Hello Cage friends,
So today was a glorious day. A truly beautiful and invigorating day.
I spent this morning doing something I haven't in a very long time. Well I just got home all safe and sound. Able to just unwind from the day. It feels sooooooo good to take off my shoes and just stretch my toes.
Today, I climbed up a mountain.
I live near the Rocky Mountains. Really it's about a 2.5 hour drive away from my home. Maybe 3 depending on traffic and road construction.
But my friend and I got out of the city and went on an adventure.
We got to the parking lot, got out of the vehicle and threw on our backpacks and went about our journey. We first passed through some forest, and after winding over roots and rocks we entered into the river run off channel that allows the water to run off in the springtime. Fortunately being here in the fall we didn't have any water to contend with.
So my friend and I were both in the mood for a challenge, so instead of taking the path well traveled, worn down by boots and shoes we decided to hop over rocks and traverse through the river rock, and when we had a decision to make about going left (and following the trail that led to the top of the mountain) and going right (towards the avalanche zone/river run off channel) we said we were having toooo much fun hoping from rock to rock and so we went right. We encountered all sorts of challenges. I even had to put my Tim Hortons coffee cup away and use two hands to help guide me up some very steep embankments that would only best be described as near vertical. Luckily with solid handholds and better shoes than I wore last time (they were sandals, but that last hike was wayyyyy less intense) I managed to make my way up. Unfortunately because of our choice to head right we weren't able to reach the summit because there were parts that would require legitimate climbing gear and a plan on how to get our backpacks up the way. Well honestly I believe that we could have climbed up, but we would have never gotten down. And we both felt like returning home today. So we found an almost level ish place to stop for our top of the mountain break. We broke out some snacks and actually both enjoyed a nice glass of coke cola (Hoping for a sponsorship one day *Not actually pop is enjoyable but I try and stay away from it* but the image we took at the top of the mountain cheersing with the coke label might be worth some advertisement gold) Although I am waiting on my friend to send me the photo since he took that one.
So after our quick little snack break we began the challenging part of descending the insane mountainside. We had to slow down and keep pace with each other. The rocks that were loose and tumbled away from us while we had to half slide and tumble our way down the mountainside. There were a few moments where loosened rocks tumbled down and SMACKED into trees. I mean damn gravity and its ability to make things go fast. If either one of us were below each other we would have been in for a world of hurt and trouble. I had 2 very scary moments for myself. The first was when we were just turning back after our snack, and I miss stepped, had the ground lurch out from under me and suddenly I was half running down this "hill". Loose rock kept slipping out from under me and I bounced around so much my sunglasses slipped off my forehead knocked my glasses off my face, (although they were still hanging on by my ears) and I was half blind unable to see really much of anything just trusted my legs to keep carrying me.... Fortunately I was able to grab this little bush and hang onto his limbs to stop my descent. I probably only went about 20-30 ft down this hillside, but once I lost my glasses and was running blind it felt a little longer than that. Thank goodness that bush was rooted solidly or else I might not have stopped.
After a breather there and a call down from my friend, we caught our breath and that's when we actually started proceeding side by side a few feet away from each other down the rest of the way.
The other bit of a scary moment I had was when we had made it out of the tree line and back into the river rock channel. We were making our way slowly, and I was being a goof jumping from rock to rock like I used to as a child. I would put my feet together bend so my knees would almost touch my chest and then hop and land feet together as if I was a gymnast. (Sorry ladies, but I'm really not that flexible or strong) Anyways, I was pretty careful and eyed up each rock that I intended to land on and gauged the security that that stone had before I made my jump. Well this rock that I had my eye on was a behemoth. Big, smooth, rounded, and looked like a decent place to put my feet.... Hahaha yeah, just because something LOOKS stable DOES NOT mean it is. So I did my usual prep, I can of wiggled my butt bent down, put my knees almost into my chest and I jumped. I landed perfectly. Feet planted solidly right in the middle of the boulder. I felt like I had just executed the most perfect dive. Until the large boulder felt the impact of my body with the force of gravity behind me. When I made my perfect landing the entire rock began to shift. And thanks to its rounded smoothness that sum bitch started to move when I landed on it. Panic set in, my heart jumped into my throat and I managed to catapult myself forward and off the rock further down into the ravine. As I turned around I saw not one rock but a slew tumble loose, as that one big ass boulder was holding back the others just barely making contact with the ground. I caught my breath, slowed my heart rate and just sort of laughed at how idiotic I was. My buddy called out, asking if I was alright, as he didn't have an angle on me after I managed to jump off the rock. I didn't respond right away and to him that was either really good, or really bad. Fortunately the only damage done was a tiny bit of soreness in my right knee and my ankle from having the heel on my shoe dig into my ankles as I made my way down.
Once we made our way past the terrible hazards, and back down the mountain we stopped at this even bigger boulder. (Don't worry I didn't hurt myself here) The thing that made this boulder interesting was the fact that there was an Inukshuk built on it. An Inukshuk to those that may not know if a statue made from stone, typically from Inuits to create a landmark or commemorate an event. Well there was this little piddly guy, and my friend and I said screw let's throw up a bad ass mother fucker. So we scrounged and looked for perfect pieces. We managed to find some amazing stones that we hefted and lifted, all on unstable footing. Going up and over, and climbing down. Balancing, holding, shifting, holding, adding shims, checking the balance, adding more shims. Finding that this stone didn't work, so looking for other one. Then shifting and holding and balancing all over again. I will have to wait on a few images from my friend since I didn't quite get the photos I needed from it. But suffice it to say that by the time we were finished that sucker was nearly as tall as I am!! Although I do feel a little bad that we had to dismantle the other Inukshuk, but despite taking the other one down we did add the pieces into ours to help incorporate and maintain their structure within our new Inukshuk. The thing is, people will build them and come back to see if they are still standing. So they won't know that their little guy was added into our monster and they will probably be a tiny bit upset. We had actually hoped to recreate their little guy on the final form of our big ass guy, at the very top as the crowning jewel. Unfortunately we required the essence of their shuk for the bones of ours and frankensteined it all together. Here's to hoping it will still be around the next time I head out that way. I plan on taking a little detour to check to see if it's still there the next time I head out. Part of me suspects it won't be, but you just have to wait and see.
Anyways, here are some photos from my trip.
Yeah I'm not a great photographer. I pretty much click once and what you get is what you get.
So this photo is actually of the Nakiska and you can see the colour change on the top of the mountain. All of those lines that looked carved out of the mountain are the routes down the ski hill. When it's covered in snow it's a pretty popular spot for people to come snowboard and ski.
Anyways, I was hoping to add some more photos but it's actually pretty tough to make this work while using my phone!! So you only get two images, sorry folks. I also can't click below this last photo so I am going to end my blog here. I will try and get a few more images, especially of the Inukshuk and our cheers at the highest point we made. Hope you all have a wonderful day.
