Week 10

Day 64:
Another slow start due to auto servicing. This time its a problem with the ABS system. The locals here at Subaru City were quite nice, although I still have to adjust my new ski rack to fit my skis on it. I also learned that my car does have a block heater (bonus!) so I won't be as concerned as the temp dips to -30 or however cold it gets out here in December.
A quiet evening planning my next steps was completed with a bit of surfing to check out some B&B's along the way. I'm all set to start my trek up again...

Day 65:
Headed to the Subaru dealership again and got my ski racks adjusted - I even got a hex screwdriver for further adjustments (Thanks!). Started west again along the Yellowhead Highway to Jasper with the odometer at nearly 10,000km since I left Oshawa.
Stopped in Edson for gas and lunch then headed into the mountains and Jasper Nat'l Park. Took a quick drive up to Maligne Canyon for a look around - probably stop back for some hiking tomorrow. Drove into Jasper itself and stopped at the Visitor Centre for some local info. Got a list of the local residents that open their homes as Bed & Breakfast establishments and found a nice one for $35/night - Cabin Creek Accommodations. In the process I ended up locking my keys in the car - but I was able to get in through the creative use of a coat hanger.
There seem to be lots of animals in and around the town with elk nearly blocking the entrance to one of the hotels. Treated myself to some prime rib at a local establishment and retired for the evening. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Leonid meteor shower, but the view was blocked by clouds - bummer.

Day 66:
Got up around 8:30am and headed out to Maligne Canyon for some hiking. The trail winds along the Canyon and River, crossing it with 6 bridges. The trail was nice and snowy and the 7.4 km seemed to go by quite quickly. It's been over a month since I've been hiking, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of nice views and pictures, especially of the mule deer that was snacking along the trail (that picture didn't turn out that well, sorry).

Headed back thru Jasper for lunch then on to Lake Louise. I took the scenic Icefields Parkway and took the time to stop at most of the sights that were still open. The rest of the drive to L.L. was a little slippery with occasional flurries.

I arrived at L.L., checked into the L.L. Inn and grabbed some pizza for dinner - ready for my first day on the slopes.

Day 67:
Got up around 8:30am and bought some breakfast and lunch at a local bakery. Stopped in at the actual Lake Louise to do the tourist thing and arrived at the ski hill at about 11am.
I bought a 2-day lift ticket and then proceeded to use it for the next 5 hours. There's only one main run open with two lifts servicing the upper and lower sections of the same trail. It's an ok trail, but it gets a bit repetitious after a while. It still gave me a chance to break in my new skis and stuff. I fell on my first two runs, but eventually made it down repeatedly without incident. It started to snow at about 3pm - which 'distracted' me so I ended up falling on my last run as well. I ended up falling right on the Halls® I had in my back pocket and gave myself quite a bruise.
I returned to the hotel, changed and grabbed a nice dinner and watched a good episode of ST: Voyager and ER (sorry, er). Entertainment Tonight also aired the trailer for the new Star Wars movie and I saw some stuff on the next Star Trek movie - Insurrection.

Day 68:
Headed back to the slopes for another day of skiing. Enjoyed quite a few good runs with only a few spills. I finally decided to travel up to the upper part of the trail via the upper lift. One item of note - if you're not on the best of terms with heights, I'd recommend looking forward all the way up the chair lift, instead of turning around and looking down the mountain behind you - it's much more enjoyable. The snow started at 11:30am and kept going till close. When I headed inside for lunch, I ended up dropping my headband. I took a quick look around for it, but just grabbed my touque and headed back to the slopes. At the end of the day I decided to try the lost and found, and, surprisingly, my headband turned up! My faith in the human race has been restored (it was a really nice headband, highly valued, really ;).
As the hill closed at 4pm, I headed along the highway toward Canmore, hoping to meet Mike. I called the local ski hill (Fortress Mountain) when I arrived, but they hadn't received as much snow as L.L. and so delayed their opening day. I decided to stay the night and then head to Kelowna a few days early.

Day 69:
Packed up and headed across the mountains for the Okanagan Valley. The roads were a bit slick, but cleared up as I decended towards Golden, BC. I stopped there for some lunch and then travelled on toward Kelowna. Glacier Nat'l Park is back up at the higher elevations, so the snow was covering the roads along the way again - except in the tunnels, of course.
As I arrived in the 'Valley, I was reminded of driving through northern Ontario with its nice, twisting roads and pine-clad hills. Soon after, the rain started and, as I drove down to Kelowna, the road and valley off to the left made me think of driving up the DVP - minus the subway trestles overhead, of course.
I arrived at Tim's place, but he wasn't there, so I left a message and headed out for some window shopping. Tim called soon after and we wuickly grabbed some dinner and headed off to a performance of Handel's Messiah with Tim's friend, Mary. I had heard the concert advertised on the local radio station (Silk FM, I think...) and welcomed the chance to attend.
After the concert, Tim and I went bowling with a few other friends and then headed to a rock/dance bar for some entertainment. The evening was rounded out with a cat fight in the line behind us at the Burger King drive-thru. All in all, with the time change and everything, I turned in at '4:30'am.

Day 70:
Headed to church (Trinity Baptist) with Tim for the 11:00am service. I recognized a few songs, even. Tim needed to restock his cupboards, so we stopped for some groceries on the way home. I updated the web site and enjoyed a little T.V. - love the NFL. Had some dinner and headed back to the church for a youth service. Afterwards, I watched the X-Files, which we taped during the service because of time differences. Quite a different approach for the episode; very cinematic.