Club Events 2005

Trip List Calendar

2005-01-02 : COC - Watridge Lake and Karst Spring
It was a glorious and beautiful winter day today - absolutely perfect. We set out to sunshine, clear blue skies and glowing snow-covered mountains, with temperatures somewhere around -10. As the day progressed and the sun dipped behind the mountains, the temperature dipped to -14, but there was no wind except for a bit right at Watridge Lake.

I cannot comment on the entire trip because, unfortunately, I had some asthma-related difficulties which prevented me from doing the whole thing. I did manage to get almost to the lake, where I ran into Jennifer on her way back and turned around then. I also ran into Tammy and Chris who were supposed to meet us at trailhead but had gotten lost trying to find the mountain, so we said 'hi' to them but didn't actually travel the day with them.

Most of the gang went past Watridge Lake all the way up to Karst Spring, which I hear was awesome, and hopefully we'll get some photos in from Barry and/or Mehran to prove that one. Dave also turned around early due to a broken snow shoe and caught up with Jennifer and I on the way down.

Many finished the day in our usual way... darkening the doorstep of the Kilkenny Pub.

-- Rhonda


2005-01-05 : COC - Ice Skating at Chateau Lake Louise
We knew it was going to be a blessed day when Lana showed up at carpool WITHOUT spilling her coffee all over her car. And blessed it was... blessed beautiful, and blessed c-c-c-cold! The temperatures did not get as high as promised... in fact, I think the high for the day was -23... a smidge colder than we would have preferred. It was very nice, though, that the Chateau provides free firewood for the little on-ice bonfire.

Lucky, lucky David, on his very first event, got to spend the whole day (including four hours in the car) with Lana (Official Info Chick, member since July 2003, 47 prior events), Cheryl (VP, Treasurer, Oversheriff, member since February 2004, 91 prior events), and Rhonda (Dictator, member since April 2003, 203 prior events). And boy did we have fun!! Lana, Cheryl and I that is... and of course, David had fun, too... whether he realizes it or not.

The mountains and trees were spectacularly beautiful today with a fresh dusting of crystally snow. The little skating rink on Lake Louise was in decent shape, and the castle was there to greet us and provide us with much amusement. Cheryl did not don skates today. See this photo (from Cheryl's last skating event at Lake Louise) or this photo (from today) for my guess as to why. Instead, she amused herself by keeping the bonfire in tip-top shape, and chatting up the other Chateau visitors. David, being on approximately his third ever ice skating experience (he's from England, cut him some slack), did a fabulous job and was well on his way to perfecting the "hockey stop" by the time we were done skating.

On the ride home, David learned more than anyone in the world should ever know about Lana, Cheryl and I, and the unofficial goings-on of the club, but he braved it well and didn't lose his lunch or anything. A 30-minute in-depth discussion about doughnuts, their brands and varieties, and an analysis of the properties of cake doughnuts vs yeast doughnuts led promptly to a stop at Canmore's Tim Horton's, and my tragic (but oh-so enthusiastic) departure from the "Wild Rose Detox" (can you say "falling off the wagon in a BIIIIIIG way"?).

-- Rhonda


2005-01-09 : COC - Johnston Canyon
It was merely c-c-cold today, and not C-C-C-COLD, as some of us feared. In fact, it was quite pleasant, temperature-wise, and absolutely breathtaking, scenery-wise. A wonderful day - the photos will say it better than I can.

Tammy came in from Red Deer to meet us, and we spent part of the day leapfrogging with Glenn and Lorraine from the second trip.

A highlight for me was when the very adventurous Stephanie actually took Ralph up on the "Would anyone like to share my Love Tarp?" invitation at lunch (or was she just taking pity on him....? only Steph can say for sure).

-- Rhonda


2005-01-11 : COC - Ice Skating in Calgary
It is 9:50PM as I'm writing this, and the weather we were promised for tonight still hasn't started. They're calling for high winds and blowing snow overnight, and rumor has it we're supposed to get a wind chill of -47 sometime tomorrow. Yikes!

Anyway, as of this writing, that still hasn't started. It was cold but clear this evening, and we had a lovely skate around the lagoon, with our happy thoughts staving off the scary weather. Unfortunately they shut down the concession early this eve, so no hot chocolate for us, but we did have the bonfire on the lagoon. And a couple of blurry photos to prove the best turnout yet for a COC lagoon skating event! That IS us... yep...

-- Rhonda


2005-01-12 : COC - Beginner Belly Dancing


2005-01-13 : COC - Volunteer Social
Official Business Concluded:
- Blank waivers provided to all volunteers who are coordinating events in the near future.

Unofficial Business Concluded:
- Food and beers were snarfed
- Many important issues were discussed and decisions made, most notably, club member, Lambchop (Ralph), after his very persuasive presentation, was voted nearly unanimously to step into his newly created position of Hanky Panky Police Chief. Watch for Ralph on club events, and make sure your Hanky Panky doesn't get out of hand. If he notices someone starting to "go too far", they'll receive a Yellow Warning Card. If the Hanky Panky persists, they may receive the Red Warning Card, along with a time-out.
- Two Overshare Citations were given, but no Hanky Panky time-outs (unless something happened after the majority of us left that we don't know about).


2005-01-15 : COC - Grotto Canyon Ice Hike and Blues Dance Party
COC - Grotto Canyon Ice Hike

We set out with a pretty large group today, and once we got to Grotto Creek, I realized to my dismay that there was not nearly as much ice over the creek as there was last year. In fact... there was NONE! I was worried for a bit that I had insisted that everyone get crampons for nothing, but once we started up the creek, it wasn't long before we found the ice... it just wasn't as far down as it was last year. Whew!

The canyon was its usual gorgeous self, and the weather was great, albeit a bit chilly (which, of course, often comes with those brilliant clear blue winter skies - yay!). We passed Cheryl and her group on their way out, and once we reached the falls, we found Dave and Barry who had planned on doing some climbing, but had been pre-empted by a group of climbers from Spokane (welcome to our backyard, by the way, you fellas from Spokane). :)

We checked out the falls and watched the climbers for a while, then proceeded on back to the hoodoo and cave. Some brave souls climbed up to the cave... some climbed part of the way up to the cave... and some stayed safely on the ground (be sure to ask Graham what THESE people are to be referred to as).

Back to town, I had to bail on Kilkenny to get ready for the Blues Dance Party, but I know some of our folks were heading there, and I'm sure they had a wonderful time. The dance party was fantastic, too - I got to do some dancing (with partners), which I don't often get to do these days.

-- Rhonda
COC - Blues Dance Party with Amos Garrett & Guests

A fun time had by all listening to some great music and for a great cause. A large chunk of change going to the Red Cross for the Tsunami relief fund. Very entertaining to watch Rhonda being whisked around the floor (unfortunate if you were within elbow reach as you probably ended up with a black eye) Looking forward to the next couple coming up. Dave


2005-01-16 : COC - Chester Lake
Could snow shoeing BE more fun?? Nope! What an awesome day - and just what we all needed after that cold snap that just ended.

We tried out the new Chester Lake snow shoe trail for the first time today, and it is great! We frolicked, tromped, slid, indulged in tomfoolery, went up, went down, saw elephant rocks and other geological wonders, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, especially Joe, who spent a good part of the day "off-roading", whooping as he went. There were several minor snow skirmishes and snow showers, and rumor has it we even broke a couple of the Hanky Panky Police Chief's newly instituted rules. He clearly needs to deputize a few people, and fast - he didn't catch a single one of the infractions!

Afterwards we shared an intellectually stimulating time at the Kilkenny with Barry's group, where we enjoyed THREE sets of free wings and beer, and attempted to answer that age old question: "Underwear - is it called 'gonch' or 'gotch'?" with everyone from Saskatchewan west agreeing that it is 'gonch', and the misguided souls from Manitoba and Ontario voting for 'gotch'.

-- Rhonda


2005-01-18 : COC - Heart Creek
A lovely afternoon - we decided unanimously that it was definitely better than working! Barry and I were surprised at how little ice there was today - especially at the end of the trail at the falls. We'd hoped to walk in to the falls on the ice, but the creek and the falls were still running full-force so that wasn't an option.

Once we reached the end, then, Barry took most of the group up and around the back to look down on the falls while Cheryl, Nattolie and I held down the bench at the trail's end. As a special treat we hid Barry's pack in a tree, and then "headed down the trail" early (ok, we pretended to head down early and just hid around the corner to enjoy the prank). He did not disappoint, threatening us with a$$-kickings all around when we fessed-up.

So, back down the trail and then on into Canmore to finish off the day with some treats at the Grizzly Paw.

-- Rhonda


2005-01-20 : COC - Pool at Stix
Lots of fun, per usual. Pete, Lynn and I, as some of the main pool regulars, enjoyed hangin' with lots of newbies. Welcome to Masako, George, and Glen, and "Welcome Back" to Suzanne, Rosemarie and Kathy! Lynn shone with the opportunity to teach some pointers to her "quick study" student Masako, who has just taken up the game since coming to Canada six months ago.

-- Rhonda


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