When insanity turns to magic

It was -24 degrees at 9 pm when we started up Prairie Mountain on Friday night.  The roads were treacherous, the mountains were buried in deep snow, a bottle of red wine and a warm blanket beckoned, and it was very very dark outside.....but we were not deterred.


Insanity likes company, so I was joined by my two crazy friends, Jen and Claire.  I can always count on them for the ridiculous.  Friday nights have been set aside for Barkley suffer-fest training and Jen and Claire are going to join me for the fun.  At 10 pm, we were on the summit of Prairie Mountain, hunched over in a biting wind to defend ourselves against frostbite,....... and smiling.  There might have been some dancing thrown in as well.  Mountain climbing on a winter night is like being lost in another world.  We even switched our headlamps off a couple of times to enjoy the reflection of the starlit sky shimmering on the snow-covered trees.  It was magical.

The descent was exhilarating. With so much snow, we relinquished control over our speed and let gravity take over.  We filled the empty and silent valley with our exuberance, squealing and giggling. 

So, if you are looking for me on a Friday night, I'll be bush-whacking, snowshoeing, navigating and generally causing havoc in some dark corner of the Bragg Creek mountains.  I'm finding a way to marry suffering with fun and call it Barkley training!