Wedding Parties and Scaling Mountains (Not in that particular order)

It's official, we have now successfully scaled our first mountain. This particular climb was called Ha Ling Peak, one of the shorter hikes in Canmore (a.k.a. Disneyland for the outdoors enthusiast).

Other than having experienced the thrill of completing the trail, as well as taking in the breathtaking view, the most important thing that da b'ys and I have taken away from this is the assurance that, no matter how decrepit or overweight we become, we can always say "Yeah, well I climbed a mountain. So shut up."

Canmore is a jewel. Life up here, nestled in the Rockies, is so... perfect! Every time you step out the door, you get hit in the face with these towering behemoths, and you can't help but stare in awe at their raw beauty.

We arrived in town on Thursday and met up with the Dawson clan, who have all gathered here for the marriage of Robbie D's sister, Andria. We got to meet the Emmett family as well, belonging to the Groom, Matt.

What a wonderful group of people! They've shown us great hospitality and helped with a lot of our traveling woes. And, I may add, the bride and groom make a lovely couple. All the best for them and their daughter, Sadie, in the future.

I've also had the pleasure of staying with John and Carol MacLean, (John MacLean, not to be mistaken with John McClane from Die Hard), family friends of Jesse's. They are very friendly and treat us very well, providing us with delicious meals and insightful advice about wines, scotchs and the like. The other b'ys (with the exception of Robbie D) are tenting it out a little ways away, fighting bears and cougars, and the such. Kyle, for all of his time camping, has disappointingly failed thus far to bag us some delicious owl meat.

Tomorrow is our last day in Canmore before heading off for a 15 minute drive up the Icefields Parkway to Banff for a couple of nights. This town will be sorely missed by all of us. But we ain't done yet. Weather depending, we have another mountain hike planned for tomorrow, up to Lady MacDonald; twice the size of Ha Ling. Here's to hoping!

See you soon Edmonton,

Rob T.