Phil Moore's Travel Adventures...

Hello peeps! Sorry for the lack of blog updates but life here is just too much fun and not enough time/will power to spend my time sat at a computer. Ho hum, here's an update of my last couple of weeks...

My first home on arrival in Golden on 5th January was the Kicking Horse River Lodge, what a place!

Built in summer 2005, this hostel surpasses any I have ever stayed in. The entire building is constructed of prime BC logs, still has the smell of the wood filling the corridors. For the eco lovers this has to be the most energy efficient building I've ever seen featuring a Geo Thermal heating system which draws warm air from the earth and circulates around the building. It doesn't work too great as apparently the heated air gets colder when it gets colder outside - go figure. Absolutely spoilt with a massive 50 inch ish HDTV downstairs, unbelievably comfy leather couches to ease the day's pain from boarding. Very friendly bunch of staff (Heidi - love you!) and they made us very welcome, they loved our british charm so much they sponsored us (well, gave us free caps) and asked us for a pic of the boyz (Dave, Stu & Andy) to put on their website, ha ha. Had some wicked times here and many a night stumbled back from the pub fueled on Rye, this photo was from one of these classy occasions, sporting our KHRL caps:

I met some great people staying here, notably my two lovely new friends who I'll be spending the winter with - Bridget a bubbly Aussie chick with a love for the outdoors and incessant giggling, and Megs (Megan) from Calgary whose seen more of the world than most people I know at the sprightly age of 19 and snowboarding skills the put us all to shame.

Bridget (right) & Megs (left) @ KHRL:

I've now moved on to more (semi) permanent digs at the Golden Creekside Retreat - another gem of a place that we were really lucky to find. The place is targetted at more wealthy clientele, but as the owners are selling up and moving out to New Zealand in the spring, they were happy to have us move in for an extended stay at a knock down price - everybody's happy! The owners (Garcy & Kurt) are such lovely people and have really made us feel at home. Garcy is probably the happiest person I've ever met and is continually bringing joy into our lives with freshly baked cakes delivered to the cabin, and sweet notes spattered with smilies :o)
This is our home for the next few weeks (atleast) - yes, that's 4 of us in a one bed cabin, very cosy indeed!

The cabin is located out in the wilds, about 4km from town on a road leading up into the mountains. It's completely isolated from the rest of Golden (hence the 'retreat' in the name) and you really feel humble to the mountains and wilderness around you. The guestbook in the cabin tells tales of isolation, peace & tranquility, and people gathering thoughts and clearing your mind - I can feel the same liberation overwhelming me too. (Don't worry, I haven't started chanting or anything.)

The road leading to the cabin follows the canyon from the town up into the mountains and commands amazing views down the valley.

It's a bit of a chore to get to and from town and to the ski hill, but compared to walking down Battersea Rise in stinky Clapham Junction, London battling against cars, buses and toxic fumes it's not a chore at all.

There's a place where you can venture from the road and peer down into the abyss. On one of my braver moments I ventured to the edge of the platform, well actually managed to crawl on hands and knees within 2 feet of the edge and take this shot (it must be 60m vertical drop, yowsers):

We're lucky too that hitchhiking is common place in Golden and not really a problem to catch a lift. It's a great way of meeting people too and catching up on the latest town gossip - made some great friends that I see daily at the ski hill. I wouldn't dream of doing it in England but it's quite safe really as 99% head to the ski hill - life is simple here to say the least!

As we are so isolated, it's common to encounter the local wildlife (not just the local chainsaw wielding hill-billies). Very common to see white-tailed deer, and today I had a stand-off with a rather menacing looking squirrel. Probably more dangerous is a cougar (mountain lion) that patrols around the cabin at night, the creek it seems is it's favourite footpath to where ever it goes to hunt. These things are big enough to eat up a small child, Bridget who is not much taller than a toddler could be in trouble. One morning we found footprints 3 feet from our front door, scary stuff - this pic is of the footprint (apologies for poor quality):

If I don't get eaten in the meantime, I'll fill you in on some of our antics and the delights of Kicking Horse mountain soon. Bye for now.

A short yet somewhat hysterical story...

The rumours that Golden is full inbred, hill-billy hicks is at times a little harsh but I think I met the lady (perhaps a man, not sure) that continue to support these rumours.

Whilst drinking one night at the Mad Trappers bar (how appropriate), I got talking to a woman who claimed to be 40 years old, but infact looked more like 70, with a voice deeper than Barry White's and looks that make Sloth from The Goonies a stunner.

She told me of her plans to give up the hill-billy lifestyle and instead take a degree in Accountancy. None too weird yet until she explains her entry qualifications are that in 12th grade (approx 30 years previous) she achieved a 99% average (the 1% dropped because teachers can't give 100%). In her finals at school she again excelled but only got 98% this time, the 2% dropped for failing to get her name correct on the exam paper.

How did she achieve this level of genious? Well, it's all down to Donald Ducks Mathemagical Land of wonder. She insisted all you need to know is revealed within this cartoon.

http://dep.disney.go.com/educational/store/detail?product_id=77A83VL00&preview=y

So there you have it, budding mathemagicians and even those with PHds, check it out and learn math Disney style.

Greetings from Golden, British Columbia, my home for the next 3 months. A little speal about the town first then I'll fill you in on my exploits later.

Visitors to Golden could be forgiven for thinking that there is nothing here. Certainly some of the less thorough travel guides dismiss the town as merely a collection of petrol stations and seedy motels clustered around the Trans Canada Highway. My first impressions of the town matched this, laving me rather fearful that I have let myself in for a nightmare 3 months. I can testify that for those who simply pass thru this is very much the case, but little do you know of the delights that await in store for those who explore further!

Behind the Highway lies the home of all things great about the Great Outdoors in the Canadian Rockies. In summer you can be entertained to some of the best hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting etc in the world. In the winter you have access to possibly the most hardcore ski hills in the world - Kicking Horse (http://www.kickinghorseresort.com/winter/) - which is exactly why I'm here. With one of the highest snowfalls in the world and unbelievably consistent quality of snow '(champagne powder), coupled with some of the most extreme terrain I have ever seen, this place in Canada-speak kicks ass. The mountain slogan 'The Powder and the Glory' is truly warranted. Check out the piste map on the web site for the silly amount of double black runs and lack of 'safe' terrain, truly not for the faint hearted or family-oriented ski holiday. The place is really still in infancy and quite the rugged backcountry domain, a far cry from the more developed resorts of North America and Europe.

KH was recently acquired by a Dutch Realtor who non-suprisingly are focusing on building property - hotels, condo's, deluxe chalets and the like, to cater for the more affluent clientele, much contrast to the current ski bum (but ski hardcore) punter. No doubt the resort will evolve over the next twenty years to resemble something like the DisneyLand in the snow that places like Whistler have become. That said, the owners did build the high-speed (ahem) gondola which opened the mountain up and really placed KH on the map. Just wish they'd spend more cash on things like clearing the piste runs from logs, boulders etc that have caused many casualities already, and invested more in the town itself. Well, you can't have everything and capitalistic progress can't be stopped. That said, it's a great time to be in Golden as is set to explode in size - no doubt the rugged charm of the mountain is about to be lost in a hail of dollars so I am truly grateful to experience it in it's raw state.

How did Kicking Horse get it's name you ask? here's the beef:

In 1858, the Imperial Government sent John Palliser out to find a feasible route through the mountains for the railway. A geologist, named Sir James Hector, was among those on the expedition team.

Through a string of bad events, Hector ended up stumbling upon the Kicking Horse Pass. He was camped out at the Great Divide when one of the team’s packhorses got loose and crossed the river. Sir James jumped into the water and swam after it, eventually rounding the horse up. While trying to tie it to a tree near his own horse, the two animals became enraged and started fighting. During the ruckus, Sir James suffered a vicious kick from his own steed. The sheer force broke three of his ribs and knocked him out. In fact, he was unconscious for so long, his three Native guides were convinced he was dead and decided to bury him.

As they were carrying Sir James’ lifeless body to a grave some distance away, he suddenly came to. When he was well enough to move around, he explored the valley and discovered the pass that became the route through the mountains. In his honour, the pass and the river were given the Kicking Horse name.

There you have it. Probaly nonsense, but I get the feeling the spirit of the horse lives on as this mountain gives me a kick in the ribs everyday (and a tonne of pleasure I might add).

Besides the mountain, Golden is a small town with a neat collection of bars and shops that provide the essentials to survive the winter. No megaplexes, cinemas, boutiques, shiny office blocks etc but all these things are superfluous to enjoying what the area is all about - the great Rocky Mountain wilderness. Bliss!