hiking up to the ice caves

It's a beautiful day in the Canadian Rockies. As you can see it's sunny and warm despite all the snow. It's only like negative one right now and I have a good feeling about today. We're heading up to some ice caves. I've never been up here before. I brought my climbing helmet just in case because I'm not sure what the cave situation is actually like so we'll see. Sometimes I step back and realize how incredible it is to be doing stuff like this. This is what I pictured myself doing as a kid. Like just hiking off into the wilderness by myself. But as a kid I knew nothing about hiking or the outdoors. Like it just seemed so impossible and so out of reach. So the fact that I'm able to do these things now and it's actually part of my regular routine is really incredible. And I just find myself like smiling on the trail realizing that I'm like healing my inner child a little bit because this is what she would have wanted. I think I'm starting to get close. I see some frozen waterfalls way up there and if I'm not mistaken I think that over there might be the ice cave. Five and a half kilometers in and we've Ow. My hair is stuck in the poles. I think. Ow. Come on. Ow. Okay. I'm getting toasty. There's a steep bit back there that I was hiking up and that in addition to like the loose snow is a bit of a workout. I'm being honest. We're so close to the ice caves though I can see I think the cave that I'm going to. I'm also glad I wore my spikes. Not really necessary because it's not icy but it does help give you some traction in the snow. Onwards and upwards. I haven't even hit the steepest part yet. Look at that. The steepest is yet to come. This is a burner. My calves are on fire. My ankles are on fire. I don't want to talk to you right now but I'm so out of breath. It would just probably sound gross because I'm just like heaving but here I am doing it anyway I guess. I can't even describe the the peace of mind you get. Like if you've done hikes like this you know but like, sorry I'm out of breath, the peace of mind you get from just being out here and it's completely silent. Like all I can hear is my breathing and my feet on the snow but when I stop walking it's like nothing except for my breathing. These are the moments that make me proud to be Canadian. This, like when I come out into the woods or come out into the mountains, this to me is Canada and this is the part that I'm proud of. Like I drive an hour out of the city and suddenly I'm here. I'm almost at the top also I think. Actually probably not. I am 6.61 kilometers deep. I mean yeah almost at the top but I have a big spike so it's steep for a while. I'm catching my breath. That's a big ass ice cave. Like I saw the photos but it looks so much bigger in person. Right up there. cave but it's like an ice cave and the best part is I get to actually go inside. You know when you pass by something cool like this on the road?