this pic is in the last post and was taken by danielle. In my opinion it is friggin AWESOME
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
... I went rocky mountain climbing...
As part of our efforts to become better suited to walk the wide world, Danielle and I opted to go to things that require effort on our part. This time, we decided wed do some hiking a la Jasper National Park.If Alberta's got one amazing thing, aside from endless wilderness, billions of barrels of oil and cowgirls, it's got Jasper and Banff (as well as another one) National Parks. If you've never been, go. It's arguably the best part of all of Canada, though I haven't been to more than Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia once.
Anyway, for Danielle's birthday and Canada we decided we'd go for a little camping and some hiking.It was originally supposed to be a surprise for Danielle's birthday but I figured it would be impossible to lie about why we're driving five hours in a direction that only goes to Jasper to say "Surprise! we're walking eight kilometres!"
So I eventually ruined the surprise. But to determine what would be the best hike, I found the awesome website HIKE JASPER. It's a great site, with basically a synopsis of every trail in the park. It's good because it tells you what you're in for both as effort and reward for those efforts view wise.
We chose the SULPHUR SKYLINE trail. To get there we drove about 500 kms to Jasper, paid the 19 odd bucks to ensure that grizzly bears have a place to live and drove to Pocahontas campsite. It cost about $33 for the night and the fire permit, which included unlimited wood, as I'm sure most of you campers would know out there.We stayed there the night, cooked smokies and played some Texas Hold'em, then camped in Danielle's Ford Edge, which has a huge trunk (big enough to sleep in with the seats pulled down) and sunroof that makes it in some ways better to sleep in than a tent. (I'm not a big fan of tents personally)
In the morning we left the campsite and drove the next fifteen kilometres to the Miette Hot Springs, where the Suplfur Skyline trail begins.
The trail paved for the first for the first kilometre or so, then becomes rocky for the rest of way. It goes in a relatively straight line, at a semi-steep incline for about 2 more kilometres, then it winds back and forth up the final mountain for about another kilometer as it elevates to like 700 meteres.It was beast.
When you get to the top of the penultimate peak, it's a mossy, nice plateau where you can eat your lunch, and then make for the summit, which is a barren hump of a mountain.
Once you get there, it's hang out time. Danielle and I stayed up there for the better part of an hour, snapping photos, talking with some people and playing with the chipmunks (I kicked this one.) Also we made an Inukshuk, so if you're ever there, look for it.
Ironically, the walk down was ten times worse on the body. It wasn't the sheer workout like the climb, but it KILLED the ankles and had us begging for non-inclined ground just so we could stand still for a few seconds.Afterwards, we sat in the Hot Springs, which are the hottest springs in the rockies to relax, then drove the 500 kms home.
all in a two-days non-work. :) Try it! also, all these pics, except for the first one were taken by Danielle! she's gettin good eh?
peace and love
I get bored and gear up
how I'll do it.
In the pic you can see my backpack on my back, my day pack strapped to
the front and my camera bag around my waist and on my shoulder.
Altogether it was about 20 lbs. That may seem like a lot but I'm lame
and walk around my house wearing it after work getting used to it.
As well when you're travelling you should carry at most 35% of your
weight and I've put on some pounds since most of you last saw me.
Anyway, it's surprisingy comfortable.
Once Danielle and I have everthig we need for a trip well do a total
inventory for you guys.
Also watch for our Jasper trips and our video coming soon. Peace!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Here's hoping.
So here's a pic of Danielle I also took on my phone!
Unfortunately, all my phone updates will have un-pretty formatting because i dont know enough about HTML and all that. do you? email me.
Also, you'll notice I've added a twitter updater on you're right so I can be even more annoying.
Peace and love homies
Tips on saving money...
I don't know if anyone out there cares/is actively trying to save money and that's cool with me really. But if you're interested, ING Direct has a promotional Tax-Free Savings Account interest rate of 3%.
That's not a lot, but it's more than any other bank or savings account is giving for anything else that I know of.
For those that don't know, I'll attempt to give a layman's definition of what a TFSA is.
Basically, it's set up by the government as a way of encouraging more savings from people.
Currently, if you've filed your income tax and are above 18, you can put up to $5000 a year into a TFSA. That number will go up in like 2012 to $5500.
Anyway, the basic premise is that you put money in the TFSA and any interest you earn is tax free. You can take out the money, tax-free anytime.
This is unlinke a RRSP for several reasons. When you put money into an RRSP, it's tax deductible. Meaning you get the income tax back off and you reduce your claimable income by the amount you put into. Further, you can only take the money out when you're... i dont know... 71? you'll have to check youself. Regarldess, the intent that you don't take the money out until you've retired. The government gives you a break because they know it means they'll have to pay for your retired, sick ass less when you need it most.
Anyway, so there's a promotional offer of 3 per cent interest on a TFSA until Oct. 1.
So that fits into my savings plan because I've moved all my current savings (less than $5000) into the TFSA. The current interest rate on my regular ING is 1.35 per cent, which is like the lowest it's been since as long as I've had one (little more than a year).
So essentially, because there's no tax benefit or burden by putting my money there, I'll essentially make more than twice as much interest on the same amount of money. sweet.
For more info on TFSAs, visit this site.
Also, if you want to open an ING account, you can go here. TIP AND SHAMLESS MONEY GRAB: If you use my ORANGE CODE: 20743897S1 when you open an account and put in $100 or more we'll both get $25. that's super sweet AND, not to promote it, but it's sweet. no fees, complete access, you can get a debit card and make your money go straight from your paycheques.
Do I have to tell you why NO FEEs is a good thing?
peace
That's not a lot, but it's more than any other bank or savings account is giving for anything else that I know of.
For those that don't know, I'll attempt to give a layman's definition of what a TFSA is.
Basically, it's set up by the government as a way of encouraging more savings from people.
Currently, if you've filed your income tax and are above 18, you can put up to $5000 a year into a TFSA. That number will go up in like 2012 to $5500.
Anyway, the basic premise is that you put money in the TFSA and any interest you earn is tax free. You can take out the money, tax-free anytime.
This is unlinke a RRSP for several reasons. When you put money into an RRSP, it's tax deductible. Meaning you get the income tax back off and you reduce your claimable income by the amount you put into. Further, you can only take the money out when you're... i dont know... 71? you'll have to check youself. Regarldess, the intent that you don't take the money out until you've retired. The government gives you a break because they know it means they'll have to pay for your retired, sick ass less when you need it most.
Anyway, so there's a promotional offer of 3 per cent interest on a TFSA until Oct. 1.
So that fits into my savings plan because I've moved all my current savings (less than $5000) into the TFSA. The current interest rate on my regular ING is 1.35 per cent, which is like the lowest it's been since as long as I've had one (little more than a year).
So essentially, because there's no tax benefit or burden by putting my money there, I'll essentially make more than twice as much interest on the same amount of money. sweet.
For more info on TFSAs, visit this site.
Also, if you want to open an ING account, you can go here. TIP AND SHAMLESS MONEY GRAB: If you use my ORANGE CODE: 20743897S1 when you open an account and put in $100 or more we'll both get $25. that's super sweet AND, not to promote it, but it's sweet. no fees, complete access, you can get a debit card and make your money go straight from your paycheques.
Do I have to tell you why NO FEEs is a good thing?
peace
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