I am stuck to Canmore like Flick was stuck to the flag pole in the movie a Christmas Story. After three weeks in Alberta, it will be hard to pry me away. No ‘triple dog dares’ necessary – I’m staying in these gorgeous mountains! I continued to be amazed at everything you can do (besides skiing) in Alberta in the winter – it really is packed with adventures.
This last week I celebrated my birthday with the arrival of friends from NYC and we thoroughly explored every high and low of Alberta. We took Rockies Heli for a spin up, up, up around the Canadian Rockies’ peaks and then landed for a little snowshoeing and picnic with the ultimate view. The next day we plummeted down to the depths of Alberta and tried caving in Canmore for the very first time. After all of the slithering through small spaces, we ended up with a few battle wounds and bruises to show off our feats of caving bravery.
In between we hit the ice – both in carving and curling. Last week was the start of the Canmore Winter Carnival so we participated in some ice carving and participated in some beer drinking. We also found our inner Canadian -eh and learned the art of ice curling. So far out of all of the ‘firsts’ that I’ve done this month, learning how to curl with our instructor Hugh was my favorite. I may look like I know what I’m doing in the picture below – but I have to admit, the first time I tried to push off, I went 2 feet and fell over. Good thing I learn fast.
Is there anything more beautiful than morning light on the Canadian Rockies? Taken from my balcony this morning. God I love this view.
A new way to see the Canadian Rockies. Take me to the snow! #SeeSnowDifferently
Ever seen anyone iron ice before? The #Canmore winter festival is in full swing starting w ice carving competitions! #explorealberta
The peaks of the Three Sisters looking over #Canmore
Learning to throw stones in houses. Another ‘first’ for me – learning to curl at the #Canmore curling club and this has been my favorite new winter activity so far! This is the moment where all of this yoga I’ve been doing came in handy!
Spray Lakes in #Kananaskis – where I’ll be spending my day today fishing!
Taking in the view on a mild winter day at Mount Engadine Lodge in #Kananaskis . Stopped here for a hot toddy adter a challenging day of snowshoeing to Chester Lake.
I sort of felt like Santa’s elves were going to come out of this little hut at Lake Louise and greet me!
A little wildlife sighting. Goats roaming around Spray Lakes in #Kananaskis
How do you feel about small spaces? This was the first time I had ever went caving and found I’m not claustrophobic. Phew! We were inside slithering around caving for 4 hrs! Yet I am still scared of heights and the 60 ft repel into the cave had me shaking. You can cave year around in #Alberta. And yet another fun thing to do here in the winter!
This snowshoeing trail in Lake Louise feels like I’ve been transported to Narnia !
Disclosure: I am a guest of Travel Alberta during my stay in Canmore, however all opinions are my own!
Sherry Ott is a refugee from corporate IT who is now a long term traveler, blogger, and photographer. She’s a co-founder of Briefcasetobackpack.com, a website offering career break travel inspiration and advice.
Additionally, she runs an around the world travel blog writing about her travel and expat adventures at Ottsworld.com.com.
