Grassi Lakes – Skelton Sketches

Summer will not long be with us. Already a dusting of snow has appeared on the mountain ranges around us. So we’ve squeezed in a few hikes this month…I’ll let you guess which was my favorite!

Up, Up and UP we went to find the fabled ‘Teahouse’ on Lady MacDonald, which rises just across the highway from town…

The ascent was a doozer, steep and relentless, and we never did find the teahouse, only a helicopter pad…

Had we read more closely we would have realized that the elusive teahouse was never completed. This failed enterprise of some tycoon visionary was demolished a few years back. All that remains is the helicopter pad that would have saved the diners an arduous hike!

But had we come just a few years sooner we might have seen this:

[from Internet archives…]

Climbing three thousand feet in under 2 1/2 miles is difficult but the descent was at least as bad!

My quads complained for days! They are accustomed to pedaling, not climbing and descending.

At least now I can point to this mountainand tell you just where the helicopter pad sits and how once-upon-a-time we climbed up to it…

Well, that was last week. Hoping to ‘lock in’ these climbing muscles we went for another summit in Banff a couple days ago—Sulphur Mountain.

We once took the gondola but not this time.

A seemingly endless series of switchbacks tamed the 2,283 feet of rise, spreading it nicely over 3 1/2 miles. And this time there was a real coffeehouse at the top from which to survey the expanse of Banff

and to wait out a passing squall.

Then we hustled down the mountain to dine at McD’s and hurry home to get ready for the kids coming for a birthday celebration!

With them we did another sweeter hike the following day.

This time, just 2.8 miles round trip and just 853 feet of rise, but with smaller feet and shorter legs it was a triumph for all!

The rock faces around Grassi Lakes are a rock climber’s destination, so some of us tried a hand at that too…

It was a splendid day!

Ho-ho cake anyone?

–LS

Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me… Joshua 18:8

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. Ps.89:15

I Have been wondering where the sweet scent in the air lately is coming from—couldn’t see any flowering bushes, just a lot of silvery leaves, but then I took a closer look. They may be tiny but there are profusions of tiny yellow bells dangling under the leaves and they give off a strong musky, sweet scent.

It’s called a “Wolf Willow”, and produces a mealy berry, thus the alternate name, ‘Silver Berry’. Apparently it produces beautiful seeds that have traditionally been used to make necklaces! I’d better keep an eye on these bushes. No doubt the bears and elk will be too!

Well since last post we’ve done a bit of riding on the tandem—climbed Mount Norquay in Banff in hopes of a fast descent, only to be foiled by a strong headwind. Ski runs always look strange without the snow…

And we had a bit of company this week and did a bit of hiking…

We got to see an owl’s nest with its bumbling fluffy young hopping about on a cliff face. But the pictures left everything to the imagination… so it was fun to find a close-up nest along the trail down, even if these aren’t owls!

We’ve done a lot of settling into our own nest this past week—the best part is getting to unpack the kiddie books and toys for the grandkids… and cluttering the fridge with memories of when ours were young…