2011: Year in Review

2011:  Year in Review

The Passionate Hiker’s “Picture of the Week”

Last year I started my own blog, which I called “The Passionate Hiker”.  Not that anyone ever reads it!  This year I added a feature which provided me with some amusement while out on the trails, keeping an eye out for unusual pictures for my “Picture of the Week”. 

I am in the process of creating a separate photo album to capture these weekly snapshots in one handy book.

This Year’s Focus

In the past two years, I had travelled to many awesome fire lookouts, some with observers in residence and many without.  This year, I added a few new lookout hills to my “visited” list, including one so remote (Chungo) that it didn’t make Mike Potter’s fire lookouts guidebook, and one way down on the US border in a distant corner of the Flathead Valley in southern BC.

I did a lot more that visit fire lookout hills this year, enjoying many other adventures, into some well-known and much lesser known corners of the Canadian Rockies.

Overall, my focus was to pick interesting places to explore, whether they be well-known trails or more off-the-beaten-track.

Areas Explored

As in the past two years, I traveled up and down the mountains, to the US border in southern BC, north to the mountains of Jasper National Park, west into British Columbia and east to the remote country north of the David Thompson Highway.

I made full use of my National Parks pass with several trips to Banff National Park in Alberta, and also to Jasper and Yoho National Parks.  Of course I was a frequent visitor to most corners of Kananaskis Country west of Calgary.  And when I wanted a change, I made good use of the pathways in the valleys and hills close to, or within, the City of Calgary.

2011 Statistics

In 2011, I kept up the momentum for a third straight year.  This year’s statistics are shown in the table below.

Here are some of the statistical “peaks” for the year:

Highest Point:  The highest point reached all year was the south ridge of Wilcox Peak in Jasper National Park on August 3rd. 

At 8,860 feet, I had a bird’s eye view of the Columbia Icefields.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Greatest Height Gain:  The greatest height gain in one hike was 2,960 ft. on my 19 km journey across the Highwood River to Bishop Ridge on September 4th.  From here I could look down to Loomis Lake and the Elk Range mountains.

 Longest Single Day Trip:

The greatest distance achieved in one single day was a 33 kilometre trip by foot and bike, along Redearth Creek up to Shadow Lake in Banff Park on September 30th. 

Rocks were tumbling off the soaring cliffs of Mt. Ball (10,860 ft.).

Other Memorable Statistics:

• The three day trip which M and I made to Chungo Lookout in August involved a total of 40.1 kilometres, 2,756 vertical feet, and 68 creek/river crossings.
• Excluding the Shadow Lake trip, I did twelve single-day trips involving more than 18 km, including two cross-country ski trips.
• In a three day period in June I did several hikes in BC totaling 35 km and overall elevation gain of 5,445 ft.
• During my five day trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks in August, I travelled 67.4 km for a height gain of 7,130 ft.
• Right at the end of the year I made a long circuit by foot and snowshoe of the lower slopes of Moose Mountain, covering 24.3 km and a height gain of 2,215 ft.

Statistics
2011
Distance	591.3 km (hike)         + 222.5 km (bike)         +   76.7 km (X-C ski)   +   69.9 km (snowshoe) = 960.4 km   TOTAL
Height Gain	81,669 ft. (24,893 m)
Highest Point	8,860 ft.  ( 2,700 m)
Trail Time	276.0 hours
Camping	22 nights

Comparing 2011 with 2009 and 2010

2011 was another amazing year.  It seemed impossible that I could match the statistics from 2009 and 2010, but I did.  In fact, I beat the previous highest elevation gained, and came close to previous years in all other statistics, as this table shows.

Comparisons
Measure	2009	2010	2011
Dist. (km)	970	1,099	960
Gain (ft.)	64,767	94,428	81,669
Max El. (ft.)	8,253	8,415	8,860
Time (hrs.)	234	300	276
Camps (nts)	22	19	22

So in the past three years, I have travelled in total over 3,000 km, for an overall height gain of over 240,000 ft (more than eight Mount Everests - from sea level), and have camped out (tent or Boler) for sixty three nights.

Highlights of my 2011 Adventures

Greatest achievement of 2011 was clearly the successful expedition to Chungo Lookout.  This was not in any guidebook.  There was no obvious way to get there.  But I figured it out, and with the help of M we pulled off a famous victory.

Coming close to Chungo was my trip to the Flathead Valley to climb Mt. Hefty and visit the abandoned Canada-US border post at Flathead.  It took me two attempts to get there, but I succeeded.  This was a remote location only accessible by travelling 80 kilometres across a mountain range on gravel roads (and the final stretch to the border on my mountain bike).

But this year was packed with so many more success stories:

• Some of the best snow conditions I can ever recall allowed several cross-country ski and snowshoe outings into the mountains, well into Spring.
• The trip into BC and down into the Castle area opened up some remote hiking country accessed by rough and often unmarked mountain roads.
• My hikes in Banff, Yoho and Jasper National Parks confirmed to me how special the Canadian Rockies are, and how lucky I am to be able to travel popular yet breathtakingly beautiful mountain trails.
• Kananaskis Country continues to bring new surprises, even after almost thirty years of hiking there.  This year I made over thirty trips into the Elbow, Sheep, Highwood and Kananaskis Valley areas.  I snow-shoed up to the top of the Bull Creek Hills, ski’d all round the Kananaskis Valley ski trails, saw the troll at frozen Troll Falls, climbed above the clouds on Wasootch Ridge, scaled the cliffs above Ribbon Falls by hoisting myself up the metal chains, visited two ice caves, roamed across the windswept 8,000 ft. Plateau Mountain, crossed rivers, explored remote trails, returned to favorite corners, and enjoyed every journey into K Country.
• I enjoyed walks in the Cross Conservation Area just south of the City and was an early visitor to the stunning new Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park northwest of Calgary, opened this year.  Here is easy hiking but with spectacular views and good trails.
• I hiked to Siffleur Falls in the Kootenay Plains, entered a photo contest, and won a framed picture of the Siffleur River!

• Thanks to M, I occasionally abandoned my tent in favor of her Boler trailer, which made my overnight trips altogether more luxurious – as befitting a 60 year old!
• And lots more!!!

Looking Ahead

I wrote last year that I do all these trips because I enjoy it.  What better reason?

Perhaps sometimes I come close to making this an obsession.  Every week I am out doing something.  I have been fortunate over the past two years to have had little hindrance to my outdoor plans.  And I have been very fortunate with my health, not missing out on a single trip in the past three years. 

I already have a long list of hikes I want to do in 2012, so I would like to keep this going for a little longer if I can. Perhaps I’ll take it at a slower pace, and with less focus on the statistics.  We’ll see. 

The Passionate Hiker

Calgary, Alberta

December 31st, 2011

Picture of the Week

Wednesday 28 December:  Reflections

Here is my final "Picture of the Week" for 2011.  It seems appropriate to be looking back on a year crowded with interesting pictures.  This one was taken on the way out to the Elbow Valley for a long hike up the sides of Moose Mountain.

And since we're on a roll, here's a bonus picture taken at the foot of the Moose Mountain Road. 

Lots to reflect on over the past year.

Finale

Fri. 30 December:  Glenbow Ranch

 

My final adventure of 2011.  I have no idea what happened to this year, but it just flashed by.  In the process I had some exciting trips across the mountains and foothills of Alberta and British Columbia.

For my last trip, I decided on an easy stroll around the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park trails, just northwest of the city.

It was a cold morning, with one line of cloud overhead, moving southeast, and another long line of cloud stretching out from the mountains.  But gradually the skies cleared overhead, and finally the low sun climbed above the cloud, suddenly transforming the world into colour.

I walked down into the Bow Valley, across the railway and westwards to the Bow River.  I then turned back eastwards, following the northern bank of the river for three or four kilometers.  The high banks gave good views of the river, which was starting to freeze over.  The surface of the water was full of small ice patches drifting downstream.  There were plenty of very pretty areas of riverbank where at a different time of year one could relax under a warm sun and enjoy a riverside picnic.

Three long freight trains passed by as I roamed the valley floor.  The sound of their horns echoed and re-echoed up and down the valley.

As I returned west up the valley, the wind in my face felt very cold, and I was glad to turn northwards up the Tiger Lily trail which meandered up the hillsides back to the car park at the top of the hill.

This river valley has a special magic, which I felt today as I wandered around. There were enticing views of the distant snowy peaks half hidden in the cloud.  Almost a century ago, people once lived along this section of valley, beside the railway.  The trains still run through here, and now once again people stroll along the pathways.

But the strong wind was cold, and I was happy to jump into the car for some shelter.  In this way, another year of outdoor adventures came to a quiet end.

Statistics
Glenbow Ranch
Fri. 30 December
Total Dist.	11.3 km (hike)
Height Gain	330 ft.
Max. Elev.	3,970 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 8 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:      8.26 am Arr Bow R:      9.26 am Dep Bow R:   10.05 am Ret. to car:    11.34 am	Temp: between minus 2 and + 4 C.  Line of cloud moves away to SE leaving clear sky overhead and low sun, but curtain of clouds over mountains and foothills.  Strong wind gusts.  Feels cold.

Long Circuit

Wed. 28 December:  Moose/Packers/Tom Snow Circuit

Silly reason to pick this route – but I wanted a quick way to get another 800 foot height gain to take me over 80,000 feet for the year.  In the end I did a lot more than I needed.

I wouldn’t think that many people would choose to hike up the Moose Mountain road at any time of year.  In summer you can drive the seven and half steep kilometres to the Moose Mountain trailhead.  In winter, with the road closed, the summit is not generally considered to be an attainable destination.  So it was a little surprising to me how enjoyable this first leg of my long journey turned out to be. 

Today was a day more for skyscapes than landscapes.   To my west the mountains were blotted out by a line of cloud which stayed over the mountains like a curtain.  Above me and to the east, it was a cloudless day.  An occasional snow flake would blow across on the breeze.

I had started up the road before sunrise, and so enjoyed the spectacle of small pink clouds above me, the sun finally showing up low on the southeastern horizon.

This was the perfect day for MICROspikes, apart from some higher sections of trail where I needed my snowshoes.  The spikes gave me good traction all the way up the road.  Since this is an access route to remote gas wells on the flanks of Moose Mountain, the road was ploughed.  There was just one short section where the snow had drifted in the wind.

I made good progress up the mountainside, and was soon at the Moose Mountain trailhead.  The first part of the hiking trail was totally snow free, but this changed almost immediately and I had to stop to put on my snow shoes.  I could see the remains of ski tracks in the snow heading up the path.  This first section of the hiking trail always surprises people new to this route, as after a few hundred yards gently climbing the forested mountainsides, it reaches a high point and plunges steeply down to a saddle.  Here the snow had drifted across the trail and the ‘shoes came into their own. 

At the bottom of the hill, the summit of Moose Mountain came into view.  I could see across to the distant summit, and the final section of path to the fire lookout, and it seemed to be hikeable.  But on reaching the junction with MoosePackers trail, it was obvious that further progress up the heavily drifted summit trail would be very hard work indeed. 

I was happy to see that the ski tracks turned right here onto MoosePackers.  It gave me confidence that this route was possible, and that I would not have to return back the way I had come.  I also noticed a new sign at the MoosePackers junction, erected by the Calgary Mountain Bike group.  This was the first of many new signs I saw today, marking the new mountain bike routes.

MoosePackers turned out to be an easy snow-shoe journey.  Lower down, as I traversed the east side of the mountain, I swapped snow shoes for MICROspikes, where the snow thinned out.  Here I had good glimpses of Calgary across on the eastern horizon.  The ski tracks had been made by a skier coming in the opposite direction to me.  This energetic person had ski’d up the ten steep zig-zags.  I was glad to be going down and not up.  Soon I was out onto the open slopes and after a short walk down the steep mountain road, I reached the junction with Tom Snow Trail.

I had not traveled Tom Snow before, and I could see that it would make a good ski trail, given more snow.  This trail runs south all the way back to the Elbow Valley road, at a gentle downhill angle, at least until the southern end where it climbs over a hillside.  The further south I went, the icier the path became, and I was glad of my spikes.  I could stride confidently down a sheet of ice at a fast walking pace, with no fear of slipping.

Finally, after a gentle switchback, two bridges, and one annoying uphill section, I came out of some pleasant woods into the Station Flats parking area beside the Elbow Valley road.  The sound of voices floated through the trees – the first people I had encountered on this long circuit.

Turning west, I headed up the Elbow Valley back to the car.  Except that I made it more difficult for myself than I needed to.  After stopping for a picnic in a copse of trees, watching the sun battle with the swirling clouds to the west, I carried on up the Elbow Valley trail.  Here several families were enjoying tobogganing down a small slope beside the highway.

But this trail started to climb steeply back up the hillside.  After several hundred feet of climbing I decided to contour around the mountainside, feeling sure that the Mountain Road was not far ahead of me.  It was a little further than I thought, and I had to battle some heavy sections of deadfall until I once more came upon the trail.  From here it was a quick return to the car.

I had done a lot more than I had planned today, but it was a perfect day to be out in the mountains.  In the process of enjoying these remote trails, I had completely forgotten the original purpose of my trip, turning a boring trudge up an icy road into an adventure into high mountain country.

Statistics
Moose/Packers/Tom Snow
Wed. 28 December
Total Dist.	21.0 km (hike)  +  3.3 km (‘shoe) = 24.3 km
Height Gain	2,215 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,560 ft.
Time	6 hrs. 31 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       8.37 am TopMooseRd:10.23 am MPackers Jn:10.54 am TSnow Jn:     11.52 am Stn Flats:        1.38 pm Ret. to car:      3.08 pm	Temp: between + 5 and + 6 C.  Clear to east, cloudy over mtns.  Mostly clear overhead, light breeze at times.