The footage is not spectacular but in the moment I was more concerned with safety. We were 12km into the backcountry here, camping for 3 nights and this was a few minutes from camp. This black #bear had been hanging around and even came into camp once while we were there. A little surreal. #hike #wildlife

8r4d We saw so much #wildlife on our #hike it almost got a little too much. Up close and personal with a bunch of small critters was fine, but we did encounter a bear on the trail at a distance of less than 25m and had to use our bear smarts to deal with that.

pixelazy Campsite views. #hike

8r4dsfeets A good #hike meal? We dehydrated a bunch of chili and then rehydrated it back up on the mountain.

8r4d Day three recap part 2. Then it rained for a while and there wasn’t much to do besides hide out in the tent to read and nap. #hike #rain

8r4d Day three recap part 1. After two long days of hiking we took a rest day and hung out closer to camp. #hike

8r4d Day two recap, part 2. A long day #hike up the pass and onto the peak was a preview for our way home a few days later. It was a slog up to the top of the pass but the views were fantastic.

8r4d Day two recap, part 1. The only place on the mountain with both great views and a cell phone signal was on top of the falls. #hike

8r4dsfeets Just standing on top of a mountain. #hike

8r4dsfeets Awfully fresh #bear scat. #hike

8r4dsfeets A long drop down. #hike

8r4dsfeets Conquering fears atop a cliff. #hike

8r4dsfeets Camp feet. #hike

8r4dsfeets #waterfall #hike

8r4dsfeets #hike

8r4d Day one recap, part 3. We set up camp at the far end of the lake—our home base for the next 3 nights. #hike

8r4d Day one recap, part 2. The headwall involved free climbing with our heavy packs up a cliff face with rebar ladder rungs stuck in the rock. #hike

8r4d Day one recap, part 1. The first leg up to the falls was tough but not too bad. #hike

gamerdad We picked up a copy of this new game at a board game store in Calgary while killing time before a backcountry hiking trip, and our first couple rounds were sat in the lobby of our staging hotel.

As a #cooperativegame board game it was as much a social evening sorting thru the rules and chatting thru strategy as it was a focused games round.

We had a few curious gazes as other guests made their way past over the hour and a half but no one looked too far askew at what four middle aged hosers were doing playing a weird game at a random hotel in Calgary on a Wednesday evening.

8r4d The worlds largest game store? We may have spent some money and bought a new #boardgame this evening.

8r4d Staging up for our hike and warming up the legs by walking around the market pondering all the #food that’s way too heavy to carry up a mountain.

8r4dsfeets So close yet so far.

castironguy After the #heritagefestival ends there’s almost always leftover batter. They can’t sell it nor return it, but they do their best to get it to a good home. Whoever will take a huge quantity of batter late at night and on short notice. Whatever is left, a few lucky volunteers may get a bucket to take home. Of course this then means breaking down 25 litres of batter into freezer bags and storing it for the winter, but better than it landing in a trash pile. #volunteering perks

8r4d Disaster! So the third day of the #heritagefestival ended up cancelled because a storm hit the site Sunday night and wrecked enough infrastructure—water, power, tents—that it was unsafe for the public. The city was in shock. This rarely happens. In fact I don’t ever remember a cancellation (except during the pandemic.) It was waiting on pins and needles all day to find out how we fared. But alas our crew finally got access late afternoon and tho the damage was minimal on our site, we still had our work cut out cleaning and tearing down the kitchen to wrap up for another year. #volunteering