Avid hiker, mountain lover and fitness enthusiast with insatiable wanderlust. Usually battling with an injury and my mental health, but I always persevere!
Since I’m incredibly exhausted at the time of writing this, I will keep this entry brief. I hiked Nihahi today with my friend Adriane. I had done this hike on my birthday, and at that time, I never did reach the ridge. This time, however, we made it! It was a chilly fall day. The leaves are still turning colour, which made for some beautiful views. And since it’s cold enough, the mountains were topped with snow. Gorgeous!
We started the hike at 11:40 and ended at 4:55, so 5 hours and 15 minutes. Not too bad! We hit the ridge in about 3 hours, and thanks to an awesome scree slope, we were down the mountain in no time!
Hiking to the ridgeStopping for a photo 🙂The Elbow Valley… So pretty…Panoramic, almost at the summitPanoramic from the ridge #1Panoramic from the ridge, #2Descending from the ridge. Snow already! 😦Sargeant Stroker. Well, naturally…Going down the scree slopePanoramic of the scree slopeAnother view of the Elbow ValleyBack down to the river. Nihahi- we conquered you!
So here’s a super quick synopsis of the amazing hike at Pocaterra Ridge, located in Highwood Pass… it was awesome. The End. Actually, I have a bit more to say :). Hiking season is winding down and winter is around the corner… Noo!! This, of course, means that I’m trying to get in as many hikes as I can. Adriane, her friend Mia, Paul and I decided that Pocaterra Ridge was the next to be conquered. We’ve been pretty lucky with weather lately, and yesterday was no exception. The weather was great, which meant for some stunning views all along the ridge.
I’m happy to be in the larches!OnwardPaul and I, and Mount Tyrwhitt in the backgroundSergeant on Pocaterra
The really cool thing about this hike is that it can be done as a one way hike, and it’s best completed with a car shuttle. We parked one car at Little Highwood Pass, drove to the Highwood Pass parking lot about 9 kilometres down the road to the trailhead, and then hiked up to the ridge, crossed each of the 4 peaks, and hiked back down to Little Highwood Pass. The larches are beautiful at this time of year, and the ridge was amazing to traverse. It was also a pretty challenging hike. I haven’t hiked many ridges, but if there are others as awesome as this one, then I need to find me some more ridges!
Ascending to Pocaterra RidgeAlmost at the top, but I had to stop for a photo!Paul, Adriane and I at the top of the first peakYay!Three more peaks to go… 🙂Panoramic #1 from the first peakPanoramic #2 from the first peakI made it!Stopping for lunch at the second peak 🙂
As we were leaving the Little Highwood Pass lot, a few hundred metres from where we were parked, there was a mama grizzly bear and her 2 bear cubs at the side of the road! We stopped on the opposite side of the road and watched from the car. It was the first time I had seen a grizzly bear, and she was huge! And to see her with her 2 cubs was an amazing sight. The cubs were playing, running and eating without a care in the world. They didn’t even seem to notice the cars stopped at the side of the road, taking photos and admiring in awe. It was definitely a great sighting at the end of a marvellous hike 🙂
Mama Grizzly! She was huge!Grizzly cubs playing 🙂A curious grizzly cub
Pocaterra Ridge is located in the Highwood Pass area of Kananaskis. The distance from the Highwood Pass parking lot to the Little Highwood Pass lot is about 9 km. The elevation gain is about 550 metres, but the cumulative gain as you go up and down over the 4 peaks is 1036 metres. We started at 10:25 am and reached the end of the hike at 3:30 pm :), so a little over 5 hours. All in a day’s work :). And just think, had we finished 15 minutes later, we probably would have crossed paths with the grizzly family on our trail… and that probably wouldn’t have gone over too well!
Typical…Descending through the forestPocaterra Ridge- we conquered you!
The fall season in Calgary and the Rockies is short. Like, in my opinion, way too short. It happens around the end of September- there’s a brief period when the leaves transition to nice yellow and orange-like colours, and then in a matter of 2 or 3 weeks, the colours are gone and it’s pretty much winter. This isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it does mean that getting out to the mountains during this short period of time is of utmost importance! Continue reading “Fall Hiking on Opal Ridge”
So what kinds of things are there to do in Calgary and Alberta? Well, there’s the Calgary Corn Maze. It’s exactly like how it sounds… a giant maze in a bunch of corn. I think the term “Agri-fun” is used for this kind of thing :). A bunch of us decided it would make a fun outing, and it sure did. It was Friday night and we were armed with flashlights, ready to conquer this maze (…corn mazes are so much better in the dark). Since it was fairly easy to hide in the corn, there were lots of shenanigans and many attempts to scare each other. All in all, a great time, and after about an hour or so, we found our way out of the maze. Phew! Continue reading “Getting Lost in a Corn Maze”
In Montreal: Enjoying a gin and tonic after a long work week 🙂
As I mentioned, I was in Montreal for an investigator / analyst meeting for the new pharmacoepidemiology study that I am starting. Fun! Once the meeting was finished on Friday afternoon, it was time for a fun weekend in Montreal, w00t! Continue reading “A Fun-Filled Weekend in Montreal”
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 