Summer Running

Last year the Wilson family ran the Canadian Death Race as team 5 Alive. The race is a 5 leg trail run that covers 125km of terrain near beautiful in Grande Cache, Alberta.

From Death Race - 2009

From left to right:

Kim Wilson (a.k.a. Sarge) Leg 4, 38km

Brock Wilson Leg 2, 27km

Dick Wilson Leg 5, 24km

Chris James Leg 3, 19km

Liana Estbrooks (Kim's friend) Leg 1, 19km

Carol Wilson, our awesome support team is not shown.

We had an amazing time last year running the race and also training for it. It was really great to do something like this as a family. Unfortunately, my Dad's doctor told him that if he wanted to keep the knees that he was born with he wouldn't be participating in this year's death race, so team 5 Alive is no more.

I had such a good time running it last year that I've decided to solo it this year. Yup. Trail running 125km in 24 hours. It will likely end up being one of the most trying experiences of my life, but I'm looking forward to the whole thing and I'll give it my best.

Just to add to all the fun, I've entered the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run, and just found out that I was selected in the lottery draw. The Knee Knacker is a 48km long trail run that follows the Baden Powell trail along Vancouver's North Shore Mountains. The Baden Powell trail is one of the Lower Mainland's classic trails and I've always liked the idea behind the Knee Knacker, so I figured that this would be my year.

The Death Race is on the August long weekend (July 31-August 1) and the Knee Knacker is on July 10, so if anyone is looking for me between now and August, I'll likely be running. If anyone is looking for me afterward, I'll likely be sitting on the couch eating potato chips. If anyone would like to go running, let me know. It's always nice to have company and it's easier to get my butt out the door when I have someone else kicking it.

Kitten Update

The kittens are getting bigger, so we've started calling them mini-cats.

As they've grown older, they've developed an interest in politics and current events.

From Kittens! 2010

They've lost most of their kitten teeth. Here is Three with a total of four fangs on top. At one point she had eight fangs.

From Kittens! 2010

They both love piles of laundry. They both instantly start purring as soon as they come in contact with either laundry or the bed.

From Kittens! 2010

From Kittens! 2010

Face push!

From Kittens! 2010

There are a few more photos in the Picasa album.

Fly Tying

Chris and I took a fly tying course from Pacific Angler. According to Chris, fly tying is "the perfect combination of nerdy and artsy craftsy". Our fellow classmates more likely thought of fly tying as a manifestation of their ability to provide food from a minumum of resources and a connection to a simpler life. However you look at it we all had fun.

From Fly Tying

From Fly Tying

More photos in the Picasa album.

Ashlu Creek Run of the River Hydro Project

Our original intent was to ski up Cloudburst, but I forgot my skins so we reverted to plan B which was to explore the recently completed Ashlu Creek run of the river hydro project. In my mind, "run of the river" sounds like they just take a tiny bit of water out of the creek, send it through their power plant and then return the water to the creek. In reality, the project is much larger scale, and much closer to a traditional big dam hydro project.

Thank you Lynda and Josh. Those certainly are skins and yes, I forgot mine.

From Ashlu Run of the River

Our first stop was the power plant and the tail race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

Here is a pic of how much water is still in the creek.

From Ashlu Run of the River

And here is how much water was coming through the power plant. Probably close to 50:50 at this time of year, but likely the creek has more water flowing through it than the power plant.

From Ashlu Run of the River

I think that this is what's known as the tail race. It's where the pipe comes out of the ground and into the power plant.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This is what the inside of the plant looks like. The building was completely unlocked and all the gates were open. We tried to find people for a tour, but nobody was around.

From Ashlu Run of the River

We drove about 10km up the river valley to the head race. This was my first surprise. We drove really far! A tunnel runs underground for this whole length. My second surprise was that the head race isn't just a small diversion of water. It's a dam and a lake. The creek is completely blocked at this point and the landscape around the head race is very much different than it was before the dam was in place.

Miscellaneous shot of the head race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This is a weir that can be adjusted up and down as needs require. The big black things are inflatable balloons that are used to control the height of the weir. At this low flow, there was no water flowing over the weir.

From Ashlu Run of the River

A fish ladder.

From Ashlu Run of the River

A close up of the fish ladder.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This was most of what flowed past the head race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

This is the lake created behind the dam. It probably extends for about a kilometer up the valley. A significant change to the river.

From Ashlu Run of the River

Some cool hoar frost that formed on the head race.

From Ashlu Run of the River

From Ashlu Run of the River

New Kitten Pics

It's official. Chris and I are now "Crazy Cat People". I think that I'm the only one in the way of Chris owning a dozen cats and a lot of lace doilies.

In the old Kittens! album, starting with this pic.

From Kittens!

And some from a new album started for 2010 kitten pics.

From Kittens! 2010

D-Wave In The News

Google posted some information about some of the work that D-Wave has been doing with them. Pretty cool stuff and lots to look forward to.

In somewhat related news, you should check out Google Goggles.

A Sad Weekend

This past weekend 3 of the kittens were euthanized because they contracted Parvovirus for which there is no cure. It was pretty rough and our home is a lot emptier now. The two smallest kittens were initially sick as well but seem to be doing well now. The vet said that they may kick it naturally. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

The pic below is of 1, 2 and 4 as they were heading to the vet. I didn't know at the time that I wouldn't see them again. Pretty cute right to the end and pretty sad looking at them again.

From Kittens!