The scrubbing plant
Clouds over welding shop
The Horton Spheres
After 4 day of smoke and sweat, Jon and I were ready for a shower and some clean clothes. Like the nice parents we are, we delayed our showers and laundry until after we'd picked up our dog and done groceries. I then gathered up our stinky clothes and happy loaded them in our washer. An hour later I went back down to the basement to check on my laundry and found myself on my ass in a large puddle of water at the foot of the stairs.
I wasn't hurt, and my first thought was "which dog peed this much? Disgusting" before realizing that no dog has that much pee in them. Jon heard my screams and came running down to lift me out of the puddle. We opened the laundry room door and stared at the water that was slowly filling our basement as our washer drained. It seems that the hole in the floor where water drains from our laundry system had backed up and the laundry water was spreading in a filthy wave across our storage room. Quickly we shut off the washer and set about moving dog food out of the way.
We mopped up almost all the water and Jon went upstairs to drain something in the bath tub. And the basement reflooded. It then occurred to us that perhaps the hole wasn't just used for the washer tub. We ran the shower, and then the kitchen sink and then flushed the toilet and sure enough, after each time, the water in basement rose up again. The problem was larger than I'd initially thought - not only was I not going to be able to do laundry, we couldn't shower, pee or do dishes.
Jon called our landlord, who then called her plumber, who then called us and said he was on his way. We then called Panago for two large cheese pizzas, delivery, to help us through it all.
The pizza arrived within an hour, but 3 hours later there was still no sign of Doug, our trusty plumber. Jon called the landlord, who then told us to call the city. Jon called the city, who said they'd call us back. And then, out of no-where, the plumber showed up.
After a quick look at the basement Doug decided he had none of the tools needed to fix the drain. He talked Jon's ear off in the mosquito infested outdoors and then got back in his plumbing van - and we were still unable to use our water.
Minutes later, as Jon and Shannon and I were bemoaning our poor luck, the City of Calgary Emergency and Trouble crew showed up and two very large men (one with a very large beard) went to the basement. Ten minutes later our problems were solved - if only someone had told us to call them sooner! Just as quickly as they had came, they were back in their truck and off to help some other poor schmuck.
So, now we can flush and run water as much as we want - although I'm a little too nervous to try too much. It was quite the end to our long weekend, and we're hoping that the trouble has all passed.
Luckily, about a half hour later, the sun came up and we could enjoy the beautiful mountains surrounding us. The hike itself is along an old road, with very little elevation change. This makes for an easy and scenic 7.5 km trip.
We arrived in camp around 4 pm, set up and then settled down for some napping. We woke up in time for some rain and hail while cooking dinner, but luckily it didn't last for long. We enjoyed a camp fire with the free wood, but headed to bed as soon as the rain started again. Sometime during the night the wind picked up, blowing away the clouds.
Saturday was beautifully sunny, but with gale force winds (left over from the night before). It was unpleasantly cold and we huddled around the fire in the morning before heading out on a day trip to Rae Lake. It was sunny but cold at the lake where we stopped for lunch, but still beautiful. Like last time we'd been here, we got lost trying to find the trail out of the lake and ended up bushwacking our way back to the main trail.
The wind kept up right through the evening. Being too cold for anything else, we all spent the time huddled around the fire cooking apples (thanks to Erin and Andrew) and wishing the wind would stop. At least it wasn't raining!
The afternoon was spent playing cards (if you're a girl) or participating in some sort of backpacking challenge that involved both distance and accuracy throwing with trekking poles and a round of golf (if you were a guy). Another evening around the campfire (we made good use of that free wood) before turning in.
Jon, Jenn, Ricky, Andrew, Ali, Mike, Mic, Andrew and Erin with Rae Mountain in the background.
