Now and Then

Scotland was swept by gales over 70 miles per hour on Monday. I was at the park with my two nieces, Amy, Jane, her husband Graham and three children Daniel nearly 3, his baby sister Kirsten, and their two year old cousin Ethan. On the way to the Park I was nervous about these little kids running along the pavement. The road is not busy. Then I remembered when my own kids were this age we lived in Sydney Australia. One day I took Chris to his Happy Rainbow Kindergarten, as I was helping Shona out of the car I watched in horror as my small boy run across the road in front of a car. Fortunately this incident did not end in disaster but the memory lingers in my cells. Now I know that children don’t learn road sense until they are eight.

The wind howled through the 30 metre trees and I hoped they would not crash down on top of us. We stayed on the swings away from the trees. The rain chased us home. Graham, Jane and Ethan left for Edinburgh. We heard later that both the Tay Bridge and Forth Bridge were closed due to winds of 108 miles per hour.

That evening when Daniel and Kirsten were asleep I walked to the park, under blue skies and white clouds a big giant of a tree, lay on its side, branches spread out over the grass, roots in the air. I walked along a trail that was once a railway line, the silver birch trees shook violently as the wind continued its temper tantrum.

On Friday, the day after I arrived here from Canada, Clive and I walked around Edinburgh, under the tall arches of the trees in the Meadows. Past the University Library where we had both studied four decades ago. We mingled with the tourist chatting in French, German, Italian and Croatian on the castle esplanade. Strode down the mound past the stone columns of the art gallery, through Princes Street gardens to the restaurant under the crypt. I wondered what tales the curved stone roof could tell, what skeletons had been stored here in years gone by now filled with people eating soup, coffee, and cake.

Many things have changed since I was a girl growing up in Edinburgh. Now the streets are spotless, the food international and the shoppers multicultural. Back then the God of my father was a wrathful old man sitting on a cloud and now my Goddess is within and I love her fiercely.

More Photos from Campbell Icefields April 2011

Michelle looks like she has been doing this all her life

Well it is almost a drop off!!!!!!!!

Lunch at the top of Diamond Dust

Heading to Vallencia Col and East Peak

Dave boot packing up to East Peak

Another summit for Clive and Wilma

It's now early morning Thursday and we are heading to Allan Campbell

Up over the Lake with East Peak in the background - yesterday's summit

Me bootpacking up a steep slope on the way up Allan Campbell

Clive set off a little avalanche - safely

As far as we got. We didn't like the over hang!
And the sking didn't look that great

The view was spectacular

And the ski down was AMAZING

The beautiful lodge.

At the end on the day the skis get a rest

Last day  back were we began on top of the dome

Great mountains

And slogging up.

Celine our awesome cook

Our tracks on the Camel Humps

Flying out see the helicopter blade almost touching the cliffs YIKES!

Cambell Icefields 2011

We were lucky to be invited to a grand trip to the Campbell Icefields Chalet built by Bernie Schiesser, a mountain guide from Golden. Now some have called this the old farts trip but I prefer to call it the wise men's trip. It was Pablo Picasa that said it took a long time to learn to be young and the members of this trip definitely proved that to be true.
Gord at 85 was incredible trim and fit and still backcountry skiing - amazing. Then there was beautiful Winni from Kamloops, who certainly did not look her age at 70. Guide Tony celebrated his seventieth birthday a few weeks ago at Eldorado. Another guide and his wife Firtle and Heather from Calgary. John who lived in Puket, lost his feet in an aeroplane accident in the late sixties and still instructs skiing.
Then there were the sprightly younger folk, Murray Toft's group with Doris, Greg and Randy. Our group included Chuck O' Callaghan, his brother Dave, his partner Michelle who took to the sport like a duck to water, then Clive and I. I have been heard to say I wanted two men one to cook and one to clean. But on this trip I had 3 men. At least one to break trail and it would have been nice to have to carry my pack and the other to change my skins - but that is not quite how it works in the mountains. So I carried my own pack, changed my own skins and occasionally broke trail.
The caretakers Chris and Collen did an awesome job, stomping snow, carrying water for the sauna, lighting the sauna and cleaning up. They even found time to follow us up the mountains and ski down elegantly on their cross country skis.
Oh yes and the most important person of the entire group. Celine our incredible cook who kept supplied with mountains of delicious food. Her cinnamon buns were to die for, delicious appetizers, dinners, salads, deserts provided the fuel to climb the mountains.

You can see from our photos that we had a wonderful memorable week.



We have arrived.






It's bluebird - no time to lose - Clive on top of the Dom

 



Looking at the hut from the dome

 


Clive, Chuck, Tony, Michelle and Dave on the BLuewater.





Evening sun on our tracks.

 



Murray, Doris, Greg and Randy

 



Dave and Clive on the Campbell Glacier with Thunder Mountain in the distance

 



The Prior Glacier

 



Up on the Prior Glacier

 



Allan Campbell - the prize