Category: snow

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bikes canada general moosling snow

Legacy Trail fail

Instead of going skiing yesterday, we optimistically decided to head out on the Legacy Trail. Theoretically it was rideable, as it was certainly bare of snow in huge patches. It would be the first proper test ride for the biking version of the Chariot as well.

Things went well until we actually reached the Legacy Trail, at the Banff Park gates.

We rode around the first huge snow drift, then there was just a whole lot of gravel, as we were right next to the highway. That wasn’t great, but still, easy enough to ride on.

But then we hit the uphill, which was covered with a huge snow drift. We could see a bare patch afterwards, so we though “Why not?”, and pushed on up through it.

Alex started out through the next drift, and this was the “Seriously? There’s just more snow?” moment. So the Legacy Trail is rideable in parts, if you’re happy riding on the highway the rest of the way. We opted to sit in the sun on the bare trail and eat cookies, and then turn around and go home. Defeated once again by Super Winter. At least the Chariot passed the biking nap test.

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canada general moosling snow trip reports

BOOM!

On Sunday we revisited Boom Lake two years after I first went there. So this time around I was wise to the fact there really isn’t much elevation gain, and it’s basically a rolling trail both ways. At the moment the trail is a mangled mess of tracks left by hikers, dogs, snowshoes and skis – or perhaps that’s the way it normally is.

It’s not the best trail for the Chariot – you can get it along, but with difficulty at some points, as it tends to be a bit off-camber and narrow in spots. The Ergo would have probably been a better bet, but you just can’t beat a Chariot nap, so I want to keep using it while I can!

the bridge of peril

There’s still a ridiculous amount of snow around.

onto the lake

And at least the Moosling is eating bread now, even if he turns up his nose at pretty much everything else. Well, by eating, I really mean sucking on, and spitting out most of it. But it’s a start.

bread eating

(And as Brendan noted, it went Boom once while we were there)

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canada general moosling snow

The story of the girl and baby going up the mountain and then down again

Just because I hadn’t done it yet, and it was going to be a nice day, yesterday I skinned up the ski out at Sunshine Village with Finn in the Chariot. Had a hot chocolate in the sun in the Village (I don’t recommend the Java Lift hot chocolates unless you’re only after an expensive sugar fix). It was gorgeous up there, and there’s still so! much! snow! Then skied back down again.

Skiing back down again was an exercise in snow-ploughing. Never before has one girl snow-ploughed so hard for so long. When we’re back country it’s usually not too much of an issue, with less people and lots of snow. And because the ski out is a road in Summer, it’s just slightly off-camber most of the way down. I’d never really noticed before, but with the Chariot behind me, wanting to dive off to the left all the time, it was all of a sudden very obvious.

And then there was an excursion to Vermillion Lakes to look at the Canada Geese. They didn’t eat us. This time.

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bikes canada general snow

Winter Meltdown Triathlon (more of a ‘Do your worst winter, who wants spring anyway’)

Despite all rumours to the contrary, it’s supposed to be Spring by now. No-one has told the weather yet. They’re worried it will start hitting us with -10oC days to go with the snow.

Anyway, somehow I ended up doing a Winter Triathlon. Sensibly, it involved no swimming. Instead there was a ski leg, which I ended up doing. As a result, there are no photos of that part, so instead I bring to you photos of people trying to bike in 15cm of fresh snow (heh heh), and running through 15cm of fresh snow (heh heh heh).


A bike pedals through a field of white

 


Alex coming round past the Red Bull girls for his second bike lap

 


Anya, the runner for team Finn’s Minions, arrives back after a slog through the snow

 


Alex finally finishing after skiing 10km, biking 10km and running 5.6km

 


Team Finn’s Minions – victorious in our own minds, if not in actual fact, thanks to the copious quantities of elite athletes and excessively fit people in Canmore

 

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canada general hiking snow trip reports

The first hike of the year

“Do you wanna go skiing?”
“Yeah, ok.”
“How about Mount Shark?”
“Yep, sounds good.”
…..
“The road over Whiteman’s Gap keeps being closed due to avalanche.”
“And it sounds like the trails will be bullet-proof anyway.”
“Yeah, lets not go skiing there.”
“I’d still like to get out and do something.”
“Yeah.”
“How about we go for a hike?”

And so we hiked up Lady Mac. The trail was actually dry or just a bit muddy for maybe 10-20% of the way. Then there was just a lot of packed snow. Which got less and less packed as we got higher. We stopped at the teahouse for a quick bite to eat (the Moosling had a suck on a vegemite sandwich and a banana), then fled the horrible wind, and did some good butt-sliding on the way down. The butt-sliding was the main reason I kept carrying the Moosling on my front, as I’d have much preferred the weight on my back.

Photos from Kristy (because I forgot my camera!!)