into the wild

You will no doubt have noticed that I've been remarkably silent as of late. Mainly because nothing too exciting has been going on. Well things have been going on, but no really funny stories have emerged as a result. To be honest, there aren’t even really any boring stories that I can embellish to make funny. So instead here are some pictures of the wilderness ...

1) Kootenay River - I went canoeing on the May long weekend. Was a lovely trip with great food, good weather, really nice people and plenty of cold beer! What you can't see in this picture is the massive wave to the far right of the river that nearly caused us to flip the canoe, which would have sucked as the water was maybe 5 degrees (incidentally perfect temp for keeping the aforementioned beer nice and cold). I have never come this close to going over on a trip like this and really I’m not sure how we stayed upright. All the canoes following us either went into rescue mode or got the hell away from the line we took. When we came to shore 2 minutes later, I have never enjoyed a nerve-calming beer* more.

2) Bryant Creek hut - Two weeks ago I went for an overnight jaunt into the mountains. Once again it was lovely - great people, great food, okay weather and not nearly enough wine. You would think that 5 bottles + bailey's between 6 people would be sufficient, but it was not. We did still manage to have a somewhat raging dance party though, so that's always fun. What you can’t see in this picture is the pain in my hip flexors. I was thinking this would be a nice relaxing walk through the woods, easing me into the backcountry camping, but then I realized that while there may not have been much elevation gain, we still walked 28 km roundtrip. Ouch.

After all that fun in the wilderness, it's time for some fun in the city. Luckily Stampede/Spansede starts tomorrow. Surely some good stories will come out of that one. Not only of the scandalous hookup type that are the norm this time of year, but perhaps there will be some good royal stories! Will and Kate are here ... Will I get to meet them? And if so, will she become my new best friend? In theory, the answer is of course yes, but in reality? We'll know by Friday afternoon!

*Anyone else notice that I managed to say the word beer 3 times in a 5 sentence paragraph that was ostensibly about canoeing? I wonder if there is some deeper meaning to that?