Monday - Day 1

It was about 6:30 AM on July 17, 2006 when Jason, Jonathan and I started. The weather was a bit cool, but pleasant. Traffic was light and so was the wind. We were glad for that, considering how hot and windy it became as we progressed. We kept an easy pace and got to Chestermere in good time. The wind picked up from the South, so we fought that the rest of the day. Forty-five kilometers and just over 3 hours later, we made Strathmore. We stopped to have ice cream and to rest. Marion was going to meet us at the junction of 561 and Trans-Canada just before noon.

We got to the trailhead close to 10 AM, July 13, 2006. The Big Elbow trail, in Kananaskis, is at the end of Highway 66. From Calgary, we went West on 22X until it changed to highway 66. There's a fairly high pass to drive over just before you get there. There's new growth from a old forest fire at the top of that pass. There's a couple of places to park. We parked at the first trailhead parking and walked from there. There's another closer one nearer to the suspension bridge at the entrance to the Little Elbow campground.

Jerry and I were on bikes, and Chris and Kael were on foot. Jerry and I took our time. We got to Big Elbow just past noon, but needed to keep going to find a site to camp. Big Elbow requires a backcountry permit, and we decided not to get one. You're allowed to camp without one, but you need to be a kilometer off the trail and away from the campground. We went 2 km past Big Elbow where there's a small bridge. We were expecting to cross the river and backtrack into the river valley to set up. That required too much bushwhacking and we couldn't move our bikes easily through the trees.

Father said -- People wanted to go abroad from England to Australia, South Africa, etc. Canada was a cold frozen north country to them. They wanted a free life and to get out of cities to raise their families.

There were books written about being at war with Germany, so I suppose this alone was good reason to get out.

They were going to go to Australia but met a fellow in the station that painted a picture (I.E. described Canada) of Canada so good that they came to Canada instead.

The sun was intense and made the day extremely hot. It was a challenge to keep hydrated. I found the driving was pleasant though, and the scenery always grand in the mountains.

I picked up a couple of lens hoods for my 18-55mm and 75-300mm lenses. I got the wrong one the day before for my telephoto. They gave me a 70-200 thinking it would work. It was $75 as opposed to the $30 one that actually fit. So naturally, I was glad to have exchanged them. I originally picked them up during lunch at work, so I didn't have the lenses with me to check the first time. Anyway, I'm happy with the hoods. They made a big difference for the shoot.

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