We are all enjoying a lazy Sunday. I got back yesterday afternoon from four days of hiking around Sol Mountain Lodge with the VOC. I made it to the top of Mount Fosthall, the highest peak in the Monashees, one day, so I'm happy to do very little today. Jay has been working hard in the extreme heat we've been having. His legs cramped so badly one night that the pain had him dancing around the bedroom like a dervish. May was laughing her head off because he looked funny. The next day he had to leave work at noon because of cramping. Since then he's been drinking a lot of water, eating bananas and feeling better, just tired because as well as his regular work he's doing a private job. May has lots of weird shifts at the casino, and the girls have been doing a whole bunch of nothing. Today we're all doing that.
My holiday at Sol Mountain Lodge was wonderful. About 20 of us drove 21/2 hours up from Revelstoke in trucks on a really rough logging road. We parked the trucks and hiked 1.9km to the lodge. In the winter you have to go in and out by helicopter. The lodge is plain but comfortable, the staff is friendly and the cook is a wonder. He trained in Charlottetown. His food was tasty, healthy, artfully 'plated' and practically waste free. It was a treat to be able to spend four days doing nothing but hike with friends in spectacular back country. Some of us swam for a few seconds in Sol Lake one day. Getting to the top of Fosthall on the second day took everything I had, so on the other days I took easier hikes. A highlight of every day was the late afternoon sauna. It was such big one that even though it had an airtight stove to heat it, it never got as hot as ours used to, but it was enough so that after a dry session, cold outdoor shower, wet sauna and second shower, you were feeling no pain. On the first day Mo and I were alone, but each day we got more converts. My iPhone camera stopped working on the first day, so I couldn't take pictures. I hope some people will send me theirs. 
On the way to Mount Fosthall
Mount Fosthall
The VOC on Fosthall. It is the highest peak in the Manashees. When Jim and I first came to Vernon we skied at Silver Star. We arrived in the condo we had rented at night so saw nothing, but in the morning when I opened the curtains I was overwhelmed by the sight of the luminous snow capped mountains in the distance. Jim said they were the Monashees. Now I have been to the top of the highest mountain in that range. It's not a classic looking peak, and although I was exhausted by the time we got back to the lodge, it was not a difficult hike, but I felt I had come full circle to a certain extent.
The whole gang outside Sol Mountain Lodge
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