Archive for category Hiking
Hiking – Old Goat Glacier
Posted by bradinator in Hiking, Hobbies, Photography on July 25, 2010
I cannot think of a better way to spend a beautiful summer day than on a mountain. I highly recommend Where the Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies if you are looking for both rewarding and challenging trials. It should be noted that the couple that wrote this book are avid hikers and when they say “moderate to challenging difficulty” be prepared for a physically demanding hike.
Yesterday we located Old Goat Glacier trial with the help of that book.
The rest of the pictures can be seen in the gallery.
Beer Review – Victoria Bitter
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Photography on July 25, 2010
Name: Victoria Bitter
Origin: Australia
Style: Lager (4.56%)
Appearance: A dark gold lager that pours with a very short-lived small to medium head.
Taste: The aroma is mostly metallic and copper-like. VB is a very light tasting beer, with most of its flavours coming from its bitter, herbal hops. There are some very subtle grain-like notes. It finishes bitter and metallic, with a very short aftertaste.
Mouth Feel: A medium carbonated beer with a light body and short-lived aftertaste.
Final Thoughts (2.5 out of 5): This is a very plain-Jane lager. It’s not bad and its actually a very easy drinking and refreshing beer, but it lacks character. Still, its leaps and bounds better than Fosters. I gave it a +0.5 because it really hit the spot after spending the day in the sun on top of Old Goat Glacier.
A veiw of the valley carved by an Old Goat
Routine of the Day – Run
Posted by bradinator in Fitness, Hiking, Routines on July 16, 2010
Routine of the Day – Run, for time. 3.5KM – Final time was 20:55.
Its a rock.
Beer Review – Innis and Gunn Canadian Cask Oak Aged Ale
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Travel on July 12, 2010
Name: Innis and Gunn Canadian Cask Oak Aged Ale
Origin: Scotland (Barrels originate from Canada)
Style: Scottish Strong Ale (7.1%)
Appearance: The colour is a crystal clear ruby red, that pours with a nice, medium sized foamy head with excellent retention.
Taste: There are definite notes of raisins and apples in the aroma. The flavours are fruity, with raisins, apples and some subtler notes of molasses and whiskey.
Mouth Feel: A surprisingly light bodied beer for such a high ABV, this Scottish Ale has a refreshing palette overall. Its high ABV and Whiskey cask aging gives this beer a touch of fire.
Final Thoughts (4.0 out of 5): Absolutely fantastic! This beer was made especially for Canada Day by Innis and Gunn and though I am a week late on trying it, I am glad I did. I love Canadian whiskey and I love Innis and Gunns oak aged ales. This is a great combination of both.
Beer Review – Whitstable Bay Organic Ale
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Photography, Rants on June 29, 2010
Name: Whitstable Bay Organic Ale
Origin: England
Style: Ale (4.5%)
Appearance: This is a crystal clear, amber colour. Head is medium, head retention is low.
Taste: The smell is citrus, mainly grapefruits. There are some initial notes of crackers on the first taste, but the beer is heavily bitter and citrusy so they are quickly washed out. There is also something of a rice-like flavour to this beer. The beer finishes with a lingering bitter citrus flavour.
Mouth Feel: Due to the strong bitterness of this ale, its leans towards a sharper mouth feel. Not filling and a medium body.
Final Thoughts (3 out of 5): Its a fine ale, but I still stand by my “organic is bull-shit” stance. The lack of standards and controls for ‘certified organic’ products sullies the whole market. Any company can slap ‘organic’ onto a fruit and no one is the wiser.
You want an organic fruit? Walk into the fucking forest, find a berry bush and pick it yourself. You are not going to find it in a store. Just don’t get killed by the beer who is also enjoying those organic berries.
Organic fruits can be found here. Somewhere...
Beer Review – Moslon Canadian
Posted by bradinator in Beer, Beer Tasting, Hiking, Photography on June 4, 2010
It’s really important to note that the commercials market this as a patriotic symbol of Canada, even though its now half-owned by an American company. Go figure.
Name: Molson Canadian
Origin: Canada
Style: Lager (5.0%)
Appearance: This beer is a pale, clear yellow that pours with a big foamy head with poor shrinks down to a small, long living top.
Taste: The aroma is grassy, with just some slight notes of lemon-like citrus. The taste is grassy, with some mild herbal hops and some lemon like citrus notes. It finishes with a light cracker-like taste. No sweetness noted. The after taste has some notes of herbal and citrus, not unlike its initial flavours.
Mouth Feel: Soft, easy drinking. Light bodied, leaves a coated feeling in the mouth from its bitter aftertaste.
Final Thoughts (2.5 out of 5): You know its not bad actually. The flavours improve quite a lot when just reaching sub cold temperature, but as it continues to warm from there it becomes quite skunky. Overall I have to admit my impressions of this beer have improved ever-so slightly.
This is a view into the never ending expanses of Canada's boreal forests.
Snowshoeing is fun
Posted by bradinator in Hiking, Hobbies on February 16, 2010
I am glad I got outside this weekend, even if it was only for a few hours. Snowshoeing is a great excuse to go outside, trudge through snow over a foot deep and trail blaze deep into the forest.
For $11CDN we get these for the day from Sports Rent
It looks a lot colder then it was. At this point we stripped down to our t-shirts
Instead of marked trails we wandered through the woods.
Trudging through snow is slow, tiring work.
Bragg Creek may not be in the mountains, but it beautiful none the less.