We’ve been diligently building some fun-tivity into our lives, having spent a great deal of it too busy with work and house work and sports for as long as I can remember. This summer, the girls started off by saying that they wanted to do something this summer and not just lay about. Well, there has been a healthy amount of laying about to be sure, but for the past few weekends we have force marched our family into the wild and to the top of some local peaks.
Jeff and Mary have become quite dedicated to the task of achieving higher heights, while Margaret, Lizzie and I are just dedicated to getting our hearts beating a good rhythm and planting feet one in front of the other until we get to a place where there is a good view.
We started this adventure with the requisite hike to the top of Mt Fernie that I included in my last post. This was followed by a grueling (wasn’t supposed to be grueling but All Trails LIES) hike of the opposite side of the valley, Fernie Ridge – Jeff always picks the hard ones. This particular hike is similar in elevation gain and distance, but came with a few extras. It was hotter this time, there was a bit of smoke in the air, add some more water bottles and hot feet and you have yourself a challenge. Oh, and there might have been a few bugs.
After much dedication and “me against the mountain” self-talk by at least one of us (ahem), we all made it to the top to the view that was our reward. Way down in the valley we can see our new house. We didn’t linger too long in any one spot however. Despite the trail notes professing that there were almost no bugs, we were met with the usual array of mosquitoes and pesky flies, but added some attach bugs that came with their own pile of rocks that I am sure were placed there by previous hikers in an attempt to keep them at bay, or these were the elusive trail markers that we failed to see for the presence of the attack bugs…either way. We were also plagued by small flies that can only be described as horse flies in training. They took chunks of us away, leaving our legs and arms a bloody itchy mess. Jeff, always immune, seemed unbothered but Lizzie and I, and to some degree Margaret and Mary were helpless to keep them away. A bottle of bug spray will be added to my pack even if it adds another bit of weight I have to haul up a mountain. Still, with the bugs and all, we were all smiles at the top. A reward well earned. (my short arms prevent me from doing selfies with Jeff!)
Next up was Lizzie’s birthday! Yup, another one. This time she turned 15 and having spent the last five years NOT having a birthday party, she was determined to invite all of her friends from up and down the valley to celebrate with her. We hatched a plan to have a movie night at the new house and gathered as much gear and people and food as we could muster for the event. We test drove the idea by having a movie night there the weekend before, setting up the projector and some camp chairs in our bedroom and watching a James Bond movie. After the kinks were worked out, it was pretty fun and the only issue was really that there are no curtains to make the room dark. We solved that problem by putting a towel over the door, but would eventually decide to move the movie watching upstairs to the rec room space and put up Jeff’s old photo backdrop cloth to hide the skylight.
On the day, Lizzie and I few solo, but Dad took point earlier in the day to make sure the grass had been cut and some of the debris had been tidied for us to be able to set up.
I cooked enough food for an army (forgetting that teenage girls eat almost nothing if their last name isn’t Thorpe!) and we set up for a bit of fun. All told, it came off without a hitch, but Lizzie and I were packing up and cleaning up into the late evening and darkness. At one point I brought the truck over and shone the lights into the back of the house to give us something other than our phone flashlights to work with. Silver lining for me, I got to get a visit in with a couple of friends too. Good times despite the late night!
The morning after, Jeff’s alarm went off at a hour unbecoming of a Sunday. He and Mary were heading up Hosmer, but not the hard trail we did last year. They were going up the REALLY hard trail which was a full day affair. He had invited me to join, and knowing how quickly they move compared to me, I opted out. Glad I did as the amount of sleep I had from the night before wasn’t going to make me good company or even capable company If I am being honest. All good though, Margaret, Lizzie and I had decided to hike anyway, but to Silver Springs instead where they could have a swim and do a bit of cliff jumping.
Jeff and Mary soldiered to the top of Hosmer (or just shy of the top before tapping out). It was windy and cold and there were many blisters to be tended. They reached 8187 ft (1.55 miles) elevation. Spectacular.
Silver Springs was much more civilized and we invited Josh, Margaret’s boyfriend, along to keep us on track to get to the third lake. It turns out it is pretty easy to find and after a much more pleasant slow incline hike (after you get to the first lake anyway), Margaret and Lizzie jumped in for a quick swim.
On the home front, Mary’s chickens are turning into proper ladies and we are checking daily to see if they’ve figured out how to lay an egg. They are practicing their clucking and every morning stretch their legs by doing chicken runs around the yard. Mary is practicing her chicken catching as well, much to their dismay.
Lizzie’s actual birthday came with a trip to Lethbridge for some shopping in a real mall, and the requested chinese food dinner from our local, The Old Elevator. I was home working while Jeff took the girls out for the day. He had a hidden agenda of looking at some hay cutting equipment along the way, but this was thwarted by a late departure, so he could only look at it from the roadside. They cruised through Fernie around dinnertime and picked up the food before returning back to Jaffray for some celebrating. Mary made the cake (carrot cake on request) and Lizzie did the decorating. A truly yummy birthday.
We also seem to have a couple of resident fawns at the farm. They appear to be orphans so we are keeping a close eye on their health. They are quite content to munch on the grass and visit the pond(s) at the back of the property for some water. They are trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to get into the garden to eat the greens. I was working from the trailer on Thursday this week and they were making a bit of breakfast out of the cut grass. Not at all worried about me or the construction noise from the house. Super cute.
We’ve ticked over into August now and the summer already feels like its waning. The mornings are darker and the evenings come sooner. We’ve come in and out of heat waves, the hanging baskets being the casualities of the heat for the most part. We’ve got the heat management down to a science almost in Jaffray and Mom is faring better this year than last. The ground is crispy though and we are watchful of the storms and the fires that so far have been sparked and contained. The wind is a blessing and a curse there. It blows the smoke away every once in a while and we get clear skies again, but somewhere they are fanning flames.