long live the chinook
By way of
explanation… the chinook is a warm wind that sweeps down the mountains in the middle
of winter and can raise the temperature by 20-30C in the matter of a few hours.
Wonderful to walk to school in –20C weather and emerge from classes a few hours
later to find 10C weather.
Turducken
All the orphans (i.e. people without family nearby) headed
to Parneet’s place for Thanksgiving dinner. The highlight was the turducken,
which took Leigh and his brother Rob a stunning four hours to construct, and
Parneet 13 hours to cook. It’s a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey.
Obviously I did not partake in the turducken, but enjoyed all sorts of dishes
fulla lovin’ and had some good chats with friends.
Leigh carves up the turducken
Cam, Jeff, and Adam
Me (sans turducken)!
Yamnuska
Finally met up with Lisa (friend of a friend in NZ) and
went up Yam. A pretty easy hike up the right, then across the back of Yam to
the summit, down the left, and then some incredible scree-running all the way
down. Smashing good time.
View at the base of Yam towards Canmore and the beginning of the Rockies
The crest of Yam, seen from the top of the right slope
At the summit, with the cairn, in the fog
Paddling the Lower Bow
Wrote our hematology exam on Friday. Went out Friday night.
Got up really early Saturday morning for a two-day paddling trip. Took quite a
while to pick up the canoes, lash them to the vehicles, drive to the river,
shuttle the second car to the end of the route, eat lunch, and put the canoes
in. Saw two bald eagles, a few herons, a deer, and a herd of alpacas (driven to
the water’s edge by Fred’s moose mating calls). Camped on an island in the
middle of the river… had supper, yummy brownies in advance celebration of Jeff’s
birthday, polished off two bottles of wine, and broke out the guitar for some
great tunes. Slept under the stars since it was so gorgeous out. Woke up in the
middle of the night and lay staring at the sky for a while… I swear I saw the
northern lights! Or maybe just strobe lights from Calgary : ) A shooting star,
brilliant moon, and for some time a cloudless sky made for good entertainment.
At the end of day two did some rafting in the late afternoon since we had a
short distance to go and were in no rush. Discovered that Chris and Jeff’s “big
surprise” was a big hill separating people + canoes from the van… meanwhile I’d
been dreaming of jars of nutella or something. Anyway, much fun had by all.
Liana, Chris, Jeff, Fred, and me in front
Fred uses his moose call to attract the alpacas
Fred lashing the three canoes to Jeff’s van
Alberta is big sky country… lots of fields, lots of sky, and lots of neat clouds
Drumheller
Hopped on a bus at 7:45am one Saturday morning and headed
NE to Drumheller, where RPAP – the Rural Physicians Action Plan – had organized
a skills day for us. We heard from various physicians about rural medicine and
family practice in a rural setting. Had the requisite free lunch, and then
broke into groups to learn two of four skills – suturing, inserting IVs,
casting, and intubation. I did the first two.
Holly and her pig’s foot… learning to suture
Chris grins devilishly while inserting an IV into my hand… don’t worry, I got him back : )
The Badlands of Alberta
Halloween and Banff
Had some friends over for cheese fondue and then chocolate
fondue. Put the finishing touches on our costumes, then went to the Crazy Horse
and met up with various classmates (and apparently people from law). Then drove
to Banff on the Saturday for some cross-country skiing. Then dinner at the Rose
& Crown, and dancing at Aurora. A late night walk home with Ariane… while
Fred looked for his car / played matador and assaulted cars, and Jeff looked
on. Kicked out of our room by housekeeping the following morning. Then
breakfast at Phil’s and some more cross-country skiing.
Fred (as Beaker) and Jeff (as the Jolly Green Giant)
Jeff, Liana, and I
Ariane and I
Liana, me, and Meaghan on the shuttle from the hotel to the Rose and Crown pub in Banff…
indulging in an apres-ski shoulder massage
Chris takes Ariane down… and Ariane fights back
Winterstart
Ah… the 5 mile / 8 km night race in Banff. Was at the King
Eddie the night before for Kerri J’s birthday. Ooooh… seedy.
Me, Chris, and Jen Graham with post-run adrenaline smiles on our faces
Who wouldn’t want to drive for an hour with this kind of
scenery by the roadside?
Friends
Lots of fun with friends. Mo in town for a few days… doing a
presentation, meeting a potential supervisor, and spending time with me!
Liana, Ariane, and I went shopping one Friday afternoon… and tried on some wigs at the mall : )
Chris and Megan at Moose’s
Maureen and I
Maureen and I on top of Heart
Mountain near Canmore
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