Fishing at Picklejar Lakes, floating the Bow with friends, and hanging out in Sept 2025


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Henry and Walter getting some laps in at the splash park in Cochrane.


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Henry and Jett trying out the quad that the Smith family got with their new house.

Floating the Bow with friends


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Walter taking a snooze before we get going.


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Henry and his friend Evan got their own boat, which they were SUPER STOKED about.


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Natalia and Lauren shared a boat and they teacher-talked for a few hours.


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Dean and Charlie shared their boat and pulled along a cooler boat too.


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We pulled into the quiet bay where the kids jump off the cliffs. Walter thought the black sand was cool.


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Docking the boats and figuring out the next steps.

Walter jumping into the river



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Charlie gave it a strong consideration here as he's considering a hop into the river.

Dean jumping into the Bow River


We peer pressured Charlie to jump in too!



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Henry and Evan were pretty happy to simply watch from the sidelines.

Slo-mo of Dean jumping into the Bow


Henry and Evan swimming across a channel in the Bow



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Henry and Evan chilling out at the Wildcat Island as we watched a thunderstorm go north of us.


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Lauren and Dean chilling out having snacks at Wildcat Island.


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Dean and Charlie with some big thunderheads to the north of them.


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Better shot of the weather that skirted us.


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Henry and Evan preferred the kayak-style paddles.


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Playing in the boats.


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A sweet beer that Dean brought me back from Oregon.


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Natalia and I having a Hammerhead (also from Dean) from Oregon as we wait for the Colt to bring us down to the rodeo dance.


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This guy's sweet beard at the rodeo dance.


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Natalia was stoked to take e-scooters home from the cabaret.


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Well, she was, until she ate it into the side of the pathway. No injuries though!

Fishing and hiking at Picklejar Lakes with Graham and the kids


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I convinced the boys to take a hike with me up to Picklejar Lakes to work off a savage hangover.
Here we are beginning the hike as I remind myself that Walter needs motivation or distraction to
move well on the trail. So, this was all about Plants and Zombies as we hiked.


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Walter isn't excited to be here yet. That'll come later.


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Henry thought it was cool though.


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This is a cool hike as it takes you very quickly up above the creek for some sweet views.

Showing what it takes to keep Walter hiking



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NOW, Walter is enjoying himself.


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Some of the neat sedimentary rock visible along the way.


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Dropping into the back of Picklejar Lakes.


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Walter finally gave me a smile after he saw that we had finally made it to the lake.


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Graham is an expert fisherman and here is catching fish, well, like they're in a picklejar!


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Better look with the background.


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Graham convinced Lillian that if she kissed the trout that she'd have better luck catching one herself.


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Henry and Walter fishing with casting rods.


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Pretty sweet shot of Walter in a gorgeous area catching absolutely nothing.


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How sweet is this though?


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Fisher showing off his tackle box of flies that HE tied himself!


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There are three more lakes further in, but for our boys, this was just fine.


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Graham showing us his kissy lips and inviting us to kiss a trout.


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He says Right On!


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Showing Walter how to fly fish.

Walter fly fishing at Picklejar Lakes


Henry fly fishing at Picklejar Lakes


Henry catches then loses a trout at Picklejar Lakes



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You can play Where's Waldo here with all three boys up here playing in the rocks.


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Walter catching HIMSELF by not paying attention with his casting.


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Henry with his hand-tied fly now on his hat.


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Of course Walter managed to lose this on the way down somehow, but how cool is this?


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Our fishing crew for the day.


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Lillian kissing a trout!


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Walter with lots of the Highwood Range behind him.

Hiking down from Picklejar Lakes



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Taking a break on the way out.


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We were treated to a special treat as Graham had brought his dendrochronology spike and showed us the inside
of a spruce tree. He asked the kids to guess how old this spruce tree was.


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Showing the layers of the rings inside the tree as he almost nailed the core perfectly. He then showed
us how to properly protect the tree with its own wood to close up the hole.


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Even though he's not a teacher anymore, Graham is STILL a teacher!


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Walter thought this slush puppy was awesome at the pizza place in Black Diamond.


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Since the afternoon of Labour Day was still hot, we decided to spend some time floating in the
Jumpingpound Creek.

Henry and Rhys floating the creek


Henry and Rhys floating down the Jumping Pound Creek


Henry showing off his new trumpet skills



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Stacey and Natalia enjoying having their feet in the creek.

Fun times with Paul


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Sometimes on a Dawn Patrol ride, the mornings are just perfect. This was one of those mornings.


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Graham joined me for a sweet ride up Ranger to Snakes and Ladders, down Ridgeback to Bobcat and then back
down Strange Brew, or 'Ranger-Snakes-Bob-Strange'. So awesome.


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The sun deciding to come join us for the morning.


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This little dude joined us too.


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I went for a zip up the Grouse Grind and actually beat my previous time.


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I thought this sign was funny at my hotel in North Van.

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