Barrier Lake and Powderface Ridge

Sorry for the relative silence, folks, but the weather finally got nice up here and we are out in the Sunshine (capitalized on purpose). We've done two more day hikes in the Kanasakis! One around Barrier Lake, by the way of Yates Mountain, which is a sweet little mountain (just my size!) and then a long meander back down and along a creek to the starting point. For the other, we dragged along our trusty sidekicks Shannon and Andy to Powderface Ridge. Unfortunately, we got about halfway along the ridge trail when we hit There's Still Snow Sitting Up on Top Of the Mountain, which although mostly melted was still four feet deep, and called it prematurely quits. Nice day, though.

[Chris would like to note that he disapproves of the second to last sentence. As author, however, I am asserting my creative license and leaving it as is.]

[Oh, and he'd also like to note that we saw a dusky grouse on top of Yates Mountain. We did, and it was very cool, being a wild yet almost rooster-sized bird, and a very stupid one to boot, given that it tried to scare us off by ruffling its feathers.]

[Chris says that's what birds do during mating season, so. Bird hormones. Not bird brains.]

Prarie Mountain, Kananaskis

This is  Chris's Corner, with special guest Percitron, your friendly neighborhood android!

Carolyn and I went for our first hike in the mountains this season during the last week of April. We decided to climb Prairie Mountain, one of the closest mountains to Calgary, because it can be climbed in the spring, boasts a 360 degree view, and the hike up isn't too long. In addition to being a safe hike in the spring, it is also popular as a spring training hike because it is quite steep. The weather was great, the conifer forest was beautiful, and the views were fabulous above treeline (360 view at the top). While the bright sun and warm weather (high 40s!) forced us to delayer at lower elevations, there was an abrupt increase in wind as soon as we hit the top of the ridge. While the snow below treeline primarily fell during the previous two days and turned to slush under our feet, a snowy cornice tends to remain on the peak well into the spring because of the higher elevation and strong wind. The slush was compacted by heavy foot traffic, making our yaktrax and hiking poles a necessity. In the weeks of May, there have been a couple more substantial snow falls, which melted within days of falling. At this point, snow in the city seems unlikely and we are just waiting for the leaves to arrive. We hope to explore more of the ridges in Kananaskis and Banff now that the warm weather has arrived.

Ink Pots and Johnson Canyon

Last weekend, we managed to smooth-talk a few new friends into joining us in a hike out to the Ink Pots (so named for the deep blue-green color of the tiny pools around the springs in this particular valley). Courtesy of our new snowshoes (thanks Mom and Dad) and a convenient dump of snow the previous day, we had a lovely afternoon. On the way back, we went through Johnson Canyon, where the picturesque falls had turned into an icy cliff, and the boardwalks that are crowded in the summer were icy and deserted.

Headed West (Road trip, day 4)

After the heat died down from our day in the Badlands, we took one last hike, on which was the following ladder (Chris was disappointed I didn't put these up).

 

After a big day, we went back to camp for refreshment (we were so hot, and so sweaty, I will remember this particular glass of pineapple juice for the rest of my life, probably):

Moose Mountain

I'm sorry, did I say we hiked up a mountain in the snow last weekend? I was joking. This weekend, we hiked up a mountain in the snow. For real. All the way up the mountain. In some real honest to god snow. Moose Mountain is also in Kananaskis Country - a closer drive from Calgary - and one of the trails that was not washed out by the recent floods (flood damage has limited our choice of trails a bit thus far).

Badlands

So, I'm going to do the roadtrip all backwards because I can't find the photos from the first two days. They weren't very exciting anyway - we slept outside of Chicago, bought cheese in Wisconsin, and camped in southern Minnesota where it was very pretty but kiiiiinda buggy, and then drove through South Dakota. I had insisted we stop at the Badlands because why not? When are you ever going to be in South Dakota again?

Hiking Kananaskis Country, Chester Lake

So, this is not our first hiking expedition in the Canadian Rockies, but Chris insisted that we get the pictures up ASAP, because 10 minutes up the mountain, what did we find, in early October? That is right. Snow. On October 5th. [Winter is coming!!] I can't tell you all how many times since we started dating that I've found myself hiking up a mountain in the snow. I should really just accept it at this point and stop being surprised when it happens.