Life in Lockdown
Around the House
So most of my summer plans have obviously been scrapped, but it has also been really nice to be at home. I’ve spent most days outside, gardening and playing with the puppies. In the evening the family normally picks a movie to watch and I’ve been making my way through a bunch of books. I’ve gone kayaking with mom, spoon carving with dad, and I jumpstart whenever Steve kicks in my door.
At the beginning Regia had a lot of fun tasks and challenges and there’s been a weekly online pub quiz that I’ll join when I can. I’ve made a Saxon dress and a new Viking hangeroc (all blue, of course), dyed a bunch of wool, Opa’s made me a beautiful wooden chest and I’ve turned all my fabric scraps into various little bits. Next season is going to be fancy.
I’ve been able to have some friends over, or go over to people’s houses. Calgary is pretty lax on restrictions since there’s a fairly low number of cases. Most meetings are still outside so we’ve taken full advantage of patios and fire pits.
Wedding
It felt very Hobbitish to set up a huge party tent in the backyard and be hanging strings of lights in the trees. Our house hosted a small wedding for a family friend whose other plans were cancelled by Covid. Despite the dodgy weather at the beginning of the day, once we splinted and duct taped the tent poles the rest of the day went very nicely. I got to wear a pretty dress and spent the end of the day burning the pizza boxes.
Moraine Lake
One week, when Ryan was back from his job as a fire-less fire fighter, we drove up to Moraine Lake, near Lake Louise, to go on a nice hike up to Consolation Lakes. Moraine lake is on almost every travel Alberta ad, which makes sense since it’s drop-dead-gorgeous, but despite living near it and frequent trips to Lake Louise, I’d never actually seen it. Normally, there’s so many tourists that they close the parking lot and you have to take shuttles, but one benefit from Covid is fewer people to have to share these places with.
Yes, the water is really that blue. According to wikipedia, it’s “due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake on a continual basis by surrounding glaciers.” I can see why so many wedding photos pick this spot. Of course, I didn’t have a wedding dress, but the blue still made a beautiful background for my new Viking kit. Mom and dad started down the trail and the boys were very patient photographers. We caught up to the parents by the time they reached Consolation, and we climbed a tall rock for lunch. We snacked on chocolate and watched a large marmot ambling around.
Birthday
I am now 27.
Jasper
The last time I’d seen Rachael and Chris was at their wedding almost exactly 2 years ago. They were already planning to do a camping trip with some friends, so mom, dad and I tagged on to part of their trip. We met them at Lake Louise, made a quick photo stop at Moraine again, and then headed to Jasper.
On the way we stopped off at the Columbia Icefield Skywalk, a glass-floored walkway that juts out 280m over the Sunwapta Valley. Not recommended for acrophobics. I talked to the guide and she confirmed that many people drop their phones over the edge and a few even expect to get them back. I held my camera very tightly.
We hit the best luck with the rain most of the trip. We’d get to a spot, do the hike or take the photos, and then it would start raining just as we were heading out. We even got to set up, take down, and cook in calm weather even though it would storm shortly after.
We weren’t exactly roughing it when it came to food. The first night we had steak and wine.
Our animal count for the trip was 2 elk, handful of deer, innumerous squirrels, and a black bear.
On the first day, we hiked the Bald Hills Trail loop. Most of the path is a fire trail but we took a steeper short cut. Mom estimated it would take about 30 minutes. Mom was wrong. Still, we made it and I got some beautiful photos before it started hailing on us and clouds moved in to hide the view. By the time we were back at the bottom the sun had come out again and so we sat on a dock on Maligne Lake for lunch.
We picked up a couple of Chrispy Tall Bois to drink back at camp, cooked up some Rosti and Weisswurst, and had a lovely evening around the fire. I carved another spoon and I only cut myself once. Mom and dad got dripped on in the tent but I managed to stay dry.
We packed up the next morning, but stopped off to do a quick loop around the Valley of Five Lakes. More very pretty coloured lakes, flowers, and beautiful view of the mountains around the valley. Rachael and Chris had to leave around noon to meet up with their friends at their next campsite and we took a very scenic drive home. We’re hoping to head to Abbotsford in August so we’ll meet up again before I’m back in the UK but it was good to catch up.
