Sat, Aug 30 2008, Sun, Aug 31 2008, Mon, Sep 1 2008 - Glacier Lake : Yet-Another-Fluffy TM Co-Ed Backpack (View Original Event Details)
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The long weekend was fantastic! Hiked, ate loads, told tales around the campfire, slept late, woke up even later. Hike somemore. Repeat process.
Going in. On highway 93 just after the park office there was a traffic jam. Hoards of tourists, including a couple of buses, were clogging the road. People were all over on the road. Yup all were looking at a bear. They were like 10 feet from it and one guy even had a camera on a tripod. What a clusterf**k (pardon the language) first time I saw a traffic jam on that road. Catherine told the idiots to get back into their cars but the people being idiots didn’t hear her.
Back to the trip. We stopped at Saskatchewan Crossing’s cafeteria for lunch. Hike in was fairly uneventful. Other than that climb up that hill, which was quite an eye opener especially since our packs (or at least mine) were loaded to the gills. That hill just seems to go on and on and on….Reaching the campsite was a relief. Whew. Nice little campsite. Plenty of spots to find a spot to pitch the tents. I regretted not bringing the saw for the firewood (reminder to self for backcountry events). My little hatchet wasn’t enough.
The potluck dinner was awesome. Had a big variety of foods. Spicy chicken rice, smoked salmon, chicken souvlaki, lots of sausages, chicken wings, marshmellows and more … yummmm
Day 2 we hiked to see Lyell Glacier. Walked was more like it. On the way there, everyone but Ben saw a bear on the opposite side of the lake grrrr... I was looking at the wrong place! There was also a heron, a lost seagull and a pesky chipmunk that kept raiding our food at the campground.
The best bit about the weekend? NO RAIN! woohoo... I'm beginning to think I can control the weather! The temperatures were lovely. Went for a swim in the ice cold lake so did ALL the guys and we had a nice bath. The gals chickened out..sniff sniff what’s that smell.
Had a great lunch in Lake Louise going back to Calgary. We were surprised to see snow on the mountain tops when we reached Canmore. - Ben
What else do you want for a great long weekend backpack? Nice weather, fascinating scenary, beautiful lakes, wandering and wild rivers, gigantic glaciers, bears on other side of the lake(!), fluffy hikes, unique viewing spot of campground, huge bonfires, delicious foods, gossip/story tellings or Canadian Idol ceremonies around fire, or just a bunch of happy happy warm people: relaxed, laidback coordinator (you just ask for anything from Ben, and he has something in his pockets), happy happy nice laugh(ter)s of April (she transfer that happiness when she laughs), fantastic voice/song singings of Catherine (she won the Canadian Idol title at second night), stories, advices and misterious sarcasms of Cathy (she could communicate through eyes, when I couldnt understand the language, she is awesome), hot hot burning discussions of Marsha, spicy foods of Rao, and great great companionship of Eric, Linh and Jamie. Thanks guys for sharing such a great time with me. - Mohsen