On Friday, my friend Tania and I drove out to Jasper National Park in the Rockies to do some riding and swimming. Her partner Stephen came later in the evening to join us. We stayed in a charming cabin beside the Athabasca River.
On Saturday, after lattes on the deck, we got our bikes ready for a ride. T and S were planning a six hour day, while I wanted to keep it a little shorter. I went off on my own to ride around Lake Annette and Jasper Park Lodge. By the time I got back to our cabin, I didn't quite feel like it was long enough so I went a bit further down the highway to add a few more kilometers. I ended up climbing up to Maligne Canyon, where I spent a few minutes taking in the magnificent scenery. All in all, I rode 35 kms, which is a pretty long ride for me right now. It was an awesome day! T and S enjoyed their rides, too - lots of climbing - and in the evening we went out for dinner.
Our plan on Sunday was to swim in Lake Annette. It's gorgeous - crystal clear water and a weedless sandy bottom. And wow! was it cold! It was painful to get in. We convinced ourselves that we would get ourselves fully submersed and then force ourselves to do 25m. We did that and then headed for the shore but then I felt like we were wimping out so I said we had to do more. I ended up doing 1000m and Tania did over 2000m! We got used to the cold and then really enjoyed the beautiful water.
Just as we were finishing, it started to rain so we sat in my Jeep and had a picnic.
We are so lucky to have such a beautiful playground so close to home. It was a fun and beautiful weekend.
