2 stories : ending & beginning

ending

Today I will retire my skates to the basement until next season!  Lots of savouring went into skating at Lake Louise on Tuesday, sensing it would be my last skating session for this season.  Yesterday upon arriving home from an amazing few days get-away, I checked the ice conditions for The Lagoon and The Ice Trail at Bowness and saw they were closed.  This was not a surprise seeing as the local temperatures have been reaching plus double digits celsius each day.  There are no cold forecasted temperatures in the foreseeable future.

How do I describe this skating season? The easy answer to that question is I covered more kilometres this season than I have in any season in the past.  Between December 16, 2024 and February 25, 2025 I skated 241.5 kilometres. Twenty times I laced up my skates and excitedly etched away.  That's the easy answer!  It is a challenge to put into words the feeling that comes from each skating session throughout the season.  It does me the world of good, especially this season when our world needs good!   A collage of photos tells the story best of the beauty to be seen and felt! 

beginning

This past Saturday, I teased you with this photo!  I had just learned to cable knit and this latest project would incorporate that latest lesson. I want to begin this story with this photo.  I began this project before leaving for Lake Louise this past Monday.  I had a few rows done and the plan was to pass a little time by knitting at the beginning of my get-away days before heading out to the ice or the tracks or the trails.  Yesterday before leaving to hit the highway home, I drove up to Lake Louise one last time for one last visit.

It was during this last visit that I noticed an ice sculpture that I did not see when I arrived on Monday.  

I was not quite sure what the sculpture was until I read the display that was near it.  

The display says this:

"The great horned owl, a top predator in the Banff and Lake Louise area of the Rocky Mountains, plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance by regulating prey populations, which is crucial for local biodiversity.  

These owls hold cultural significance for Indigenous communities, symbolizing wisdom and strength.  Conservation efforts in the region aim to protect their habitats, underscoring their ecological culture, and recreational importance."

This is my photo of the Great Horned Owl. You can understand why I was not sure what I was looking at.  Since the sculpture was completed, weather took a toll, now with one wing missing and a light layer of snow covering it.  After reading the display and realizing it was a Great Horned Owl, I felt a tinge of tingles!  

This photo of the Great Horned Owl ice sculpture is from the Lake Louise Tourism site. 

The cause for feeling the tinge of tingles was no doubt due to the fact I just finished knitting my latest project before packing up and checking out of my home away from home in Lake Louise.  This is my cable knit Great Horned Owl!  I finished knitting it at Lake Louise but blocked it for a few hours when I got home and then added the eyes.  Learning to cable knit this Owl is the beginning of a new project I have in mind. 

The Great Horned Owl square measures 9" by 9".  I would like to knit more projects similar to this one not necessarily the same size and I don't know how many squares I want to do. I want the squares to incorporate nature in some way.  I want to include cable knitting and I also want to begin to learn other stitch patterns.  Eventually, I would like to attach the squares together and create a wall hanging.  And so this journey begins!   

Lake Louise February 26, 2025

With the way the weather has been weathering, it was best not to put off getting out to cross-country ski.  Tracks had been groomed on Tuesday, this morning would be on the colder side for a couple of hours, it was go time!  I started at the top of Upper Tramline with plans to do a clockwise route, which is my favourite.  I loaded on lots of layers to start for the gradual downhill couple of kilometres.  

I shared Moraine with one person, 

that’s her the tiny blue dot a touch up and left of my left ski.

along Fairview

perfectly delightful newly groomed track…..

…..until it wasn’t

something very large had walked in the track for most of Fairview 

I was on guard!

A lady told me later, it was a moose!

from etching yesterday, to gliding today

view while skiing 

When I finally arrived at the “snowfa”, 

I settled in for awhile to catch some rays….

…..while sipping a hot beverage!

The scenery is so pretty along Fairview!

The clouds were dancing!

By the time I was getting closer to the end of the route, I could tell the track conditions were changing so I was happy to have done the entire route while the track was at its best.  After a visit around The Village, I headed back to my home away from home.  With the window open, I could hear the melting taking place. A little later all icicles were gone!  

Lake Louise February 25, 2025

Upon arriving at the Lake Louise shoreline, I saw a wonderful sight, the guy was finishing sweeping the skating surface.  It had snowed a couple of centimetres over night.  The skating surface is gigantic, he was almost finished, it was 7:40am!  I wonder what time he started!  I worked my way through the snowbanks down to the benches at the edge of the ice.  

Shortly after hitting the ice and etching away, along came the guy with his flooding machine.  

This was another wonderful sight!

This was the best sight of all! The sky was clearing, no one else was on the ice, (flooding guy is out of the photo to the right),  and the Ice Castle looked beautiful in all its glory. It was wonderful to see it looking like this after what occurred on December 27th.

A few others joined me on the ice. I chatted with two guys who were living out their bucket list item by skating on Lake Louise. They were from Stratford-upon-Avon and Nottinghamshire in the United Kingdom.  We took turns taking photos of each other then continued talking about everything and anything.  

I covered ten kilometres of skating, which could possible be my last skating session of the season. As I walked away I looked back, wondering when would I next be here.  I could not let go, not yet, so found a spot at the head of The Lake, sat in the snow and savoured some sips.  Ahhh! 

As the hours went on, it warmed up quite a bit. The snow was soft for walking in yet it was new snow, so white, so pure and pretty.  I found some pillowy, marshmallowy scenes along the River.  They looked inviting to push through but I stuck to the hiking trail.  

Back at my home away from home, late afternoon, 

I could see flurries falling in the forest.  

I smiled, I sipped, I softly sighed!  

What will tomorrow bring!  

 

Banff &. Lake Louise February 24, 2025

When I saw what the city was in for weather-wise, I made a snap decision to leave it behind! I left the warm, wet, brown city in favour of cool, white, wintry Lake Louise.  After all, it’s still February, it’s still winter, I still have capacity to enjoy it!  On the way west, I made a stop at Lake Minnewanka in Banff to stroll the shore with hopes of seeing nice slices of ice. What I did see instead was open water, soft ice, some slush, and no way to safely walk the shoreline.  

This was the safest I could be! 

After enjoying this area, I wandered the kilometre to Stewart Canyon and a bit beyond.  By the time I returned to the rocky shore section of Lake Minnewanka, it was snack and beverage time.  I was able to fill my cup between the strong wind gusts.  As time passed, it warmed up quite a bit. What snow there was, was melting and ice was turning to slush. Time came to head even further west. 

Lake Louise had received a dump of snow!  With all the white and the sun shining, it was blindingly beautiful! I breathed a sigh of relief that it was still wintry here.  While Banff was so very quiet, Lake Louise was a happening place.  Days like today are why we all come here at this time of year. I took the side trail from the parking lot to The Lake.

The ice sculptures were fully in tack yet dressed in a light layer of snow. 

The Ice Castle too was in great condition.

top of the Ice Castle with the top of The Chateau

The snow had just been plowed off the skating surface 

and progress was being made with flooding it.

Time came to drive back down to The Village and check into my home away from home.  I was fortunate to get accommodations last minute at a great price in a lovely place which included this in the price…..

…..and this display on the bed!

view from the lounge chair 

into the forest I go

Hiking through forests without views used to be a means to an end with that end being popping out into a wide open meadow, or breaking out into a place with a view showing the trail leading to a mountain summit, or even exiting the forest to see a shimmering alpine lake.  I did not appreciate all that a long stretch of forest walking had to offer. Over the past few years my focus shifted! While I still enjoy the wide open meadows, mountain summits and shimmering alpine lakes, I now embrace being enveloped by a tree-lined trail where I can have that feeling of receiving a safe secure hug from nature.  My most recent watercolour painting above, shows my interpretation of "into the forest I go"!

John Muir the Naturalist says "into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul! 

Lately I enter the forest with my mind in chaos and exit with nothing but feeling cheerful clarity!

even when skating I can enter a forest

With that recent gigantic upswing in temperature, I went for what could possibly be my last skate of the season on local ice.  We will see what transpires in coming days at other locations.  On this day I made the most of my etching time while savouring every second.  The Ice Trail had not been swept nor flooded since the previous day or two yet it was still in great condition.    

The view while skating, of the shadows on the snow & ice, caught my attention!

Do you see what else also caught my attention?

look directly under the orange arrow

A Bald Eagle sat on the tree top for an extended period of time.  It remained there throughout many of my laps skating around The Ice Trail.  I was wishing I had my big camera with me. While I did have my jacket on with the faux fur lining the hood, I was not concerned this time like I was recently as I shared with you in my last post.

By the time I covered twelve kilometres, 

I had fully found my soul and my mind was filled with cheerful clarity! 

at Wyndham Carseland I can enter a forest

On this day, the road conditions driving southeast to Wyndham Carseland were summer-like yet the trails around The Provincial Park were winter-like and I was happy to see that. It had been ages since I visited this area, I was excited for what I might see on this birding outing.  

a male Downy Woodpecker

a White-breasted Nuthatch

a Black-capped Chickadee photobomb

a sweet surprise 

a Pileated Woodpecker

taking time to enjoy a hot beverage along with the sights & sounds

By the time I finished my beverage and two hours had passed, 

I had fully found my soul and my mind was filled with cheerful clarity! 

The dive home looked like this!

I live out there somewhere!

🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲 🌲

knitting

When I was not going into a forest, I worked on my cable knitting project!  I competed one slipper and after trying it on there was no doubt I would be keeping this pair.  Another hour is all that is needed to complete four more cable sections on the second slipper then bind off and stitch it up.  These slippers will come in handy this coming week.

Tease Time!

I strategically placed the yarn and one needle 

to cover the title, a word, and photo of my next project.  

Stay tuned!

Metaphorically speaking, 

when I am knitting and painting I am not going into a forest

 yet I am entering a place in my mind that turns chaos into cheerful clarity!