Rafting the Kootenay

There is nothing like a long weekend in the mountains to rejuvenate body and soul and put that smile back on your face. Spent four days in Kootenay National Park soaking up some seriously fine weather and waves!

Vermillion Crossing to Simpson River on the Kootenay (Photo: B. Kopp)

Vermilion Crossing to Simpson River on the Kootenay (Photo: B. Kopp)

The hound was happy, too!

She even rocked her own doggie life jacket! (Photo: B. Kopp)

Taylor’s rocking her doggie life jacket! (Photo: B. Kopp)

After two days of rafting adventures, took a day off to gain a different perspective. The scale of the mountains never fails to amaze when you see how easily they turn a raft with four large guys into a dot near the bottom centre of a picture. Love the Rocky Mountains and the rivers that run through them!

Kootenay River, B.C. (Photo: M. Kopp)

Kootenay River, B.C. (Photo: M. Kopp)

One wishes to go on. On this great river one could glide forever — and here we discover the definition of bliss, salvation, Heaven, all the old Mediterranean dreams: a journey from wonder to wonder, drifting through eternity into ever-deeper, always changing grandeur, through beauty continually surpassing itself: the ultimate Homeric voyage.

– Edward Abbey

The Mountains Call Me Home

Spray Lakes, Kananaskis Country (Photo: M. Kopp)

Spray Lakes, Kananaskis Country (Photo: M. Kopp)

I could have stayed in the office and caught up on work, but the mountains were calling and I had to go.

I’ve been away for the past five weeks, travelling in southwestern United States and overseas to Ireland. On each trip, I was immersed in moment – the pull of the river through canyon country, the spirit of the roads winding through the green isle – but now that I am back in the Rockies, I’m reminded that home is where the heart is and my heart is in the mountains.

Summit approach on Ha Ling. (Photo: M. Kopp)

Summit approach on Ha Ling. (Photo: M. Kopp)

“Because in the end you won’t remember the time you spent
Working in an office or mowing your lawn
Climb that goddamn mountain.”
– Jack Kerouac