Ribbon
It sure was nice to be in the wilderness. A plan that had been in the works for a couple of weeks finally came together and Sonja and I spent a weekend out at Ribbon Lake.
It was a rocky start. We never left as early as I had hoped, due mainly in part to TMUTS' leaving most of his earthly posessions in a car sized pile of garbage in the back alley. I spent some time using a reciprocating saw to cut his junk to a managable size and pack it away in my car. It was well into the afternoon by the time we headed out of town. Once we arrived at the Visitor Center, they surprised us with rate increases and a $24 pass to camp in the backcountry.
I decided that along with items to make me more comfortable through the night that I would also bring along a sizable chunk of camera equipment. My burden came to a humbling 41 lbs, and Sonja's share tipped the scale over 31 lbs. We finished the 13km trek over six hours, which mainly in part to the various stops to indulge my camera fetish, and us ducking under trees to avoid the sprinkling rain. We tackled the cliff hurdle at the end of the voyage and managed to have camp set up before the sun was done in the sky.
We met a surprising large group of people at the lake, the majority there to celebrate a 58th birthday. We cooked our food, and joined in the conversation, before retiring for the night.
Waking in the morning was a bit of an adventure because most of my body didn't work. Well, at least not in the way to which I've become accustomed. It did not take long, however, for the engine to get fired up and all the kinks worked out. It became quickly apparent that the effort expended was worth it. The view was breathtaking and the sound of silence was everything I wanted it to be. Getting away from the intersection of Bermuda Dr and Beddington Boulevard to a perch at the end of a valley was exactly what I needed to slow things down for a while.
We made much better time going back to the parking lot. Moving downhill advantage was over come by a beautiful blue sky with puffy clouds and my 2Gb memory card. Losing my burden once and a while to crouch by waterfalls and climb over rocks to get a nice viewpoint stretched our return to about 5 hours.
Upon returning to Calgary I didn't entertain any such thoughts as: "I need to get outside", or "I need to do something." Eat a nice meal and retire early made for a well deserved end to a perfect weekend.
