Trip Report - Smutwood Peak

Random story: I got on the bus recently, and absent mindedly presented the driver with my credit card, rather than my bus pass. He looked directly at it, but didn't appear to notice that I flashed a black card at him rather than the brightly coloured pass. Which goes to show that if you act like you own the place, you are unlikely to get questioned. Nuggets of wisdom, by George.

Anyways, here's a few shots from this weekend's hike up Smutwood Peak (weird name, I know). It's called that because it's adjacent to Mt. Smuts, and Mt. Birdwood, so someone unofficially portmanteau'd the two. The hike was 19km round trip, with 850m of elevation gain and all around awesome views, but was also super tiring. My legs felt like they were going to fall off by the time we got back to the car. Someone get this guy a massage, stat!






































Summit Brew: Bellwoods Cat Lady IPA. Anita had a lemon tea.

Stampede 2019

I go to the Stampede almost every year, but for some reason have never thought to take photos of it at night. So I just discovered how pretty everything is at dusk/ twilight, with the bright lights of the midway contrasting against the deep blue skies.

We went twice this year, and I got fat on overpriced carnie food (cereal milk sugar mini donuts with fruit loop whipped cream, octopi on a stick, caesar popsicles, mini donut popsicles, avocado soft serve in a pineapple bowl, wild boar bacon and elk smokie), won some prizes at Whac-a-mole, and roamed the midway wondering why so many were dressed like they were auditioning for a spot on Canada's Next Top Ho. But whatever, you do you Calgary. #youknowyoureoldwhen...




The Midway at Sunset.


The Midway at Dusk.


Death Cab For Cutie playing the Coke Stage.
















My favourite midway game: Whac-a-mole!












Whac-a-mole winnings!


Avocado and Ube ice cream in pineapple bowls.


Caesar popsicle!


Dill Pickle Ice Cream!

Trip Report - Mt. Cory

Jas and I tromped up Mt. Cory just west of Banff this past Saturday, for a solid 1427m of elevation gain (#legday)! We killed it on the front side, gaining 800m in just over 1.5hrs, but then struggled up the rugged back side, before bagging the summit at around the 4 hour mark. Thankfully we had the entire mountain essentially to ourselves, so no one was witness to all our f-bombs and whining as we complained about tight quads and sore calves. There's nothing quite like a little mountain serenity interrupted by a constant stream of cussing from two old farts.

For those that actually care about the route details, it was kind of a three part hike/ scramble: the front side is a steep grind up through trees, with a well established trail. The middle portion is a short plateau along a grassy meadow. And then the backside switches to a rugged rocky section with sections of scree, ridges, rockfaces, and slabs to scramble. Makes for an interesting day throughout. I recommend!






View of iconic Mt. Rundle as we ascended the steep front side.














It's me! Looking towards Mt. Edith.


















Summit Brews: Bellwoods Wolf Wizard Pale Ale and Waterloo IPA.