Crystal Line

Sun. 17 April:  Crystal Line

Fresh powder on the West Bragg Creek ski trails in the second half of April?  You must be kidding! 

Not this year.  In fact, this short trip was one of the most enjoyable of a long winter season.  My newly acquired waxless skis worked perfectly, and the four to six inches of new snow, still falling, made the few downhill sections smooth and controlled.

Imagine breaking trail along the Mountain Road trail from the West Bragg Creek parking area on a Sunday morning.  Usually there would already be people and their dogs pouring out of their cars and onto the trail.  But today the roads were treacherous, and the snow had been falling steadily all weekend.  So there was only one other car in the car park as I set off.  The occupant of that vehicle and his two golden retrievers ended up doing the exact reverse route as I did.  We met again half way round, and arrived back at about the same time.  

The snow was falling lightly as I ski’d along the road.  A hazy sun was doing its best to break through the cloud cover, but it had no warmth, and the temperature was around six degrees below freezing.

Mountain Road runs alongside Bragg creek, which was still buried under the snow.  It didn’t take me long to reach the junction with Moose Connector trail.  I herring-boned up a short hill before turning left into the forest.  This was a pretty trail between the snow-covered trees, gently undulating around the hillsides.  I passed a single skier, and a little later, met the skier with the two dogs, which were having a grand time lolloping along through the snow.

Crystal Line is a dead straight two kilometer-long cut-line through the trees, rising to a high point before dropping gently down to the valley floor.  Snow conditions were excellent, and I was under complete control dropping down the hillside, the waxless skis running smoothly through the six inches of fresh snow.  It was not at all icy.

In no time I was back at the car, feeling that I could have done more, but just not inclined to do so.  “Quit while you’re ahead” won the day.

The road from Bragg Creek to the start of the ski trails had been tricky in the morning, but as I left the car park, the snow plough was just clearing the road ahead, so it was much easier on the return.

At the Elbow River bridge in Bragg Creek I noticed some young deer down by the edge of the river, in the snow.  I took some good pictures from the bridge.

By this time, the snow was easing off, and the roads were in much better shape as I returned to the city.  One of these days, it will warm up – I suppose.  In the meantime, I’m still making use of my winter gear – and my long underwear!

Statistics
Crystal Line, W. Bragg Ck.
Sun. 17 April
Total Dist.	4.6 km (XC ski)
Height Gain	100 ft.
Max. Elev.	4,800 ft.
Time	1 hr. 24 mins.

Other Stats.
Start ski:         9.19 am Moose Conn.:  9.53 am Ret. to car:    10.43 am	Temp. -6 deg. C Hazy sun, snowing lightly

The Winter that wouldn't end

Sat. 9 April:  The Winter that wouldn’t end

 

Well into April and still no sign of the hiking season.  So today I went on two separate winter trips, one on skis and the other on snow-shoes.

The sun now rises before 7 a.m., and it needs an early start to get the best out of the cross-country ski trails at this time of year.  As soon as the sun comes up, the snow gets all sticky.  Waxless skis apparently work quite well in these conditions, so I went out and rented a pair to try them out.

Not surprisingly, the roads were quiet so early in the morning before dawn.  The weather had been cloudless the day before, but this morning there was a fair amount of thin cloud over the mountains.  The road surface was dry all the way down the Kananaskis Valley.  

I was on the trail before seven o’clock, setting out from Pocaterra hut.  I quickly found that waxless skis don’t have much of a grip, and I was herring-boning up any tiny slope that was not completely flat.  The grooming machine had been up here only two days ago, but it had snowed almost every night for the past few weeks, so I relied on skier tracks, where I made good progress.  The double set of tracks soon reduced to one.

I turned around at Lynx junction.  There was still deep snow all around, and the snow-covered mountains were a little hazy today.  It was a silent and grand setting so early in the morning.  Earlier this week someone had seen bear paw prints on the Tyrwhitt trail, at the south end of the Peter Lougheed Park.  I had bear spray ready but saw no wildlife at all.

The return journey down the icy and crusted tracks was an interesting experience.  The skis made a sort of humming sound like a little motor, as I glided effortlessly back down the trail.  This is where the waxless skis have the advantage.  I had very little control, except in patches where the snow was still soft.  Most of the trail was glazed ice.  I made it back to the Pocaterra hut safely, enjoying a sandwich in the warmth and comfort of the cabin.  A couple of middle-aged snow-shoers were walking towards the hut as I returned to the car.  We exchanged greetings.  Theirs was the only other car in the car park.  The temperature had risen from minus 5 to minus 2 while I was on the trail, and it would continue to rise steadily during the day.

Statistics
Pocaterra Trail to Lynx Jn.
Sat. 9 April
Total Dist.	7.2 km (XC ski)
Height Gain	200 ft.
Max. Elev.	5,545 ft.
Time	1 hr. 45 mins.

]

Since it was still not yet nine o’clock on a pleasant Saturday morning, I decided to try another challenge.  I would drive up the Smith-Dorrien Highway to Burstall Lakes parking lot, and would snow shoe up towards the lakes.

Smith-Dorrien runs the Icefields parkway a close second for scenic beauty: a high valley lined by spectacular peaks (and some glaciers), side valleys leading up to hidden lakes, and the best snow conditions in Alberta.  At Chester Lake car park, snow depth was reported today at 160 cm (over five feet).  Right across the highway from there is Burstall Lakes car park.  It did not surprise me to find a half dozen vehicles there, and the Park Ranger in her truck.  This is a very popular backcountry skiing trail, with superb powder up at the Pass.  It is also a very dangerous place up there.  Two men died on the Pass earlier this season, caught by an avalanche.

I wasn’t planning to go all the way (over 8 km) to the Pass, but was content to snow shoe out into this wintry scene as far as I had the energy to do so.  The Spray Valley floor is wide and flat here, with the trail heading quite steeply up Burstall Creek, towards the distant Pass.  

I veered away from the main trail, following a set of very large snow shoes which headed out across the open landscape of scattered trees and rolling meadows buried under deep snow.  Whoever this person was, he must have been a giant.  I am tall, but my long stride could not keep up with the large prints made by those snow shoes.  

After wandering across the valley floor, the ‘shoe prints headed up onto the forested mountainside, making a haphazard route up through the trees.  I had no idea where I was going!  But it was an interesting challenge following those tracks.  The general direction was up, and the person seemed to know where they were going, as the tracks intersected some forestry trails.  I heard some voices in the trees far above me.  Eventually after a long steep ascent, I came out – miraculously – on the main trail up Burstall Creek.  The giant snow shoe tracks continued to head straight up the forested slopes, but I turned onto the narrow trail, and set off up towards the Pass. 

The skiers and snowshoers ahead of me had beaten down a nice path, about a foot deep in the surrounding snow, and now the angle eased off, so it was easier going.  Down below me to the right was a deep creek, which further up the trail led to the Burstall Lakes, mostly hidden in the trees below me.  The trail crossed a dangerous looking avalanche path running down the huge mountainside above me.  A little further along the trail I squeezed past a very large boulder, result of an earlier avalanche.  

In summer this is a wide forestry trail, and you can push or ride your bike up here for the first three and a half kilometers.  At that point, the trail dives into the trees, and then reaches the wide flats below Burstall Pass.

By this time, at the point where I had my first good view ahead of the flats and the Pass, I decided that this would be a good place to turn around.   Almost immediately I met a handful of snow shoers coming up the trail, asking whether I had been up to the Pass.  I smiled and said that I had not.  A little later I passed a single snow shoer who wondered whether there was a loop back down across the lakes and I told him I thought that there was no such route.  That was all the people I saw on the trail today.

On the return journey I stuck to the main trail, which angled nicely down to the valley floor.  The spectacular peaks were half hidden in the haze, with a weak sun shining through the cloud.  It had been breezy higher up, but by now it was above freezing.  I made good time back to the car, where a backcountry skier was preparing to set out up the trail. 

I drove home via the Spray Lakes and Canmore.  The surface of the Smith-Dorrien along the Spray Lakes was varied.  In places it was smooth and snow packed, but especially closer to Goat Creek, it was wretchedly muddy with small and large potholes.  There were lots of people out in the middle of the wide lake, ice fishing and playing.  There were also single vehicles parked alongside the road in random places, where, I suppose, skiers or snow-shoers had headed out onto their favorite trails.  The steep road down to Canmore still had deep drifts along its precipitous sides.

This had been an active day, which I hope will mark the official end to my winter season adventures.  But with all that snow still out there, I’m not guaranteeing it.     

Statistics
Burstall Creek
Sat. 9 April
Total Dist.	7 km (‘shoe)
Height Gain	330 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,560 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 03 mins.

Statistics
Total 2 trips
Sat. 9 April
Total Dist.	14.2 km
Height Gain	530 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,560 ft.
Time	4 hrs. 48 mins.

Other Stats.
Start ski:         6.56 am Lynx Jn.:        7.57 am Ret. to hut:     8.41 am Temp. -5 to -2 deg. C Sun behind mtns, mostly cloudy	Start ‘shoe:     9.24 am Open flats:    11.12 am Ret. to car:    12.27 pm Temp. 0 to +3 deg. C Hazy sun, breeze higher up

The Weather Window

Fri. 11 March: Sandy McNabb Ski Trails
Now the warmer temperatures are here, but I’m not ready for them yet! I really wanted one more good outing on my cross-country skis. And temperatures below about 10 degrees C are ideal for waxing and snow conditions.

But the forecast for the next week was for above zero – apart from early on Friday when it would still be around minus 11 degrees! That was enough for me. I was up early and on the road before dawn, anxious to grab what might be the last really good burst of a long, cold winter.

It had snowed overnight in the Sheep Valley, and I was lucky that the snow-plough was somewhere ahead of me clearing and gritting the road. A few minutes later, there he was, hurtling down the road towards me on his way back out to Turner Valley, leaving a well-ploughed road behind him.

I was on the trail soon after 7 a.m., the sun having just risen. Today I would explore some of the Sandy McNabb ski trails which I had not ski’d last time I was here in December. There were about 2 to 3 inches of new snow on the trail, covering a crusty surface, caused by well above zero temperatures the day before. Luckily all these trails had been track-set just a week ago, so there was almost a tramline of crusted snow-covered ski trail to follow most of the way round. The tricky thing was controlling one’s speed on the downhill sections.

My route took me westwards along Long Prairie Loop, which made its way up a pretty valley, then northeast on Balsam Link, before heading up to the viewpoints on Pine Ridge Trail and so back down Macabee Creek, perhaps 9 km in total. These gentle, forested foothills make the perfect cross-country skiing terrain, and scenery. When the snow is good, such as now, it makes for a very enjoyable adventure.

Balsam Link starts off easily enough as it threads through the forest, but then it starts to climb a long hill, finally reaching the top of a forested ridge. Although the air temperature was around minus 13 degrees C at the start, the snow temperature measured only minus 5 degrees. I picked the right wax. It allowed me to climb these long hills quite easily, only herring-boning up the steepest parts.

Turning left onto Pine Ridge, I followed the crest of the hillside until I came up to the two viewpoints. Here were two clearings in the trees, the first with a low bench and the second with a picnic table. It was cloudy and so the views were not extensive. On a clear day apparently one looks across to Calgary over the rolling hills to the northeast. Today it was a magical combination of low forested ridges, with open snow-covered meadows, merging into the sky.

I was not brave enough to try skiing down the precipitously steep and narrow trail down off the ridge. Instead I plodded down the hill in my boots until the slope seemed more manageable. I made good time down the valleys, with just a couple of small upsets, and plenty of slightly out of control sections through the trees on a hard packed trail.

Finally with one long, fast descent I came down into the valley and was soon back at the car, with no bones broken, but a newly bent ski pole!

There was nobody else on these trails today, and already the temperatures were rising and the snow changing its consistency. It might have been the last opportunity for a good winter’s outing, and I had made the best of it.

But would I have enough energy left for tomorrow’s expedition?


StatisticsSandy McNabb Ski Trails
Fri. 11 March

Total Dist. 9 km (X-C ski)
Height Gain 705 ft.
Max. Elev. 5,380 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 27 mins.

Kananaskis Ski Trails

Sat. 19 February: Kananaskis Ski Trails

The snow conditions this winter have been the best I can ever recall. Today the cross-country ski trails down in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park were in just about perfect condition. The only problem was that, arriving at the Pocaterra trailhead, at sunrise on a cloudless morning, I found that the temperature was minus 25 degrees C! Not surprisingly I found myself alone in the cosy log cabin which acts as the warming hut.

I had started early from town, and ahead of me, sinking towards the western horizon. was a large moon, just past full. Coming up over Scott Hill on the Trans-Canada Highway, I was treated to the spectacular sight of the snow-covered front ranges, looking as high as the Himalayas, hanging in the air.

Halfway down the Kananaskis Valley, I saw a huge elk stag with an enormous set of antlers, standing beside the road. He moved into the trees, but not before I had taken a picture. I was a little disappointed later to find that, in studying the picture on my computer, he had a large number tag in his ear. He was elk # 133!

I had never been inside the Pocaterra warming hut before. It was a pleasant surprise. This spacious log cabin had several tables and benches inside, arranged in front of a log fireplace. Outside were ski racks and a groomed area for new cross-country skiers to practice on. The two large thermometers outside the hut showed that it was minus 25 degrees C.

My journey today would take me up the easy Pocaterra trail, then right onto Lynx, connecting to first Woolley then Meadow, and finally Lodgepole, to bring me back to the start, in a loop which was just short of 12 km.

Pocaterra had just been groomed and track-set, earlier that morning, and amazing to relate, for a sunny Saturday on the most popular route in K Country, I was first on the trail – and I had it all to myself. As I came towards the junction with Lynx, the first sunshine was starting to reach the trail. It was a cloudless, but very cold, day. I wore two hats and two layers of gloves.

Turning onto Lynx, I left the immaculately groomed tracks behind, and was now on skier set tracks. It had snowed almost every day last week, and there was about 3 inches of fresh snow on the trail. Lynx is rated as intermediate, mostly due to one long hill, which was uphill in my direction.

Today’s conditions were as perfect as you will ever find. The “easy” trails were ridiculously easy. The “more difficult” trails were easy, and the “most difficult” section which I encountered at the end of Lodgepole, was a joy. My new boots and old metal edged skis made this one of the most enjoyable outings I have ever had, in over thirty years of cross-country skiing.

Near the junction of Lynx and Woolley I met a guy and then a girl on the trail. They were the only skiers I saw until I returned to the warming hut at Pocaterra.

Woolley runs beside an open meadow with views across to the snowy peaks above, and frozen forested hillsides. In summer there is a lake beside this trail. Meadow Trail actually climbs up through the trees before dropping down a long hillside into the Visitor Centre car park.

I stopped here to enjoy the warmth and comfort of the lounge. This tall-ceilinged log building has a fireplace and comfy seats, with huge windows looking out to the mountains. A group of older people was preparing for a short outing on the ski trails.

Back on Meadow trail, I enjoyed a long descent through the trees, until coming out onto Lodgepole, beneath the power-lines. Here was the only “difficult” section of my trip, a very steep descent. It was a joy, as I whizzed down the steep slope under perfect control.

I was soon back at the start. By now, several other groups had arrived and were preparing to set out on the trail. Inside the warming hut, a dozen younger people were splitting up into the “fast” and “slow” teams for a trip up the same route as I had just completed. It was a relaxed setting and I was glad of the warm cabin to enjoy a sandwich and hot drink, before heading back to town.

The thermometer now showed minus 15 so it had warmed up a lot since I had set out. But it was still a cold day. Of course the best thing about skiing in temperatures below minus 15 is that you can hardly go wrong with the waxing, and that made the whole trip so much better, with great gliding and also good traction up the hills. In fact, it was the perfect day out on skis.


Statistics
Kananaskis Ski Trails
Sat. 19 February

Total Dist. 11.9 km (XC Ski)
Height Gain 260 ft.
Max. Elev. 5,545 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 42 mins.

Looking Back

January 10, 2011:

The Passionate Hiker is taking this first part of January to finish off his outdoor diary for 2010. It runs to 394 pages and will go to the printers this week. In the meantime he is making a list of outdoor adventures for 2011 and will soon be out there again - so stand by!









For anyone interested, here is an extract from the summary of my 2010 diary:

2010 Statistics

Distance: 1,099 km, broken down as follows:

• 626 km (hike) +
  
• 321 km (bike) +


• 75 km (cross-country ski) +


• 77 km (snow shoe)
  

Height Gain: 94,428 ft. (28,782 m)

Highest Point: 8,415 ft. (2,565 m)

Time on the Trail: 300 hours

Nights camped: 19

The Year of the Fire Lookout

In 2010, I decided to make my main focus the fire lookouts of the Canadian Rockies. This was inspired by my finding, in 2009, a guide book on this subject. As I started to read it, I became intrigued by the challenge of how to reach some of these remote places. It seemed a perfect combination: a well-graded trail leading to a hilltop with a good view, and often someone to chat to when you got there.

In past years, I had already travelled to some of these lookouts, but this past year I explored a lot more of them. Not that all my hikes involved fire lookouts. Far from it. I enjoyed many other adventures this year, into some well-known and much lesser known corners of the Canadian Rockies.

My goals for the year were to try and get out every weekend of the hiking season either to hike or to mountain bike (or a combination of both) somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and Foothills, or occasionally within Calgary itself. In the winter I would cross-country ski or snowshoe somewhere.

At the start of the year I developed a listing of the places I wanted to visit, and the details of how to get there, trail length, elevation gain, and so on. By the end of the year I had accomplished a large portion of the list.

Although, as in 2009, I did most of these trips alone, I did have some company this year on a few of my journeys, which added to the enjoyment. It was not my plan always to travel alone, but that’s the way things generally worked out, and I enjoyed every minute of it all.


Areas Explored

My adventures this past year spanned a wider field than in 2009. Many of the fire lookouts are in remote corners of the Rocky Mountain foothills and in the various mountain ranges. As a result, I traveled south almost to the US border, north to the foothills beyond Nordegg on the David Thompson Highway, and west into the Columbia Valley of B.C.

I made full use of my National Parks pass with several trips to Banff Park in Alberta, and to Yoho and Kootenay Parks in B.C. 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 of the City of Calgary.

2010 Statistical Highlights

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

Highest Point: The highest point reached all year was the rocky 8,415 ft. Paget Peak, in Yoho National Park, B.C. on September 10th.

Greatest Height Gain: The greatest height gain in one hike was 3720 ft. on my exciting trip up to Tocher Ridge fire lookout, also in Yoho National Park, on August 14th.

Longest Single Day Trip: The greatest distance achieved in one single day was on September 25th, when I traveled 61.5 km in making the circuit of first Mt. Rundle by bike and then Sulphur Mountain on foot.

Other Memorable Statistics:
On one sunny day in late June, I traveled 41.6 km by bike and on foot up Flat Creek and onto High Rock Ridge, climbing 2841 vertical feet.
My August trip up to Tocher Ridge fire lookout involved 36.6 km and gain of 3720 ft. in one busy day by bike and on foot.
And my three day epic adventure to Forgetmenot Mountain involved a combined bike/hike of 58.8 km and a gain of 2490 ft.


Comparing 2010 with 2009

However impossible it seemed at the end of 2009 that I might ever have another year like it, in 2010 I have exceeded most of the 2009 statistics.

And now, in two years, I have traveled over 2,000 km, with a height gain of an equivalent five and a half Mount Everests (from sea level), and have camped out for 41 nights.


Highlights of 2010 Adventures

It is always hard to pick out just a few highlights from such a crowded year, but here are some which stand out in my mind:

- Discovering the challenges and the enjoyment of exploring fire lookout trails
- Finally running into a bear, on Indian Oils Trail in the Sheep River area, and having to retreat as gracefully as possible given that the bear was coming down the trail towards me.
- Adding MICROspikes and snow shoes to my hiking arsenal, and as a result, opening up the winter months to some serious adventures on steep and icy trails.
- Having the comfort of the SPOT emergency GPS system, and not having to use it except to let L know I was safely off the hill.
- Showing my godson Joe, from England, some of my favorite corners of the Rocky Mountains.
- Hiking up the Windy Peak Hills with my 70+ year old cousin PT from Leeds, into a sea of wildflowers and butterflies.
- Successfully figuring out the way to the summit of Forgetmenot Mountain, and surviving an August snow storm at lonely Wildhorse campsite.
- Seeing the wild horses which gave their name to this remote valley
- Finding new corners of familiar foothill country to explore.
- Losing, then finding two weeks later, at the second attempt, my snow shoes on the steep slopes of Junction Hill in the Highwood.
- Discovering the wide, open ridges of the Whaleback region of Southern Alberta, and a huge bear paw print in the mud.
- Crossing fast-flowing rivers safely.
- Whizzing at great speed down the new Legacy bike trail from Banff to Canmore alongside the busy Trans-Canada Highway.
- The silence of the Highwood valley beyond the winter gate, before the road opened in June.
- And many more wonderful memories


Looking Ahead

I wrote last year that I do all these trips for two reasons: because I enjoy doing it (what better reason?), and because it might make a good read for someone in the future.

Next year I will be sixty, whatever that may mean to my current pace of adventures. When I was a teenager hiking in Scotland, someone told me about the old Glaswegian, whom you might see on the hill any weekend of the year. He might be going at a slower pace that you would choose to go with your young legs, but you can be sure that he will pass you later in the day as your energy level starts to drop – and he won’t look tired at all. When I heard this, I remember thinking how much I wanted to be able to hike the hills when I was as old as sixty. Now, with less than six months to go to that once distant milestone, I too am still hiking the hills – and I have never enjoyed the outdoors more than I do today.

By the way, for bloggers out there, I recommend the SharedBook system of getting a nice bound copy of your blogs. I received my 2010 Blog book today - only took a week from ordering it.

The Passionate Hiker

Skiing in the Foothills

Sat. 11 December: Sandy McNabb Ski Trails

“’Tis the Season” - for driving out into the foothills and cutting yourself a nice Christmas tree for free. But at least in the Sheep River valley, there were plenty of signs warning you not to do that, and the Provincial Parks “police”, known as Conservation Officers, were keeping a close eye on things.

Not that I was out to steal a tree. We had already bought ours in town at a large and unromantic parking lot. But I did want to get out into the foothills to try out the Sandy McNabb ski trails, and today the snow conditions might just be good enough to do so.

Very often, the Sheep River and West Bragg Creek cross-country ski trails are not great. The Chinook winds blow the snow off the hillsides and the wild temperature swings leave crusty and icy snow. But when it’s right, these trails are as much fun as any in the mountains, and ideal for a half-day adventure.

The Sheep River valley is a perfect place to take anyone on their first trip to the Alberta Foothills. You come around a corner, and there ahead of you the mountain panorama unfolds, the entire western horizon lined with the peaks of the Front Ranges. Today it was made even more spectacular by a morning sun shining on the snow-covered mountains.

The one slightly mystifying thing is that the Sandy McNabb trails are not well signposted, until you are ON them. The best start is actually right beside the visitor information centre, just a few kilometers before you get to the winter gate. Both the visitor centre and the winter gate are closed at this time of year.

Once on the trail system, the signposting is good, and you can make any number of route choices on trails which measure over 37 km in total. They wind up onto tree-lined ridges, open to the winds, and further into the rolling, forested countryside, generally keeping at a manageable angle. On the west side of the Long Prairie Loop are stunning views west across to the Front Ranges, snow-covered and remote.

Most of the rest of the trails are through the trees, across meadows with enticing junctions with signposts pointing into the forest. It’s not flat, and so you are either climbing usually gentle slopes or gliding effortlessly along winding trails. Occasionally there are steeper sections where I would point my skis downhill and hope for the best.

Today, I had to bail out just before a narrow bridge, as the trail took a sharp dip just before the bridge and I was worried the skis would go down a hole and snap in two. On the next hill, I found myself heading for a tree and stopped myself just in time, with my skis each side of a sturdy tree trunk. Apart from these adventures, it was a pleasant trip.

The snow conditions were reasonable except on the eastern slopes, where there were obstacles sticking up out of the snow, and I needed my metal edges to steer me across crusty and slippery surfaces. This had been a test of my new boots and bindings, which were a great success. I had good control of the skis, although the sharp rise in temperature during the morning, from minus 16 to close to zero, made the waxing a bit tricky.

It was only as I came down through the final meadow that I met my first people, a couple heading up the trail. Returning to the Winter Gate, I could see that the construction fence was still up, and there seemed to be activity in the Sandy McNabb campsite. They have been working on it all year, apparently a major renovation of the popular camping spot.

I drove slowly east on the snow-packed road, enjoying the scenery, with a very light fresh snowfall from the previous day resting on the trees. It had been yet another perfect outing into Alberta’s magical foothills.


Statistics
Sandy McNabb Ski Trails
Sat. 11 December

Total Dist. 10 km (XC Ski)
Height Gain 450 ft.
Max. Elev. 5150 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 52 mins.
Temperature Minus 16 degrees C at start

Telephone Connection

Sat. 4 December: West Bragg Creek Trails

Off the beaten track – on a beaten track. Today I explored a trail which no longer shows in any guidebook. So I had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, someone had been there ahead of me, creating a helpful pathway across the snowy, forested hillsides.

Not far west of the city, in the foothills west of Bragg Creek village, lie some very popular cross-country ski trails. On a sunny weekend in winter, these trails will fill up with skiers (and hikers with dogs running free) and bedlam will reign.

Looking through my various guidebooks, I noticed an intriguing trail which runs across some remote ridges, connecting the eastern and western legs of the Telephone Trail. Telephone is the longest and toughest of the Bragg Creek trails. A full circuit is over 15 km, into remote forested valleys. This short-cut would take me up to some viewpoints, and would cut off the long northern section of this trail.

Another cloudless morning, with an orange glow along the eastern horizon. As I set out from the car park, the sunlight was just starting to catch the tops of the trees. It was a cold morning, at around minus 16 degrees C, and so I was not surprised to be first on the trail today. I had my snow shoes on for this first leg, and carried my skis, strapped to my backpack.

Telephone Trail’s east leg starts at the car park. Climbing the hillside I soon turned left up the Hostel trail, on a long climb. Somewhere in the trees there used to be a Youth Hostel, but it burned down in 1984 and was never rebuilt. At the top of the hill the ski trail turned right, while I continued straight on, up the hill. This is where my unmarked route started. For some reason it has disappeared from all the trail signs. But somebody must know about it, as the path was beaten down by at least one pair of snow shoes and one set of skis.

The lower part of the trail, which used to be called “Ridge Trail”, was identified by some snow shoe signs nailed to the trees, but that trail soon veered down to the right. My trail, an old logging road, continued at a gradual angle up the forested hillsides, curving round to the right to a nice viewpoint. From here I could see part of the city of Calgary and the lower foothills to the east of Bragg Creek. This pleasant trail continued to climb, until I came to a high point, with good views west, to the bare, snowy ridges of Moose Mountain, 7995 ft.

The older guide books describe this trail as running through open cut-blocks. But over the years, the trees have started to grow back, and it is now mostly enclosed. Nevertheless, there are still some fine views to the west. I was glad to be able to follow the snow-shoer and the skier, as the route from here was not obvious. The trail started to angle downwards, swinging to the right. The scale of my map was a little misleading. Once again it reminded me how easy it is to get disoriented in the foothills, especially when the snow hides any sign of a trail.

In the end, I was on the right path, but I turned off it earlier than planned, and quickly joined the western leg of Telephone Trail just south of its high point, instead of about a kilometre or so further north. Here I swapped my snowshoes for my skis. Telephone Trail runs through a narrow valley. Several skiers had passed through here, but the trail had not been track-set. My light skis were not ideal for semi-off-trail conditions, but I stayed upright and soon came to the junction with Moose Loop.

Turning west, I immediately came out of the forest into a wide, sunny valley, below the high ridges of Moose Mountain. I ski’d along this open valley for a short while, until I reached a junction with a more tricky ski trail heading up into the trees. Here I turned around and returned to the junction. The wind had blown the snow around, leaving bare sections, and exposed rocks and stones. I negotiated that section, then ski’d and walked down a slippery steep road to the creek (Bragg creek). Crossing over, I was now on the final section of road back to the car. Here were plenty of skiers out already, as well as some snow-shoers and hikers with their dogs. It was a pleasant glide back down the road to the car.

In the short time I had been on the trail, the car park had filled up, and weekend bedlam was well under way. It was still cold, perhaps around minus 14 degrees C, and people were well wrapped up. But the sun shone out of a cloudless sky.

I had found this Telephone connector trail quite fascinating, and look forward to returning in the summer to explore its northern section. In the meantime, it was time to leave Bragg Creek to the weekend crowd.


Statistics
West Bragg Creek Trails
Sat. 4 December

Total Dist. 4.0 km (’shoe) + 4.5 km (ski) = 8.5 km
Height Gain 660 ft.
Max. Elev. 5350 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 37 mins.
Temperature Minus 16 degrees C