We the North

卡萨布兰卡

我们老北所住的地方只有两个季节：冬季和大约在冬季。听起来似乎有点讽刺意味，一丝儿自嘲，但这是来自我们心灵深处对其它季节的深深的爱与殷殷的期盼。期盼其它季节放慢脚步，多在此处逗留一会儿。

We the North live in a geographic area that

has basically two seasons: Winter and

quasi-Winter. It sounds somewhat sarcastic, a bit self-deprecating, but deep in

our hearts, it is an unequivocal

manifestation of our deep love and keen

longing for other

beautiful seasons. We implore other seasons to slow down their

paces and linger a bit longer.

秋天已经来到这儿并全速前进。冬天的脚步也逐渐逼近。想寻找大约在冬季的证据吗？洛基山脉处处皆是。

Fall is currently here and zooming past

Alberta at full speed. Winter is fast

approaching. Vouching for

evidence to corroborate

quasi-winter claim? There is no shortage

of facts in the Rockies. The top left picture

from the mosaic below was taken on

High Way 1 on September 27, just before

we made a left turn going for Smutwood,

Kananaskis. The remaining three pictures

were taken temporally one hour later

and spatially less than 50km apart. It is a

indisputable indication that Fall is already

accommodating Winter with open arms in

part of Alberta land. Soon the frontiers

will be pushed to cover all of Alberta, consequently

the harmonious coexistence of

Fall and Winter will yield to the dominance

of Winter.

九月二十七号早上在一号公路即将到达与472 路的交叉口，我们照了一张秋色浓浓，天高云淡，阳光灿烂的照片。一个小时后40多公里外，却见证了雪和冷。秋冬在那儿和谐共存。不久冬天将处于全面统治地位。

知道山里星期天天气大好，哥们仨于周六晚约定次日一大早前往老婆推荐的Smutwood Mountain, 那儿沿途风景很好。有我们深切期待的金黄的针尖叶状落叶松。观赏金黄落叶松是很多阿尔伯塔人秋天的必修课。

We the North know that there

is nothing we can do to the pace of Fall,

but we can seize the fleeting moment

of the Fall beauty with our eyes. Many

people flocked to provincial and national

parks over the weekend, in particular

on Sunday when

it was just recovered from

Saturday’s cloudy and rainy weather with

a clear blue sky.

Knowing Sunday was going to be a great day,

and following my LD’s recommendation,

we decided, on the spur of the moment,

to hike the scenic Smutwood Peak trail.

We departed from Edmonton at 4:45AM,

arriving at the trailhead at about 9:45AM

on September 27, 2020, and planned to hike 7 hours to finish, and then drive back to Edmonton.

The Trail is out and back and heavily

trafficked, about 20KM long.

It features water falls, creeks, alpine meadows, limpid lakes, erecting peaks, and most

of all golden larch trees. Golden larches

at this time of the season are a signature

and highly sought-after feature of the Rockies. It was the primary driving force

behind our decision.

我们走742 号路。路不平，满是石砾，但沿途风景迷人。

We took 742, which is very rough,

very bumpy, and must be very detrimental

to the car. However, the views

bestowed on our eyes worth million

dollars. We stopped by a lake

along the road, feeding our eyes with

mountains, trees, and cloud-adorned blue sky mirrored

by the limpid lake. We felt cold and realized

it snowed some other days. Something

ominous crept into our minds!

The first couple of miles from the trailhead is fire road, which is flat and wide. However the ominous thing in the mind was reinforced

and amplified by the snow on the grass, bushes and trees.

We finally realized that we were over prepared for the past, but underprepared for the moment.

A few weeks ago, one of us hiked the Mount

Temple which is the hardest so far. He brought a lots of water, but he used little. He felt very cold at the summit.

Learning from his experience, last week

when we hiked a trail a lot harder than this one but easier than Mount Temple, we accordingly brought a lots of warm clothes but

less water. It turned out that we sweated all the ways. These warm clothes found no use. They didn’t help, instead they contributed a lot to our sweat. What was worse, we ran out of the water on the trail. Obviously experience didn’t serve!

We kind of felt a bit smarter this time. We tried to rectify our last mistakes, we brought more water and fewer layers of clothes because we know the weather is about the same as last week, the elevation gain is about 500m less. We even didn’t bother bringing a pair of gloves. Our faces were slapped by the snow we failed to account for. Again, experience failed to serve.

Fortunately, in a box of the trunk, there are two pairs of gardening gloves which were left in the car by accident. These were proven to be critical in helping us finish the trail, because my fingers felt numbed near the top. Had there been no gardening gloves, we wouldn’t be able to hold poles with barehands and thus would not be able to reach the peak area.

针尖叶落叶松是吸引我们来此的主要原因。它们夏天苍翠欲滴。早秋，它们的翠绿漫漫地变成金黄。在阳光照耀下，其美无比！

Larches were the main reason that drew us to this trail. Larches are deciduous coniferous trees that could be found in the Rockies within the boundary of Alberta. In Fall, their lush green needles turn into golden colour. The vast greenness were dotted by patches of golden colour, offering incredible views especially under the broad illumination of the Sun.

以初雪覆盖的山峰为背景，以白雪覆盖的地面为画布，许多落叶松矗立着。有些散布在常青树丛中，有些三五成团，有些金鸡独立。这儿陈设的是一场视觉的盛宴。

At the backdrop of snow veiled peaks, on the white canvass of fresh snows erect many golden larches either scattering among other ever green trees or clustered in groups or standing alone。 Our eyes were feasted with breathtaking sceneries.

Here, we met a group of Chinese from Calgary, I called them “They the South”. The gentleman on the second row of the top picture said that he met me a few years ago at Lake O’Hara, that sparked a conversation about marathon. While my friend in the “We the North” group was touting my personal best of marathon and commending my most recent virtual Boston marathon, the lady on the left side of the first row ushered out loudly “you don’t look like a marathon runner”. I don’t take offence of frankness, fact and truth. Looking in the mirror at my rounded face and bulging belly, I knew what she said is simply indisputable truth.

I also got to know a Marathon runner’s English name which is the same as mine. Sorry I forgot to ask the gentleman’s name on the second row.

They the South are three-hour driving distance shorter to the mountains than We the North. We had to spent 10 hours on the wheel plus 7 hours of hiking. While they had great words for our passion and courage, we envied their closeness to the mountains.

登峰之路比较陕窄。人多，石松，坡陡。

Very crowded on the narrow way up to the peak, which is a small area itself. Fresh snow covered the trail, making many parts of it slippery, treacherous and precarious. When I was about to climb up to the peak, a few rocks were kicked loose by accident by the people up, rolling down with increasing momentum. That is very scary to witness. At that point, my fingers felt numb due to the ineffectiveness of gardening gloves. My boots were not made for this kind of surfaces, we need ice cleat for better tractions and stronger grips. Ruminating about life, safety and fun, I decided to swallow my pride and turned back.

This is the peak! It is absolutely not for faint-hearted, vertiginous or acrophobia. 此图显示山峰处。高耸入云，断崖绝壁，如果没有强大的心理，如果恐高，如果晕眩，还是不去的好。

尽管我们准备不足，但这是迄今为止，最好玩的一次。我们很难不满足于沿途美丽的风光。

Even though we were underprepared for the unexpected trail conditions, we had the best fun so far. It is hard not to be totally satiated with the breathtaking beauty presented by the trail and its surroundings!

如果有人问这个山怎么样，回答只有简单，明了，有力的几个字“太好了”。这个地方值得再次观看吗？回答是值得许多次：一天的不同时去；一年的不同季节去。

Had I been asked to furnish my humble opinions of Smutwood Peak trail in Kananaskis, the answer would be “great” — concise,

unambiguous and resounding. Is this place mesmerizing enough to warrant a revisit?

A conservative answer is many more times:

different times of a day, different seasons of a year!