Category: snow

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canada general snow trip reports

Elk Pass

Our very first sans-kid overnight trip was a success. Well, a success in that we had fun and he had fun. Less successful in that when we went to pick him up on Saturday afternoon he was annoyed with us for turning up and taking him away from his friend’s house where he’d been having so much fun. So annoyed he refused to so much as hug me for the rest of the day. On the plus side, he really wants to have more sleepovers now.

We’d been invited on an adults only trip to Elk Lakes Cabin, with everyone leaving their kids behind at home.

Everyone else was on heavy cross-country skis – and although our telemark gear and skins seemed ludicrously heavy, I really wouldn’t have swapped it for anything else. We could happily cruise downhill on any surface, and climbing with skins was simple and straightforward, and far less hassle than waxing or struggling with grip on waxless skis that weren’t meant for the weight of a person plus a backpack.

After arriving at the hut in a completely leisurely fashion, a few of us wandered out to the Lake.

We found a unicorn there. And confirmed that it was indeed a lake, sat in a hole, jumped in the air, the usual.

Back at the hut, someone had laid out a trap for the more obsessive members of the party – a partially completed jigsaw puzzle. And with all of the easy parts done – all that remained were a pile of snowy pieces with trees or sky in the background. And no box to try and work out what we were supposed to be making.

More than once I’d meant to walk past the table on my way somewhere else, and ended u trapped, trying to fit in just one more puzzle piece.

A pleasantly warm evening spent around an outdoor campfire was wonderful, as we spotted satellites, debated constellations (I’m still not properly familiar with the northern hemisphere night sky) and didn’t have to worry about getting kids to bed.

After a great night’s sleep (no coughing or squirming kid!) we got up and made french toast, our contribution to the shared meals for the group.

Then it was time for a warm and leisurely ski back out again: uphill to Elk Pass, then snacks in the sun by the picnic table, and the delightful descent (mostly) to the car.

On the drive back home we even saw a young boy moose standing in the forest. But then onwards, to pick up our irritated five year old.

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bikes canada general snow trip reports

The return of adventure Sundays

With a knee that was starting to feel a lot better, I decided to make the most of having a whole Sunday to play. First up was a ski at the Nordic Centre, where conditions were surprisingly pleasant – although would certainly have been better if I was skate skiing. The main plan was to keep Miles company as he hit 1000km of skiing for the season.

Next up was loading the fat bike, and then waiting for the road up the pass to clear of crashed vehicles (it had been an icy morning).

A few centimetres of fresh snow on crust made for pleasant riding and clear tracks. There was no-one much else about though. Two bikepackers coming out from the Spray River, and one guy coming from Banff along Goat Creek, and that was it for the whole afternoon of riding. Just me pedalling along with a knee that felt perfect – meditative bliss.

From Banff I headed up along the Brewster Creek trail to Sundance Lodge. Quickly, because I realised I was going to run out of daylight if I wasn’t careful. It was another deserted trail, although in great shape and with plenty of previous fat bike traffic.

On reaching the lodge I paused for a minute to eat a snack, then flew off downhill.

Hurrying back along Goat Creek the light was getting low. It was silent and deserted, but a beautiful evening. And then I came upon a bull elk standing alone in the middle of the trail. We eyed each other. I asked him politely if he could wander into the bushes so I could get by. And waited. Eventually he wandered off, and I rode by.

The descent back into Canmore was achieved with minimal light, but thankfully also minimal traffic. I rolled in the door at 9pm or so, having ridden 92km and still wondering if I should get out and ride another 8km (to make it a round 100km). But I was starving, and out of water, and succumbed the the seductive pleasures of food and warmth – besides, another 8km would have been a contrived addition to a really fun ride.

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bikes canada general moosling snow trip reports

February adventures: Fatbiking and skiing slush

An exciting round up of a random selection of trips that now get crammed into one post thanks to the fact that it’s now a month after the fact and I’ve almost forgotten what happened. Welcome to the exciting world of me having an un-injured knee again! (For a while) (It’s actually hurting again right now and I’m not sure why, but am attempting to pretend it’s fine, and that I’m not worried) (I’m actually a bit worried)

Adventure 1 was a fatbike trip from Canmore to Banff, via Goat Creek. With little snow and lots of warm days, Goat Creek was getting glazed and fast, easy riding conditions, and perfect for towing the trail-a-bike along.

We’ve actually hacked up our Tout Streamliner now so that it has a 2.4″ on it instead of the skinny tires it came with – downside is less gears available, as we had to remove half of the cluster to get the tire to fit.

As most of February has been, it was a gorgeous day, and nice and warm. There wasn’t much other traffic about, either on the road, or on the trail.

And so we rode our bikes, and mosied along, and the trip was uneventfully peaceful and pleasant. We may have sung Bohemian Rhapsody (or as the boy calls it, “the Mamalayo song”), and Everything is Awesome. Loudly, and with little regard for accuracy or tunefulness.

Not pictured is the end of the trip, where we arrived in Banff and descended on the Wildflour Cafe like a plague of locusts. And from there headed to the Roam bus stop, and the very friendly bus driver helped us load our ungainly pile of bikes onto the bus for the ride back to Canmore. Success!

The next random adventure was me deciding to ski the Cookie Race in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. I’d signed up a couple of months earlier, back when the snow was still good, and the promise of 42km worth of cookies seemed like a good deal. The shorter 24km race costs the same amount, but there are obviously less aid stations to pass through, and thus less home made cookies. I am not silly, and so opted to maximise my cookies.

When the day came, waxing conditions for classic skis were verging on ludicrous, and I set off hopefully with a couple of sticks of borrowed wax, hoping I wouldn’t have to double pole the whole course. On the plus side I opted to wear my rainbow fur gaiters and unicorn rainbow leggings, which at least made the suffering more entertaining. I definitely had a lot more conversations out on the course as a result, and received a lot of cheering on from random by-passers.

But in short – it was warm, waxing was terrible, I survived. I finished the 42km and came second in my category through virtue of the fact there were only two in my category. I did however win the most awesome outfit category, so there is that (note for accuracy – there was no such category). The cookies were great though!

Adventure number three was a ride of the High Rockies Trail. We started at Driftwood, rather than riding the section from Goat Creek which I’ve done a few times now. Starting at Driftwood and heading south provides some glorious well packed single track, and it was in great condition.

Pictured above is me concentrating furiously on not falling off the bridge and down into the precipice of imminent peril. Certain doom awaited.

Incredibly fun trail, highly recommended winter fat bike ride, and much more moderate than some of the epic climbs that are required on the trails around Canmore.

And so that was February!

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canada general moosling snow trip reports

Boom Lake

Family Day long weekend was a good chance to get out skiing, and on Monday morning there were blue skies and at least 10cm of snow at Boom Lake. We didn’t realise that when we had organised to go, or when we set out in the morning. But things magically turned out ok. Except maybe for those few moments where it seemed like Tomo’s car wouldn’t be able to make it into the parking lot because there was too much fresh snow.

With hindsight, I wouldn’t have used the downhill-skis-and-tow-rope setup for the Moosling. Well, I would probably have still brought the tow rope, if only for the first steep section out of the parking lot, but after that the trail is really pretty rolling, with not much elevation gain. Cross-country skis would have been a much better call.

So we skied out to Boom Lake, through the trees, briefly onto the edge of the lake, and then back to hide in the trees from the wind.

There were a lot more snowshoers on the trail than other skiers. On our way out we kept crossing paths with other groups, and at least 90% of them were on snowshoes.

Aside from occasional stops to worship the sun, we cruised out at a steady pass, towing the Moosling along where necessary, then slingshotting him forward down the hills. The one benefit of having him in his downhill skis was that he had great control, and so I didn’t have to worry about him skiing into uphill traffic as we skied out.

And then finally, the last three kilometres back to the car, where the downhill begins in earnest. And the final kilometre, which is thoroughly downhill.

Fun trip, and a good family day excursion.

Distance: 10.5km return
Elevation gain: 200m (most of which is in the first 3km from the trailhead)

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canada general moosling snow trip reports

Amazing Elizabeth Parker hut expedition

Expedition may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but everything tends to turn into a bit of an expedition when you’re doing it with small children – at least when it comes to logistics.

We last spent a winter night up at Elizabeth Parker hut when the Moosling was just seven months old – it was his first hut trip.

This time it was three families, each with one child, who set off from the trailhead. Only having one child each does certainly make it easier. The two wee ones travelled in Chariots, while the Moosling was supposed to be skiing.

He was definitely travelling on skis, but worked out early on that he could grab onto the back of a Chariot to hitch a ride. So when he wasn’t being towed uphill, he was often finding other ways to be assisted up.

We broke for lunch at the half-way picnic table. The offspring all roared and pretended to be lions, while the adults ate and rehydrated. Then all the kids were inserted into their ski cages (with some kicking and wailing and gnashing of teeth), and the towing continued.

The Lake O’Hara road can be a long haul when you’re towing Chariots, and have kids to keep happy. It went fairly smoothly though, all things considered. Occasionally travelling in one big group, then splintering and reforming. Sometimes singing.

The Moosling was released from his pulky prison when we reached the summer bus stop, so he could ski the final kilometre or so to the hut. But first he spent some time being an assistant ski coach.

The final section was a little steeper and twistier than I remembered it being, but still didn’t take very long to coax a 5 year old through (at one point he made the call it was easier to remove his skis than side step up a hill section though).

And then we were at the hut, saving ourselves spots along the bunk, and letting the kids run about while we had the luxury of enjoying whole place to ourselves.

It was great having a pack of us there – this was our first group hut trip, and it’s a fantastic idea. The divide and conquer approach means you can have people making a meal, people chatting and relaxing, and people entertaining the kids – instead of having to ineffectively manage everything between two.

The hut was fully booked, but a big group had already filled out the smaller hut, so we only had a small party to share our sleeping quarters with.

We had a pleasant evening of relaxing by the fire, chopping wood, collecting snow, eating chocolate, drinking port, reading books to kids, trying to convince kids not to pile up all the sleeping bags and jackets into one enormous heap and jump on them, and reading the logbook.

We even slept ok! As far as sleeping in huts goes, I’ve had far worse nights without kids.

And then it was morning, and time for breakfast (French toast – our meal!), hut maintenance, and snow adventures. Getting out to play in the snow with the kids was great, and we probably should have spent time doing it the night before too.

Children were thrown into snow…

It had been snowing overnight, and just kept snowing and snowing throughout the morning.

Holes were dug….

But then it was finally time to get moving. We finished packing up, and started the ski ‘down’. Because it’s not really down is it. It feels like it should be. Maybe it even is if you’re skiing on fast snow without overnight gear. But when you’re towing a pulk through a few inches of fresh snow (Alex), or trying to tow a 5 year old up all of the slight rises (me… and Patrick), it just doesn’t quite feel like it. That road is definitely in my top 10 list of trails that are uphill both ways.

But with all the fresh snow, everything was beautiful. Eventually the snow stopped falling, and the descent really is much quicker than going in the other direction, so it must be at least vaguely downhill.

We arrived back at the cars, got packed up, high-fived each other for such a successful trip, then went to drive out of the parking lot. There was a train. What? It had been there for about half an hour. What?! Phone calls to various bodies of authority ensued. We all ended up piled into the back of the minivan for 45 minutes, until finally, miraculously, the train started to move. We were free!

Ski in: 11.5km, 460m elevation gain, elapsed time 5hr, moving time 3hr15min
Ski out: 11.5km, elapsed time 3hr15min, moving time 2hr15min