I took CTV viewers on a tour of Calgary’s Tasty Cafe Walksabouts this week. For those of you motivated by good coffee, food and spending time with friends, check this out. All of these cafes (and many more) are in my book Calgary’s Best Walks. The social side of walking is pretty darn important (and fun!).
I featured some wonderful home and garden walks in my CTV segment on August 24. There are many more colourful neighbourhoods to explore in Calgary, but I cannot fit in everything in 3 minutes! The Silversprings Botanical Gardens are spectacular and if you want a longer walk when you visit them, they back onto Bowmont Park. Check out my book, Calgary’s Best Walks, and follow the Bowmont Park West route and drop into Waterfall Valley after a visit to the gardens.
The Silver Springs Botanical Gardens are simply spectacular. I found out about them as I researched my CTV Homes and Gardens Walks segment, that airs tomorrow, Aug. 24, 2016. Be sure to check out their website and Facebook pages to learn more about guided garden walks and about the gardens themselves.
Upcoming FREE guided garden walk:
Saturday, August 27, 2016 at 1:30-3 pm
Meeting in the main parking lot at 1:15 to begin the tour at 1:30. Location details
www.facebook.com/Silverspringsbotanicalgardens
www.botanicalgardensofsilversprings.ca
Walking along the Bow and the Elbow Rivers, connecting communities and climbing to viewpoints, makes for some wonderful urban walking. In my CTV segment I also feature Fish Creek and the Douglasdale escarpment, The Reservoir single track pathways that dip and climb and take you away from the bustle of the city and some neighbourhood river walks with character! The routes are all in my book, Calgary’s Best Walks so grab a copy and let your self-propelled urban exploration begin!
If you are looking for some surprise on your urban walkabouts, then look no further than these quirky neighbourhoods. Not knowing what you might find around the next corner makes for a fun walk. I featured Sunnyside and Kensington, The Beltine and Connaught and Ramsay/ Inglewood in this CTV segment. All these routes are in my book Calgary’s Best Walks. But remember to deviate from my suggested route to find more surprises!
I headed out of the city to the Rocky Mountains in my latest CTV segment. Fantastic Wildflower Hikes near Calgary. Check it out here!
CTV SEGMENT Rocky Mountain Wildflower Hikes
Here are the four wildflower hikes that I featured. Meadows of colour, some with snow on top!
Sulpher Springs/ Riverview Loop: Elbow Valley, Kananaskis
Grass Pass: Highwood, Kananaskis (20 minutes west of Longview)
Cox Hill: Sibbald Flats, Kananaskis
Stanley Glacier: Kootenay National Park
Once again, get the Gem Trek maps (see my previous blog post)
As I prepare my CTV segment on Wildflower Hikes of the Rockies, I contacted my favourite map company, Gemtrek Maps, to get images of some of their maps to show on TV. These topographical maps (they show the contours of the mountains so that you can visually assess elevation gain) also have all trails marked along with route descriptions on the reverse.
Of course, having a map is not enough to stay found. You need to:
The Kananaskis has many, many trails that diverge from the main route. These side trails are rarely marked.
Route finding 101 says:
At any trail intersection, on a linear route, be sure to turn around and look at what the route will look lil eon the way back down. Believe me, it will not be familiar if you do not do this. And be sure to take note if there is a trail split, which trail you should take to find your car.
Here are four of the maps, but there are more. Lake Louise, the Icefields Parkway, Yoho, Jasper…GET THEM ALL!
WHERE TO BUY GEMTREK MAPS in Calgary:
MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op)
Join us this summer for some urban walkabouts and some breathtaking Rocky Mountain Hikes!
July 11- September 20, 2016
The schedule is now on-line: Check it out here!
I highlighted my favourite STAIRWAY walks in Calgary yesterday on CTV Morning! So many great places to sweat! And all of them, and many more, in my book, Calgary’s Best Walks…of course.
Douglas Fir Trail, Edworthy Park, is one of the Stairway Walks that I featured
All walks are great for kids of course, but there are some urban walkabouts that are clear favourites. Bring on the ice cream stops, watermarks, massive hills to roll down, single track trails along escarpments, waterfalls and for the teenagers in the group, a burger stop in Kensington!
Watch my Kid Favorite CTV segment!
