We Climbed a Freakin' Mountain!

Today was a "relax" day as we were at the resort and not driving anywhere. Linda and Dylan ventured off in the van to Potter's Marsh for some birdwatching and Dustin and I climbed a mountain! Not too many birds seen, but they did see three bald eagles (two adults and a juvenile).

The North Face Trail here at the mountain is a 2.2 mile trail marked "strenuous" in the guide. Its elevation change is +2300 feet. We made it in 2 hours and 5 minutes. What the #$% was I thinking? :-) Our reward for making it up without getting attacked by a bear, falling off the perilously steep and narrow trail, or having a heart attack was to enjoy spectacular views and ride the tram back to the base. As I explained to Dustin: you just climbed 500 feet higher than the CN tower!

View from the top to the resort below

After we all met back up and hit the pool and hot tub for a recovery swim, we rode the tram back up to have dinner at the restaurant at the top of the mountain. It was really good. After dinner the boys decided to climb another crazy path up to what we thought was a small sign at the end of the trail. It was actually a 12 foot ski sign! The picture below is of the two of them (the extremely small specks in the lower middle left) heading along the trail out to the sign (out of view to the right).