Elbow Loop ride

Lou and I took the opportunity to knock off a circuit of this classic local ride recently. Here are some pictures. It's about 43 km round, with 900 m of height difference between the start and the Tombstone Pass. There's a fair bit of up and down along the way though, and although most of the riding is easy, it can feel like a long day by the time you're on the final stretch.

Spring Skiing

Someone told me about spring skiing shortly after I arrived. "Yeah man, it's really awesome, like, y'know, you ski in a T shirt".

Well I wore a T shirt last week. And a fleece. And a down vest. And a shell. And I was still bloody freezing.

The skiing was great though. Here's Lou descending Wild Side (Sunshine) in fresh snow. More pictures here.

Kayaking on Upper Kananaskis Lake

There seems to be a direct correlation between distance traveled from Calgary and the quality of the lake paddling. This trip went a little further than Lower Kananaskis Lake and the reward was more impressive scenery, and a lake that's fairly circular (unusual for the larger lakes in this glaciated area) , so you can spread out a bit, and not always be close to the shore.

It was meant to be a beautiful day in the mountains and worth making a five hour round trip for. The day certainly started out sunny, and I had hopes of paddling about 14 km round the shore.

The lake was pretty popular and there was a massive group of paddlers out, with several bizarre-looking sea kayaks equipped with double outriggers. I suspect they were stabilizers for novice paddlers. The only bad thing about Upper K Lake is the powerboat access, which can make it a bit noisy at times.

After about 45 minutes, the cloud was building and we decided to cut the trip short, taking in a couple of islands on the way back. We got caught in a squall on the way to the middle of the lake, and were glad to beach on the first island, which was a perfect lunch spot. It also appeared to be a perfect camping spot, but sadly after we had cirumnavigated it, Lou spotted a sign saying 'No Camping' - you can see why, as every redneck with an outboard would be partying here all summer long if not. We did spot a campfire and tent on the far side of the lake though, so there is still potential for a paddle and camp in this area.


Once we left the island, the wind and waves built pretty quickly, and were hitting us abeam, which made for a fun paddle home. My boat got swamped leaving the beach, before I could get my deck back on.

We got back to the slip as the rain started, and we got drenched loading the boats. Still, better to be on land than caught out by the thunderstorm, like the guys in this photograph!

Here's the full album link.

King Creek, Moonlight, Junkyards, Haffner Creek.

Link to pics of Moonlight, King Creek, Junkyards, Haffner Creek and Sunshine Village.

Frank came over for his annual winter visit, and we headed out for a few days of fantastic ice and skiing. We had been worried that by late March our options would be limited, but in truth it was the best climbing I've had all winter.

As I write this up on April 18, reports are still appearing of fantastic conditions on low altitude Rockies ice - but I'm off out for a sunny bike ride!

The week started with a trip to King Creek (above) in Kananaskis Country. The three seeps were in good condition at around WI2+ to WI3, although fresh snow made climbing the easy-angled First Seep less fun.

Day two saw us in Evan Thomas Creek, where we joined Grant for an ascent of Moonlight (WI4). Superb, sustained climbing and we saw two moose in the woods.

On day three we headed to the Junkyards and climbed the Scottish Gully, amongst others. The ice was super-fat and there were lines available that weren't formed on previous visits. The following day we skied at Lake Louise, and enjoyed the Rock Garden....great fun unless you miss a turn, then it's time to learn about the reason behind the name....

Our fourth day was spent at Haffner Creek. Again, the ice was superb and we climbed several good, short lines. After that, we decided to relax with a day at Sunshine Village. It was completely empty, and we had some great skiing, including a full descent of my first double black run - actually easier than many of the local single blacks, but longer and in a more remote position off the side of Goat's Eye Mountain. All in all, a great week!