Canmore Creek

We all woke up early again, about 6am. Had some breakfast and decided to drive down to the Tourist Information office a couple of kilometres away. It opened at 9, so we left just before. As usual getting Tash ready to actually leave was a challenge - the time between her saying she is ready and then actually being able to leave is normally around 10 minutes!

Found the Tourist Information, picked up some stuff on Banff, Jasper, Lake Louise and Canmore and had a chat with one of the guys there, He had never heard of Cross Zee ranch where we were doing our horse ride - slightly worrying!

We headed off to Cross Zee Ranch just a few minutes out of town. Well sign posted and we drove up a hilly drive and parked up. No-one around though there were some saddled up horses (which Tash thought were cows initially). Went up to the barn and pulled the horseshoe bell as instructed which made a huge ringing sound something akin to a church bell. Brenda appeared from upstairs and took our payment and we signed waivers, The whole place was very nicely set up - they have a big barn where they do events, weddings etc. Brenda asked if Ed wanted a helmet, not obligatory, but they had some kids ones - he tried them but they were too small, so no helmet. If you fall, don't land on your head was the joking advice! Brenda said Wiley would be with us shortly to take us out and sure enough a lad in early 20's came down - cool name Wiley! He had a proper cowboy hat, reassuringly and went to get the first horse.

First on was Ed on Katy - the friendliest horse as we had said he was nervous. He hopped on fine, adjusted straps and got lead across the yard to stand and wait for the rest of us. Me next on a much bigger horse called Frosty - turns out Katy was Frosty's mum, which pleased Ed. I waited next o him and Tash was next on Steve. She was warned Steve is an eater - he likes to nibble grass at every opportunity on the walk so needs a firm hand. Tash was impressed Steve was rocking the highlights mane look - brown horse with white mane! Last up Sam on Winnie. We had a couple of photos taken with Rockies and barn in the background - the Rockies looked spectacular this morning with the sun on them and none of the smoky haze of yesterday,

The horses had a pecking order they liked to ride in, the same as the mounting order, so Ed was following Wiley on his horse Ernie, then me, Tash and Sam at the end. Ernie was reluctant to leave the yard - turned out he needed to go to the loo before he went. Wiley warned Ed he was a windy horse so Ed might get the smell! Wiley said if we see any wildlife don't scream - it scares the horses and scares him!

We all followed in line down a single track through the forest. It was cooler and pleasant out of the direct sun but still a lovely day. Wiley had been doing the guiding for three years and said they had a record day yesterday seeing 5 bears - he thought the smoke had confused their smell and meant they didn't avoid the horses. We weren't sure if we wanted a bear encounter while on horsebacl or not....

Tash was hilarious in constant talk with Steve, who did indeed try and eat at every possible moment. "Stop that Steve" became the catchphrase of the ride. At the spot where they had seen a bear and three cubs yesterday Ernie got cautious, remembering what he had seen the day before. Wiley pointed out where the bears had been - the three cubs up a tree and the mum at the bottom to defend. They were about 4 yards away from the trail. Wiley was very nonchalant saying they stopped to try and take photos but the mum got skittish so they moved on. Ernie then reared up a bit, causing all of us to have a surge of adrenaline. Turned out to be a squirrel in the bushes, but the horses are nervous until they know what it is that they can hear - once they can see it is a squirrel (or even a bear) they are fine.

Sam had saddle issues as hers slipped sideways. Wiley readjusted but Sam had to keep pulling it back to straight - apparently Winnie was a very round shaped horse and so sometimes hard to get the saddle on. We saw a red kite nest and a robin's nest in the tress but no wildlife today.

The horses seemed to speed up as we turned to head back towards home. At one point Frosty wouldn't follow th trails and seemed to want to head down a steep slope. I was trying to pull him back and steer him the right way but he was having none of it. In the end we steered full circle and he followed Steve round the corner, then sped past him to get back in order. Wiley thought he might have seen the newly chewed log next to the trail which had been done by a bear overnight trying to get at the insects inside the log. He recognised it as new from yesterday and was worried the bear was still around. Once Steve went through and showed no bear he was fine to carry on.

Wiley suggest a brief trot, which we did for 30 seconds or so - it was quite painful bouncing on the seat I have to say and Sam with her loose saddle didn't really enjoy it! A further trot was suggested up the last hill, but Ed's horse was having none of it and the rest took their lead from her.

Arriving back we all got of with various normally unused muscles aching!

Back into town for a drink and sandwich on Main Street then we headed to the Nordic Centre, where the Nordic events of the 1988 Calgary Olympics had been held (the sister site to where we had been yesterday). We planned to do the Frisbee golf course here and rented frisbees and also bought some bear spray - peppery spray to spray at a bear if they get really close. Hopefully we will never need to use it. Can't take it in the plane and had to give id details to buy it.

After playing what we thought was the practice hole but turned out to be the 18th hole we were coming at from the wrong way we found the practice and realised we might have bitten off more than we bargained for. The hole said par three but was 140m or so round a corner with a very narrow track with forest and undergrowth on each side. Ed launched his frisbee at 45 degrees into the forest, which we did manage to find, The rest of us were more cautious, but it took us about 15 throws to get into the hole. Sam was not doing well and decided to quit and just walk the course. On the first hole proper a guy ran up and asked if they could play through us on the next hole. We said sure just play this one, we will stand next to the side. He warned their frisbee would probably land somewhere where we were standing (it had taken us about ten throws to get there!). We watched amazed as they curled their shots round the corner landing just in front of us. One guy's technique was to throw it like a tomahawk as he described it, which we then also adopted to lesser effect. They passed through and we carried on zig zagging across the course. Tash memorably threw one that went straight up and bounced off her down the slope. At hole 5 we decided to cut the course short and pick up hole 15 to make it 9 holes. We had long ago stopped keeping score and finished the 18th ready for a drink. An elk had wandered across the 18th while we were playing - clearly had observed we were never going to reach it with our next throws.

We smiled at the enthusiasm of the parties starting the first hole, as we had been until we realised how hard it was. A guy we met on the first hole had said it was a really tough course and there was an easier one in town that we could have tried. Still we enjoyed it, I think!

After a drink in the cafe we headed back to the hotel and down to the pool. A nice little pool, with a hot tub. Not too busy when we got there just after 4, but filled up around 5 ish as people got back. We had a dip in the hot tub, nice after the horse riding, then the kids went in the pool and played with a beach ball. Tash had chatted with a girl from Venezuela in the hot tub. Around 6 we went back to the room and Tash and I went out to get burgers from the nearby A & W place - very tasty they were too , including some great onion rings that Tash liked even though she doesn't like onion rings. Then watched some tv with a nice bottle of Canadian Pinot Gris wine. Found Ed had fallen asleep on our bed and so we moved him through to his own at about 8.30 and rest of us eent at about 9pm, still a bit jet lagged and also tired from activities.Read more