Lower Lake, Kananaskis
My book, Calgary’s Best Walks, is released on March 9, 2015! Here’s a teaser video to get your pumped up about walking in Calgary. Check the books website for more information on the book, and a full list of book launch events!
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.
BE PREPARED, BE SAFE and HAVE FUN!
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.
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.
This is a piece I wrote for the Calgary Herald. They were asking readers about their favourite urban hikes and also wanted to know what the difference is between a hike and a walk.
Why I love an urban hike
What is the difference between a walk and a hike? Good question.
Most people think of hiking as something you do in nature, in the parks, the wilderness. You pack a lunch and head out for an active adventure. Walking is something you can do anywhere, like walking around the block for exercise or walking to the corner store for some milk or walking to your a neighbourhood pub. Urban hiking in Calgary is the perfect mix of walking and hiking; an outdoor adventure that dips into green spaces, parks and nature and ends with a good cup of coffee. And while most Calgarians head to the Rocky Mountains for adventure, they need not. Calgary is a top notch outdoor destination in itself. For intrepid urban hikers, Calgary’s concrete jungle is more than office towers, SUVs and suburbia. It’s parks like Fish Creek and the Weaslehead, Edworthy, Nose Hill and Bowmont Natural Environment Park, a park with its very own waterfall.
Pockets of nature are scattered throughout the city. When I head out on foot, I step off the sidewalk and onto the dirt and paved pathways at every opportunity. Scenic Acres Ravines, Erlton Bluffs, Britannia Slopes, McHugh Bluffs are just a handful of green spaces that add a taste of nature to a city trek. Urban hiking is a diverse adventure; a mix of funky shopping districts, architecturally-interesting neighbourhoods and tasty local eateries. It’s the vast range of treasures in a small, easily navigated space that makes exploring the city on foot so appealing.
And if you are one of those time-crunched urbanites that are over-booked and under-vacationed, urban hiking is your ticket to being a tourist in your own city. Self-propelled urban mini-vacations keep your body fit and your mind intrigued. And there’s no better time than the long days of summer to start your walking habit. You’ll get landscaping and gardening ideas en route, soak up the smells of wild roses and barbecued steak, shade yourself under the canopy of full grown poplars that line inner-city streets, and enjoy a picnic lunch on the top of Nose Hill Park, Calgary’s highest point.
Inglewood and Ramsay is my suggestion for an eclectic urban hike. Calgary’s oldest neighbourbood is a mix of trendy and gritty. Its character results from the wide variety of housing styles, people, and the independent shops that line 9th Avenue. From Scotsmans Hill you can soak up the awe-inspiring views of Stampede Park, the Rocky Mountains on the western horizon and the downtown core prominently reaching out of the concrete. Descend in an easterly direction towards 9th Avenue and the Bow River. Roads go this way and that, and street names like Bison Path give a hint of Calgary’s earliest days. The back streets and alleys of Ramsay are home to war-time bungalows with car sheds and clotheslines. Enjoy the feel of a multi-generational neighbourhood; homes here date back to the late 1800s and the community feel is strong.
If you’d like to do a bit of shopping on your trek then detour along the commercial core on 9th Avenue. Rejuvenated historic buildings are home to the city’s largest collection of antique and home decorating shops, a scattering of cafés and ethnic eateries and an eclectic mix of independent shops. Walk closer to the Bow River, along 8th Avenue, to view homes with bay windows and verandahs; decorative widow’s walks on rooftops, and fine woodwork. Head to the Bow River Pathway and go east to explore Pearce Estate Park, the Fish Hatchery, the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary or the new Bow River Weir Project called Harvie Passage; anatural water park that replaces the hazardous weir.
Or venture north across the Bow River and follow paved paths past the zoo, over the wooded St. Patrick Island and then east to the new East Village Development. With any luck, the food trucks will be parked in the East Village and you’ll have lunch on one of the new comfy lounge chairs overlooking the Bow River. Take the Elbow River Pathway south and walk south towards the Saddledome. Watch for Great Horned owls perched in the Poplar trees. A set of stairs, across from the second bridge that leads to Stampede Park (marked by an area enclosed by a chain-link fence), is your secret passage back to the top of Scotsman’s Hill.
Walking goes against the grain of our multi-tasking car culture. The purpose of an urban hike is observation and exploration. Your walking pace enables you to change your route mid-stride, investigate a side-street, stop for a coffee or appreciate a view. Walking is also a wonderful time to go solo and think, to visit with friends, and to improve your fitness level. It’s this change of pace from your jam-packed city life that makes urban hiking potentially habit forming. So the next time you need a break, a mini-getaway from the routine of life, a new perspective, just step out in your own city. You won’t believe what you’ll find in your own backyard!
