Chocolate & Ginger

After two days of Stampede partying last week, me and boy took a break from the madness by trekking out to the mountains for a hike. I started the morning off with two back to back high intensity cardio aerobics classes to kick start the burn on all those junkie delights from the night before.

For my post workout lunch, we stopped one of our favourite soup n’ sandwich spots, The Lazy Loaf and Kettle in Parkdale on our way out-of-town. I went with a half a turkey sandwich with horseradish, cranberry sauce and ALL the veggies they could pack between the two slices of fresh kettle bread. Served with a wedge of juicy pickle.

And on the side, I went with their Southwestern confetti bean salad, a colourful protein packed bowl with lots of delicious textures.

The boy had half a Montreal smoked meat sandwich with all the fixins’.

And a bowl of the feature soup, this spicy black bean vegetable soup.

To satisfy our sweet tooth? It was a toss up between their chocolately puffed wheat squares, but in the end, this GIANT oatmeal raisin cookie won. This place is known for their ENORMOUS desserts, for example their chocolate eclairs are about 3-4 times the size of a regular one.

It’s like cakes and pastries on steroids.

After our deliciously satisfying lunch, we drove out to our destination in Kananaskis Country to the Quaite Valley/Barrier Lake for our steep 15km hike to the summit.

The beginning of the trail started in this dam area. The wind here was UNBELIEVABLE! I had trouble keeping my balance! Not sure if it’s caused from the formation of the mountains in this area, because after we got out of the valley, it was super calm.

This is about the closest we get to a beach around here. Rocky and murky..

The rain we’ve been having has made everything beautifully green.

Lots of pretty wild flowers lined the trails.

The tall lodge pole pine trees helped keep up cool in the shade on this sunny day. This trail is popular with mountain bikers, the crazy thing was we were passing a lot of them on the way cause it was SO steep.

Three quarters of the way up we were finally rewarded with this gorgeous view below.

Almost there.. can you see those tiny people at the summit?

The steepest part of the hike was the last quarter, but once you get up top, all your efforts are paid off with this stunning postcard view.

Don’t get too close to the edge..it’s a long way down..

What goes up must come down. But instead of taking the same way back, we looped around the mountain for a change of scenery.

We passed by lots of babbling brooks..

After a fun trail run down, we stopped for a quick snack..

Fresh organic strawberries..bursting with juicy sweetness.

I must say the gushing winds at the end of the hike were the perfect way to cool down. So refreshing.

Stampede was the furthest thing from our minds.