Over the Hills......

 Sun. 27 April:  Sandy McNabb Hills

This perfect hiking hill appeared out of nowhere.  It was only in the latest edition of the Kananaskis Trail Guide that it gets a mention.  Gillean Daffern explains that the mapmakers forgot a few contour lines!  And to be fair, the open ridgeline is well hidden by the trees below. 

There are no orange trail markers on this route, so J and I had to use a little common sense as we left the Interpretive Trail and headed up through the trees on a surface of wet snow.

Thank heavens for the new snowfall.  It covered a muddy mess.  Very soon we were up on the ridge and enjoying extensive views of the wintry looking Front Ranges.  In the middle-ground, Windy Point Ridge stood out, above the Sheep Valley.

It was a cloudless day, except for a band of cloud above the mountains.  We followed the ridge in an easterly direction, over several rises to a high point.  Here a dangerous cliff plunged to the Sheep River below.  At this point we dropped down to a wooded gap before climbing through the trees onto an open slope to the gentle, rounded summit of Sandy McNabb Hill.  

After a brief lunch stop, we retraced our route to the gap where we turned onto the cross-country ski trails which followed the lower slopes on the north side of the hill.  These trails were rapidly deteriorating into a muddy quagmire.   At one point we skirted a wide, boggy meadow on the packed snow.

The new snowfall showed that we were first up there today.  Early on, along the interpretive trail, we had passed two girls and a dog.  These were the only people (or animals) we saw.

This was a perfect day for an outing in the Eastern Foothills.  In a few days time, with temperatures rising, our route would be much better suited to horse traffic!

Even after three decades of exploring the Alberta hills and mountains, there is always a new place to discover – in this case, one that didn’t exist until the latest edition of the guide book!

Statistics:

Total Distance:   8.1 km (hike) *

Height Gain:       1,256 ft. *

Max. Elev.:         4,973 ft. *

Time on Trail:    3 hrs. 26 mins.

Dep. car:            8.59 am

First top:          10.06 am

Summit:           10.53 am

Ret. to car:       12.25 pm

Temp:               -1 to +5 C

Weather:           Cloudless, light wind, clouds over mountains

* thanks to J's trusty GPS device

Morning mist on the prairie

Grand views from Sandy McNabb interpretive trailhead

New snowfall as we climb the hillside

Quickly reach the first open ridgetop

Unrestricted views of the Front Ranges

These hills have several enticing "summits"

Sheep River valley

Looking east along the range of hills to the highest point

A surprising cliff drops down to the Sheep River

The woods lead to the gentle summit

High point

The very best of the Alberta Foothills

Returning along the interpretive trail

Stretching the Legs

Wed. April 2nd:  Stretching the Legs

Finally winter is showing signs of retreating, although there is still plenty of snow on the ground.

My stroll around the Cross Conservation Area this afternoon might have been just as easy with snowshoes, although I had chosen MICROspikes to navigate the snow-packed trails.  It was a hazy day with clouds building from the west, so very little long-distance views - a perfect work-out for my new camera!  Here are some pics:

Sign of Spring

View from Cross Conservation Area parking lot:  clouds over the mountains

School party on the hillside

Snow-packed trail leads to the viewpoint on the hill-top

Through the woods onto Ranchers Trail

Looking East to the farmland and prairie

The deer blend right into the hillsides

Active skies

Calgary hidden in the haze

Statistics:  s. 1.41 pm; f. 2.57 pm =  76 mins.
Hazy, poor visibility, clouds to west.  Hardly any breeze.
Around zero degrees C

Elbow Valley Update

Tues. April 1, 2014:  Elbow Valley Update

Today I drove up the Elbow Valley for the first time since late last year.  The repaired Elbow River bridge is now open to one-way traffic, and the temporary bridge has been completely removed.  Further up the valley at the Elbow Falls, the rock which guards the Falls had taken on a new appearance with its white snow-cap!
Here are some pics:

Elbow River Bridge deck remains to be completed

New section of bridge where floods had washed the banks away

Elbow River directly upstream of bridge

Telephoto of previous shot

West end of bridge

Usual shot of the Elbow Falls guardian (changed by the floods)

Close-up of the face

Wearing his white-cap!

Completely different profile as seen from upstream of the Falls

Fangs!!

Re. Kananaskis Trails Blog: "Info on Kananaskis Country Roads and Logging"

Re. Kananaskis Trails Blog: "Info on Kananaskis Country Roads and Logging"
March 28, 2014

Just a few comments on the latest Kananaskis Trails blog titled:  "Info on Kananaskis Country Roads and Logging":

Gorge Creek Road:  I hiked up this road on October 13th (see my Blog posting) from the Sheep Valley junction to the barred gate, just to take a look at the damage.  There were only two places where the road had been damaged, one total washout about a kilometre from the start, and one partial damage high above the gorge, a little further up the road.  There was no other damage.  Here are some pictures:

Major damage, looking south

Closer view of the washout

Some interesting old pipes exposed by the floods

The second partial washout above the gorge

Highway 532:  On October 25 I biked up this road all the way from the Indian Graves campsite junction to the top of The Hump - actually I pushed my bike most of the way, enjoying a speedy return!  There was considerable damage right at the Indian Graves turnoff, although construction traffic was getting through on a temporary bypass.  The main area of damage was much further west just before the hairpin bend, where a single creek had destroyed the road in two places.  Repair work was well in hand even in late October and repairs to this road were probably largely completed before winter.  Here are some pictures:

Just west of Indian Graves, this creek washout had already been repaired

The road was busy with construction traffic

The major damage area, largely repaired already

This one small creek did all the damage

Lots of culverts to replace

The power of the floods

Damage at Indian Graves junction, looking west

Highway 40 at Lineham Creek:  I took a long bike ride up Highway 40 on October 5, all the way from the closed winter gate at Highwood Junction to the section of road below Nameless Ridge.  The one major area of damage was Lineham Creek, as these amazing pictures show:

Ominous barrier at Lineham Creek

Here the road has disappeared

Taking a careful look at the damage

The barriers survived!

Temporary bridge beside the missing road

Another view of the damage

Hog's Back:  Comment:  the best part of the Hog's Back trail is the bit where the trail narrows to an almost knife edge, but the ridge is mostly hidden in the trees at that point.  I can hardly imagine anyone trying to drive a road through that part, especially when there is a perfectly good access road running just north of the Hog'sBack, and over the ridge down into Quirk Creek.  I hope that this section remains untouched?  Maybe I am too hopeful?

The Passionate Hiker (more "Passionate" than "Hiker" over the past 3 months for reasons which will become clear soon).

2013 Summary and Five-Year Statistics

2013 Summary and Five Year Statistics (2009 to 2013)

These tables tell the story of an amazing five years of adventure in the Canadian Rockies, between 2009 and 2013.  At the end of 2012, I wrote: “It is probably time to ease off a little in 2013.  I still have plenty of places I want to explore, or return to, but sometimes it becomes a little obsessive.”  Nevertheless, this past year, 2013, saw some memorable highlights.

Some of these highlights of 2013 were:

• Two trips up the Highwood Valley in early June, to Lineham Ridge and Nameless Ridge, just before the devastating floods which closed large areas of Kananaskis Country for most of the year.
• Exploring the Crowsnest area of Southern Alberta in June.
• Yet more stunning hikes in Banff National Park, including Twin Lakes/Arnica Lake and Mount St. Piren in July, and Molar Pass and Bow Glacier Falls in August.
• Finding tiny fish fossils high up in the mountains at the Sparrowhawk Tarns.
• Taking pictures of the post-flood scenes across Kananaskis Country.
• An action-packed two weeks in September, during which I explored the mountains and lakes of central BC’s mining country, entered the magical kingdom of Lake O’Hara, and spent a few days camping in Jasper with M and friends.
• Late season trip to the Windy Hills, pushing my bike to the top of The Hump pass – and speeding back down again.

This first table compares the past five years and highlights in red which year holds the record for each category.  While 2013 broke no new records, the statistics are comparable with the previous years.

Category↓ Year→	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	Total 5 years
Distance (km) (see details below)	970	1,099	960	1,006	848	4,883 km (3,052 miles)
Vert. Height Gain (ft.)	64,760	94,430	81,670	74,355	65,981	381,196 ft. (72.2 miles)
Max. Elev. (ft.)	8,253	8,415	8,860	9,150	8,692	n/a
Time on Trail (hrs.)	234	300	276	269	244	1,323 hrs. (55 days)
# Nights Camping	22	19	22	26	18	107

This second table breaks down the modes of transport used over the past five years, and again, in red, highlights the record year.

Distance↓  Year→ (km)	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	Total 5 years
Hike	564	626	591	478	520	2,779
Bike	396	321	223	404	287	1,631
X-C Ski	9	75	77	39	5	205
Snow Shoe	0	77	70	85	36	268
Total	970	1,099	960	1,006	848	4,883

BOLD RED = record year

These statistics show that, on average, over the past five years, every week I travelled 19 km and climbed 1,466 vertical feet. 

Now, as for the future, things will look very different.  While the venues may change, you can count on The Passionate Hiker being out there on the trail, and still probably capturing the statistics!

Spike Recovery

Sat. 28 December:  Spike Recovery:  Return to Mesa Butte

My trusty MICROspikes recovered from Mesa Butte summit

A snowy cold front raced down from the North overnight, dropping temperatures down to around minus 20C.  But equally quickly it sped eastwards towards Saskatchewan, leaving only an inch or two of new snow behind it.

So I took the opportunity to return to Mesa Butte to recover my MICROspikes from the ridge top where I left them the day before.  It was a bright, crisp day with fresh snow covering the hillsides and trees.  As I parked at the upper wellsite I could see that nobody had been on the trail since yesterday, so I was confident that the spikes would still be there.

As I climbed up the hillside from the car, I was breaking trail through a wintry wonderland.  I continued up through the woods and onto the open ridge.  Although the snow now covered the summit, I found my spikes easily enough, lying under the snow where I had dropped them the day before.  I also remembered to stop at the lone pine tree to dig out the tube from under its hiding place, and to sign the log.  It made fascinating reading, with some voluminous entries of various exploits, including recent midnight hikes.

The air was crisp, and although it was around minus 15C it really did not feel cold.  There was no breeze, although ice crystals were floating past, glinting in the sunshine.  The mountains were draped in mist.

I raced back down to the car and carefully drove back eastwards on the slippery roads.  A few years ago, I managed to lose my snowshoes on Junction Hill.  They slipped off the back of my backpack as I walked through a section of trees.  It took two attempts, requiring me to climb up and down those steep hillsides from the Highwood road, before I found the ‘shoes.  This time I was much luckier. 

Now what is it about my hiking gear, that it seems to want to prolong its stay in the outdoors?!   

Statistics:

Total Distance:   2.8 km (‘shoe)

Height Gain:          670 ft.

Max. Elev.:         5,520 ft.

Time on Trail:     1hr. 17 mins.

Dep. car:            12.17 pm

Top:                    12.53 pm

Ret. to car:           1.34 pm

Temp:               Minus 15 C

Weather:           Sun, cloud, ice crystals.  Hardly a breeze.  Two inches of new snow.

New snowfall last night and much cooler temperatures

Breaking trail to the summit

The "other" Mesa Butte (Deaths Head) in middle background

Front Ranges draped in mist

Foothills and prairie from Mesa Butte summit - winter storm disappearing eastwards

On Mesa Butte on a cold day (minus 15 degrees C)

The summit logbook canister - some voluminous entries!

Ideal snowshoe trail back down through the woods

Compare this with yesterday's picture - new snow overnight