Cooling Snow
After enjoying two very good days of hiking I know Annemarie was thinking that maybe we should stay in the valley and hang out in the 30+ heat, but at the end of the day I think we were both pleased to have made the effort to get back up for a last good hike. We will be back in an urban setting far too soon so I wanted to make the most of our time up here. Besides, it was at least 10° cooler up top at 2300 m and there was snow! Also our room became infested with ants over night so we really, really didn’t want to hang out anywhere near there. We aren’t too fussy when we travel, but 100’s of ants wasn’t the best. So we told the front desk folks and they assured us that all would be well by the time we returned.
We caught the gondola up the mountain first thing when it opened and we had the pleasure of walking without very much company. Just enough to say a nice hello and chat a little. And anyway there were other furry pals waiting for us.
It didn’t take very long to find the snow, but our route was clear all the way up. Damn but I love this hat. Super light. Rob, you’re going to want one of these. I ordered one for Annemarie and it arrived at our house today. She’s pretty pleased.
The views on the way to the peak were something special. The times I skied here it almost always seemed to be grey and often snowing. I’m sure there were some sunny days, but that was long before cell phones, so getting a photo was pretty unlikely. Looking back towards Blackcomb where we’d hiked the prior two days.
The breeze off the snow kept it cooler today than it had been on Blackcomb.
I will say, the way was steep in parts, but still it felt good going up, maybe a little better going down: )
The Tusk was looking pretty brilliant today. Standing there almost defying one to climb it. Still lots of snow in the meadows around it, so I don’t think there are any takers presently. That said, Garibaldi did open today.
When the alpine flowers are blooming in the meadows it really is a most stunning place to hike. Maybe I’ll talk Paul into going up here with me sometime. Camp at Garibaldi Lake and go from there. So many fantastic volcanics and glaciers in the area.
Still some cornices around, which I suspect was the reason for the warning, not to mention the cliff it would have been hanging over.
Annemarie catches me tapping in to the surrounding environment.
Finally approaching the top, the views continued to inspire. So fortunate to have this sudden positive weather change. Looking way down to where we began our day.
Seems our marmot friend beat us to the top. How’s that possible? I might have to print and frame this photo.
While hiking we met a lovely young woman from Germany, Maroon (hope I spelled that correctly), who has been in Canada this past year travelling and working, now in Vancouver. She’s studying international tourism, and what a good time to take a leave from school! We met on the way up and walked all the way down together. What initially caught our eye was the skate board she carried all the way. You can imagine that she was getting a lot of interesting questions about this. She took it all in stride, a good sense of humour. Her brother lives in the city where my good friends John and Cordula live, and she lives just opposite Amsterdam on the German side of the border. I thought to invite her home to meet our son, but I’m a bit too shy; ) Just kidding. We wish you further good experiences and safe travels!
Thanks for taking our photo! Some of that snow felt pretty good on the back of my neck: )
Finally back down, we were again swept across to Blackcomb Mountain where we enjoyed a Snickers bar lunch. Yum!
We stopped for nice cold, tall ice creams on the way back to our place. We arrived only to find that the ants were even worse in our room. I went back downstairs and after chatting with them about the situation, we soon ended up with a freshly cleaned room.
Tomorrow we will wander all morning then head down to Vancouver to see some friends and Our Pal. Looking forward to that!
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