Shovel Pass 09

I went into the back country on Saturday and came out today. I have been up two times before, and I have to say that this was probably the best time. I went up on a freight trip (so there were no paying riders) Eric and I took up hiker duffel's, bed sheets and groceries. On the second day ( we ride up the first, have one day there, and ride out the third) Eric and I fixed the fence. This entailed Eric cutting down two small trees that would make good rails, then we used a draw knife to shave the bark, then Eric beveled the ends and I held the rail while he nailed it on the post. Our hands got really sticky from the sap, and as you can see from the picture, picked up a lot of dirt. As we were finishing the fence, we could see a storm coming in, so we decided to ride in the snow. It was such a fun (but cold) ride, as there was snow, sleet and hail. I love that there was snow in August. After that, we went inside and played Rodeo Rama (like monopoly but rodeo style. I am so glad that I got this opportunity. Here are some pics of the trip.

Signal Mountain

Jaimie and I climbed a MOUNTAIN. It took us 6 hours and 35 minutes to get up and down. we left at 8am, and finished around 2:30ish. It was really foggy, and after about an hour we kept hearing snapping sounds. Jaimie brought Eric's hunting knife, so she got it out, and we walked with the knife out. We were very freaked out, but we never ran into the bear. When we finally got to the top it was so amazing. The view was breath taking, and there were a bunch of Marmots that came real close. We found a Moose antler. The mountain was 7,398 feet high. Now we are going to relax.

Edmonton and Kat

I went to Edmonton on Monday to drop Emilie off at the B and B that she was going to stay at so she could catch her flight on Tuesday. I bought a new pair of cowboy boots (mine were getting pretty bad), and we spent most of the day at the mall. We went to the water park, and even though the waves were not running that day, we had fun. Emilie managed to convince me to go on a water slide, so we went on the Blue Bullet. You have to jump in, then cross your arms over your chest and cross your ankles. Anyone that knows me knows I hate heights, and climbing up the stairs was very hard to do. At first when I jumped into the slide, I thought that I was going to have a Panic attack, but the second time I went on the slide it was better. We only went on the slides twice as there was a large lineup after that. We saw a bunch of people bungee jumping, and it reinforced that I never want to do it. After the mall, I took Emilie to the B and B and then drove back to Jasper.
Kat
We have been over run with mice and gophers at the barn this year, and our cat Short Tail has decided that he likes birds and being fed by the engineering staff better than catching mice, so Dave said we should go to the SPCA and get another one. They are overstocked, and were offering cats half off, but Dave said to go get one for free. Tonight Eric, Jaimie and I went to Hinton, said we wanted a barn cat, and they said they had a few on the list. The first one that came to mind was not spayed, so we took the next one. Barn cats are free, and they just ask for a donation. They said that if this cat did not work out that we could take her back and trade her for Brandy (the really nasty one that was the first choice). We renamed the cat, Kat, and she is in the barn now, so we shall see if this works out.

Copper

For the first time in 5 years, I came off a horse. My horse Copper is a bit of a twit. Everything scares him (except fir grizzly bears). I was about twenty minutes to the end of the ride, and I was looking back to make sure that the horses were not too slow. The next thing I knew Copper was three feet in the air, and three feet to the side. I fell on his neck, and attempted to get back in the saddle. He spooked again, and I twisted, fell off. I landed on my feet, and the force pushed me back on my butt. I got right back on, and he was fine, but a little jumpy. I did not get hurt.

Tattoos

On Friday July 10th Vicki and I got tattoos. Hers is the southern cross, which is part of the Australian flag. She got it on her ankle. I got a Jesus fish with a cross on my wrist. I did not blog about it sooner, as I believe that my dad will not like it. My mom has always said that it would be alright if I got a tattoo if it meant something to me. I picked a Jesus fish as it is the symbol of Christianity, and when the Christians had to meet in secret, that is how they knew each other.

Awesome

Today was an amazing day. Brad, Vicki and I all had the day off. We went for a ride to Old Fort Point. We ended up racing, and it was so much fun. Then we went to Edith Cavell and Edge of the World. Then we went to Earls for dinner. I wish I could do this every day.

Another day in Paradise

For the past few months, the wardens have been thinning the forest to prevent forest fires and to promote the new growth of younger trees. Yesterday, the decided to burn what they had cut down. This would not normally be a problem, except, they forgot to call and warn us. Vicki had a private ride that left about ten minutes before the scheduled 9:30 ride. Then Trivinnia, Emelie and I left on the 9:30 ride. We heard Vicki radio in that they were burning right beside the trail. She said that she was trying to go around through the woods, but she was warning us. When we got to that spot, she was waiting for us to arrive. Turns out the horses would not go past it. We called Dave, and he came down. We dismounted the ride, tied up some of the horses, then started leading them through two at a time. Once all the horses were past the fire, the guests came across. We got every one back on, and continued the ride. Dave was not very happy, and was giving the guys doing the burning a lot of grief. It was an exciting morning. After lunch it was rainy most of the day, and I went out on two rides without a coat. After the rides were done, we un-tacked, and Eric did not feel like pushing the hay in the wheelbarrow, so he got his truck, we threw the bales on it, and I jumped in the back. As he drove, I chucked the bales out, a little at a time. It was so cold, that we decided to go to the hot springs, so Brad, Eric, Jaimie, Vicki and I all went to the hot springs. While we were there, we got a craving for hot chocolate, so we drove to Hinton and went to Timmies, Then we got home, and went to bed.