HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Mount Indefatigable. Mind. Blown.

Mount Indefatigable.

I can’t remember when I learned about this hike, but ever since I was informed of its epic-ness, I’ve wanted to conquer it. That was a couple of years ago. I remember saying to Dan last year that I had a good hike in mind, but winning the Big Mountain Challenge introduced other mountains to climb. Fast forward to this past weekend. I knew Dan and Aidan wanted a good hike. Better than good. An epic show-stopper, in fact. I also wanted a new mountain summit under my belt. Indefatigable was a clear choice.

It's decommissioned... but onward! — It’s decommissioned… but onward!

Before Saturday, I called the Kananaskis Visitor’s Centre to inquire about Indefatigable. It turns out the trail was decommissioned back in 2005. Did that mean we shouldn’t hike it? According to the guide, it’s definitely hike-able. Due to high grizzly activity in the area, the trail was constantly being closed when it was an official Kananaskis trail. Now that it’s decommissioned, it’s hike-at-your-own-risk. Thankfully the trail is extremely well travelled. So on Saturday, we were up early and made our way to the North Interlakes parking lot in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park with one simple goal: Conquer Mount Indefatigable. (Spoiler alert: No, we didn’t encounter any grizzlies thank goodness, but I was very much expecting that this would be the first time I would cross paths with one while hiking. Phew!)

Absolutely gorgeous views of the Kananaskis Lakes

Mount Indefatigable has two peaks: the popular south peak, and the more difficult scramble to the north peak. An amazing ridge walk connects the two. When we started the trek, I thought we’d ascend to the south peak. We quickly emerged from the tree line to absolutely incredible views of the Kananaskis Lakes on either side. Mountains stretched far in the distance. We had hiked less than an hour and we were awe-struck. The weather was perfect that day too. Perhaps the giddiness helped boost our confidence. Or perhaps we were overzealous. Either way, we decided: Let’s just do the north peak and traverse the ridge! It was still early in the day, so why not?!

Here’s the thing: Alan Kane rates the north peak and traverse as a difficult scramble. According to his rating system, difficult scrambles require much handholding; steep, loose and exposed sections; smooth and down-sloping rocks; and risks of falling to your death. Up until Saturday, I had never completed a difficult Alan Kane scramble. Despite not having helmets for head protection, we decided to go for it. Smart? Not at all. Live and learn: a helmet is an upcoming purchase. But I’m glad we pushed through because it ended up being one of the most difficult and thrilling scrambles I’ve done in the Rockies. And boy had I been itching for a good scramble all season.

We trekked onward through forests while looking behind us at the amazing views. There were bear prints and evidence of ungulates (which I think were from the mountain goats we spotted!). We passed a dried up tarn and stopped for lunch right before the scramble to the north peak. To say that the scramble was sketch is a bit of an understatement. Dan, Aidan and I were in full concentration mode. A misstep could cause rocks to dislodge, and we did not want to be sliding down the mountain. Thankfully there was no one beneath us as Aidan accidentally sent rocks flying down the mountain. It also didn’t help that we took a wrong turn somewhere (or so we think). Hand-over-hand climbing went on for what seemed like a long time, but eventually we all made it to the summit. There would be no falling to our deaths on this mountain.

After surviving the moderate/difficult scramble, we were greeted with an amazing sight.

The views were absolutely incredible! I’ve hiked a lot of mountains, and I would rank the summit view in the top three, along with Mounts Sparrowhawk and Tyrwhitt. Maybe Eiffel too. We sat there for a while and took it all in. We also needed a rest- that scramble was intense! The traverse to the south peak was not nearly as scary as the ascent. In fact, I would say it wasn’t scary at all. Even though there were moments of crazy exposure and the ridge was narrow, there’s something amazing and oddly comforting about having steady footing on the ridge while the mountain drops on either side. In terms of ridge walks, this ranks highly along with Tent Ridge and Pocaterra Ridge, but takes the cake in terms of exposure and risk of falling. So much fun!

We snacked again at the South peak, and after remarking on how amazing the traverse had been, we made our descent. The views of the Kananaksis Lakes and surrounding mountains were just as amazing the second time around, now with different shadows and colours cast by the setting sun. The day ended 8 hours after we began, and the three of us were all smiles, extremely happy with our accomplishment. There were a lot of crazy awesome moments while conquering Mount Indefatiable… but what was the craziest thing I learned during the hike?

Aidan used to be a hair model for L’Oreal.

Mind. Blown!

Hair model for L'Oreal. True story. — Hair model for L’Oreal. True story.

Stats:

Start: 10:40 am

End: 6:40 pm

Elevation: 2670 m

Elevation gain: ~ 1000 m

Distance: ~ 9.5 km

Barfing up Gatorade and Prosciutto on Ha Ling

So after Dan and his brother Aidan arrived on Wednesday, I decided to take them to Ha Ling. Amazingly, Dan had never done that hike before (I figured I would have taken him at some point). Aidan had never been to Alberta before and Ha Ling has incredible views from the top in minimal hiking time, so I figured it would be a good intro for a weekend of hiking. Right after work on Thursday, we headed to Canmore and began the hike around 5:30 pm.

I’ve blogged about the hike itself before, so I’ll focus on something else. Aidan. It was great to meet Dan’s brother after hearing about him over the years, and he was eager to get to the mountains to hike. But apparently he hadn’t eaten a lot in the two days prior to the hike, and he was a bit off. He craved gatorade and drank about four bottles of it. He also had a prosciutto sandwich right before we booted it up the start of the mountain. So after gaining about 100 metres in elevation, he stopped to say that he needed a break. Then it happened. He barfed. And not just a little. A lot. About 5 or 6 full heaves-worth. Of red gatorade. And bread. And prosciutto. I wish I captured it on Instagram. He definitely left a little bit of himself on the mountain that day. We ended up hiking a bit with a guy named Ali, who told us he heard a bunch of belching at one point and thought it was a joke. Nope. No joke. Just a fountain of barf. On another note: descending Ha Ling in the dark with head lamps while it rains = sketchy and treacherous.

All in all, despite two rounds of vomit and a bit of rain, we had a great hike with an awesome sunset behind the mountains. Aidan and Dan agreed it was a good starter and training hike for what was to come on Saturday…. Mount Indefatigable!

It’s Time for the Challenge-versary!

Dan and I at the summit of Cascade Mountain one year ago

Exactly one year ago, I was in the midst of an incredible experience. Dan and I were hiking up Cascade Mountain with a Yamnuska guide, a Parks Canada guide, and Jeff from The Real Banff. I had won the Big Mountain Challenge that month, which resulted in a $26000+ donation to The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Of course, hiking mountains was also part of the win… and hiking mountains is what we did!

Fast forward a year later, and Dan (this time accompanied by his brother) is about to board a plane en route to Calgary for what we have called the Big Mountain Challenge-versary! Dan and I don’t see each other very often since we live in different cities, but when we do, there’s usually some sort of adventuring to be had. And since I have had a lack of scrambles this year, scrambling will be part of the adventure! All I know is that I’m pretty stoked about a weekend filled with hiking, laughs, and shenanigans. I guess spending quality time and catching up is okay too eye roll.

Buller Pass

Saturday was hike #2 for the weekend. Fact: my ankles are weak now. Weak! Ever since ripping some ligaments in my left foot about a year ago, it has never been the same. Lo and behold, a short walk home from work earlier in the week would result in me spraining the same ankle again in a similar way. It’s been sore since then. My hope for Saturday’s hike was to take it easy on the ankle, so I strapped on the ankle brace from last year (it’s on its come-back tour), and a few of us headed to Buller Pass in Kananaskis.

Another fact: I very much dislike the gravelly Spray Lakes road. But it sure does lead to some amazing places!

View from Buller Pass. Ribbon Lake can be seen from here.

Buller Pass was a very nice day hike. Not super long with a bit of everything: forests (both alive and charred), a waterfall, a bridge or two (though one of them was out and replaced with a few logs for fording the water), a nice ‘meadow’, and a last push up a rocky slope to incredible views of the valley, mountains, Ribbon Lake, and Guinn’s Pass. Let me emphasis: the views are gorgeous! Of course, there was time for Shari, Robin, Bjorn, Robbie and I to take some photos… along with seemingly lots of other people. Who knew the hike was so popular?

The day ended with gorging on Grizzly Paw’s burgers and fries in Robin’s car because of a freak rain storm. Random, yes. But super tasty, nonetheless.

Stats:
Start: 12:45 pm
End: 6:10 pm
Distance: 15 km
Elevation of Buller Pass: 2485 m
Elevation Gain: 671 m

Nihahi: The Best Dinner Spot in the World

I should eat dinner here every night :) — I should eat dinner here every night 🙂

Now this is a dinner spot with a view.

On Friday, Jess, Dave, Robbie and I headed out for an after work hike. I thought about going to Nihahi, which is where we ended up, but with the nights descending upon us earlier and earlier, we didn’t quite make it to the summit. That ended up being completely okay, though. We all packed sandwiches for dinner and by the time 7:00 pm rolled around, we decided to stop and feast. We chose a spot, about mid-way to the summit, facing west.

I really do live in an amazing place. Calgary is a great city in its own right, but I love living here because of its proximity to the mountains. One minute, I’m working in the Statistics Canada data centre on main campus; the next, I’m eating dinner and overlooking the Elbow Valley while the sun sets behind the clouds and the expansive mountains ahead. The magnitude of the view was enough to create a reflective mood among the four of us, and in some ways, put us in our place. Not all dinners are that awesome in the true sense of the word.