Day 181: The end

The end has come with a literal rather than metaphorical bang, as something exploded in downtown Canmore a couple of days ago. I thought I'd caused to door to our house to bang, but the house shaking, the echoes round the mountain and plume of smoke proved otherwise. We were showered with the paper debris ten minutes later, and socual media showed pictures of an impressive aftermath. Thankfully no one was seriously injured.

The second bang was Charlie reverse headbutting me and making my nose crunch. Just what I wanted before a flight.

Unfortunately we did not complete our four peak challenge. Grotto turned out to be a nine hour slog, leaving me physically and mentally like jelly. A woman had fallen to her death in the previous week, and despite my husband's assurances that we were always on the path, the huge bruise on my right bum cheek, a ripped pair of shorts and sewing machine legs suggested my experience was not the joyous romp we had planned.

Eeor (East end of Rundle) seemed much more promising, with half the height gain of only 750m. So we set off with a spring in our step to be beset by thunder and lightning: nature's version of get the hell offa my land. We shot down in half the time, having only been 500m from the official platform for success, if not the true summit. We had our first hearth fire since I nearly killed us all with smoke, and managed to burn most of our receipts.

More promising have been my climbing lessons. The local wall is home to several top bouldering and climbing champions, and despite my star struck awe at their spider like ability, and my lack thereof, I have managed to improve a bit. I have learned about foot position, not clinging on and burning out my arms, and a clever balance thing which works when climbing with no hands. I also managed my first proper knee drop (or drop knee?), and caught my husband when he fell from a non existent hold. No way I could have done it as even if I could have made a magical balancing move of feet and hands on the same hold, the next one was more than a full stretch away, so needed a leap of faith onto a tiny hand hold and no feet. That's 5.12 I guess.

So as I sit on our front deck with a pile of cases, I am thinking about all the funny things I'll miss. The noisy heating and washing machine, intermittent internet and squeaky bed are not top of my list, but the beautiful view, precocious animals, and beautiful weather are. I'll miss the people too. We had started to make friends and feel a little bit at home.

Maybe it will be home, someday.