Well, team! It turns out I am blogging more from Canada than expected! Today it is due to the fact that having secured myself a place in a hostel for the evening, I no longer want to go outside because the air is so gross. (I have, however, first: showered, found and eaten an obscene amount of super amazing vegan food, procured a new pair of pants to replace the ones I tore a giant hole in last night in a moment of escape-the-mosquito-hordes panic, and washed everything I own — all of which I am very, very excited about, though especially so about the shower and laundry;)
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Theoretically I am in the Rocky Mountains now, but biking in today, it was more like a suggestion of a ghost mountain range. Smoke steals all the colors and definition from the world, so sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was seeing actual mountain outlines in the distance or just making them up. It’s pretty gross, honestly, and I’ve definitely spent some biking time being cranky and sad about it. But I’m also trying to work on my acceptance and focus on the delightful close-up things that still have color and that I can still see (like the porcupine I saw on trail the other day! Or the two black bears foraging by my camp this morning! The glacial rivers with their beautiful blue-green!)
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(Camp last night when I could still kiiinda see the mountains and where I saw my 4th and 5th black bears of the trip so far. This is what I’ve always called stealth camping, just camping wherever, but in Canada is apparently called “random camping” which I love very much and will now make part of my lexicon;)
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(So gross biking to Golden this morning. I swear there are more mountains out there somewhere. But that’s the Columbia River again and it’s really cool and actually natural-river-like up here!)
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It hasn’t all been smoke though! Since we last spoke I had a birthday in Glacier National Park (the Canadian one, that is:) and spent a few days there playing and hiking as much as I could. I’m grateful to the sweet ranger who let me have the secret contingency campsite they save just in case, and, because it was my birthday, let me have it for two nights:) (I should mention that I am also in the secret cash-only contingency room in the hostel tonight too. This is frequently the advantage of showing up with a loaded bike and people being nice. I never expect it but always am grateful for it.)
So, Glacier! I’m happy to have had a few relatively smoke-free days there, including my birthday. I didn’t really have any specific goals other than wanting to play in the mountains, but I found myself here:
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(I went up the smaller mountain on the left, Abbot Mountain. And you know I swam in that glacial lake afterward (brrrrr but also sooo good!)
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(It sure was a pretty lake:) And you know the snow all around it made it nice and warm, heh)
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Being the goof that I am, I carried out solo the birthday tradition that James and I have, which is to put a candle in every meal. Side note: in Revelstoke they only had packets of 24 candles, so now I am totally superfluously carrying around all these excess candles cuz it seems like a waste to get rid of them.
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(Birthday almond butter tortilla in the mountains!:) Yes, it’s better when I have hummus and fresh things, but I can only carry so much;)
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(The Illecilleweat Glacier on a more smoky but still decent day:)
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(Birthday pasqueflowers <3)
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So here I am in Golden hoping that it rains. I was hoping for right wind direction but it seems like any direction is wrong, at least from what different people have been telling me about where fires are. So as much as it seems wrong to hope for a steady downpour while touring, think me some rainy and cooling thoughts so I can maybe see some of the rest of these mountains:)