"Not expty from pocket"

Just had breakfast of freshly squeezed pineapple juice, mangos, papayas, mini bananas and a decent cup of cappucino on the beach here in Chaweng, Ko Samui. Going to hit the beach for a 7dollar, 1 hour Thai massage and will ponder the rest of my strenous day. Today is a "rest day", after yesterday's excursion. Ellen and I took a speedboat ride out to Ang Thong National Park to view some really interesting Islands and rock formations jutting out from the sea. Stopped and did some snorkelling in the am before a delicious lunch on a small island town on the beach. After lunch we boated over to another island for some sea kayaking, swimming and snorkelling before a long and bumpy ride back to Ko Samui.

Ellen is finding hard keeping me relaxed at our "Relax Resort Bungalows and Restaurant" accomodation. All I want to do, is keep doing. I will burn off some calories at the coming Full Moon party on Ka Phagang. Lots of non-stop dancing and swimming action that can attract a crowd of nearly 10 thousand!

I will up load some photos once i figure out how.

Khwat Khlun

Koh Samui

Holy shit! What a crazy place Thailand is. Flight over was long but everything went smoothly and our bags amazingly met us at the airport in Bangkok after a 23 hour journey. We had an escort waiting to take us to our airport hotel from some much needed Zs. The next day we got back on another short flight down to a dirty town named Surat Thani where we caught a ferry ride over to the Island of Ko Samui. That was another full day of travelling but everything went smooth yet again. We just spent the day cruising around the Island on a scooter (rented for 6bucks for 24hours). Gas was sold by the glass bottle. Driving is close to chaos and pretty dangerous if you dont keep your head up. Definately a 2 person job if you are rookies like Ellen and I. Food is sooo tasty. Never thought a fresh mango could taste so good - and i never used to like them!! Grilled corn and fish skewers on the beach, mistery meat skewers from the market, fresh seafood, rice, coconut milk everywhere!!! Everything is so delicious I can't wait for my next meal. We also went to a zoo today. Saw some amazing aquatic creatures, monkeys, elephant, leopards, and got my pic taken with bengal tiger!!! Trying to stay up late for the next few nights to get ready for crazy full-moon party next week. Gotta go!!!

Gym Jive

Why do some people make so much noise while lifting weights? I can see the occasional yelp or "adse!" during a moment of shear intensity, but a 'Sharma' like scream at every bicep curl? Let's get real. It always seems to be the fella thats kinda big, but not big enough that you don't have the balls to tell him to cool it. Frankly, it's disstracting and annoying. I know MMiller feels the same way and he's lifting more than anyone I know personally! Maybe I'm just jealous as I cower in the corner of the gym trying to lift my puney weights - not sure. Maybe I can lift more if I scream with every rep? Good beats on the MP3 and a can of red bull seems to be working for now.

ACC Blizzard

Check out the latest Alpine Club of Canada E-Bizzard. A quarterly publication put together by ACC volunteers and articles written by ACC members. It's now in E form so we're saving trees from being cut down! Yeah!

ACC Blizzard August 2009

On the Outskirts of Banff

There are more trails on the outskirts of Banff than you realize. I have been living in Banff for the past 6 years climbing, skiing, running, biking and exploring and I am still discovering new trails in my own backyard that extend far into the backcountry. BBell and I set out from the doorstep of his home this afternoon for a wonderful trail run on a blanket of fresh snow. The temps were perfect and and the sky was clear. I followed BBell on a maze of trails throughout the forests never far from the townsite. He showed me new terrain and a different angle on some of the surrounding peaks. We ran for about 15kms on mostly snow covered trail around sundance area and back again. The last run I did was a month and a half ago and my legs were feeling it in the end. Deffinately beats running on a treadmill while trying to read the closed caption script on a nearby tv.
Im looking forward to the next one.