Welcome to Blue River

Jean drove me north

Today started with another breakfast for the books. Jean’s homemade French toast.

Deeelicious

after a slow leisurely morning, we packed up the car and Jean and I set off for Blue River. Yesterday, I had asked Jean if she was sure she was willing to drive me? She said, “Absolutely!!!! I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t prepared to drive you!” When we left the house, she handed me a Tupperware with sweet potato chips because I “always seem to be hungry.” We drove through microclimate after microclimate: sun, graupel, slush and cloudy weather. Jean pointed out the changes in vegetation as we drove. The drier landscapes were covered in firs and birch trees. The wetter sections had thicker forests of hemlock and cedar.

When we arrived in Blue River, Jean said, “Come here!” And gave me a big hug before leaving.

My new host family: Lee, Tom, and their two boys Grayson and Richard couldn’t be more welcoming. Lee is a really good person to know. Before I arrived she had already reached out to Mike Wiegele Heli Skiing, an operation here in town, to ask if they had any free spots in the helicopter today. She also reached out to the local school here in Blue River to see if I could go in and give a talk. The school has four total students, one of whom is Lee’s son Grayson.

Lee and her husband Tom both grew up in Manitoba and went to the same high school but didn’t date. Lee moved out to Calgary and then became a “mud man” on the oil rigs in northern BC. She got hired over email, so the company had only seen her name was Lee. When she finally spoke on the phone to the company, they said we can’t hire you. She said you already did. They said a woman can’t do the work of the rigs. She said that’s not for you to decide. She ended up working out on the rigs for four years before becoming a salesperson at the office in Calgary. From Calgary, Lee and Tom moved their family out to Blue River to have a better life style and go snowboarding. Apparently Blue River has some of the best snowboarding and skiing accessible via snow mobile in Canada.

Jean knew Mike Wiegele when he moved to Blue River. Jean’s mother in law did the snowfall reports every year, so Mike asked for the records. After reviewing snowfall records across the region, he decided to set up his heli skiing operation here. There is significantly more snow here than there was in Clearwater, and they are only at 33% of their typical snowfall for this time of year.

I had no idea my running route to Jasper passed through such world class skiing. I didn’t expect to see any skiing for at least another 100km.

Tonight, we went to play pickup basketball at the school. I finally got to try changing directions for the first time since I started my adventure (usually I just run one way).

I knocked down a lot of buckets. The other team finally figured out and yelled don’t let him shoot! The game also presented the opportunity for me to acknowledge the possibility that I have injuries beyond soreness. I hobbled and shuffled across the court all night. And I watched the other folks running their hearts out with envy. It struck me that compared to the other pick up players I had an extremely difficult time putting any power into my steps. When I tried running backwards, I felt pain in my hamstrings. I wish I had some frame of reference like pickup basketball throughout my trip to be able to gauge my power. There’s no shortage of strength, my legs are huge, but my body is blocking me from flexing those muscles.

I wish I could pinpoint the injuries to a specific moment but I think I’ve just been running through stuff for some time. Lee and Tom said I can stay for a couple days. It appears I’m officially in limbo as I wait to see if I regain strength and energy (still sleeping A LOT). Not a bad place to get stuck. Maybe I’ll get out for a ski.