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bikes canada general moosling snow trip reports

Getting hardly any distance up Cox Hill

The initial plan was to try and bike/snowshoe up Jumpingpound Ridge. The road to the trailhead was open for logging until some time around the end of January, so we thought we’d give it a shot. Unfortunately, although we probably could have managed to get out there in the trusty little Subaru, there was no guarantee we’d be able to make it back later in the day, once the snow was even sloppier.

So, two-thirds of the way along the snowy logging road, we decided a moose in the hand is worth two in the bush, did a little digging, got the car turned around, and drove the kilometres back to the graded Cox Hill trailhead.

Cox Hill is steeper. It was fine for riding at first, but then became a nasty mix of ice (boo), bare dirt (yay!), deep punchy snow (boo), and steep bits of trail. I was fine on snowshoes. The Moosling was even happier hanging out on my back in the Ergo. But Alex was struggling, and so we called it quits after a couple of kilometres – but not before we’d gained enough height to gather some lovely views.

I’d love to try and get a bit further up the trail – an area I’ve never explored in winter.

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bikes canada general moosling

Summer 2013

A very belated video of Summer 2013. Lots of bike trips, the Moosling riding Get In, Get Out and Baby Beluga at the Nordic Centre, and some general shenanigans. Sorry about the quality of the footage, for some reason all I had was dodgy phone videos from the summer months – lazy, lazy videographers we are.

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canada general snow

Loppet crewing

For once it wasn’t me racing, but Alex. The event was the Lake Louise to Banff Loppet, a cross-country ski race which is usually 70km long, and travels the entire distance from Lake Louise to Banff, but this year was shortened to 50km due to flood damage, finishing 20km before Banff.

Alex skied the entire thing solo, while we noble crew cheered him on at the start, then at the exchange points at the end of each of the four legs. It’s a very small-scale event, due to the limitations placed by Parks Canada. There were around 110 people on the course at any time, with a mix of solo skiers and teams.

But first, after waving off the hordes at the start, we spent some time enjoying the Ice Magic Festival at Lake Louise. The Moosling was quite taken by the ice castle, and kept wanting to go back there. He even taste tested it: “Mmmm, tasty ice Mama!”

A few friends from work were doing the race as a team, I caught them finishing up the first leg before Alex skied in.

The weather was wonderful – the middle of January could really bring any kind of weather, so blue skies and temperatures between -10oC and 2oC were pretty much perfect.

Just to make things more difficult, I set an excitable toddler onto Alex just as he was crossing the finish line, narrowly avoiding making him crash.

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canada general moosling snow trip reports

Emerald Lake ski trails

The original plan was to ski up to Lake O’Hara. But there was TOO MUCH SNOW! And so we kept driving to Emerald Lake, where there was still a lot of snow, and it was snowing, but at least it all seemed a bit more manageable, and we had never been there before, in summer or winter.

At first we headed out into the trees, along the Connector Trail.

It was pretty, but uninspiring skiing, and we turned around when we reached the part of the trail with avalanche danger.

Then after a snack we scooted out onto the lake, with the Moosling on his skis too. That lasted just a couple of hundred metres, then he started falling into the snow and complaining about being stuck, so we threw him into the Chariot, where he screamed and complained the rest of the way around the lake, which rather put a damper on the enjoyment levels for all concerned.

And so after our loop of the lake, as it had finally stopped skiing, we drove back home again. A nice little exploration.

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bikes canada general moosling snow

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.