Preparing for winter

For once we didn’t manage to get into the mountains this weekend. Instead we were finding, trying, buying and fixing ski gear. In the end Aleisha managed to get a pair of Salomon X-Screams and I got some Elan Fusion S12's, best of all they were both super cheap. We also had our first lesson in our eight week indoor climbing class and I think that I am now reasonably confident hanging off a knot that I tied myself.

Plain of Six Glaciers

The Plain of Six Glaciers hike in Lake Louise is normally swarming with tourists but with chilly temperatures and fresh snow on the ground we basically had the trail to ourselves.

Unfortunately the weather was not quite perfect so we couldn't quite see all six glaciers

Some famous ugly hotel on Lake Louise with the Lake Louise ski field in the background.

A Clark's Nutcracker - not much wildlife on the trails at the moment

Happy hikers

Ptarmigan Cirque

I dont know if you can really call Ptarmigan Cirque a hike, at only 5km its more like a brisk stroll in the mountains. But with rather ominous clouds and sloppy conditions under foot we didnt dare try anything longer. In the end it turned out to be a good trip as on the way there we spotted 6 Moose and a rather large Grizzly.

Moose

My finely tuned instincts and outstanding outdoor survival skills make me wonder if bad weather was on its way.

Anyone fancy some postholing?

Winter Hiking - Forgetmenot Ridge

This last week saw the arrival of winter in Calgary with our first snowfall of the season. While most Calgarians were heading off to the mall, we decided to attempt one last hike for the season. We planned to only venture out to the front range in the hope of avoiding the snow and freezing temperatures, this idea failed. The tempeatures hovered around -10 C all day and there was a good foot of fresh snow on the ground. On the plus side, no one else was dumb enough to go out so we had the mountain to ourselves. In the end the cold and snow were not a problem and we had an amazing hike.

Aleisha enjoyed the day as much as I did, honest.

The view from the top, well close to top.

It wouldnt be a Thanksgiving hike without pumpkin pie.

Egypt Lake in Fall

Last weekend we finially overcame our fear of bears and did our first canadian overnight tramping trip. The desitiation was Egypt lake, a place we had been earlier on a ski touring trip. We timed the trip perfectly as the Larch trees had just turned a magnificent shade of yellow.

The trip started off at Sunshine Village Ski resort, we cheated and took a bus to save us a 600 m climb.

Larch trees

Approaching Healy Pass

The view from Healy Pass looking down to Egypt Lake

The frosty view after a cool (-10 C) night.

Larch Valley & Sentinel Pass

This weekends trip was to the tourist trap of Lake Louise for the Larch Valley/Sentinel Pass hike. Whilst the hikes are popular, they are popular for a very good reason. Thankfully though the crowds were minimal, surprising considering the incredible weather.

At the pass

We were hoping that the Larch trees would have turned more yellow but it looks like the warm weather has delayed the autumn colours by a few weeks.

Another hike, another view of a glacier

Vancouver

Last weekend Aleisha and I decided to pop over to Vancouver to hang out with Stefan and Claire. Unfortunately the weather was average and it rained a lot, but thats Vancouver for you. Despite the weather we still had a great time and managed to do a bit of sightseeing, even if the sights were obscured by clouds.

Checking out the sights in Vancouver before the rain sets in

Banana Slug, one of the critters that enjoy the rain.