Away from it all. Once in a while everyone needs to leave the familiar behind and de-compress from job pressures.
National Geographic’s Best Hikes list popped up in my email recently and twigged an assessment memory. Among the “Thrilling Trails” list of 20 exotic locations like Papua New Guinea, Iceland and Norway, was the Crypt Lake Trail in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park on the Alberta-Montana border.
A few years ago I tried to get away from it all and headed west on vacation to the Rockies for some solo hiking and mountain biking. Far from building permits and appeals.
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The Crypt Lake Trail is a perfect day hike. You have to take a boat shuttle across a lake to reach the trailhead. From there the 10.8 mile round trip climbs 2300 feet. Along the way you pass a 600 foot waterfall, scramble through a hundred foot tunnel more suitable for dwarves, and traverse a section of cliff using a fixed cable. All to reach a hanging valley where there are still snow banks around the lake in late summer.
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If this was not getting away from it all, what was?
After catching the shuttle across the lake, another solo hiker asked to join me-it was Grizzly country, after all. Together we started the long climb from the lakeshore and the endless switchbacks meant plenty of time for conversation. Finally, we got around to occupations.
[aesop_parallax img=”http://aaom.mb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/small-assessment-world-3.jpg” parallaxbg=”on” caption=”High on the Crypt Lake Trail in Waterton-Glacier Park: the entry to its memorable four-foot high tunnel.” captionposition=”bottom-left” lightbox=”on” floater=”on” floaterposition=”left” floaterdirection=”up”]
“I’m an assessor,” I confessed.
[aesop_quote type=”block” background=”#ffffff” text=”#000000″ align=”left” size=”2″ quote=”Then the other shoe dropped: “I’m on the Appeal Board,” he said. My companion proved to be on an Alberta appeal board, and I was not so far away from it as I had thought.” parallax=”off” direction=”left”]
“So…” he said, “how are your cap rates?”
