Eeee-GAD!!!

Oh dear. It finally happened. I kind of had the 'same day twice'... D'OH!! The whole premise behind the name of my blog is that, while I will definitely try pretty much anything once, I prefer NOT to repeat myself when it comes to hiking and travelling, etc. This world has so many trails to explore and destinations to visit, and I seriously enjoy the adventure of new scenery and locations. I love not knowing what it will look like when I arrive!! I mean, of course there are the standard places that I venture to, time after time after time (honestly, who doesn't like Skaha or Red Rocks or even Arizona??)... but mostly I make an effort to plan my hikes and holidays to places I've never been.

Until today. I'm in Canmore and I slept late (felt soooo good!!), and between that and the bear closures around the area and the poopy weather forecast, I chose to stick close to home. About five years ago, Todd and I climbed the standard route up the north face of Ha Ling Peak, and we walked off via a trail down the backside. All I remember about it is that the views from the top were quite nice... so even though I already have a rock from the peak, I decided to check it out a second time.

 

 

I'm really glad I did! Although I couldn't have picked a busier day... Saturday! But that's okay - the people traffic was entertaining. It took me 90 minutes to get to the summit, and along the way I passed an 8-year-old girl who proudly announced she would be turning 9 tomorrow and had just climbed her first mountain. I also met and chatted with a retired fellow from China who was quite concerned that I was hiking by myself. He is here exploring the Rockies for an unspecified amount of time and was super keen to do more scrambling. We discussed nearby options and I left him with my GemTrek map of Canmore - I thought he was going to hug me, he was so grateful!

Then I toured over to Miner's Peak, which was way less crowded but equally as scenic. I met a local gentleman who was scoping out some ski lines below Lawrence Grassi Peak, and then I sat and ate my lunch in the glorious sunshine.

 

I was back at the car in just over three hours, and for the record, the last time I was at Ha Ling I don't think we descended on the well-worn switchbacking trail that I hiked on today. Seems to me we took the 'climbers trail' (which beelines straight for the road!) So... a different trail, and a variation at the top that included another peak... Perhaps I didn't have the same day twice after all!!?

Cheers!


Ha Ling Peak / Miner's Peak
Time (car-to-car): 3-1/4 hrs
Distance: ~6km
Elevation Gain: ~800m