I took CTV viewers to the mountains to see some primo Fall Colours. Larch hikes in Kananaskis (no crowds like in Lake Louise!) Check out the CTV segment here!
Kananaskis Larch Hikes
Chester Lake and Three Lakes Valley, Kananaskis
Burstall Pass, Kananaskis
Pocaterra Ridge, Kananaskis
Check out all the organized Fit Frog hikes and walks here!
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)
Give the gift of the Rocky Mountains this Christmas! I snowshoed Chester Lake in The Kananaskis Rockies, yesterday and it was absolute perfection. And abundance of glittering powdery snow, and mountain peaks all around. MERRY CHRISTMAS I say!
For details on snowshoe trails in the Kananaskis, check the Alberta Parks website. You can also join us, on our many snowshoe outings in December through March.
1. AVALANCHE AWARENESS- Be aware that the snowshoe trails in the park are created to keep you away from avalanche terrain. If you do not know what an avalanche slope looks like, DO NOT go into the mountains on snowshoes. You can easily walk into avalanche terrain without knowing it. Check the Avalanche Canada website.
2. Have the Gemtrek, Kananaskis map and the Snowshoe trail map. There are many, many, many alternative snowshoe trails created by people enjoying the powder. This can be confusing if you are not paying attention and navigating. There is signage for snowshoe trails created by the parks, so keep watching for those signs.
3. Take lots of clothing and lots of food. Read through our checklist on what to bring on snowshoe and ski days. And here is a list of where to rent snowshoes.
From the Globe and Mail article on Jan. 5, Fifteen things Canadians can do to be healthier this year, here are two fantastic suggestions by two experts in mental and physical wellness; get outside and walk more! Living a healthy lifestyle is pretty simple stuff.
There is a super expensive new drug coming out. It reduces heart disease by 60 per cent, cancer by 27 per cent, Alzheimer’s by 50 per cent and arthritis by 47 per cent. It’s now our best treatment for fatigue and low back pain. It cures a third of erectile dysfunction, and cuts anxiety and depression by 48 per cent. People even lose weight on this stuff … Okay, it’s not new or expensive or even a pill. It’s walking. If I had to pick one thing, I’d say movement is the best medicine.
Mike Evans, staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital, associate professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto
Go for a noontime walk outside, especially in winter. Why? You get at least five times as much light as the brightest office (even on dark, stormy days). You get exercise (well, at least some activity). And you avoid big lunches (or at least have less time to eat). All of which helps your mood, memory and weight.
Raymond Lam, professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Mood Disorders Centre, UBC Hospital
Helen Lake Trail, Banff National Park
I have been researching trails to hike after the June flooding and thought I would share my findings. The most up-to-date information on where to hike after the flood can be found at this link . It is a wonderful resource of all the post-flood trail conditions in Kananaskis and Banff National Park. Thanks to Rachel for putting this together!
Douglas Fir Trail, Edworthy Park, Calgary
And for those of you who want to hit the urban trails, most routes from my guidebook, Calgary’s Best Hikes and Walks, are doable. The major changes to the pathway system that affect urban hikes are the three missing pedestrian bridges over the Elbow River in the southwest. The bridge at Sandy Beach Park is the most inconvenient change since it is a critical link. It is easy to navigate around the other two missing bridges by using the road bridges.
I’ll continue to provide updates as I work on my new book, Calgary’s Best Urban Hikes, and as I hike the mountain trails!
Enjoy the wonderful weather out there! Lori
It’s time to play in the snow! Grab your friends and your family, a duffel bag full of clothes, your backpacks, some snowshoes, a crazy carpet, a shovel (for building snow forts at the trailhead!) and a heck of a lot of yummy food and thermoses of hot drinks; you are going snowshoeing in the Rockies!
Snowshoeing is as easy as walking! It’s simply left, right and repeat. There is no skill needed, no technique. But you do need to have some cardiovascular fitness because it can be challenging when you step off the beaten trail. And that, by the way, if the best part (the whole point) of snowshoeing! Get into the deep, powdery snow! Play, fall down and pounce. Snowshoeing generally follows some well know hiking trails, but snowshoeing is not as much about destination as it is about playing in snow.
There are some wonderful snowshoe routes in the Kananaskis Rockies as well as in Banff National Park and Yoho National Park. The main thing to know about choosing a wonderful snowshoe route is to be aware of and to avoid avalanche terrain and to ensure that you have the topographical maps (and know how to use them!) so you do not get lost or end up in avalanche terrain. And remember, cellphones rarely work in the the mountains so the motto, “BE PREPARED” is a good one to follow.
Our next snowshoe day is this weekend, January 20th and our next FAMILY FUN club Fit Frog snowshoe is on Saturday, Feb. 9th! Both outings will be full of powder pouncing and route finding and having fun in the snow. And if you are keen to take a weekend away, join us for a Family Fun getaway in YOHO National Park based in tiny Field, BC on February 15-17, 2013.
SNOWSHOE PRESENTATION
If you want to know more, or see a slide presentation to help you learn all you need to know to get started snowshoeing, get in touch and I can come and speak to your group!
Come on out and join us! Make winter your new favourite season!
In Yoho National Park, BC, there is a hike that has it all. The Iceline Trail is a switch-back climb to glaciers, water features spreading across glacier scraped rocks, lakes and views of Takkakaw Falls, Canada’s highest waterfall, pouring off the Daly Glacier. We hiked the Iceline last weekend, on a spectacular blue sky fall day. We’ll repeat this fantastic getaway next summer, on August 23-25, 2013. It will be a lodge based catered getaway! Great hikes and great food. Hard to beat that.
So, back to our recent adventure. We arrived at Takkakaw Falls campground the evening before the hike and set up camp. The campground is a walk-in camping area and carts are provided at the parking area so that you can wheel your supplies in. Our kids LOVE camping! What kid wouldn’t love a campfire, a swiss army knife for carving marshmallow roasting sticks and getting good and dirty in the fresh mountain air and ending the day with sleeping in a tent.
Cool weather camping tip: The temperatures last weekend reached high 20’s in the daytime and then dropped below freezing at night so we had to bring extra sleeping bags to put on top of our Thermarest sleeping pad to stop the cold from the ground from reaching us. We also need more covers throughout the night as the condensation from our warm bodies and breathing froze on top of our down-filled sleeping bags. Wet or damp down is not as warm as dry down. Be sure to shake off the frost before it melts or, if the bag is already damp on top, put it out in the daytime sun to dry off.
We met up with some Club Fit Frog hikers and headed up the Iceline Trail early on Saturday morning. We climbed well above Takkakaw Falls and enjoyed sunshine the entire day. My kids are 10 and 8 years and are used to hiking for many hours at a time. One question I often get from friends is “how the heck do we get our kids to hike for 6 hours without whining?”
Don’t focus on the destination! We are not destination focussed hiking family. It turns out that kids are much better at enjoying the journey and are not so caught up in the goal, the end point, the destination. So change your approach to hiking and make it fun. Explore more. Check out the rocks, scrambling through creeks and over boulders. Carry lots of tasty snacks, treats that only come out on the hiking trail, and encourage kids to eat and drink. Food keeps them full of energy! And talk lots as you walk. Discuss things, enjoy being together, sing songs.
After a great day on the trail we headed to the campground to start preparing dinner. Ahh, a cold beer! Our chicken was marinating and we needed to chop veggies for ratatouille. New potatoes from our little backyard garden finished the meal (okay, chocolate brownies was the ultimate finish).
The campfire was stoked and dinner was soon on the grill. The kids worked on carving sticks and we enjoyed a cold drink in the sun. After dinner, we went for a walk to get closer to Takkakaw Falls and throw rocks in the river. The sun was setting, the temperature dropped and so we moved in closer to the fire. Soon the sky was full of stars. Another fun, active outdoor weekend. Join us next August as we explore the area once again!
I have discovered that enjoying the slower pace of summer means I spend a lot less time on the computer and therefore this is my first blog since June. I think everyone should have a social media holiday. A break from constant updates allows you to focus on the moment without thinking about how to write about it later.
My family and I spent 7 weeks visiting the Maritimes and Eastern Canada. When we returned to Calgary, we hung out and relaxed, walked the city and hiked and camped in the Rockies.
It was a summer full of long hot days and warm nights. There was lots of time for the kids to get bored and then start to explore and create, to read a book, to be useful and help with dinner, and then set the table and to wash the dishes. We did a lot but nothing was rushed because every day was a clean slate. It was just what the doctor ordered after 10 months of structure.
I’ll try to sum it all up with this stream of consciousness approach, here it goes:
Hot and humid, outdoor dinners every night, the neighbours pool and sprinklers, Popsicles and strawberry shortcake, warm evenings, tree forts, fireflies, crickets, Ontario peaches, lobster dinners, Maritime molasses brown bread, my son driving the riding lawnmower at his grandparents.
My daughter playing piano with my mum, going for coffee in small town NB every morning with Grammie’s friends, walking and running on the rail trail along the Saint John River in Woodstock, NB’s oldest town, a phenomenal Anne of Green Gables play in Charlottetown, PEI, walking the Charlottetown waterfront, a 10 km road race (5 km for the kids), catching up with a few high-school friends.
Picnics on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, speaking French, eating gelato and ice cream, staying in and walking Quebec City, all day, every day for a week, tasty Quebec cheeses and fresh baguettes for lunch.
A swim in the free public pool along the Saint Lawrence River and then climbing 400 stairs from the Saint Lawrence to the Plains of Abraham, moules frites, hand-made gelato at Tutto Gelato on Rue Saint Jean.
Strolling the back streets searching for fountains to cool us, farmer’s markets and fresh produce from l’Ile d’Orleans, enjoying a glass of wine in the park, legally (Calgary take note).
ICE CREAM in Quebec City!!
Cooler packed picnics amongst the tourists at the road-side highway turnoffs, a hike in the parched Gateneau’s, 34 degrees and high humidity (water!!), another outdoor pool, watching the Olympics in the air conditioning.
Walks along Lake Ontario in Kingston, a train ride to Montreal, energy and life on Rue St. Denis, the success of Montreal’s Bixie bike program (oh, when the kids are a bit bigger…), traveling the underground, walks to the Atwater and Jean Talon markets, a picnic on Mont Royal, lots and lots of gelato and ice cream.
Back in Calgary, relaxing, packing and cooking for camping, my daughter catching up with her stuffies, my son catching up with his friends, going camping in the Rockies with friends and their kids, we all hiked 15 km and 700 meters to Rockbound Lake, Banff National Park and the next day 11 km and 500 meters to Stanley Glacier in Kootenay National Park.
Hot, sweaty, horseflies and mosquitoes, dunking our bodies and heads in the creeks and waterfalls pouring off the Stanley Glacier, the 6 and 8 year old having running races in the campground after 7 hours of hiking.
Camp fires and marshmallows, double chocolate layer cake, beer!, Greek lamb burgers and spaghetti with fresh basil tomato sauce, BC peaches and blueberries from DJ’s market in Calgary (the only REAL not a rip-off farmer’s market in the city).
More camping on the Icefields Parkway, burr, our morning wake-up to ice in the water bottles on the last weekend in August, a black bear running into the campsite, Helen Lake Hike, purple rock and fuchsia Indian Paintbrush, vibrant green moss in the stream.
Scrambling on boulders, marmots and pikas and glaciers, dinners with friends to hear about their summer, hikes with Club Fit Frog, family hikes with lots of kids (and lots of snacks!), can’t jam in anything else. Labour day is here.
And that pretty much sums it up. We had a fantastic summer exploring the east and west of Canada. We are lucky and life is good. It’s back to school and to some routine, but we’ll be sure to leave lots of free time for spontaneity and fun; for exploration and creativity.
Fall is one of my favourite seasons, the air is fresh, the colours emerge and the hiking is wonderful.
More adventures await!
The hike was a colourful trek through fields of wildflowers. June is the rainy month and the foothills are lush and green. The lower elevation hikes are the best spots to be immersed in wildflowers in the late spring.
Prairie Creek Trail, on Hwy. 66/Elbow Falls Trail Kananaskis, is a nice 4 ish hour, 10 km rolling terrain hike that is perfect on a day when the clouds are low and thunder storms forecasted (like they were yesterday!). Make sure you wear your waterproof boots.The creek is high right now and we had to ford it at the end of the hike, on Prairie Link Trail.
