Club Events 2005

Trip List Calendar

2005-10-08 : TOC - Whirlpool Jet Boat, and Hiller Estates Winery Tour
Whirlpool Jet Boat

Event Coordinator(s): Stephanie A, Shawna Melnyk
Participants: Shawna Melnyk, Stephanie A, Rhonda from Calgary, StephB, Kelli , Sibel (Mushroom), Dawn, David Cain, Mark Bentcover, Erik S, Tricia, James

Oh. My. God

This experience left most of us speechless - mostly because we got mouthfuls of water. The tour guide warned the group about the first three rows of the boat, so the TOC piled into them. Sibel and Mark got the worst seats and were hit with a huge hit of water from multiple sources. We rode about 5 miles down the Niagara River, past some gorgeous scenery and a little war of 1812 history lesson. Then we went to play in the class 5 rapids for a lot of fun and wetness. The water went up to our waists and buckets after buckets over our heads. Shawna earned a new nickname 'Alice'..not because she was in Wonderland, but because she didn't wear waterproof mascara. whoops...

They provided us with 6 layers of gear, but we were soaked right down to our gitch. Then before we turned back we traveled out to the class 6 rapids, aka a certain death, where your body will be sucked down into the whirlpool and may show up in 20, 30 or 100 years later.

If you ever find yourself in this niagara region, this event is a no show, although a late July or August trip may be better for keeping warm...
Hiller Estates Winery Tour

Event Coordinator(s): Stephanie A
Participants: Stephanie A, StephB, Shawna Melnyk, Sibel (Mushroom), Rhonda from Calgary, Dawn, David Cain, Tricia, Beni Hana, Erik S, James, Kelli , Mark Bentcover

As a group we made our way to Hillebrand estates for a little introduction to wine making in the niagara region, and tasting of three wines

Our tour guide Rob enthusiastically answered all of Dawn's questions and taught us all the proper way to taste wine. We learned to clear our palate and all that other stuff that reminded me of Sideways. We got to try a red, a white and an icewine that knocked my socks off. I don't think I've tried a real icewine before because this was fantastic. $78 a bottle fantastic...


2005-10-09 : TOC - Fall Colours Hike - Osler Bluffs
Event Coordinator(s): Stephanie A
Participants: Stephanie A, Rhonda from Calgary, Sibel (Mushroom), jacqueline treloar, StephB, Kelli , Mark Bentcover, Laney, Trevor Patterson, crystal, Erik S, Beni Hana, Dawn, David

It's been a long summer in the city, but the colours were out up north

When the TOC did this hike in the summer I knew it would be a perfect place to take a group of folks who have never seen fall colours before. And I was right. The height of the bluffs gave us a long view of Nottawasaga Bay, a part of Georgian Bay near Collingwood, Creemore and Stayner and other small rural towns. The canopy had thinned out just enough to let the sunshine stream in the woods, and our calgary contingent were amazed by the maple leaves and the bright red of the sumac. Then there were the abundant apple trees.

We lost a few hikers at the boulder climb, but the rest of us made it up, including Rocky. We found a great spot for lunch, played in some canadian shield rock formations.


2005-10-15 : COC - Nihahi Creek
'Twas a perfect day - much warmer than we anticipated and many wished we'd worn shorts instead of pants. This was my first hike since I broke my finger, and I was absolutely DYING to get out - it was fantastic! The approach in didn't even seem too long and boring, perhaps just because I was so happy to be out. This, in spite of the fact that we had to add 3km to our total hike because the campground was blocked off and we had to park on the far side of it and walk through to get to the trail.

Once we reached the creek, we headed up the trail beside it. The elevation slowed me down a bit (even more than usual) because of my 1.5-month inactivity. Once we reached the top of the canyon, we started in and a few decided to turn back and retrace their steps rather than going down through the canyon. There was a lot more water in it than I was used to, so I could totally understand that. I had to seriously face some fears, made worse by "rebreaking the finger" paranoia. But, those of us who continued in all made it out, including Darla who had to ride a few sections in Mike's arms, with a hilarious death-grip on him the whole time.

We rejoined our non-canyon-goers at the bottom of the canyon for lunch and then hiked out. The return on the road felt longer than the approach, but still lots of fun.

-- Rhonda/Pudge


2005-10-18 : COC - Barrier Fire Lookout via Prairie View Trail
It was a perfect day for a hike - crisp and sunny with bright blue skies. The four of us had a great casual time noodling up the trail with one stopping at "the log", one going up to the "Krispy Kreme ad" (aka the microwave diverter), and two making it all the way to the lookout. This hike is a staple, and is fantastic early, mid and late- season.

-- Pudge


2005-10-21 : COC - COC Annual General Meeting and Social
It's official! Samantha, Stephanie, Mike and Sibel drank from the COC Boot and took over the Calgary Outdoor Club from Rhonda, Rob and Cheryl. Tons of people turned out this evening as we bid a sad farewell to our wonderful hiking Bernese, Yoda, who passed on recently of cancer, gave out some "Special Recognition Awards" and "Photo Awards", and socialized our buns off, with some folks continuing their socializing at a pub after the Irish shut us down at 11:00.

Special Recognition Awards:
- Darryl Bonny - Most Active Newbie (13 events in 2.5 months)
- Kerryn Carter - Most Active Newbie (15 events in 3 months)
- Meran Sherifi - Most Active Member (96 events since Nov 2003) who, ironically, didn't show this eve.
- Rob MacLeod - Most Gender Confused
- Cheryl Dyer - Little Lady of the Year
- David Meisner - Most Helpful Hiker
- Enrique Cantor - Most Directionally Challenged Hiker, who was unable to find the venue to received his award
- Marcel Bourque - Most Directionally Challenged Volunteer
- Susan Moffatt - Least Directionally Challenged Hiker
- Ralph Juengel - Biggest Mooch
- Mike Balogh - Best Wipe-Out, who was probably lying in a ditch somewhere with a concussion when he was supposed to be receiving his award
- Toby Jesso - Most Creative Drink Inventor, who was probably lying drunk somewhere when he was supposed to be receiving his award
- Ken Picard - Gassiest Hiker
- Maylis and Marta - Best Partners in Crime
- Jason and Cody - Best Partners in Crime
- Kelli and Gloria - Best Partners in Crime

Photo Awards:
- Best Scenery, 1st Place: Steve Bennett
- Best Scenery, 2nd Place: Rhonda Scheurer
- Best Scenery, 3rd Place: Jodi Frank
- Best Activity, 1st Place: Michael Dabrowski
- Best Activity, 2nd Place: Lisa Pintaric
- Best Activity, 3rd Place: Neil Summers
- Best Animal, Marko Stavric
- Best People, Sibel Kozak

Thanks to the Calgary Irish for hosting us, and to Industry Images for doing such a great job on our 2006 Calendars

- Ex-President Rhonda


2005-10-22 : COC - Alberta Culture Tour: Water Valley Saloon


2005-10-23 : COC - Rawson Lake
The hike today was fantastic, albeit right on the edge of the time when we NEED ice cleats in order to do it. The temps were good/brisk, and the sky was blue most of the day. There was a bit of snow on most of the trail, and ice on parts as well, making the steeper parts a bit treacherous (definitely do-able today, but bring the cleats for next time).

Instead of last-minute drop-outs today, I had a number of last-minute add-ons. Meran brought a guest, Graham called to ask if he could come along, and we picked up three late-comers from Luc's group who missed Luc, but picked up with us.

Diligently leading from the back of the pack, I took the group successfully up, and down, from Rawson. And rumor has it that somewhere along the way today, Glenn got Lucky. Oh my!

Finished off the day at "The K", and I still can't believe they took the Beef Boxty off the menu. Is nothing sacred?!

-- Rhonda


2005-10-24 : COC - Beginner Hawaiian Hula - 4 wks


2005-10-26 : COC - Ice Skating @ Olympic Oval
The first COC skate of the season! It may have been warm in Calgary in recent days, but the Oval is open and ready for business with its public skate nights. A good time was had by all, with relatively few wipeouts (I'm blaming it on being rusty - a little practice is all we need!). Laura learned an important lesson about racing, almost causing a multi-skater pileup. Cheers to Fernando for skating for the very first time! Thanks again to everyone for coming out.

-- Samantha



2005-10-28 : COC - Plain of Six Glaciers
I love Icers. If you're going to do any winter hiking, I highly recommend getting some of these (they're only available at Lee Valley Tools that I know of in town). Some folks are buying Yaktrax, and the rubber slip-in with studs thingies but I really don't recommend them. Yaktrax are good for walkin' the dog on slippery sidewalks in the winter, but I've heard nothing but complaints from people who try to use them on hikes. The rubber slip-on thingies just aren't that good... the studs are very small, and the rubber breaks easily in cold temps.

The hike... ok... the hike was very nice. There was a fair amount of ice starting to build up on the trail, thus the preaching about Icers. Lots of people were slipping around all day, while Cheryl and I trooped along nicely with our beloved Icers on. It was a fairly cold and overcast day, but very beautiful nonetheless, and definitely better than any day spent in the office.

-- Rhonda


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