Calgary and Alberta – Page 2 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

The Calgary Marathon Turns 50!

My alarm went off at 5 am, which pretty much means one of a few things: an airport pickup; a crazy long day hike in the Icefields Parkway; or, a race.

In this case, today was race day! The Calgary Marathon, to be precise.

Only the Calgary Marathon could celebrate its birthday with over 15000 people. After all, it’s Canada’s longest running marathon, and I’m sure people flocked from near, far and wide just to run it. My friend Shari and I knew we couldn’t miss the event, so we signed up for the Jugo Juice 10k. At 7 am, the two of us, joined by a supportive Robbie, headed over to the Stampede Grounds. As we arrived, the energy from the ultra marathoners (50k), marathoners and half marathoners as they crossed the starting line was amazing. Spectators cheered and whistled. It had been a long time since I ran at the Calgary Marathon, and I forgot how the air of positivity and determination is infectious. We were pumped! Continue reading “The Calgary Marathon Turns 50!”

Why Winter at Lake Louise is Magical

Winter in Alberta can be brutal with -40 degree weather. But it’s not always that bad! In fact, this winter we’ve seen a few chinooks roll through causing the temperature to rise above zero. And then there are the mountains. Growing up in the Caribbean, I’m the first to admit that I’m not a fan of winter, but there is definitely something magical about driving west on Highway 1 and seeing the snow-covered peaks in the distance. Canmore and Banff turn into winter wonderlands: snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and dogsledding (which is still on my list!). There’s also Lake Louise Ski Resort, which was just named the most scenic ski resort in the world by USA today and described as “unsurpassed with postcard perfect beauty“. What a great shout-out for Banff National Park and the resort!

This past weekend was the 20th anniversary of the Ice Magic Festival in Lake Louise. Speaking of anniversaries, I’m approaching 5 years of living in Alberta (omg…) and I had yet to attend this event. A few of us decided it would make a great day trip, so we drove out on Sunday. It dawned on me: I had not seen Lake Louise or visited the chateau in the winter before! I tried skiing at the resort once, but regarding the lake itself, I’m used to its emerald glacial glory. The festival did not disappoint with enough to see and do for anyone attending Continue reading “Why Winter at Lake Louise is Magical”

Snowboarding at Sunshine Village

So I finally went snowboarding this season. On Saturday, Robbie and I headed out to Sunshine Village to hit the slopes. I decided earlier this year that I would make a committed effort to snowboard instead of ski (which is a much more comfortable activity for me). With XC skiing in the schedule, snowboarding would be a welcomed change. I also own snowboarding equipment, so I figured I should really give it a go.

Thankfully the runs weren’t too busy, and I had lots of time to practice. Of course, there were many falls, and turning continues to be the biggest issue for me, but overall I felt quite comfortable on the snowboard. For having only gone twice last year, this was quite a surprise! Luckily there will be many more visits to the mountains, and my hope by the end of the season is to descend a green run while manoeuvring from heel to toe without falling. I think it’s doable.

Village Ice Cream: Toasted Coconut What?!

I just blogged about getting back into my fitness routine, but since last week was a write-off, I felt it was okay to indulge. Lots of food was consumed this weekend. Among them- ice cream. A colleague had raved about this new ice cream shop in Calgary: Village Ice Cream (located at 431 – 10th Ave SE). She described it as a pretty yuppie ice cream place, so naturally, Robbie and I had to go and try it out. They always have 10 flavours (which includes toasted coconut- yum!), as well as seasonal flavours. They use local, seasonal and organic ingredients whenever possible, and the ice cream is made at the shop! Overall, I can’t say it was the best ice cream I’ve ever had (since that award goes to homemade coconut ice cream I once had in Trinidad), and the location is in an unexpected location, but there’s no denying that the ice cream was tasty. It’s another good option for ice cream in the city :).

Sunrise Over the Rockies

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned to Shari: would you be up for a morning hike to see the sunrise? Of course, being the awesome person she is, she said “yes”. So we decided to get a few people together for a Sunrise Hike over the Alberta Prairies. It would be an early morning hike where we would leave the city around 4:30 am and head out to the mountains, climb to a vantage point, and enjoy breakfast and hot tea and coffee while watching the sunrise in the horizon. It sounded wonderful!

So on Saturday morning, Robbie, Tushna, Shari and I headed out to Mount Yamnuska with the intention of hiking to the east ridge. There’s a lovely spot there to set up shop and watch the sunrise. As we pulled into the parking lot we realized how dark it was. Super dark. We strapped on our hiking bags, layered warm clothing, and switched on our headlamps. We were off!

Things would not go as planned. Within 5 minutes, Robbie stopped and flashed a light: “Did you see that??” He had seen two eyes, staring at him. We didn’t want to jump to conclusions at that point, so we cautiously proceeded. Then another few minutes later, he proclaimed: “Over there! Do you see it?” And lo’ and behold, something was watching us- this was clear. Not only was it watching us, it was silent and following us. As we walked along the trail, it had walked in parallel. Then we all heard the rustling. There was most definitely something moving over there… and it wasn’t that far away. The sounds weren’t loud enough to be a bear walking through the forest, so we think it was a cougar… and that’s not an animal we wanted to go up against!

That was that- we high-tailed it out of there, looking back cautiously. Of course, we were choked that the hike did not go as planned, but we were thrilled that we left unscathed! That is the most important thing. Safety first.

But this certainly did not deter us from watching the sunrise. We had lots of goodies- bagels, cream cheese, muffins, coffee, tea, and strawberries. We headed to Canmore and drove up the Spray Lakes road and stopped near the top of the Grassi Lakes trail. We ate, chatted, and then bundled up just in time to watch the sunrise over the mountains, casting a wonderful orange and purple colour on the clouds. The surrounding mountains were all dusted with a fresh snowfall, which made the scenery pretty amazing. I reminded myself that I feel so lucky and blessed to have such great people in my life and to live in a place where I can experience a sunrise over the Canadian Rockies, whenever I choose to. It was a pretty incredible morning :).