Summertime, and the living is easy....

Yep! It's summer out here. It's now been a solid month of temps between 5 and 10 degrees (Celsius) with barely any snow what-so-ever. Bogus. However, all the warmth has gotten me thinking about my trip this summer, so that's been fun.

(Aside: I feel scummy posting this after Bonnie's post about her fish. Make sure you read it. As far as fishes go, Snug was a good fish.)

Anyway, the warm weather has gotten me thinking about hiking and climbing and all that good stuff. Time to post the goals for you all. We'll start with my targeted mountains (click on the names for pictures, etc!):

Mt. Fairview

Castle Mountain

Mount Lady McDonald

Mount Bourgeau

Just a starting point, I'd hope to get more. However, given my 1-month trip in prime scrambling time, who knows.

So then, mountain Goal #2: Hike a Mountain, any mountain (though I'm thinking Mt. Rundle) and camp out for the night. Take in the mountain sunrise from 10,000 feet.

Then we come to mountain Goal #3: Lead a 5.10 climb. Any 5.10 will do. For the non-climbers:
Climbing routes are rated 5.X where a higher X means a more difficult climb. It goes from 5.5 to 5.15a (they start adding in letters). 5.10 is, really, the first rating that isn't "beginner" climbs. You've got to have some skill to be able to do them.
"Lead" means that I want to be the first one up the climb - the one who sets the route and places all the protection. It's harder because of the headspace required, since you don't have that reassuring tension coming from the rope above you. So anyway, that's goal #3.

Then finally, goal #4, and this one is in relation to my trip. In case your'e still out of the loop, Bonnie and I are coming out this summer. Bonnie for 2 weeks and me for about a month. Penciled in "on or around" dates right now are June 24 - July 21. That'll mean we're out there for Canada Day weekend, and Ryan's wedding, and me for a few weeks after that. In that time, I want to hike the Bruce Trail from Owen Sound to Tobermory.

I need a partner for this so, if you're interested, let me know. I expect the hike itself would take about 4 days.


So finally, no post like this would be complete without the necessary comment that I have updated my MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op: a Western Canada sporting goods store) wishlist with things for this summer. Should you be in the mood to drop some cash on Bonnie and I, check it out!! :p I know, I'm so subtle. Bonnie and I have labelled the various things with who has requested it.

the website is MEC. You can search for our wishlist from the upper right. Finally, you'll need a member number to buy stuff from them, you can go ahead and use mine. 27155571. There are no perks to membership other than the ability to buy stuff from them (since it's a co-op)

Cheers!