This page on the website was about the first time I was able to venture out of town on a borrowed machine and that made the \u0026ldquo;get out of jail free\u0026rdquo; trip so special. The local description for traveling away from civilization onto the arctic tundra is going “out on the land.”\nSaturday, September 6 was a big day for me. It was the first time I had the chance to venture out of town onto the tundra with a vehicle. Quads and of course snow mobiles (we generally call them “sleds”) are a fixture here. Young reckless drivers use them to roar noisily down the streets; mothers and dads use them to transport their kids and \u0026ldquo;stuff\u0026rdquo; around.\nI didn’t understand the power and the necessity of these things until today.\nDanielle M., a co-worker, had had the opportunity to take a trip a week before and came back raving about it. She said she was hooked, that she loved those quads, that she had to go again. I listened and couldn’t help feeling happy for her fundamental excitement about the day. I was also really jealous and told her so. I wanted - needed - to take a trip out.\nUnderstand, at this point I didn’t think I really needed to escape town. There was no hustle and bustle of city life to get away from, no rat race of human kind. It wasn’t escaping the bright lights of the big city. Heck, some of the brightest lights here are the lights that flash when you open the fridge door. (I guess that’s why I’m drawn to mine so often).\nNo, the need to get away was more of a quiet knowledge that this little blip on the tip of a huge island in the Arctic Ocean called Cambridge Bay was not even the beginning of a representation of the reality of the world around me. That reality was surrounding the small town and the only real glimpse I’d had of that was the five minutes I’d seen when the plane landed when I first arrived and a short walk out of town one afternoon.\nGetting gassed up before the trip I knew I wanted to take a trip out and Suz B., the Office Administration instructor, hadn’t had a chance to see the outside of town yet either. Vicki B., our part-time boss, benefactor, and mom kindly lent us her quad and a helmet. After using a bike pump to give a slow leaking tire some air and then a fill with gas and some serious compressed air and some needed helmets loaned by Nicole and Howard B., we were ready to venture out. I drove with Suz hanging on (for dear life) on the back of the seat.\nA part of me wants to ask you to hum the opening riff to “Born to be Wild” right now. But really I wasn’t too wild. I’d driven these things before on a friends farm. I’d even driven the three-wheeled kind that were eventually banned because they were so inherently unstable and dangerous. But it was the first time I’ve driven one of these things while having another human life other than my own to worry about. There was a bit of a learning curve, but after a couple of silly gear shifts, I had the hang of it.\nIt only took about ten minutes of driving to realize that I really felt FREE. An old murky photo, but this is the view of Cambridge Bay from just across the inlet to the east of town. Despite what I said about the urge to go out of town NOT being to escape town, I suddenly realized that part of the joy really WAS escaping the town. What’s with that? There on the tundra is a town of about 1400 people, about 30 of whom I have met. And I have the urge to get away from it? Now this must be come basic kind of urge inside of me. I didn’t feel at all cooped up anymore. I was FREE!\nSuz and Grant at the old stone church, just outside of Cambridge Bay The goal was Mt. Pelly, a large hill north of Cambridge Bay.\nAbout 10 to 15 minutes ride out of town I spied a couple of brown shapes off to the right, and after a half minute more, I was sure. We were seeing two musk-oxen about 500 yards away. Now, realize that I have never in my life written the phrase “two musk-oxen” much less seen the creatures, so this was a treat. We went off the road and I had my first experience driving on the true tundra.\nThe ground varied quickly from jutting rocks to green pools of swamp to suspiciously lush grass circles that looked like you could disappear into. I circled behind a ridge, found a fairly level section to climb it and slowly maneuvered the quad toward the musk-oxen. We could see them about 200 yards away - I would guess - on the other side of a crystal clear pond. Suz and I walked down to the pond with our cameras. I also took my binoculars.\nWalking across the ground made me forget about the animals staring at us suspiciously from their spot across the pond. The rock was surrounded by pillowy mounds of muskeg. It was such a strange sensation to step on rock and quickly to a soft foamy substance that was the earth. Lichens covered the rocks in colours from bright oranges to yellow-greens to green and black. Then at the lake the design of the reddish rocks under the clear pond water distracted me again. Apparently I’m easily distracted. The design was beautiful and it was well\u0026hellip;just\u0026hellip;there.\nSuz has a 75-200 mm zoom lens, so she took the pics of the musk-oxen while I spied them through my binoculars, which gave a great close up view. I must admit, they are strange looking animals. I had touched a muskox hide the day before in town and knew the outer wool was fine like human hair and closer to the skin it was even more fine. Their horns curled around the sides of their head and large tufts of furs bunched up behind their heads.\nBoth were stone still. Each stood and stared at us intently, but didn’t move the whole time we were there. It was a neat experience to see these animals. We’d heard that we wouldn’t see any because they were already gone from the area. These two had forgotten to leave it seems.\nSuz and quad Suz - This small, dark image is all I had from the original website\nBack on the road, the next sights were the little shack tents and cabins built close to the road to Mount Pelly. To someone from a city, not used to wide open spaces, an image of these little structures might mean loneliness. But what struck me about them was the diminutive size of them in relation to the treeless rock and muskeg and rocky earth around them. They seemed to be a good symbol of where man really stands in this environment.\nAlong the road too were small piles of rock, probably built to pass the time. Some were simple pillars of one rock on another. Others were more elaborate markers. The rock piles that were built up in the shape of human beings are called Inukshuks and are now an international symbol of friendship.\nGrant on his borrowed quad Suz and I went to the far side of Mount Pelly because that’s where the road lead (rookies!). After the path got too treacherous and wet and muddy, we turned around and stopped at the foot of Pelly overlooking a small lake with an island just off the shore. A rock fire pit had been use there before, so we were by no means the first people there, but it was very nice spot. We broke out the hot chocolate that Vicki made for us, broke out the cookies that Vicki made for us and also some bread with cream cheese I brought. Suz’s peanut butter sandwiches are squashed out of all recognition by this time.\nIt tasted SO good.\nAfter a bit I climbed up the hill to see what I could see. All along the side of the hill were holes under rocks that I assume now were lemming borrows. At the the top of the the third plateau I stopped and truly looked around.\nIt was a different world from here. I didn’t know if it was a land dotted by lakes or lakes dotted by land. The sun was straining to get out at this point, so the light changed the view almost every minute. Standing on this large hill, looking across the tundra made me feel small. What I saw was grand and powerful just by being there. The petty worries I have throughout the day, I now associated with being inside four walls, cramped like the cramped thinking it is. All that was so small compared to the size and power of this sight.\nSuz and I started our journey back to town after gathering a small rock each from Mount Pelly, and a couple of feathers I found snagged to the grass. We made a few stops on the way to take pictures and to pick up a piece of muskox fur laying on the ground just off the road.\nGetting back to town was a strange experience. I smelled humans again: garbage smoke and some fuel in the air. On the other hand, for the first time I felt like I was returning to the comfort of HOME.\n","date":"September 6 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/out-on-the-land/","section":"Posts","summary":"Sure, it was just a quad ride out of town, but it was also my first chance to escape the what was becoming the prison of being in Cambridge Bay for too long.","title":"Out on the Land","type":"posts"},{"content":" A Street View Tour of Cambridge Bay # Click the image below to start a Google Earth Web tour - made of of Google Streetview images - of Cambridge Bay. Google Earth Web requires Google Chrome 67+, Firefox 63+, Opera 54+, or Edge 79+.\n","date":"August 30 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/a-google-earth-web-tour-of-cambay/","section":"Posts","summary":"Tour a few places in Cambridge Bay using Google Earth Web and Google Streetview images.","title":"A Google Earth Web Tour of Cambridge Bay","type":"posts"},{"content":" My 2020 Commentary on this account written in 1998 # I’d traveled into the unknown before. I still remember the leaving Saskatoon airport to travel first to Los Angeles on my way to Japan. That was a trip that took me into a decidedly different world.\nWell, although I wasn’t leaving Canada, this trip was taking me yet again into a different kind of “other” world: to Cambridge Bay, a hamlet of about 1400 people, situated on a very large slab of tundra called Victoria Island just off the mainland of North America, and just inside of the arctic circle.\nWhen you’re going to that kind of place, the trip seems memorable. This page on my Arctic Slice of Life website was attempt to describe that one day of travel. This post is quite text-heavy, not many pictures. After all, I didn\u0026rsquo;t own a digital camera; they were expensive at that time. And besides, I was sitting in a plane for most of the day! 😀\nIntroduction # This day was a special day because so much had been leading towards it for about two months. This was the day I got to stop TALKING about going north to work. This was the day I actually got on a plane and went to Cambridge Bay, NWT. (NWT = Northwest Territories, and the region of Nunavut was formed a year a after I left.)\nI knew the day would be on one level filled with planes and waiting and lazy disinterested flipping of plane seat pouch magazines and newspapers. On another level it was a physical acting out of a passage into another life experience.That doesn’t happen too often in anyone’s life.\nI had lived in Tisdale, Saskatchewan and worked at Cumberland Regional College in both Melfort and later Tisdale since February, 1988. Now in August, 1997, about nine years later, I was physically moving to another reality. The sinew connecting these two pieces of my life, nine years at Cumberland and the future, was this day long journey.\nThe Flight # I started out for Cambridge Bay from the Saskatoon Ramada hotel at 4:45 a.m. to catch a 6:00 a.m. plane. I was packing five large bags, two hockey bag size stuffed with clothes, hard drives, some cutlery, towels, vitamins, etc., etc. This was the baggage I was allowed to bring on the flight, the excess being paid by Nunavut Arctic College, my new employer.\nThe trip north made for a long day. The trip from Saskatoon to Edmonton was made via Calgary all on a Dash-8, which seats about 30 people. This is a walk-out-on-the-tarmack, walk-up-the-steps-(turn around and wave one final goodbye to my public)-strap-you-in, give-you-peanuts-and-a-coke and now-be-quiet and don’t-ask-for-anything-else kind of trip. I think you get the picture.\nThe Route I had about a 3 hour wait in Edmonton airport where I went through some very personal memories of a life turning point incident that once happened there. That’s all I have to say about that, and other than thinking about that I just walked around looking at people coming and going.\nThe flight from Edmonton to Yellowknife, NWT was on a 727 and we were given ready made ham and cheese sandwiches with dessert and coffee. (Note that FOOD will be a common theme/obsession for reporting throughout) This was better than the last flight but we’re not talking in-flight movie and an unlimited bar situation here, not that I crave that kind of thing.\nYellowknife is on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, my trusty En Route Air Canada magazine told me. There was a 2 1/2 hour wait there so I just lounged around the airport. La-dee-da.\nThe flight to Cambridge Bay was on a 737 and I began to notice (quick witted sleuth that I am) that there was something different about these NWT Air planes. I was in row 10 and found myself two seats from the front of the plane. \u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s with this? I said. My spidey sense was tingling. Well the first class section of the plane was all converted into a cargo area. A First Air plane on the tarmack (taken during a later trip) Now, people who have seen this a thousand times will laugh at this deep observation. This is in the \u0026ldquo;water is wet\u0026rdquo; category to people in the North. But when you think about it, the cargo is darn important here. Getting stuff to people is just as important \u0026ndash; and probably more lucrative for the airline if they are anything like trains \u0026ndash; as getting people to a place. And you generally don\u0026rsquo;t have to serve peanuts and coke to cargo.\nThe assumption in the back of my mind was that I was travelling further and further into the boonies. Even if this was a pretty safe assumption, the food on this flight was best yet during my trip: chicken or stuffed pork was the choice. I throttled the urge to say \u0026ldquo;Both\u0026rdquo;! when asked what I wanted. I ordered the chicken and it was heavenly.\nThe Happening # Now get this, because it\u0026rsquo;s one of those Twilight Zone things. I happened to look at my watch a few time throughout the flight and just before we landed in Cambridge Bay, I noticed that my Seiko watch had STOPPED! Wow, big deal, you say. Well I have been wearing this watch almost every day for the past ten years! A good friend, Kinue Matsue, gave it to me as a going away present the day before I left Japan. That departure for me was an important time in my life. I was going back to Canada, to friends and family, but also to the unknown. Now, to begin this excursion to another \u0026ldquo;unknown,\u0026rdquo; the watch stops. In a sense, it puts a bookend on that portion of my life.\nMy Seiko Watch Am I reading too much into a stopped watch? Maybe. Probably. But my first gut reaction was\nnee, nee, nee, nee,\nnee, nee, nee, nee,\nnee, nee, nee, nee.\nThis is a sad attempt to type out the Twilight Zone theme. I will stop for a moment while you do it OUT LOUD. Isn\u0026rsquo;t this internet thing cool: you can get multimedia sound and everything!\nSo this was my trip to Cambridge Bay. Exciting? Boring? Thought provoking? Mind numbing? Yes, that day of travel was all of those things to me.\n","date":"August 25 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/traveling-to-cambridge-bay/","section":"Posts","summary":"This is my account of the trip north from Saskatoon, SK, to Calgary, AB, then Edmonton, AB, then Yellowknife, NWT and finally Cambridge Bay, NWT (now Nunavut).","title":"Traveling to Cambridge Bay","type":"posts"},{"content":" So, Where is Cambridge Bay and What Does it Look Like? # Aerial Photo of Cambridge Bay On August 25, 1997, I got on a plane bound for Cambridge Bay, Nunavut (then still the Northwest Territories).\nWhy was I going? In short, after nine years of working at a regional college in northeast Saskatchewan, I’d decided it was time for a change in my life. And in retrospect, when I’ve made changes in my life, I’ve often made fairly dramatic changes. This was one of those dramatic changes. Sure, to make a job change, I guess I could have waited for a smaller swing of the life pendulum to come my way, but the opportunity presented itself in the form of a job posting in the coffee room of one of the College offices one day while I was visiting. I’d been contemplating making a change for a good while already and the prospect of working in a place so alien to my experience seemed like an adventuresome way to make the break into something new and different.\nI remember doing a phone interview while sitting on floor of my living room, using the coffee table Japanese kotatsu-style. I remember thinking the interview went well. I also remember my Dad pretty much trying to talk me out of considering the move: “It’s probably a case of anyone who puts their hand up will be chosen to go up there,” he said. I didn’t know if there was any truth in that then, but I was determined to make a change so it’s probably quite obvious by now I was offered the job and I decided to accept the offer. In retrospect, I should say that my Dad was probably right. Nonetheless, I’m glad I followed the that path, despite the negative aspects of living and working in such an isolated environment, which I’ll get into in later post in the series.\nSo I made my exit from the regional college, leaving nine years of experiences, work relationships and relinquishing my position of number two on the union seniority list. And I was eventually on my way to Cambridge Bay.\nSo, Where is Cambridge Bay, Anyway? # A map showing Cambridge Bay in contest of the arctic circle and tree line in northern Canada The hamlet of Cambridge Bay is situated just off the North American mainland, on the southern part of Victoria Island. This unique map shows where Cambridge Bay is in relation to both the arctic circle and the northern edge of the tree line to the south.\nThe definition of the arctic circle is well known: it’s the point where “the Sun is above the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year (and therefore visible at midnight) and below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year (and therefore not visible at noon)” (Source)\nThe idea of the “tree line” may not be so well known. Just like at the tree line of a mountain where you find trees won’t grow at high altitudes, the environment north of the dotted line on the map will not sustain full-grown trees, although shrubs may grow sparingly just north of the line. Once you get as far the latitude of 69 degrees north, where Cambridge Bay is, there are no trees of any kind.\nHaving been born and raised in Saskatchewan, I’ve endured the comments and misconceptions of temporary visitors or “non-visitors” to the province: that the whole place is flat and treeless. That may be largely true in the southern part of the province along the Trans-Canada highway. But “my Saskatchewan” isn’t like that at all. I happened to have grown up about a 45 minute drive from the tree line in north central Saskatchewan, meaning north of that line (and extending north to the dotted line you see in the map above) there are nothing but trees. Since “my Saskatchewan” was very well-forested, it was certainly a adjustment to see the absolutely treeless and even shrub-less landscape surrounding Cambridge Bay. Was it a surprise or a shock? No, not at all, but it was an adjustment, no question.\nWant to Learn a Bit More? # For more history and information about Cambridge Bay, check out the Wikipedia article about the town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Bay\n","date":"August 24 1997","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/where-is-cambridge-bay/","section":"Posts","summary":"This post is all about Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada. Be sure to check out the Google Earth Web tour at the end of the post.","title":"Where is Cambridge Bay?","type":"posts"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":" Do you have a suggestion? Did find find something you think needs to be changed? Or maybe you just want to say \"Hi!\" 😃 Please fill in all the details below.\nDon’t fill this out if you’re human: Your email Subject Your message Send message ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/contactform/","section":"Grant's Tracks","summary":"Contact Hike The Ministik!","title":"Contact Grant","type":"page"}]