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bikes canada general moosling trip reports

Bikepacking Canmore to Lake Minnewanka (via Goat Creek)

“We should bikepack Lake Minnewanka this weekend.”
“Going there from home, via Goat Creek?”
“Yes!!”

And so was our most recent adventure planned.

We had company on the first leg, biking up to the pass from Canmore, and then dropping down the Goat Creek trail to Banff. We weren’t expecting the snow though! I always forget how this little valley is so much colder and darker than our big wide valley next door.

Following the floods, one of the bridges is still a little bit out. Definitely not open for business. Could be that it’s possible to cross the river there anyway though.

We all stopped for hot chocolate and coffee in Banff, warming up a little after the journey through the freezing cold valley of doom. Then we said goodbye to Tomo, and biked onwards towards Lake Minnewanka.

The sun was out, but the temperature hovered around 12oC. Luckily we found a hill to ride up. Alex kicked the Moosling out of the trailer, and managed to ride up the hill while I did some high quality toddler coaxing.

Most of the time he just zoomed along with arms outstretched, “Buzz Eye-ear to the rescue! Kssssshhhhhhhhhh!”

The Lake Minnewanka trail is in perfect condition at the moment though, thoroughly recommended!

We biked along to LM8 (the campground 8km along, imaginatively named), passing Joel and Kristy shortly before arrival. They were hiking in to camp with us – they had brought the stove and hatchett, we had the ingredients for s’mores.

We pulled into camp around 5pm, and got things set up. This time round we opted for the slightly heavier, less roomy, but warmer, Big Agnes tent – the old faithful who’d seen us all the way around our European cycle tour. We were also carrying sleeping bags instead of the down quilt – the quilt is great, but just not warm enough for freezing temperatures when shared with a toddler.

Following dinner there were some high quality family photos taken on the shore, and then we retired to the fire pit for our first attempt at s’mores-making (s’mores = graham crackers, toasted marshmallow and chocolate). After a couple of efforts, I’m willing to accept it’s a reasonable idea, and potentially very tasty. I feel like my chocolate should have been a little more melted though, and that perhaps I need the guidance of a more experienced Canadian s’mores-maker.

It dawned cold and frosty on Sunday morning.

Porridge was eaten, morning light was admired, and camp was dismantled.

By the time we got on the bikes to hit the trail homewards, I was feeling thoroughly chilled to the bone. Even the climb over the hill at the point didn’t really warm me up.

Alex seemed nice and warm though, with 15kg fast asleep in the singletrailer, he got a nice long hill push in.

Once we hit the Minnewanka parking lot, it was all smooth sailing on sealed surfaces. Out on the Minnewanka loop road, then onto the Legacy trail for a quick pedal back to Canmore. We did consider the option of riding back along Rundle Riverside, but then remembered how rocky, rooty and rough it is, and how muddy it would probably be, and thought better of it.

Distance: 85km (Day 1: 50.5km, Day 2: 34.5)
Elevation gain: 1219m (Day 1: 1078m, Day 2: 241m)
Packing List: Was as per here, but with the Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 tent, and two separate sleeping bags for us instead of the down quilt. No stove/fuel, no insect repellant. The smaller tent was great, as there were no gaping holes developing between the thermarests. The toddler did spend most of the night inside my sleeping bag, but at least we were both warm.

Day One (click to embiggen)

Day Two (click to embiggen)

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bikes canada general moosling

Return to Lake Minnewanka

A return to Minnewanka with the Tout, because it’s a nice cruisy place for a family ride…. and this time it was actually sunny.

This time we dragged Joel along too

A couple of places are a bit tricky with the Singletrailer, and it needs some assistance

Flat and mossy forest makes for relaxing Singletrailer terrain

Unbelievable but true, Alex does sometimes smile when he’s out riding

Moosling grins by the beach at the Warden’s Cabin

Playing around by the shore at the Warden’s Cabin

Alex’s obsession with fat tyres continues unabated. Now he’s selling off all his normal bikes so he can buy another bike with fat tyres.

The Moosling discovers Joel’s scroggin! At least he asked for permission before raiding it for M&Ms

Trail running for 1.5km on the way back to the trailhead. People certainly give you some odd looks when you’re biking along while your toddler runs in front of you.

Distance: 30.5km
Elevation gain: 400m

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bikes canada general moosling

The Tout goes on a local adventure

There aren’t many dry trails around here yet, but the Lake Minnewanka trail is pretty close. The first kilometre or two has a lot of mud and ice, but once you round the hill, the trail was bone dry. Until it started raining anyway.

We gambled on the weather and lost. Actually, the rain was a bit of a foregone conclusion, and it wasn’t so bad for the first half of the trip. After a short lunch at the Warden’s Cabin, the return trip just got wetter and wetter though.

The single trailer experiment was a success though. Apart from a few fallen trees that haven’t been removed by Parks yet, the trail was great for the Tout… actually, great may be a wee exaggeration for the enormous hill climb at the end, I don’t think that was particularly enjoyable. Apart from the enormous hill, the trail was great for the Tout.

Now we’re just waiting for more warm weather to clear some more trails for us.

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canada general hiking snow trail running

Running in the snow along Lake Minnewanka

Lake Minnewanka and the Cascade Fire Trail share a trail-head; and so we hatched a cunning plan where I would run along the shoreline of the lake, while Alex would take Moosling and Chariot and go towing up the Cascade Fire Trail. The plan was to turn around after an hour or so, and be back at the car at 11.30am (so we could then get back to Canmore to watch the finals of the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup sprints at the Nordic Centre).

The trail was well-packed to the bridge and beyond,to the high point of the climb up and around the spur.

After turning around to head north-east though, the trail was progressively less and less travelled, and by the time things flattened out it was just me and some old animal tracks. Thankfully there wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground, but it was still slow going. And a little eerie, as I kept running about four kilometres past the last sign of people tracks. There wasn’t a sign of another creature, human or animal, the whole time I was out past the bridge though.

Thanks to relatively benign weather so far this winter, the lake remains un-frozen. The trail was in the shade until 11am though, so it still wasn’t the warmest of runs.

The appearance of the sun was cause for celebration though.

(And the plan worked, and we went and watched the World Cup, and clashed cow bells with great enthusiasm, and were amazed at how fast everyone could ski)

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bikes canada general

Lake Minnewanka – to ride one’s bicycle along the lake

I had somehow never ridden the Lake Minnewanka shoreline trail before, but managed to get in two rides this year before the wildlife closure kicked in. Definitely not Chariot friendly unfortunately, otherwise we could do a family bike and hike up Mount Aylmer.

A good ride to hit early in the day if you’re going to be riding on the weekend too. Trail enjoyment is considerably reduced for everyone involved when you’re constantly having to slow right down and ring your bell to politely pass hikers. Fantastic fun if you can get a clear run at it though.

On the July version of the ride we actually made it out to the Warden’s Cabin (in May we’d had to turn back early due to work schedules). Sitting on the rocky beach and eating lunch, a deer wandered past and tried to eat our bicycles.

(And sorry for the slightly dodgy phone photos, but my camera is just to big to enjoyably haul out on single-trail bike adventures… and yes we are dorks with bikes. Thank you for noticing.)