Year: 2016

Sep

2016

Trip to Amsterdam

Our first real day in Amsterdam. We arrived yesterday but we so tired – time difference and all, we didn’t do much. Walked about four hours or so near where we are staying with Yvonne’s cousin on the southeast edge of Amsterdam. Got seriously rained on the first half hour or so then it cleared up nicely – lots of sun. Every sort of person rides bicycles here. Have yet to see a bike helmut though. Pretty rare. About half way we stopped in a small restaurant called Anna Haen. The girls had coffee, I had espresso. They had this apple pie to die for. The waiter asked if I would like fresh cream with it – that was a really tough decision. Oh man it was so delicious. Fresh cream amazing. Right at the edge of the city of Amsterdam so being on the border with Utrecht, the city cannot expand that way any more making it all farmland. AND canals. Lots and lots of canals.

These signs below are the distance and direction to various natural water – Evian being the most familiar to most. ‘Krnwtr’ is tapster = 0 KM – cute!

Inside Anna Haen Restaurant. I asked the cook if I could take a proper portrait and she declined so this is all you get:

The outside of the restaurant:

Jun

2016

Hiking Heart Mountain in Kananaskis, Alberta

If you hike this trail when it is 30 plus degrees(C) make sure that you have lots of water and maybe some extra salt. This is an absolutely stunning hike but a bit longer than I had planned. Didn’t do my research properly before I went. If you are coming from Calgary exit at the Lac des Arcs near Exshaw and cross over to the south side of the highway(#1). There is a parking lot with a bathroom there – park there and walk to the trail head for the scramble or drive back along the highway just pass the first wash. As you are going back onto the highway, you won’t have to leave the merge lane. There are normally a few cars off the side of the road on the grassy part, especially on weekends.

Walk up toward the wash and in on the trail. You will see a sign at the trailhead that warns that parts of the hike are a ‘scramble’. If you go this way, you are going to do some rock climbing. I always find the first 20 minutes the toughest. Like when I swim – takes a bit to get the muscles etc warmed up. This one is all up hill. And pretty steep.

If you go the whole loop, depending on what kind of shape you are in, could take 4-6 hours. If you are doing this hike counter-clockwise, you will be exposed for the first 80%. If it is a hot day….

There are three or four peaks along the top – depending on how you count. The views are spectacular.

This looking back down the trail on the way up:

That’s Yamnuska way over there:

Looking down onto Heart Creek Trail:

Looking down to Heart Creek again:

These next two are looking back along the trail:

Me at the main peak:

This looks southward from the peak – where I’m not going:

That’s Barrier Lake down there – seen from the peak again:

…and now for the trek back… :

May

2016

‘Outside Mullingar’ at the Rosebud Theatre – Rosebud, Alberta

We went to see a play in Rosebud, Alberta yesterday. Rosebud is about an hour and twenty minute drive from Calgary. On the edge of the Alberta Badlands and about 15 kilometres from Drumheller. With a population of fewer that 100 it draws 40,000 people annually to its theatre and arts programs. Very quaint little town nestled in a small valley by the Rosebud River.

We saw ‘Outside Mullingar’ a play written by John Patrick Shanley(he did the screenplay for “Moonstruck”). ‘Outside Mullingar’ ran on Broadway in 2014. An absolutely marvellous play. The four actors completely owned the characters. Total professionals. The whole production was seamless. The package comes with a lunch – buffet style – but it is great, I had two pieces of blueberry pie, of course.

Yvonne and I went with our friends Jeff and Courtney. (Courtney teaches singing at one of the venues in Rosebud, periodically.)

The production runs until June 11th. If you are anywhere near Calgary please, please take the time to go see it.

Apr

2016

Waterfall near Spray Lakes, Kananaskis

This was our second short hike yesterday. After our first one at Grassi Lakes we decided to drive up to Spray Lakes to look around. Roads are dusty we need rain. We went up and parked on the dam at the second lake, which is not really a lake any more. Bit of a river. No water. No snow. Sitting there I looked west and saw a short trail up the hill on the opposite side of the road. A little further up looked like there may be some run off and maybe a waterfall of sorts. So, we drove over parked in the little lot and climbed up. Once we got a little further up you could see a wash where the flooding happened – we kept climbing on the rocks up to several tiers of waterfall. Some was a little tricky – no paths.

Short hike 10 minutes in, then whatever if you want to climb up the rocks through the falls.

Apr

2016

Grassi Lakes Hike near Canmore Alberta

Went on TWO hikes today. OK they were both pretty short but what a blast. Here is the first one: Grassi Lakes just behind Canmore. Busy. Which was fine. I wanted a hike with lots of people. Fewer grizzly bears that way. Plus I wanted people that run slower than me. Anyway, it was crowded. There were at least a couple of dozen rock climbers – you can see in one or two of the pics below. Weather is amazing right now – summer in April. The first picture is above the lakes looking down toward Canmore. If you go up there, it is not a tough hike. From the parking lot you will come to a fork in the trail with a sign that says ‘Easy’ to the right. Read ‘Boring’. To the left it says, “More difficult’ – take that one please. There is only one section where there are some steep rock steps but other than that…