VIDEO: Yosemite HD

The top of my list of places I want to visit.


Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

April 2017 Elkwater Outing

I wrote this a while ago, but it keeps being true:

A drive east out of my home town of Medicine Hat, about 20 minutes past nothing at all, and about 20 minutes before Saskatchewan where the nothingness is exaggerated even further, there is a hard right turn up the steepest hill around. It’s not actually very steep, but to its surroundings it’s a mountain. Large trucks have to get a head start - charging at the bottom and dying out exhausted towards the top - and everyone’s gears have to get a little lower. Once up this hill, the road flattens out but not quite completely, though it looks like it does. But it’s an illusion. And in an automatic vehicle, the gas pedal tells the truth. Drivers have to compress it lower than they’re used to. There are no shoulders on this highway and it looks like any other prairie road, drifting past farms and cows and fields. But it takes more work to drive on it. And these familiar prairie sights gradually take on a greener, livelier, and more luscious look. It’s like driving towards to the source of life.

Another 20 minutes on this road is a gradual climb up the highest altitude anywhere on the prairies. At the end of the road is Cypress Hills interprovincial park. It lies on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan and it’s the only area on the prairies that wasn’t scraped away by glaciers. It looks as though all the glaciers ran into each other there and pushed together everything they were pushing and piled their loads on top of each other and then died. And it seems like they stashed their loads underneath what was already there, like a bump under a rug. The hills retain an outer layer of ancient forests and overlook beautiful lakes - perhaps the decomposing bodies of those long-dead glaciers.

This has always been a favorite place of mine and our family has been visiting it regularly my whole life. Day trips, scout camps, work retreats, dates, ski trips, family vacations, church activities, adventure races, parties. All found an ideal setting in those hills. My dad even took me and my brother camping with two other boys who we were never very close with. I don’t remember how the arrangement was made, but I think we loved the place so much that we figured we would bring whoever was available.

I had taken Harry there a few times before this summer. Once was in the winter when I forgot the park gets twice as much snow as the city. He had fallen asleep in the car and I realized my mistake and turned around and headed home before he could wake up. The other times he was too young to appreciate it. But this summer I took him once by myself and once with the whole family.

We didn’t have a video camera when I was growing up, but my dad sometimes borrowed one from work. He’d pop in a VHS and prop the camera on his shoulder and ask us to do things we didn’t want to do. Our family video vault contains a lot of footage of grumpy little boys telling the camera to go away. But sometimes we would be in the mood to show off, and I now recognize the tone of my dad’s voice that he would use to tell us how great we are at spinning in circles or how funny our jokes are. It’s the same tone I now use to tell Harry how interesting the rocks and sticks are that he shows me. We now have a GoPro camera that’s about the size of two ice cubes, and I bet that tone is captured for another generation. There is one memorable scene on an old family VHS of my brother and I playing on a playground and walking down a path in Cypress Hills, wearing neon sweatpants and sweatshirts, singing the Ninja Turtles theme song. This summer we took some footage of Harry playing on that playground and walking on that path and it probably caught me laughing at his jokes and being impressed by his ability to stand at the top of the playground.

The hills were formed by millions of years of erosion and sedimentary deposition. And an archeological dig near the townsite revealed human inhabitation of the hills for more than 8,500 years. Families have been a part of those hills for thousands of years, and I think this summer we preserved them for another generation.

UPDATE

This family is now deeply etched into the hills. The boy has been many times now and the Pud is starting to get the hang of things, though she spends more time in my arms than on her feet. The dude has expanded his abilities so that I am genuinely impressed, and the fake enthusiasm is a lot less fake, as I'd much rather see his favourite sticks and rocks and leaves than his favourite TV shows or iPad games.

We're lucky to have such a place nearby - a place to be in the wild and to be a little wild. I'm sure I'll return to this topic many times.

Mornings. March. 2017.

The boy would sleep until noon if the house was silent, but the girl has an internal alarm set for 7:00 (she sometimes hits snooze until 7:30). She does her best to let the sleeper slumber, but morning silence is often too lofty a goal for a two-year-old. She’s even polite about it, whispering with a sly look, “I wan’ go see Har’son. I be quiet.” She usually stays out of his room but passes the time on our bed where the temptations of the day are too much - the need for a snack, the need for a cartoon, laughs and stories told at the top of her voice. We’re lucky that morning usually brings enthusiasm, and the boy usually shows up with his own version, explaining what he’s going to do that day before his brain is awake and fully capable of explaining such adventures.

The dog sleeps the longest of anyone. He crawls out of bed or from under it at around 10 or 11, visits the outdoors to take care of some business, and then, overcome by the strenuous morning, finds some safe nook of the house and takes a nap. All three are most awake at bedtime. The dog whines at me until I chase him and growl at him, the dude requests that we either fight or play hide and seek, and the girl is up for anything and sometimes just runs in circles in the excitement of it all.

A couple nights ago we had our maiden hot dog roast in the fire pit in the backyard. The Pud was eager to get cooking and tossed in a ‘dog as soon as the fire was burning. She apologized when she realized that that’s not how it works. The boy showed her how to do it and cooked one for her and one for him, scraping both against the wood and bricks and ash as he should, and then ate both of them.

Call of the Wild

If you're into old blurry animated adaptations of Jack London novels, then do I have a treat for you! Call of the Wild is one of my favorite books and this adaptation is actually pretty cool. I'd love to get my hands on the VHS. Watch the whole thing below, if your eyes can take the strain.

New House

I wrote this when we first moved into the new place.

There was a rabbit in the front yard the first time we saw the house. He (I’m saying he’s a male as I see he’s following the pattern of many mammals and living the life of a free-roaming bachelor) was in the back yard the second time. Now that we’ve moved in I see he splits his time between both sides, pruning and caretaking. He oversaw the transition from the previous owners to the bank and from the bank to us and saw that things ran smoothly. We noticed weeds don’t suit his tastes and left those to be disposed of by the boy and his Papa. Those two first set to work while summer was still hot and we’re now just getting settled as winter starts to arrive. Winter is late this year. It usually intrudes into fall much earlier, aggressively inserting itself into our lives, but it seems to have given us a break. The mild nights were appreciated and put to use, as we spent them with the saw on the porch, mixing blasts of sawdust with the cool evening air and the smells of autumn.

The rabbit isn’t always around and I don’t think our yard is his only residence. But he’s here enough that there have been times I’ve wondered if he’s around, looked out the window, and found him right away. He had his first run-in with the dog a few nights ago. But he was close enough to the fence that I think he escaped easily, and I hope the encounter was brief enough that it didn’t discourage him from returning. As far as I’m concerned, he was here first and should be free to come around as often as he likes.

This house has seen a lot of change since the hot summer days and it’s sure to see a lot more. We aren’t completely moved in and renovations aren’t finished - I can see some boxes of lighting fixtures yet to be installed, and the only fully-functioning bathroom is downstairs. And there will be other changes that aren’t cosmetic, as children grow more quickly than some projects will get done, and parents keep growing up, and we fill the halls and rooms with memories as life moves and moves. And the house will change and the people in it will change, but the rabbit will be outside.

Angels Landing Video

Ever since I first heard about this place I've wanted to go to it. This short video shows why it's such a bucket list trail for so many people.

ANGELS LANDING (SHOT ON DJI OSMO) from Baris Parildar on Vimeo.

Outside's Best Adventure Photography

Outside posted the best adventure photos of 2016 and they are quite spectacular. Check out a few below and then check out the rest at the link and then check yourself outside and yank life by the testes because that's how these pictures will make you feel.

See the rest here:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2054611/best-adventure-photography-exposure-2016