Category: moosling

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bikes canada general moosling

Explorinating

While all the snow was around, the ride out along the riverside path became a pretty standard go-to bike escape for us. It got to a sort-of clear state long before the single trail on the benchlands either side of Canmore did. So although we had a sunny day on Sunday, thanks to all the rain and snow recently we thought we should probably give the trails another day to dry off – so the river trail to the cafe out at Three Sisters was beckoning.

After some hot drinks and food out in the sun, we decided to keep exploring the trail towards the end of the Three Sisters area. First through some construction areas – more condos, hurrah. Then past the fancy expensive golf course. Then out along what’s apparently an old mining road. There were a couple of nice meadows, but it was mostly just a gentle uphill through the trees, with the trail gradually getting smaller and rougher. We finally stopped when we hit a steep-ish hill that was too shady to have lost the pile of snow covering it.

The trail we were on though, looks as if it might lead to the Pigeon Mountain carpark, by Deadmans Flats. From that carpark, you could follow another fire trail up past Pigeon Mountain to Skogan Pass. From there you could descend into K-Country if you’re feeling keen – if you’ve been towing a Chariot, like we probably will be, you’ll probably just want to turn around and ride back to Canmore.

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canada hiking moosling trip reports

Barrier Mountain in the clouds

Trying not to be put off by the miserable weather forecast, we decided to set off for a hike anyway – it might make for a good time to test our rain gear, including the new little Oaki Adventure Suit for the Moosling.

In the end it never rained, just stayed cloudy and drippy and miserable all day. At least it was atmospheric. The trail up Barrier Mountain (in K-Country) was thoroughly muddy too – definitely not good cycling yet.

Thanks to the cloud we didn’t bother going all the way to the summit. Just most of the way. Still a nice little hike though, and thanks to the weather we had the place to ourselves.

Distance: 12km return

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canada general hiking moosling

Let’s try this again

After last month’s disastrous Ha Ling Peak attempt – well, not disastrous exactly, we didn’t fall off the mountain, and weren’t eaten by bears or grues, we just didn’t make it to the top, but did spend a lot of time wallowing about in thigh-deep snow.

Anyway, I thought we’d had enough warm weather that it was worth trying things again. So the Moosling and I set off from the carpark. But only after we’d spent some time discussing whether or not he’d be wearing a hat and sunglasses – the removal of which is a new trick that he’s working on perfecting.


 

The first half of the track up is nearly bare, although with plenty of snow patches and mud. Closer to the tree line the snow patches morph into permanent snow. The traverse across the treeline to get to the start of the scree trail isn’t clear at the moment, and nor is there a packed trail in the right spot – there are a couple of meandering paths that are getting down to bare ground in completely the wrong spot though, and some good deep snow to wade through otherwise. The scree to the summit is clear though.

mostly bare

Mostly bare trail

 

nearly a chipmunk

Not quite a photo of a chipmunk

 

It was a lovely warm day with barely a breeze (unlike the gale you get sometimes), so we hung out on the summit for a while, and the Moosling had a play with some rocks and dirt, but totally failed to notice the chipmunk that was bouncing around all over the place.

summit shot

mountain baby

Mountain baby

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general hiking moosling

Planning for camping

With a successful hut trip under our belts, I’ve started doing some planning for Summer trips with the Moosling. Starting off with a lot of research, and considering how other people manage things (especially people like Ground Truth Trekking), we came to the conclusion that if we want to get out on overnight hiking trips with an extra person to carry, we really want to be travelling as lightly as possible.

First up was a tent. The Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 we used on our bike trip only just had enough room for the two of us, so we’ve decided to move onto something bigger. And lighter. But to avoid this also being more expensive, we’ve gone more simplistic, and have ordered a Tarptent Rainshadow 2. A single wall tent with some good reviews, recommended by others hiking with offspring. It weighs in at 1.2kg (42oz) without poles, and can be set up using trekking poles if you are using them.

Without having used it yet, the main disadvantages I can think of at the moment are the fact that it’s not free standing, and the fly doesn’t offer full coverage to ground in case of rain. We’ll see how we go with any potential condensation issues too.

Now the tent is ordered and on it’s way, I’m trying to work out what to do for sleeping arrangements. We’ve got two thermarests, and won’t get anything extra for the Moosling just yet. But the two separate sleeping bags don’t work too well when sleeping as a family – plus we only have snow bags over here, which are enormous, heavy, and much warmer than they need to be.

So I’m thinking 2-person down quilt – light, warm, and just what we need for Summer camping in the mountains. And because the ones for sale are quite expensive, or not quite what I’m looking for, I’ve been busy studying home-made quilts. Thru Hiker stocks everything you need to make your own quilt, and the plan would be to end up with something like this (from tarbubble).

Everyone seems to want to sew in footboxes into their quilts though, and I hate the idea. I’m not sure if I need to be convinced that a footbox is reasonable, or I just need to make my own quilt the way I want it. And I’m still wondering if I should make two individual quilts that can join together instead – but if we were camping individually, we’d be using sleeping bags!

Right now, my theoretical quilt will be about 2m x 2m (79″ x 79″), with a little tapering at the end, some draft-excluding wings around the edges to allow tucking under thermarests if need be, and maybe a little velcro/clips on the wings around the foot end, so it can be closed in if need be. And it’ll be a lovely bright orange colour.

We’d bring along a light polar fleece blanket to be our under-layer, then with the down quilt weighing in at under 1kg, it should be a nice light-weight (but warm!) sleep system for hiking with.

Some awesome quilt making tutorials here:
Two person down quilt by Wystiria
Brian and Lis two person down quilt
Single down quilt

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bikes canada general moosling

Legacy Trail

It’s a far cry from a few weeks ago when we last tried to cycle along here and were stopped short by huge drifts of snow. The trail has been ploughed and swept, and as we cycled to and from Banff, it felt like a Summer weekend. The trail was busy, the day was warm and sunny (I’m sunburnt now), and the snow was staying up on the mountains in a very civilised fashion.

The Chariot doesn’t induce sleep half so well behind a bike as it does when being towed by skis, but the Moosling still enjoys the ride.