Adapted from email to family and friends…
Coming to you live from Coleman on our first zero day (zero kilometres on the trail) after finishing Section A.
What a freakin’ week. It rained. It rained. And then it rained some more. Made for a couple of soggy and miserable nights, but we managed to thread the weather windows when it mattered on the alpine ridges.
Snow made for slow going in a couple of sections. A few days had a sting in their tail; just when you thought it was smooth sailing to camp BAM! Take that silly assuming sausages!
Our favourite campsite so far was Lone Lake. Absolutely gorgeous. We met a couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary wearing “bride” and “groom” hoodies. They were very clean hoodies unlike our shirts phew!
We have also shared the trail with a solo hiker from Quebec for a few days. She joined us for La Coulette (1300m up, 1600m down, a jagged elevation profile) and informed us the word “coulette” may mean underpants in Quebeqois French (hee hee “Undies Mountain”!)
We saw one bear as we left Waterton, like 3 minutes into that day, being shooed out of town by Parks Canada. Otherwise no views of the fuzzy wuzzies, other than their old poops here and there. Come to think of it, the “tent caterpillars” twitching as we walked by their web near a water crossing were by far the most disturbing creatures observed.
The two 30km days preceding today beat up our feet, as they’ve been damp from wet shoes for days. My shoes wore out material on the inside.
Meanwhile a random salt seeking creature (likely a porcupine) chewed holes in Dikko’s socks and one of his walking pole cork handles! Stole them from the tent vestibule, also leaving a lone sandal metres away which gave us a Sherlock moment in the morning. So we’ve bought some new socks for Dikko today (thanks to a great outdoor store in nearby Blairmore).
But back to the feet, which become your most valued body part on a thru hike. We’re looking after the tootsies and hope they heal well, just some blisters. Many reports of a lot of stubborn snow in Section C, but we hope the 30C in the forecast ahead accelerate melting the isothermic mess. Sounds like our next section (Section B) will be much more manageable snow-wise.
We’ve been in the present moment a lot. Sometimes just the next step is all that matters. Getting water. Food. Shelter. Right back to basics. It’s been nice to look over my shoulder and thank the mountains as we leave them behind for new ones. It’s an unfamiliar feeling not doing a loop or turning back on a hike.
Checking in at our stay in Coleman yesterday we were like rabbits in the headlights. Suddenly our phones had service and our credit cards had value! Strangely the shower and pub grub, while good, were not as good as the feeling of crisp sheets in a real bed. So give your bed and pillow a pat of gratitude from us tonight!
Fun facts
– Most sung artist: Queen.
– Most uneaten food: protein powder closely followed by oats.
– Least favourite campsite: Lynx Creek (well water smelt strongly of sulfur) and no bear lockers.
– Most amazing view: can’t decide. Will be ongoing problem!
– Best trail company: Anna and Lee our buddies who drove us to Waterton and hiked to the US border on Day 1! Thank you!
FYI I’ve been taking video on my phone and will be making something sub-par-Spielberg after we finish.*
