Author: megan

Plans for 2014

Post author By megan
Post date 5.1.2014
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Just because I’ve been dreaming about summer, here’s my am-hoping-to-do-in-2014 list:

Races
May – Salty Dog 6hr MTB Enduro (Salmon Arm, BC – maybe as a mixed pair, otherwise solo)
May – 24 Hours Round the Clock MTB Enduro (Spokane, WA – first solo 24 hour)
June – Rundles Revenge Iron Donkey (Canmore, AB – 100km MTB on Saturday, 50km run on Sunday, what could possibly go wrong?)
July – 24 Hours of Adrenalin (Canmore, AB – probably as part of the work 5-person team)
October – Grizzly Ultra 50km run (Canmore, AB – again! Hopefully with enough running beforehand that I can finish in under 5 hours this year)

Other summer plans
* Long family bikepack into K-Country from home – I’ve already plotted a route for this, and it will be 3 days of biking, and thoroughly epic
* Bike (solo?) to Fernie from home via Tour Divide route (233km offroad) – probably in two days
* Lake Minnewanka family bikepack again – because it was really fun the first time around
* Maybe family bikepacking the Elbow loop in K-Country
* Mt. Assiniboine hike (in 3 or 4 days?) – last completed when I was 34 weeks pregnant, this time we’ll be attempting to get him to walk most of it, which I suspect will be even more challenging.
* Run the Lake O’Hara Alpine Circuit – still haven’t done it, and would love to
* Run Mount Allan through, from Nakiska to Canmore
* Run the Mystic Pass loop – Inkpots to Norquay at least?
* Run Hwy 93 to Sunshine (there are a lot of trails to explore out there – Gibson Pass? Whistling Pass? Honeymoon Pass? Redearth Pass? Egypt Lake?)
* Run Rockwall Traverse (either the full traverse, or the northern section I haven’t been on yet)
* Run Sunshine Village to Mt Assiniboine and out to Mount Shark (especially if we don’t end up getting organised to do the hike with Finn)
* Scramble/hike the Windtower
* Scramble Cascade Mountain (it’s been on my to-do list for 6 years now I think)
* Scramble/run Nihahi Ridge
* Explore the biking in the Moose Mountain/West Bragg area
* Bike Jumpingpound/Cox/Powderface
* Maybe a long weekend biking down in the Rossland area? Or definitely Fernie at least!
* Biking/bikepacking holidays in April and October (in Oregon? Chilcotins, BC? Arizona?)

Beyond this my list gets even longer and crazier, and seems to completely ignore the fact I work full time, and summer only lasts 4 months, and that I also want to spend time coaxing the Moosling out on some short and easy hikes, to see if he can reclaim the hiking enthusiasm he had as a 1.5 year old. And spending time teaching him to ride a bike. But a person can dream.

Tags to do list

bikes canada general moosling snow

Yet more post-Christmas snow adventures

Post author By megan
Post date 29.12.2013
2 Comments on Yet more post-Christmas snow adventures

The day after Boxing Day, we headed to West Bragg Creek to go exploring. It feels like a long drive, but that’s just because these days we’re outraged by having to drive a whole hour to do something apparently. There’s an absolute nest of rideable snowy single track out there, good for running and snow-shoeing too, as well as groomed nordic ski trails.

We only had a few hours there, but the conclusion was that we really need to return with more time up our sleeves. And on a less windy day (we were both blown off the bike a few times).

I went for a snowshoe while Alex was out riding. The Moosling was unimpressed with the wind, but held on while I stomped about. I don’t really feel like I see the point of snow-shoeing, as it seems to largely be done on trails that you could just as easily run on.

And then the next day it was out to Lake Louise, and my first time skiing the Telemark and Great Divide trails. It was a painful day on classic skis, with far too much grip wax on making everything hard work – on top of me being a little tired and sore after so many consecutive days of activity. On the plus side, after working at it for a few hours, I may have marginally better technique now (thanks Lincoln).

The Great Divide trail isn’t terribly inspiring, particularly when you’re working just as hard on the downhill as you are on the up, but it was still a fun day of exploration, with bonus sled dogs.

Tags lake louise, moonlander, snow bike, snowshoe, west bragg creek

canada general snow

Boxing Day ski

Boxing Day dawned a bit grey and dreary, but at least it wasn’t terribly cold or windy, so we headed to Mount Shark for a ski. It was surprisingly quiet as we set off, with very few other cars or people to be seen.

Somehow I ended up being talked into skiing out to the Spray River bridge, despite being on my skate skis, which were totally unsuited to the trail. I think this largely ended up happening as I had no idea what I was agreeing to.

But it worked out to be a nice little 16km jaunt. As I wasn’t towing the Chariot, I was still feeling fresh though. So I convinced myself it would be a good idea to get Alex to drop me off at the Nordic Centre on the way back to Canmore so I could ski another 34km, thus bringing my total for the day up to 50km.

The only pitfall to this idea was that I decided to ski a whole lot of the harder trails I’d never skied before, so it took quite a while, and without a headlamp I had some fun making my way home in the dark. Nevertheless, the mission was a success! The crazy plan for January is to ski all of the Nordic Centre trails in a day. What could possibly go wrong?

Tags chariot, k-country, kananaskis, mount shark

canada general moosling snow

Christmas

Post author By megan
Post date 25.12.2013
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Christmas Day followed the by now fairly traditional pattern of Alex being at work, and the Moosling and I hanging out at home opening a few presents. The difference this year being that no-one was sick, and the boy was actually keen on the whole presents thing. Although when I told him that the Ho Ho had brought some presents, he was a little dubious. On arriving upstairs he declared: “Where is the Ho Ho? Ho Ho gone! *points out window* No, was Mama. Mama did presents.” So that didn’t last long.

So there was the donning of the festive apparel (new Toy Story t-shirts, amongst others), and the eating of the chocolate frog, followed by the running-around-getting-ready-to-go-skiing. After driving in with others, we caught the gondola up to Sunshine Village, and the Moosling went to hang out in daycare for a couple of hours (quite happily, as there was scary wind outside). I got a couple of hours skiing in, and was not terribly sad to have to stop at midday, as it really was a bit windy and miserable despite being theoretically fairly warm.

The afternoon was spent cooking, and being sprayed with the water pistol which the unthinking Mama had gifted the small child. And then came the eating of the tasty food, the setting fire to the pudding, and the going home early to bed, as it had been quite a long day.

The next day brought about the testing of the full body climbing harness, and the discovery that it certainly works quite well for swinging at any rate.

Tags christmas, gondola

canada general hiking

Five Dames and a Dog: Winter Solstice Expedition

Post author By megan
Post date 22.12.2013
No Comments on Five Dames and a Dog: Winter Solstice Expedition

The expedition was planned to ascend Ha Ling Peak, meeting in town at 6.15am, loading the crates of champagne into our cars, and setting off from there.

The trail was well packed, but it was still slow going, so we didn’t make it to the summit for sunrise. At least we were at treeline as all the clouds turned brilliant shades of pink though.

It was a glorious morning for it, calm and crisp, and the views were wonderful once we made it to the summit.

And now the sun is returning! Thank you sun!