Mist Mountain, Not Finished

I checked the weather all around Alberta starting this past Tue. to see where I could have my first 2026 hike. I eventually selected Kananaskis Country. Not only because it's close but also because my pass is still valid. I have done hikes there in the days when no pass was required. Now you have to pay for everything and gasoline price is high. Although I need to check this Canada Strong Pass for the time I'm going top a National Park. 

I set the alarm for 04:00 and then changed it to 04:30 before going to sleep! When it went off, I woke up easily but was not sure whether I should go or not! I laid down and then got the hell out of the bed, grabbed my gear and headed to Highway #1. I needed to buy some gas because I had been too lazy to buy it the night before. I stopped at a Shell gas station on Country Hill Boulevard, I think it was $1.669, then I drove deeper south, on 16th Ave., which is an extension of TransCanada Highway (and I never knew why they did that!) it was about $1.560. When I got to the intersection of Highway #1 and Highway #40, where the big casino and all the other Indigenous people's businesses are located, it was around $1.760!
The Mist Mountain trail-head is deep in Kananaskis Country. You need to pass Highwood Pass and drive for another 10 km. When I reached there it was almost 07:30, meaning from home to the trail-head took 2 freaking hours and a half! I stopped for gasoline and a coffee, of course but still it's too long. This time, despite my first attempt which was last year, and I didn't even go up because it was raining! (another stupid excuse!) I was able to find the trail, using my handheld GPS. I will write about this stupid and useless device later to everyone who buy something like that to simply save them some dollars! The trail goes through the three and it's steep and then you come out and walk beside a creek and it becomes steeper! I was almost at 1 hour when I saw three people coming down, which is always a good thing. I was told that unless I had crampons, I would not be able to pass the snow pack and it would be very risky. Good advice. 

Recent precipitation has created a beautiful green lush in the area

At  01:15 I was on a ridge with good views and could see what the guys were talking about. I was tired anyway and the excuse saved me! I spent around 15 minutes on the ridge and headed back down. The rest of the trail which would go to the Hot Spring didn't seem too hard, if someone was well equipped but I will see that the next time I try it. The funny thing is Scottie wanted to go with me and despite the fact that I know he's full of shit, if he ever says he wants to join, I will take him but with separate vehicles. So when he's stuck like a stupid mule, I'll leave him there! People like that deserve this!  

(Photo, top: The hike ended here on this ridge where you can see the trail continues in the snow. This is probably one third of the entire hike, if not less)

Not Every Franchised Business is Similar

I don't eat at MacDonald's or any fast food joint but I like their coffee and go to one, from time to time. I used to eat breakfast in their locations. Not anymore. I stopped many years ago. Different reasons for that. Here I list them as some might find it helpful:

1) McDonald's food and generally fast food meal contains a lot of fat, salt, sugar and artificial flavour. They all are harmful to the body. Continuous consumption of them will result in illness, chronic pain, you name it. If they're consumed at a very low amount, say, once a month, it's not that harmful. The body could get rid of them, particularly if there's enough exercise. Eating them repeatedly and at ages passed 40s would certainly have detrimental consequence. That's why I stopped eating this kind of food nearly 15 years ago.

2) There was a time that everything was affordable. You could get a decent meal for a reasonable price and enjoy it and get full, even if you had a normal job. Time has changed, particularly after the Pandemic. Prices of almost everything have gone up significantly. What do businesses like McDonald's do to stay competitive? They reduce the size of their meal and charge the same. I remember Buy One, Get One coupons would arrive every two weeks. You would by a Breakfast Sandwich and you would get the exact same sandwich free of charge! Now you get a sandwich which contains two and a half bites, you're still hungry and you either have to buy another one or leave half full! 

3) Population explosion! You'd find most of the fast food very busy these days, unless you go very early, like I did this morning, although it was around 09:40! It is considered early for many on a Sat. morning, I'd assume! A week of work. You're exhausted mentally and physically or at least one! You remain in the bed until 10:00, some even 11:00 and after. What do most of people do, after they wake up on a weekend? Have a quickie and then head out for breakfast or brunch. The other reason is the cost. Fast food joints remain the most affordable food in life. No cooking is required. You don't have to wait for the meal to be prepared, you don't have to go to a supermarket to buy the ingredients and know how to fix them! Those are the reasons they make fast food joints busy. That is only the way that a family with not a considerable income entertain themselves. Get out of the house, drive for a few minutes only as there're fast food places in every neighbourhoods, get an ice cream simulated cone for $1 and everyone is happy. Go back home and wait for the next day to come! Repeat the action. It's a loop!  

Most of McDonald's and Tim Horton's (I don't set a foot on a Tim Horton's property anymore. It's been a long time, not even for a coffee) are equipped with CCTV. You know why but in case you don't it's because of the number of mentally challenged, drunkards, drug-addict, psychopath and other crazy people who wander around in Canadian cities and town are significantly or perhaps I should say astronomically higher than a normal healthy society! The business owners hope to capture the criminals in case something happens, to have the chance of, perhaps, prosecution and conviction, I'd assume. That chance in Canada is very slim because the Judicial System is built in a way to encourage committing crime not to prevent it. That's how they run the business and keep the employment acceptable. 

A woman in her 70's wearing sleeper ordering food at a McDonald's! This was during the Pandemic. There're many people like this one in Canada who their lives revolves around fast food, Las Vegas, Mexico and cable TV!

With those said, I went to a McDonald's to get a coffee and study some XRF Level II for my upcoming examination, this morning. It was quite and almost clean although you never can expect a place like that to be spotless. food pieces were sitting on some tables and they looked they were from the last night! It's a McDonald's! What do you expect. I ordered a coffee and started my reading. I realized, while taking a sip that there was no camera, as far as I could see and it was a big lobby. My guess is the closer the location to Downtown and homeless and drug-addict routes, the more security cameras are installed. I've been to Tim Horton's, many years ago, where the number of security cameras were more than a bank! It also depends on the owner, I would think. 

If you're looking for a quiet and clean McDonald's to have a coffee or anything, it's located in Edmonton Tr., in Airdrie, Alberta and I found their coffee price less than other locations. Another reason for every franchise is similar.

(Photo, top: The McDonald's lobby around 10:00 on a Sat. morning. Quiet and clean, almost. Many Drive-thru customers but not many eat-ins)

Strange Things in Google Maps

You have probably read about the strange things that are seen in Google Maps from time to time. I was looking for a different way to approach a local park and in its parking lot saw this picture: A fat, nasty disgusting pig loser in baseball cap and shorts, who probably drives that big ass truck, talking to a woman! You can see the look in face despite the fact that its blurred. While this is a normal reaction of a person when they see the Google vehicle, this disgusting fat pig might also be worried that he's caught talking to a nasty bitch! These all could be speculation but the story practically writes itself. I really hope at least one of them sees this! I've also heard it's very easy to reverse the blurred picture to the originals! I'm not interested in that but I clearly remember a freaking criminal was caught after the experts were able to turn his twisted face picture to normal! Lots of freaking sick pathetic loser in this society! 

My Salvation Army Story

Employers reimburse some of the employees' expenses, if they are legitimate. Education and safety gear are some of them. This story is about what I made up and sold to our so-called Safety Manager and my supervisor about the safety boots I had purchased and it shows how naive these people are. I did it mainly because as I've said this before most of the Canadians feel jealous when they see a foreigner, particularly someone like me from that specific part of the world, purchases valuable and quality merchandise.

I went to a branch of Red Wings and picked a pair of safety boots for a little over $300. My main goal was and still is to use the boots mainly for hiking, not for work! The guy in the store recommended another pair but because that was very heavy I picked the one I thought would be more comfortable although now I think I need to change this to a bigger size that it feels too tight! Why did I not do that in the first place? The answer is very easy: I become a lazy fool from time to time! 

With that said, I put the box in a tote with a big Salvation Army written at each side. This was given to me by my Mom and I did not ask her where she had obtained it from. I showed it to my so-called supervisor and as soon as he sees that he smiles and I think he believes that I had purchased it from a Salvation Army store! I decide to play along and rake that to the Safety Manager and tell him that I had purchased it from a Salvation Army store. He looks at the boots which obviously had never been worn and confirms that! I tell him that the guy who purchased it got into an incident, becomes injured and permanently disable as a result of them. He then sells the boots to the store to cover part of hi expense despite the fact that he is covered by insurance! The boots which are normally over $400 are sold for a little over $300! The idiot buys it, despite the fact that the receipt says Red Wings Shoes clearly on the top! He then approves it, I take it to our manager and he approves it as well. I then send the Expense Report and simply wait for reimbursement and will enjoy the boots in one of the upcoming hikes soon! 

I used another pair of Red Wings boots in a beautiful hike to the summit of Maze Mountain with my buddy Stout a few years ago but I'm not in the same state of mind and shape these days. I'm older and mentally shattered but I will try to do as many hikes as I can this summer and not only compensate for the losses but also bank more. 

(Photo: One of a few Red Wings boots which are made for hiking. I cannot tell whether this one is also a safety boot or not but when I asked the fella in the shop the other day he didn't know anything about it. The previous one was tried once, as far as I remember and was not too bad. I will have to see how this one will work after I change it with a bigger size)