Marrakesh

So, we're not exactly renowned for our punctuality. I believe the term is called Storckie-time. Nonetheless, here is the distilled version of 3 weeks in Morocco in June 2007. Enjoy.

Marrakesh is a city that should be on everyone's list of places to go before they die. It is magical in every possible way, including its annoyances. By far, the best destination we've been to in a long time.

OJ everywhere ten times a day. Freshly squeezed before your eyes, no sugar, no preservatives, as much or as little pulp as you like. Djemaa El Fna. The UNESCO world heritage village square. Like the Stampede on steroids, 365 days a year. Dining out.
Eating out took on a whole new meaning.

Hiking the Atlas and more to come....

More Morocco

The Atlas mountains are a high but narrow range with plains on one side and the Sahara on the other. We set out on a multi day trip with Omar, our tight-lipped guide, our mule (which I fretted over constantly - "is it carrying too much?"), and our muleteer, who didn't speak a work for 4 days.
A Club Alpin hut built by the French at 3000 m. The mule slept outside.

Toubkal Refuge was a bit like I imagine Everest base camp; littered with various mini tent-nations waiting to make a summit bid (albeit on a much smaller mountain).

King of the Atlas.

Our poor mule, Eeyore. They are all so depressed looking. Hell, wouldn't you be depressed if all you did was carry heavy stuff up and down mountains for your entire life?

Omar, Berber guide (un)extraordinaire. On snow at nearly 4000 m.

Now, doesn't he look like he is enjoying himself?

The highest summit in North Africa reflected in cheap Mexican sunglasses.

Rocky was an understatement in the Atlas. Descending Toubkal, the highest summit in North Africa at 4100m.

Sunrise clouds over the Sahara. As seen from Toubkal summit.

Mountain man pose.

Berber truck (mule) stop. Coca cola cold on the trail. Ahhh.

A change of pace after cement floors and Berber villages. I thought I had died and gone to heaven in this hotel. Divine.

Seaside at Essaouria.

Morocco at its finest

We lingered in Essaouira and then along the remote southern coast. It was so hard to leave. Some random shots...

Kitesurfing in Essaouira

The South Atlantic Coast - near Western Sahara

Like Northern California, only warmer, and deserted. And Muslim.

Coca Cola everywhere. Always safe to drink.

A better nutrition choice. Fresh squeezed OJ at $0.40 a tumbler x 6-7 per day. You just had to plan carefully as public bathrooms were limited (or disgusting). The carpet bazaar in Marrakesh. All the Berber nomads are auctioning their wares to the carpet middlemen.

Sunset in a berber village (where we spent a rather uncomfortable, but memorable night).

An oasis of agriculture in a dry dry country.

Wells Gray Video

Karl's AMAZING video of our Wells Gray Trip. Excellent work!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sw2IX4o5vU

First annual Ski BBQ

This blog thing is getting challenging. I can never get onto the computer these days since Aric has moved into the office. Only when he's out for work can I sneak in and post photos, etc. So, without further ado, here are some belated photos of the first annual Burstall BBQ. It was Karl's idea to have a snag (?) up top on Easter weekend - good work.

First, the disc (yo) was tossed around, just like at any BBQ.

It becomes painfully obvious that we should have brought a coloured disc (yo) instead of white. Skoki played hardest I think.

An extra work out plowing through the snow.

Thank goodness it's a soft landing.

Tired Tanna.

After the game, the boys took a breather with some cool ones and fired up the Hibachi. The girls reclined and let the boys do the BBQ thing.

Notice Shawn is feeding his dog beer.

The goods at the top of the pass. Looked good even to the veg in the group, and smelled even better!

Just like at any good BBQ, after food and beer have been consumed, someone comes up with a stupid idea. In this case, it involved stripping...

and then skiing.

Shirtless. But thank heavens they have beacons on.

Skoki and Banana restraining themselves from poaching the line.

As if that weren't enough time together, the party continued the next morning with Easter brunch at Heather and Kip's, complete with the quintessential egg hunt. Happy Easter!