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What a great vision of Monday, hey? Full of life and adventure, exploration and beauty – nothing close to dragging feet, closing eyes and rushed mornings to sit in traffic. I hope your Monday (or at least your Monday attitude!) reflects more of the former.
I am starting this Monday thankful because Mikey and I got outside this weekend! With the warm weather we’ve been having, the snow has settled a lot and conditions have been much more like spring skiing than mid-February skiing! Seeing that avalanche conditions were extremely low and the back country reports said this was the perfect time to try some bigger climbs, we made up our minds to try Mt. Field in Field, B.C.
We left Friday night after packing up our gear for the trip and stayed overnight in Canmore with Mikey’s boss (thanks, Janine!) so that we’d be closer to the mountains. We got up early and hit the road after a quick breakfast (overnight oats with blueberries, almond butter, cinnamon, some protein powder and chia seeds – talk about power!), grabbed a coffee from Starbucks (thanks, gift card!) and were on our way.
It was a beautiful, mild day and while there were other people who had the same idea to get out as us, we still felt like we were on our own out in the wilderness for the most part.
All day were racing the clock, hoping to summit and worried about skiing out in the dark. We had plenty of water, food and our headlamps, so we carried on and barely stopped except for a brief snack break every hour. I experimented with our food on this trip and brought more homemade food like Paige’s Pumpkin Primal Protein Bars (Mikey loved them! Great fuel!) and Mama Pea’s famous MMM Sauce to go with cut up veggies (never taken this on a ski day before!). I love how Heather said in a recent post that she wants to eat like an athlete, not like a weekend warrior! Eating this way all week is key to that for me, including on our trips!
(click photos for recipes)
To find out if we pushed through and made it to the summit or not, check out the video below – Mikey did an awesome job putting it together!
We met some new friends on the summit (hi, Sheena and Leeland!) and went out to a great dinner afterward in the small town of Field. It was the perfect end to an incredible day!
8 1/2 hrs, 3 litres of water, 16 km & 1300m (4265 ft) in elevation gain… We still got it. 🙂 Mt. Field mid-winter ski descent, check.
Mikey and I got home late and slept in this morning, feeling our aches and pains (blisters for me, achilles pain for Mikey!) and then finally got going to church. We were honored to be able to speak at our friend Mike’s church about our film, Wrong Way to Hope. Sharing the stories of what God has done in our lives through cancer and what he’s continuing to do through sharing stories and our Survive & Thrive trips was a huge encouragement to us. What a blessing! We are living an awesome story that God is writing, even with the ups and downs, and being reminded of that was incredible for us this morning.
How were you encouraged this weekend?
Inside or out, what did you do to move the last few days?
How do you fuel for outdoor excursions? We’ve often gone for pure sugar because it’s great instant fuel out there, but I loved experimenting with the food this trip!
Let’s make this a great Monday, friends. Here’s to the week ahead and more adventures living the stories of our lives, wherever they’re taking us right now. Live well & be well,
Bonnie
Sounds like y’all had a wonderful weekend! I rocked my 10 on Saturday and guess what???? I got “the shoes” EEKKK!!! Now were twins! LOL
xoxo from Trinidad
http://www.thehinzadventures.com/2012/02/giving-thanks-week-31.html
Awesome, Corey! I love it twins with some awesome rainbow shoes. 😉 Way to go on your run too!
O’m’gorgeous! Everything about this day seems so freaking amazing. I’ve never really done many outdoorsy things, but after living in the city for a bit, I’m itching for a hike.
I know how that gets in the city…hope you get a chance to get OUT! 😀
wow. Im inspired to move NOW!!!
Amazed! Inspired!! LOVED that video, Bon. Actually made me a little teary eyed – God gave you that little rainbow circle!
I know it! I was teary at the summit…that rainbow was RIGHT around us! It was unbelievable. What a moment. 😀
WOW – that was amazing to watch!! What was the animal at the start of the video (is that a stupid question)? I love that you packed so many healthy, delicious snacks for your trip – that’s the area I still lack in and need to plan a little better for. Good for you!
I took a recommendation from you and listened to a sermon I had missed at church during the beginning of my run yesterday and really liked it! The only downside is I couldn’t really go from that to a fluffy book – too much to think about. I will definitely do that again!
And thanks for the shout-out!! I haven’t been quite as clean in my eating as I should be the last few weeks, it’s funny that you reminded me of that with my own words. 🙂
🙂 We all need that clean eating reminder! But your words popped into my head while we were hiking! Loved it. 😀 And the animal was a baby mountain goat – so cute! Just staring at us when we came over the top of the hill. But I’m note sure if he was sick or hurt; he was walking very gingerly for such a light-footed animal over the snow and just stood there. Hope he’s okay. 😉 Glad the sermon worked out for the most part!
I am an Alberta girl out on the coast and after reading your post I REALLy miss the Rockies!
Awesome! Well I’m a California girl in the Rockies, so I miss the coast you’re out on from time to time as well. Both are so incredible! 😀
beautiful! So jealous!
I was encouraged a lot this weekend. I ran my first ultra marathon relay and everyone at the event and on twitter was so encouraging to me!
Wow, that’s just beyond gorgeous. Sounds like a great time! Thanks for the shoutout, Bonnie 🙂
Thanks Paige, for the recipe!
WHOA, bonnie! EPIC video! you guys are such an inspiration. i’d never be so brave as to do that, i don’t think… but i like living vicariously though you!
Haha -you’d be surprised what you can do with good encouragement, support and gear, Ayla! But yes, I live vicariously through many people myself too. 😉 MISS YOU, dread friend!
Hey Bonnie! That looked like some good turns you guys were getting in!! Christian, our friend Mark and I headed out to Chickadee on Sunday and it was a really cool place with some great powder turns too! Love the backcountry – and Sheena is a friend of mine too crazy how small and how full of wonderful people the world can be!!
Crazy! You know Sheena?! I shouldn’t be surprised though – definitely in the same community as far as enjoying life outside goes! Love it. 😀
you have no idea how much i want to come have adventures with you. SO FUN.
Oh man! Wish we COULD adventure together…one day!
Oh my goodness, Bonnie what a COOL video!! The mountains are so beautiful and you and Mikey are living the life and experiencing that beauty first hand with each other.. and I love that!! I will definitely show this to Gustavo, I know he’ll love it too.
Wow – I read your blog often and this is the first time I have ever posted. I just wanted to say how awesome that video of your ski trip was. I love skiing – in fact going tomorrow and cannot wait – and just loved how we got to watch you guys go down the Mt…… Woo Hoo.
Thanks for sharing.
First time posting! Thanks for taking the time to do so! Have an awesome time skiing…let me know how it goes!