Skyrockets In Flight
Went to Jasper this past weekend with a few classmates. It was quite enjoyable. We definitely made up for the lack of physical activity during Stampede weekend.
There was initially talk of leaving on Friday night, but we wound up leaving Saturday morning. We drove out to Hinton, where Alex's sister's in-laws have a place. Apparently it was Rodeo Weekend in Hinton. I was somewhat interested in checking out the beer gardens (beer gardens during rodeo weekends in smaller communities tend to be lots of fun), but it wasn't in the cards.
After settling in, we made our way to Jasper. The line up at the park gates was quite long, so Cam and I got out and walked to the gates from the car. We saw an interpreter handing out "through passes" who said that she hadn't seen it this busy before (though, it was pretty similar the next couple of days). There was a Folk-Fest of sorts going on, so that probably contributed to the busy-ness. On entering the park, we made our way to Miette. We did the Sulphur Skyline hike, which takes you on top of a ridge where you get a great view of the surrounding valleys and mountains. There's really nothing like the feeling when you get to a point and realise that the trail can't go up any further. It's been a while since I've stood at the top of a mountain, and in the previous instance there was a cable car up, so there wasn't the same sense of achievement (for the record, I didn't get lost this time). It was a good hike, though I thought it might kill Roman at points. Additionally, I now understand the value of tea houses at the top of mountains. After the hike, we hit the hot springs. It was a refreshing soak, and they've installed a cold pool since I was last there, so we were able to prolong our stay via periodic dips in the cold pool. After that, we headed back into Hinton, picked up a couple of safeway pizzas, drank rum and watched Will Ferrell movies. Alex hadn't seen Anchorman yet. After the movies it was quite late, so we went to bed. Well, most people went to bed, Cam and Roman stayed up serenading the house with "Dust in the Wind" and "Afternoon Delight"(which emerged as the theme song for the weekend).
The next morning we headed into Jasper for another hike, this time taking on Geraldine Lakes. Cam had an iTrip, so we were able to make use of my iPod on the way in, which made for a lot of Gordon Lightfoot and Gangsta Rap. Particular amusement was placed in the adjacent playing of Aqua's "Dr. Jones" with Spice 1's "Dumpin' 'Em in Ditches". Lesley was quite patient with the use of her car radio. As for the hike itself, it was quite muddy at points. The lake we made it to was quite nice, and we had a good view of a waterfall up past the lake. The incline was fairly steep, and there were parts that were basically just a big boulder field so it was good times jumping over those. After the hike, we headed back into Jasper for some food. We just missed getting free food samples outside the Jasper Brewery Company, and while the hostess was quite nice the food seemed fairly pricey. We went to L & W instead, which was very good. We also shared a couple of pitchers of strawberry daquiri, before returning to Hinton to play some Uno Extreme. I was doing well until the last round, when the wheels fell off.
The next morning we got up and then went into Jasper one more time. We walked around the Jasper Park Lodge for a bit, before heading home. All in all an enjoyable weekend.
This is already rather long, so I will reserve comment on the recent happenings in Oiler-land. Suffice to say this is all quite exciting.
Football.
Saskatchewan and Montreal
Both teams are on a bit of a downward slide as of late. I'm going with Montreal, due to the fact that they've got fewer injuries right now.
Edmonton and B.C.
This should be the game of the week. Both teams haven't been playing as well as they're capable of playing. In spite of the fact that they're a little banged up (though, B.C. is as well), I'm going with Edmonton rising to the occasion and pulling this one off.
Hamilton and Ottawa
Hamilton is better than their record, and they are going to win eventually. It's really tempting to go with them at home in this one, but Ottawa just seems to be on a roll. Maybe next week.
Winnipeg and Calgary
This time Pederson doesn't drop the ball. I'm of the opinion that Calgary got lucky last time around, and while Calgary has played better since then, so has Winnipeg. I'm going with Winnipeg to pull this one out.
There was initially talk of leaving on Friday night, but we wound up leaving Saturday morning. We drove out to Hinton, where Alex's sister's in-laws have a place. Apparently it was Rodeo Weekend in Hinton. I was somewhat interested in checking out the beer gardens (beer gardens during rodeo weekends in smaller communities tend to be lots of fun), but it wasn't in the cards.
After settling in, we made our way to Jasper. The line up at the park gates was quite long, so Cam and I got out and walked to the gates from the car. We saw an interpreter handing out "through passes" who said that she hadn't seen it this busy before (though, it was pretty similar the next couple of days). There was a Folk-Fest of sorts going on, so that probably contributed to the busy-ness. On entering the park, we made our way to Miette. We did the Sulphur Skyline hike, which takes you on top of a ridge where you get a great view of the surrounding valleys and mountains. There's really nothing like the feeling when you get to a point and realise that the trail can't go up any further. It's been a while since I've stood at the top of a mountain, and in the previous instance there was a cable car up, so there wasn't the same sense of achievement (for the record, I didn't get lost this time). It was a good hike, though I thought it might kill Roman at points. Additionally, I now understand the value of tea houses at the top of mountains. After the hike, we hit the hot springs. It was a refreshing soak, and they've installed a cold pool since I was last there, so we were able to prolong our stay via periodic dips in the cold pool. After that, we headed back into Hinton, picked up a couple of safeway pizzas, drank rum and watched Will Ferrell movies. Alex hadn't seen Anchorman yet. After the movies it was quite late, so we went to bed. Well, most people went to bed, Cam and Roman stayed up serenading the house with "Dust in the Wind" and "Afternoon Delight"(which emerged as the theme song for the weekend).
The next morning we headed into Jasper for another hike, this time taking on Geraldine Lakes. Cam had an iTrip, so we were able to make use of my iPod on the way in, which made for a lot of Gordon Lightfoot and Gangsta Rap. Particular amusement was placed in the adjacent playing of Aqua's "Dr. Jones" with Spice 1's "Dumpin' 'Em in Ditches". Lesley was quite patient with the use of her car radio. As for the hike itself, it was quite muddy at points. The lake we made it to was quite nice, and we had a good view of a waterfall up past the lake. The incline was fairly steep, and there were parts that were basically just a big boulder field so it was good times jumping over those. After the hike, we headed back into Jasper for some food. We just missed getting free food samples outside the Jasper Brewery Company, and while the hostess was quite nice the food seemed fairly pricey. We went to L & W instead, which was very good. We also shared a couple of pitchers of strawberry daquiri, before returning to Hinton to play some Uno Extreme. I was doing well until the last round, when the wheels fell off.
The next morning we got up and then went into Jasper one more time. We walked around the Jasper Park Lodge for a bit, before heading home. All in all an enjoyable weekend.
This is already rather long, so I will reserve comment on the recent happenings in Oiler-land. Suffice to say this is all quite exciting.
Football.
Saskatchewan and Montreal
Both teams are on a bit of a downward slide as of late. I'm going with Montreal, due to the fact that they've got fewer injuries right now.
Edmonton and B.C.
This should be the game of the week. Both teams haven't been playing as well as they're capable of playing. In spite of the fact that they're a little banged up (though, B.C. is as well), I'm going with Edmonton rising to the occasion and pulling this one off.
Hamilton and Ottawa
Hamilton is better than their record, and they are going to win eventually. It's really tempting to go with them at home in this one, but Ottawa just seems to be on a roll. Maybe next week.
Winnipeg and Calgary
This time Pederson doesn't drop the ball. I'm of the opinion that Calgary got lucky last time around, and while Calgary has played better since then, so has Winnipeg. I'm going with Winnipeg to pull this one out.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home