Monday, June 26, 2017

Onward and Upward!


Between hoofing it and pedaling this past five days, I clocked a distance of just over 99 km and climbed 3200 metres, on various hiking and biking trails around the Canmore area. What an incredible extended weekend it was!

It began on the summer solstice, with a quick, late evening jaunt up Tunnel Mountain. The night was windy and cool, but it was still great to get out and stretch the legs and use up every last minute of daylight available.



A leisurely Legacy Trail cruise was next up on the agenda. I love pedaling over to Banff for lunch (and a beer!), and the moderately overcast day was perfect for it.



Ha Ling and Miners' Peak were the objectives for Friday, and talk about feeling lucky! Of all the times I've been to the summit of Ha Ling, this was the first time that I didn't have to tie everything down or have it blown off at the top. The nearly non-existent breeze was an unexpected treat.


Saturday was another surprisingly beautiful hike, in spite of its name. Old Goat Glacier doesn't sound all that appealing, however it became apparent almost immediately that it is one of the prettiest trails in the Spray Valley.













I stepped totally out of my comfort zone on Sunday when I pedaled my bike (and pushed it of course!) up to Prairie View Lookout... and down the other side! A few bruises, several hours, and a sore butt later, I completed the loop. I wouldn't exactly describe it as your typical pleasant Sunday afternoon ride, but I had fun nonetheless and learned a lot and I love my new bike!




Finally, last but certainly not least, today I hiked to something that I've been eyeing up for quite some time - Grassi Knob. The details for the trail were hard to find, but I'm glad I persevered because the reward was totally worth the effort! The straight up grind ends with a fabulous 360 degree view that rivals the vistas from Ha Ling and EEOR, but without all the people!






And that my friends, is how I spent my days off. Have I mentioned lately, that it's good to be me!


Cheers!



Monday, June 5, 2017

A little of this, a little of that.....


Yet another most excellent weekend in the Rockies was had by me! The rain held off Friday, and I had enough time for a late afternoon stroll up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse.






Saturday, the skies completely cleared and the lovely weather afforded me a trip up the always fun East End of Rundle.




Sunday was chill - I got an alpine start and rolled into MEC first thing, and of course as per usual I did not leave the store empty-handed.... oy.... I should know better by now than to just go 'have a look around'.... Tsk.... LOL!

At any rate, it was a fabulous three day vacation and I appreciated getting away from the shutdown grind. Love my mountain therapy sessions!

Cheers.






Hiking - Lake Agnes
Time (car to car): 3 hrs
Distance: 7.5km
Elevation Gain: 390m


Scramble - EEOR (East End of Rundle)
Time (car to car): 4 hrs
Distance: 6.0km
Elevation Gain: 900m