urban hiking – Page 2

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Where to hike in the Rockies and Calgary after the Alberta flood?

August 15, 2013

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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

Calgary’s Best Urban Hikes Series: Inglewood, Harvie Passage, The Bird Sanctuary and The Blackfoot Diner

May 13, 2013

lori

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The Blackfoot Diner milkshake is

“Like sucking cake through a straw”

I am having a lot of fun researching my new book, a brand new version of my book Calgary’s Best Hikes and Walks. On Mother’s Day, my family joined me to test a new route for the book in the Inglewood, SE area. We started at 15 St, SE and followed the Bow River Pathway to Pearce Estate Park and the new Harvie Passage Whitewater Park on the Bow River. Harvie Passage water park replaces the deadly weir, the drowning machine as it used to be known.

The Harvie Passage website explains the benefits that will come out of the new weir project.

“Countless benefits will flow from this project – for people, fish, birds and wildlife, and the environment itself. This new park will provide a central connection node for numerous public amenities in the area, including the Calgary Zoo, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Pearce Estate Park Interpretive Wetland, Sam Livingston Fish Hatchery, East Village and the future site of the Calgary Science Centre. A reconfiguration of the river-bed will result in an aesthetically attractive passage through the centre of the city, while respecting fisheries and the aquatic ecosystem. Naturalization of the area will improve local habitat, movement corridors and riparian functions, allowing all kinds of wildlife to pass freely up and down the river. Perhaps most importantly, the hydraulic roller known as the “drowning machine” will be eliminated, giving safe and unrestricted access to emergency safety patrols, recreational paddlers and fish.”

Harvie Passage is across from Pearce Estate Park and the Livingston Fish Hatchery. The park is home to many trails for walkers, abundant bird life that flock to the wetlands, picnic tables, the Fish Hatchery, and the Bow Habitat Station, where kids can learn to fish in stocked bonds. YOu can also get a tour of the Fish Hatchery.

Continuing east along the Bow River Pathway, we passed wetlands full of the sounds of red-winged blackbirds and we saw an impressive beaver house with significant square footage! We continued past new and beautifully renovated older homes in a hidden neighbourhood along the Bow River; a neighourhood tucked away behind the industrial area off Blackfoot and 17 Ave., SE .

We arrived at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and the start of the train yards. My son loves trains so we did did a photo shoot beside a parked rail car before strolling the pathways of the bird Sanctuary. My son reminded me of the time he and his friends got “kicked out” of the Bird Sanctuary for some enthusiastic owl discoveries that they had at a friends birthday party. Too loud, too much running. Enthusiastic boys in nature, lets put a stop to that says the naturalist.

The kids were set on a burger for lunch, and it was lunchtime so we started the search. Within minutes we arrived at the infamous Blackfoot Diner Truck Stop. I had heard of it but had never eaten there.

It’s legit. It’s a truck stop and it was the perfect stop for our Mother’s Day lunch.

The kids ordered the burgers and a milkshake (and people wonder how we get them to walk so far…) My daughter summed up the milkshake experience in a way that I never had, “it’s like sucking cake through a straw”. And it was! They were chocolatey, creamy and sweet. Yum. The bugers were tasty too, topped with “crappy cheese” (when my daughter was little she thought that Kraft slices were called “crap” slices and hence the name crappy cheese). She likes the cheese slices. They are just another “treat” that she can’t get at home.

We continued west on 9 Avenue past some industial areas but soon were back into the newly developed part of 9 Avenue. A turn north on 15 St and we were back in the neighbourhood, soaking up the smells of poplar buds and enjoying the sights of flowering fruit trees. Inglewood is the hot spot in Calgary, and not just because it is a micro climate of warmth. Gardens are fuller and pear trees live strong. Inglewood is one of the most interesting neighbourhoods to walk in Calgary. You never know what might be around the next corner and that is what makes for a fantastic urban hike.

“Alberta Walkability Roadshow” research missed the big picture and won’t get people to walk more

November 12, 2012

lori

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We have all heard that walking is good for us for a whole bunch of reasons. And in case you have not heard why walking is the best acitvity for your health, then check out one of my favourite presentations on why you need to walk more by Doc Mike Evans. The bigger question is why do people walk? Or better still, why don’t people walk, or exercise, more? Active living, or incorporating activity into your every day, is the goal of all health advocates. The active living message has a hard time competing with our multi-tasking car culture. Living in an active way is a no brainer as far as health goes, but for most people, driving to and getting cheap stuff at Costco or Walmart, is a bigger priority than the health benefits of walking to the local store.

So, what’s a health advocate to do? How do we get people to focus in on their health while they are rushing from one activity to the next, eating prepared meals, sometimes while driving?

In my 20 years of leading people on thousands of urban and wilderness walks in Calgary and Alberta, writing guidebooks on urban walking and biking in Calgary, promoting active living through through presentations, and through my magazine and newspaper articles, I have learned why people walk.

Why people walk

The majority of people who choose to walk, to be active daily, do so for these reasons:

1. For fitness and health

2. For friendship (mostly women)

3. To attain a goal or reach a destination (mostly men)

The Alberta Walkability Roadshow project launched by Alberta Health Services in 2011, is, on the surface, admirable. Their goal is to help Albertans integrate activity into their day-to-day lives; a fantastic idea. The problem with their research is that the initiative leads to a lot of long term, built environment talk as a way to get people to walk. There is a lot of focus on making it nicer for people to walk, on signage for walkers, infrastructure to encourage walking, and having useful things for people to walk to in their communities. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that all of this would be wonderful. I would love all communities in Canada to be set up for walkers and cyclists. I would love it if more people would walk for transportation as I do everyday in Calgary. However, this is not a reasonable, immediate goal for most of Canada. With the exception of high density cities like Vancouver and Montreal, most communities are being built or redesigned for cars. Small towns and cities across Canada are losing their main street life due to the Walmart fungus. Walmart is always on the outskirts of communities and once it gets a hold, all other services, like the supermarkets, the liquor store, the McDonalds, the Tim Horton’s, follow.

The Walmart phenomenon: my on foot research in Woodstock, New Brunswick

My research on this Walmart phenomenom was done in Woodstock, the oldest town in the province of New Brunswick. I grew up in Woodstock, a town of 5000 people, and now my family and I spend our summers there. The little town situated along the Saint John River, is historic and picturesque. Unfortunately the town and the province moved ALL services out the downtown core. And I do blame the town and province for the death of Woodstock’s downtown core since it was the shortsightedness of the town that allowed Walmart to locate on the TransCanada Highway, away from all neighbourhoods. The province then moved the liquor store out to be close to Walmart. The supermarkets, fast food outlets and movie theatre are also nearby. The location of these services means that most people need to drive to get groceries. And since cheap food is a priority pretty much everywhere nowadays, including Woodstock, the McDonald’s drive-through always has a line up at lunch.The built environment is set in Woodstock and in many small towns across Canada and it is not set up for active transport.

Get people walking right now: A Grassroots Initiative

In order to get people to start walking today, right now, there needs to be more grassroots initiatives in all villages, towns and cities across Canada.There needs to be a lot less talk of built environment, walkable communities and walking for transportation and a lot more encouragement for people to just walk for recreation, for fun and for fitness. And once people start enjoying more walking, get hooked on healthy behaviours, then perhaps these people will begin to recognize the value in having a walkable community.

How to get people to WALK MORE

Through my hands on, grassroots workshops, I help recreation departments in all cities and towns create walking programs and that easy to operate, and inexpensive. The goal? Get community members walking, right now!

1. Start of “Walking for Fitness” program with walking guides. Research and create a variety of routes in and around the town or city. Provide route maps!

2. Make it social and fun! Create a variety of walks to attract a diverse group; “Coffee shop hikes” or “Family Treks“

3. Provide a goal or add some brainwork! Create a program called “Hiking Training” to attract the goal oriented people to the group. Work towards the goal of doing longer hikes and add these hikes to the ongoing walking program. For example, in Woodstock , NB, the town walks could build fitness for the upcoming trek to Mount Carleton.

4. Create walking maps! Many people may like to head out on walks independently.

Creating a walking culture

Or better yet, create a culture of self-propelled living! Waiting for a community to become more walkable, to have the infrastructure to make walking or cycling pleasant and easy, is not a short term goal for most communities. And most communities need to make a change now, get people moving now, in order to combat the health decline of its citizens. It is critical that more people see the value in walking, the benefits to active living. Once they are hooked on an active lifestyle, then and only then will they start to make a push for more walkable communities. A walking culture is created when people just start walking more. Get out there!!

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