The Elbow Ranger Station

I have spend the last few days here at the Elbow Ranger Station with Mike on highway 66 near Bragg Creek Alberta. It has been one awesome time thanks to Mike who is doing his own adventure in the fall which he will be hitch hiking from here to Nevada then to the Yukon then to the East Coast of Canada. I wish Mike luck on his journey!

The weekend was starting with the Sled Island Music Festival in Calgary. We saw some awesome bands including The Rural Alberta Advantage and O'Death. So much fun. We did not get home from Calgary until 3 a.m.

Saturday brought another day of paddling the the Kaninaskis River. Such a fun river. It is like the Gull but 4km long with more play spots and way colder water. After that we headed to the Powderhorn Salon for drinks. Great time!

On Sunday we slept most of the day before waking up to play a board game called Settlers of Katan. It's a crazy game.

Monday I took Colleen down the Kan River. It was a great time. We had a bit of a rough start but really got going towards the end! Good work Colleen though! Keep paddling!

Now I am off to Calgary for a bit. I finely get to do the Big Rock Brewery Tour!!! I can't wait.

Anyways here at some pictures of the last few days! Enjoy!

Johnny

Elkford to Bragg Creek

A lot has happened in the last few days so this is going be along one but a good one! Jay and Shamrock made sure of a good chill last night in Elkford BC. It was great seeing those guys again and I was sad to leave right before Jay's birthday too. Happy Birthday Jay!

As I left the mountains of BC and returned to the foothills of Alberta my excited grew to see Okotoks Erratic. My GPS directed me down Hwy 40 which started out nicely paved but when down hill in a hurry. It turned out to be a single lane dirt trail that was rough and ungraded. But it was nice and senic. I saw a moose and a Rocky Mountain Goat.

Once I got off the road I stopped and got a case (6 pack....they don't know what cases are out west but atleast I can still buy beer not like you Ontario folk!) of Big Rock McNally's Extra for the next part of my trip! I went to Okotoks Erratic. Which is a big rock in the middle of a field that was left by the glaciers. It is the rock the Big Rock Brewery (best beer in the world) is named after! Everyone in Ontario should go buy a case now. Oh wait! You can't! So I sat by the Big Rock and enjoyed my beer.

After that I headed for Bragg Creek to meet up with Mike from college who is 30 minutes west of Calgary in the foothills living at a ranger camp. It was kind of tricky to find. But I got here and we chilled around a camp fire all night.

The next day a couple of guys desided to rent a 4 man raft and go for a rip down the Kananaskis River. So I grabbed my playboat and we headed out. The river was an awesome dark torquize colour. Just beautiful. The water was so cold though. Poogies and skull cap in the end of June and I was still chilly! We had an awesome run and my shoulder held up. The road there was another awesome single lane dirt road with awesome senory.

That's all for now though!

Johnny

Thanks Jay and Shamrock in Elkford BC

Well as I prepare to leave an awesome time in Elkford BC with Jay and Shamrock I would like to put a huge thanks out to them for putting up with me! I had an awesome time here and will not forget this part of the trip for sure.

We had some awesome parties here including the one at Sneaky's were this guy Brent kept buying the entire bar rounds all night long. People had at least 3 drinks in front of them at all times. That was the night of Pat's birthday. We had an awesome fire and dinner at his place. We also went to the pub in Fernie Saturday night. It was pretty empty. I think that town is a winter town. But still fun times.

Today Rain and I set out to hike Mount Wapiti. We got lost and just ended up hiking the Boivin Creek Trail. Still amazing to do. It went up a small vally beside a small torqouize stream. It was such a fun hike. I little wet in places put so nice to hike down in a mountain vally. Rain found 3 deer she ended up running for awhile before coming back.

Later this week I am heading to Calgary. I can't wait to tour the Big Rock Brewery. It's going be amazing!

Johnny

TO LETHBRIDGE!

"To LETHBRIDGE" Brenden proclaimed at around 10 at night last night because of the lack of night life in Elkford. So we hopped in Jay's party wagon and headed east to Lethbridge. After the 2 hour drive it was 1 o'clock so we had an hour to drink. We headed to one bar but it closed at 1:30 so after that we tried to find another but everything seemed to be closed. Finely we found a small pub called Ten Tens. It was empty but willing to serve so being 1:45am already we got straight to buseness doing shots. We told the bartender it was Dan's 18th birthday so we got all his shots for free. The night ended not so well for him. After we cruised around the city trying to find a off sales bar but no luck. We ended up getting home at 6am

The day before Jay and I headed to Fernie for the day. It is a sweet little ski town. Really colourful buildings and layed back with some sick senory. We chilled in a little ski bar and played pool most of the day. We also walked around this sweet little pond where Rain went swimming and played with the other dogs.

We also stopped in Sparwood to see the worlds biggest truck. It was big.

Jay and I have also learned a new card game called Klabberjass. It is a great game. It is a combination of euchre, kaiser and poker for 2 players. We stayed up until 4 one night played it. The end was interesting so we took a picture before heading to bed.

Johnny

Video Blog Update

Well heres the first video update. I have had some time to work on it now that I am at Jay's place. It's a little long so sorry about that guys but enjoy.

Taking the Jeep up the Rockies

Today Jay and I set out on an adventure of getting the Jeep up a big mountain. We drove on the highway out of Elkford until it turned into a dirt road and continued going. We found an old logging road that went up a huge peak via switch backs. We pulled it into 4 wheel drive and started climbing. There was some steep ditches and trenches on the trail that had been put in for water control. We climbed and climbed and climbed until we could not get the Jeep any further. Then we got out and walked the rest of the way. The view was awesome. We could see right down into the Elk Valley and across to some other beautiful peaks. After driving down a the hardest section of the trail backwards (which was pretty scary driving a ditch backwards with a sheer drop right beside you) we hiked down into another valley to see a creek. We walked down a really steep hill of peat moss that was soaking wet. When we got to the creek I took me shoes off and walked in it. It was freezing cold from the glacial run off. But I was ready for a drink and the water was great. Cold and clean to drink. After that we played some more soccer at the highest pitch in Canada. Another great day here in Elkford. Tomorrow we are thinking we will head to Fernie.

Johnny