Life in a Postcard

After many weeks of grey and overcast weather, the sun made itself known again this past week.  We're not used to be sun deprived here, but it has been unusually grey and cloudy since I've returned home.  It's also been snowing a lot up in the mountains - the skiing and snowboarding is fabulous right now.  The return of the sunshine has felt more glorious than ever!  There's just something magical about a bluebird day in the mountains.

Out my front window

We've had new friends staying with us the last week, in the form of 3 energetic and fabulous girls from Denmark.  Mette, Maria and Sarah have been skiing every single day since arriving and have had nothing but sunshine.  Their smile muscles are getting sore and they are enjoying every moment of their time in Banff. We've been feeding off of each others energy and enjoying the company.

Friday's Run

 Me, on the Bow River

The lovely Maria joined my for a late day run on Friday, when the world was a glow in gold on the ice and snow.  The light was magic, the mountains alive and even the wildlife came out to play. 

Maria, the Elk and the Banff Springs Hotel

Jump!

How do I see out of those things? 

As we were running along she said "It's unbelievable.  It's like running in a Postcard!!"  I couldn't agree more.  We do live in a Postcard and it's great to be reminded by someone with fresh eyes.

 

Late Day Sunshine

Good company is always welcome on the trail.  Speaking of which - last weekend I finally connected with Mike who has been one of my most consistent trail buddies in recent years.  I haven't run with him since I've been back in town, so we had lots of trail time to catch up.  I've convinced him to come join me on a June road trip for the Pocatello 50 Miler.  Angela is going to join in the fun as well. :) 

See Mike Run!

I also had some great ski time and play time with Angela. We were surprised at the amount of snow up on Sulphur Mountain and had a post-holing adventure in deeper than expected snow.  It was a brand new PW or Personal Worst - the slowest amount of time we have EVER taken to get up the mountain.  It was a total slog.  Angela got her pack snagged by a tree and ended up on her ass. :)  That was comedy.

....and then there was a glorious ski tour up at Sunshine.  We couldn't have asked for a better day and the air temperature was so warm we all stripped down to our base layers.  Sweet!!

The snow had the most sparkling, enormous crystals I've ever seen.  They were exploding into clusters in places and made a unique sound under the ski.  The snow was incredibly fast and it almost sounded like glass shattering when you carved a turn.

No ski tour is complete without a picnic and a thermos.

Keith and Suzy do it Right.

Our view

Life in a Postcard

 

We dragged our exhausted butts up Tunnel Mountain on Saturday night and Mette, Maria, Sarah and Angela did a Happy Dance as the sun set.  It was picture postcard perfect. This mountain living is hard work. :)

Only in Banff

Yesterday, on my daily morning stroll to work - I saw 4 bull elk down on the river as I was crossing the bridge.  They were all standing on the frozen Bow River, with the background of giant grey rocky mountains behind them. Two of them were doing a little elk dance, a light rut if you will, it didn't look to serious.  They were locked in the classic positon of antlers entwined and I could hear the sound of horn on horn as they connected.  Cool.  I thought to myself.  Only in Banff.

After this auspicious beginning to my day, the day rolled by rather quickly.  Just a usual day, with an unusual beginning.

On my daily stroll home, I stopped by the local ski shop - you know the place, the one the local's hang out at to drink coffee and talk smack.  The owner, my friend Jason - was standing out front of the store when I showed up.  What's going on? I trilled.  We're having a bacon sale.  He replied.   

Whaaaatha'?!

Jason had just got back from a road trip to Revelstoke and he had been delayed on the highways and he was a hungry boy.  My husband who works part time at the shop, was also warming the counter and business was slow.  I think the boys were just bored and hungry, but out of boredom a brilliant marketing idea was born:  A Bacon Sale!

So, they posted the following message to their fans on Facebook: 

FIRST person to bring us 1lb of COOKED CRISPY hot bacon can have ANYTHING in the store at 50% OFF...ANYTHING..

Now, this is a shop that sells $6000.00 shiny bicycles - so 50% off is a seriously good deal.  Soon, there were friends running up and down Bear Street with uncooked bacon in hand.  And pretty darn quickly, my friend Barb rocks up, sweat on the brow - with a box of steaming hot cooked bacon and a big smile on her face.  She had to get creative to cut out of work, make a blitz run to the grocery store - and then convince the chef at the Bison to cook her up some bacon on his nice shiny clean grill.  But, at the end of the day - it all started like the beginning:  

Only in Banff!!

I'm Home! I'm Home!

Travel.  Holiday.  Vacation.  I've had friends return from lengthy trips, only to be befuddled, depressed and unable to deal with the realities of their "real world".  In our case, the opposite is true.  Keith and I are literally overflowing with love, for this place that we call home.

Keith loves Banff!!

We've spent the last month adjusting back to our world, our reality, our home that is Banff.  We've always know that the life we have here is special, but it only takes 3 months away to make us even more appreciative of that fact.

The Neighbours are Good.

Since we've arrived home, we've been spending an aweful lot of time outside enjoying our special place.  We're connected to this place and these mountains.  It nurtures our soul to spend time outside in this place.  We've been running around the woods, we've been skiing, we've been strolling, we've been smelling and breathing and taking it all in with fresh eyes.

Last Week - strolling on the Bow River - Fairholme Range in the background.

This week - enjoying a birthday run.

Do I look happy?  That's because I am.  My latest pose seems to find me declaring out loud I'm Queen of the World!!  This place does that to me.  It makes me whoop out loud joyfully a lot. 

On the running front, I sure am enjoying myself running around the woods again - my backyard rocks.  It's the time of year that I spend the most time on my local trails.  In winter, your options are more limited - so I tend to spend a lot of time on the same trails.  Tunnel Mountain, Fenland Trail, the Spray River Trail, the Bow River/Hoodoos, Marsh Loop and Sulphur Mountain are all part of the fun.  My favorite winter trail is something I call the "backyard loop" which is a rather amazing 30 minute loop through the woods behind my house.  It's got a killer runnable hill, it's sheltered from the wind and it's so pretty.  I seldom see anyone on it.  Today, I saw fresh coyote tracks in the fluffy fresh powder and eventually, was treated to a vocal sing-a-long of the yipping critters.  Yip!  Yip!  Not everyone gets to experience that in their day to day lives.

Enjoying the Spray River Valley - on today's run.

Tunnel Mountain Cliffs with Cascade Mountain in the background

Backside of Tunnel Mountain - enjoying the view of Mount Rundle

Babbling non-sensically on my Birthday Run

So, you get the picture.  We're unequivocably stoked to be back in Banff running around in the woods.  I just want to shout it out loud:

I'm Home!  I'm Home!