Pictures of people taking pictures

I'm back!! (Monday 18th August)

Had a few days of work type stuff to do, now back on the water and back on the road.
Now in Denver with my great friends Nick and Laura who are amazing hosts.
Managed to get to Chatfield Lake this morning. Had a great run up along the Platte River before then spending 3 1/2 hours on the water. Thanks to John and Lori from Sup Surf Colorado who helped me out with a gas charged PFD that just sits around your waist seeing as they are mandatory here and it's bloody hot.

I also got to play on John's River play SUP... good fun and lots of getting wet!

So that was the morning....
The afternoon brought lots of e-mails and messages and phone calls with some very good friends, which resulted in complimentary tickets to Jack Johnson at Red Rocks. For those that don't know, Red Rocks is an amazing natural rock amphitheater in Denver. It is an incredible location and Jack Johnson was awesome there. Greeny was in town for one night and was able to make it there with me which was a great way to catch up with that guy out of town. Very appreciative of the time and generosity of people to help me out there.
With so much of it being last minute preps, we were somewhat other than earl... This called for some optomistic creativity... Red Rocks gets pretty crazy with parking when it is a full house, with people having to park at least a mile away. Confident that we would manage to create something incredible Greeny and I headed toward the top of the hill. Some creative re-positioning of a witches hat saw us with an outstanding park not far from the taxi rank and arrive in time to miss the support act, but see Jack walk on stage.

Pictures of people taking pictures of Jack Johnson at Red Rocks

A fantastic finish to another incredible day

Aint no mountain high enough....

Upper Kananaskis Lake ( Rawson sits within the crater that you see to the left)

Having an inflatable SUP is great. It's easy to store, you don't need roof racks, and you can get it on as standard luggage when flying. Oh yeah and the kids and friends won't put a ding in it. But is that really the limit of the goodness of the inflatable SUP? I felt that I wasn't really exploiting the benefits of the transportability of her so decided to find more ways to use my inflatable friend. No Scotty, not like that!
Today was a great day to hike to an otherwise inaccessible lake and SUP there.
On the way back from Banff to Calgary, there is an area that has a few lakes, two of the main ones are upper and lower Kananaskis Lakes. Just north and altitudinally up from Upper Kananaskis is Rawson Lake. The write ups list it as a picturesque classic alpine lake, a mere 3.9km hike away from UKL. Oh yeah, and that 3.9km they suggest will take you about 3 hours. This in part is due to the 320m climb. Well they say 320m, it felt like about 920! and most of that in the first part. My first suggestion that it might be tough came from a friendly gent that I met along the way whilst working out how to cross the river with the bridge out...

When I told him where I was off to with my SUP on my back he said " Wow, that's courageous... you must be really strong!" Ok, so a comment like that is bound to set off some alarm bells, but I trekked on. Having completed the 1.2km walk in to the track, I was all smiles...

Then it began. I was concerned at first that the Canadians were a little too direct in their approach here. There were no switchbacks, it was just straight up the mountain. Eventually some switchbacks came, and with good reason. It got steeper! I began passing people (probably those that take 3 hours) and was about half way before the shirt had to come off.

It was getting pretty bloody hot lugging the SUP and me up a mountain. Fortunately time spent with a good friend and adventurer Kyle Williams on his A2K venture taught me that all mountains have a top, and if you take enough steps you will arrive there eventually. I continued to pass people, which is a terrible habit that I put down to training with people like Kev Laws. Oh yeah, and a bit of ego, If there is someone in front of you, you must overtake them. Once you have overtaken them, you cannot under any circumstances let them catch you... Who came up with that stupid idea??? All the runners and cyclists and swimmers will understand. At least it was an aesthetically pleasing hike and the Canadians worked it well in that the last 500m or so was quite flat and enjoyable. Arriving at Rawson Lake, it was worth every step..

Yep, that's snow!!

I have to say, I was a little disappointed to find someone else on the water when I got there, but I got over that pretty quickly. They were fishing in a dodgy dinghy and not on a SUP. I'm claiming first SUP on Rawson until proven otherwise.

Paddle done and it was time to hike back down. Obviously substantially easier than hiking up, so upon hitting the trail at the bottom I decided that one lake for the day wasn't enough and continued along the edge of Upper Kananaskis Lake away from the parking area. It was during this leg that my OCD kicked in. It took me 30 min to get back to the start of the climb, and 50min to get to the top including the first part, so if I went for another 40min, that would round out 2 hours neat of hiking.

and along the way, an answer to the age of question of what bears do in the woods..

 I also knew that the wind was blowing toward the carpark, so the further I got, the better down winder I got to paddle back to the car :) Yeah, great logic, this has someone as stupid as me doing a little light jogging from time to time to get the most out of my next 40min. The 40min mark came up and no access to the water, but soon found it within another 5 or so. Time came to get back on some water and claim my second lake for the day.

 Finding a couple of things on the map that I wanted to see further I headed away from the carpark first then turned around and had fun on a reasonable although not howling down winder home.

 A swim at the end was a perfect way to rinse my sweat soaked body and cool down before hitting the road back to Calgary.
The feeling of claiming a lake that most SUPers will never get to, after paddling some beautiful but well paddled ones in the past few days was a great feeling. A little scared that I may want to find lakes that are even less accessible to paddle...
An epic day and feeling absolutely flogged.

4 Lakes and an oracle

Just to set the scene, I'm not the kind of guy who is going to go and watch a movie multiple times, or re-read a book, or go back and see something that I have already seen. Today however, I got up at sparrow's and returned to Moraine Lake. What an amazing place and I had it all to myself. There were a couple of photographers there who I apologised to for putting a ripple through their photos. On the water, it was all mine!! seeing the sun come up over the mountains was gorgeous, the reflection of the moon in the still blue waters of Moraine was worth the early rise. The water was so still that paddling into the reflections was like paddling in the sky.

An hour and a half later and I was off again, this time to Emerald Lake. Arriving there I found that they had a trail that went all the way around, and I was still ahead of the crowds. I decided to get a run in before I paddled this amazing looking lake.
Wow, what a running track...

Having completed my run, I set about pumping up inflato. It was at this point that I had one of my off water highlights of the day. I met a chap who's name I know not, but I am going to call him the oracle, because he seemed to know a lot. So much in fact that I'm surprised that I hadn't heard of him, and I suspect he may have been surprised as well. The oracle is from Melbourne, and so when I said that I was from Canberra, his immediate pronouncement was that I must be a public servant. Now usually this might offend me, but seeing as I got up early, had already had a paddle and a run, I may have seemed a little slow of wit, and so simply corrected him with my real occupation. I think he was at first a little stunned that somebody could come from Canberra and not be a public servant, but he soon got over that to deliver one of my favourite compliments. After a short period of consideration he announced that he didn't believe in chiropractors. I particularly enjoy this comment because it puts me in great company. That of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, global warming and God. All things that people claim to not believe in, with the implication that they simply don't exist. So I'm glad I'm a chiropractor, and this is the slight that is dealt me. Nobody doesn't believe in dentists or accountants or lawyers, they simply don't like them. So having elevated me to some sort of legend type status, he proceeded to tell me that his physio gives him a really nice massage (overshare from the oracle) he then went on to let me know how it was muscles that put the bones out obviously, because bones can't put the muscles out can they?? I was truly grateful for the expounding of his celestial knowledge and continued pumping. At this point the oracle rewarded me with some more information. "You're sweating" he proclaimed with his new found position as captain of the SS. Bleeding obvious. Thanking him for his insight, I let him know that I had just gotten back from a run. For some reason this made sense he said, because I was a chiropractor. Evidently these god like figments called chiropractors run a lot. Somewhat bewildered by his insights I again thanked him for them. He then felt he had done his duty, bid me a farewell and set off to walk probably as far as the coffee shop I suspect.
Full of new found knowledge it was time to get out on that incredible water. Again some pretty amazing reflections, and so peaceful. Peaceful enough in fact that I laid down on my board and had a nap in the middle of the lake for about 20min.

2 lakes and a run down and it was just hitting 11am. Time for lunch.

With still plenty of day to enjoy, I set about trying to catch up with an old friend Megs who has recently moved over here.She was headed off on a walk at Minnewanka (apparently the 3rd n is silent...) Missing her there I decided to hit the water, making my 3rd lake for the day. This one not so relaxing with rock edges and tour boats tearing up and down. I managed a 90 min solid paddle before getting back to the start to find Megs and her crew.

 From there we went round to a popular swimming hole of the locals called Johnson Lake... not so sure that it's a coincidence that they have a Johnson in the Minnewanka loop... I took inflato down to the water and Megs and the crew had a go. She threw a couple of them off, but all in all they did great. I then went and clocked my 4th lake for the day, and another amazing colour in the water.

 Farewell to Megs and the crew and into town for an early dinner. Tonight, Buffalo steak. I have to say, Banffians really know how to cook up their wildlife. The Elk burger last night was outstanding and the buffalo didn't disappoint. Possibly one of the best steaks I've had. 
Another successful day moving the body, seeing some amazing things and living the life :)

All things bright and beautiful...

Lake Louise

Wow!
I've been fortunate enough to be some pretty amazing places. The only place that rivals where I went today was Antarctica. If you have never been to the glacial lakes of Canada, go there. If you visited and didn't actually get out on the water, go back! Never have I been so happy to be a SUPer. The ability to rock up, unleash my inflato and jump onto an amazing body of water was out of this world. True, I did have to cope with the envy of every single person on and around both lakes today, but hey, somebody has to be THAT guy :) I even jumped in the water in Lake Louise. Special!

Taking a dip in Lake Loiuse

So the hardest part about today is working out which photos to inflict on this blog. It was a classic case of taking photos as they seemed good, and realising that you have taken too many. The only problem is that when I looked at them, I still ended up with too many.
What an awesome day. I made the drive from Calgary to the mountains. Stopped in at Banff for some brekky, then on to Moraine Lake.

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake

Just for comparison, my water bottle in Moraine Lake! No filters or enhancement.

Moraine Lake

Having a lay down on Moraine Lake

 On the way there managed to pick up 3 hitchhikers. Max was a very friendly Frenchman who had just finished a 5 day hike. Evidently there were no showering facilities on that hike and all going well, when I dropped him in the township of Lake Louise, this was one of his first stops. Lovely guy and spending three months hiking and hitchhiking around Canada. Having left Max and also the windows down, I came across Canadian born, Australian raised Emily and her newly acquainted friend Sam, the Banff residing Australian. Sam and Emily were great. They accompanied me to Moraine Lake, and then to Lake Louise, and thanks to a late running bus even provided some conversation on the way back to Banff.

Lake Louise

Lake Louise down the guts

Just to prove it was me at Lake Louise

I found a Wetspot at Lake Louise

How many angles can you get on this beauty!

 A fortuitous mix up (my fault I'm sure) with my booking saw me have a windfall of about $60 on accommodation and my bed for the night secured. Off to find replenishment for my paddle weary body... I first thought to eat at the the Grizzly, which promised caribou and buffalo, having been rejected from there for being too bald and stylish, I went to Wild Bill's saloon and eatery... What an awesome choice and turn of events. They were full, and only had room at the bar. Not being familiar with such places I wandered in and ordered a very tasty local dark beer and an Elk burger. Where else can you order an elk burger??? The beer was great and the elk outstanding. Finding myself full of elk, but not so full of beer, I ventured a second and settled in to watch some pool. It was an entertaining pair of Australian ex-pats playing a sharkish Saffer. The Aussies (Matty and Nate) were entertaining as Aussies tend to be, and poor old Darius, Marius or Mauritous, whatever his name was, also a gentleman and a man of his own accomplishments. A grandfather at 38, having children ranging from 3 to 24, quite the stayer. As luck would have it, I teamed up with Mauritous, only to go down 2-1 to the talented pairing of Matty and Nate. A great night out to end an incredible day.
Observations from today:
* Water really is blue!!! wow!
* South Africans play some awesome pool before they start drinking real beer
* Banff is mostly made up of Australians
* Why didn't I see people floating, paddling, doing whatever they can down the magnificent Bow river???
* Everybody should own an inflatable SUP. Could not have had this much fun without it!
* Hardest thing about today, finding just a few photos to brag with..


An incredible day! Hope I can sleep tonight!

And for Charlotte, I found a bear :) Pretty sure her name was Charli