Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

No, I haven't seen any lion, tigers or bears yet but apparently the bear thing might not be too far fetched.

Arrived in Banff last Friday. Conference was super. Worked like a dog and saw nothing outside my hotel room and several conference rooms but it was a fantastic experience. Yesterday, after we finished up, I spent the afternoon in the Spa pool, then went for a hot stone massage, had some of the freshest sushi ever at Sushi House Banff, and then slept like the dead. Today I went on a guided hike to The Plain of Six Glaciers (approx. 13km). The weather wasn't terribly sunny or warm, but it was a beautiful hike nonetheless and I had a great time. On the way to pick up the other hiker we saw 3 deer (momma and two babies), then on the hike we saw pika (small larger than a hamster, smaller than a guinea pig but in the bunny family), mice (which I very nearly stepped on and managed to shriek at briefly), whiskey jacks (local name), some kind of navy blue bird, mountain goats and elk. At the top of trail we had some serious snow coming down. Yeah, so there I was, me who still has issues with cold weather and snow, grinning from ear to ear (pictures to follow) at the awesome sight of the glaciers, the valley - everything. From the top of the trail you could basically see all the way down to Chateau Lake Louise. I have to tell you, it looked a lot farther away than 13km. It was a great hike.

Tomorrow's plans are still up in the air. I will be meeting with someone in a little while who will do some kind of hike with me tomorrow. After that I'll be busing (is that 1 or 2 's'?) into Calgary to stay two nights there before flying back on Saturday.

1 comment:

Yvette said...

I've missed you terribly and can't wait to hear all about it! And see your pics, of course!