Bragg Creek – Page 2 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Hiking Fullerton Loop

FullertonLoop2013-2 It’s been almost a month since my last blog post, yikes! It’s easy to say that life and stresses got in the way (which would be true), but that shouldn’t be an excuse. The first quarter of the year has been interesting, but I’m ready to put that behind me and start anew. What better way to get back into the groove than with a hike!

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Today was a gorgeous day, so when my friend Lauren asked if I wanted to join her, her husband and their dog/small horse on a short hike, I couldn’t resist. Destination: Fullerton Loop in the Bragg Creek area. I’ve never hiked it before so I was very much looking forward to it. And since I haven’t done a lot of winter hiking, I was eager to get out and hike!

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Fullerton Loop is not overly strenuous: at an elevation gain of 364 metres and a distance of 6.5 km, it’s not too bad. The interesting thing about the hike was the crazy amount of ice beneath the snow, which made for a slippery couple of hours. And since I hadn’t hiked in quite some time, my body was not used to the elevation gain and incline. What should have been an easy hike ended up giving me quite the workout! It sure felt good, and I can’t wait until the summer hiking season begins. There are many epic mountains on my list and lots to be conquered, but hiking Fullerton Loop reminded me that the hikes don’t always need to be extravagant. Today’s hike was a short one close to the city, but offered a great escape to the mountains. And when there’s awesome company, it’s an outing that’s absolutely worth the time.

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Earth Day on Prairie Mountain

The view to the south from Prairie Mountain

Yesterday, April 22nd, was Earth Day. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and I could think of no better way to spend Earth Day than to hike a mountain. I’ve really grown to love hiking since moving to Calgary. It gives me a sense of connectedness with nature and awe for my surroundings in ways that I find difficult to feel otherwise. This would also be my first solo hike of the season. As much as I love to travel with company, hike with friends and be around people, I do enjoy doing things on my own. I’ve always been that way, and consequently, I’ve done quite a bit of solo traveling and hiking. I notice that when I get all thinky, I either go to self-help books, or I venture out on my own. Yesterday was one of those days.

“I’m happy to be here!”

I decided to hike Prairie Mountain, which I’ve done several times and figured it would be a great hike to kick-start the hiking season :). It’s also close to Calgary near Bragg Creek, so it makes for a fairly quick excursion. I was interested to see how I would do considering it would be the first intense hike since last year. Either way, I knew that my quadriceps were in for a treat!

Snapping a quick photo during the ascent

Just me and the trees

I was preparing for a muddy/snowy hike

Another photo-op

The home stretch!

The hike was shorter than I remembered, but just as gruelling as I expected. My quads were definitely on fire at times and I had to control my pace and breathing for most of the ascent. I passed many hikers along the way, but for the most part, it was just me and the trees, earth and mountains around me. The summit is beautiful. On a clear day, Calgary rises up in the east among infinite miles of flat prairie land. In the west, there are gorgeous views of many mountain peaks. In between panting or focussing on my steps, I would smile to myself and reflect. I feel extremely fortunate and lucky to be living so close to such amazing natural beauty. Why wouldn’t I take advantage of it as much as possible…? There are so many epic hikes I want to complete, and seemingly never enough time.

Calgary in the distance

The summit. The flag wasn’t there last year 🙂

Stunning mountains to the west

Panoramic from the summit

The Elbow Falls area was swarming with families out to enjoy the weather, so by the time I parked and geared up with my bag, gaiters, microspikes and hiking poles, I didn’t begin my ascent until 1:50 pm. Even with the mud and snow, I reached the summit by 3:20 pm. The descent was kind of fun- a combination of walking, sliding, and running down the mountain. I was back at the car by 4:20 pm- so 2.5 hours up and down ain’t bad at all!

So many people in the Elbow Falls area

At the summit. I conquered you real good, Praire Mountain.

Chilly on Nihahi!

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!

Stopping for a photo :) — Stopping for a photo 🙂

The Elbow Valley... So pretty... — The Elbow Valley… So pretty…

Descending from the ridge. Snow already! :( — Descending from the ridge. Snow already! 😦

Sargeant Stroker. Well, naturally... — Sargeant Stroker. Well, naturally…

Back down to the river. Nihahi- we conquered you!

Hiking to Powderface Ridge

Hiking is not just reserved for the weekends. Yesterday, my friend Adriane and I left work and headed straight for the Kananaskis area. Our goal: to hike up to Powderface Ridge. I really enjoyed this hike. It wasn’t too strenuous, which was good since my legs were still crying from the East End of Rundle. The trail offered a good mix of Spruce and Pine forest, a mountain meadow, and a summit with great views. In particular, we could see Prairie Mountain (which I conquered twice already this year), Moose Mountain (on the list of hikes to complete) and Forget-Me-Not Ridge (which I have now added to my list of mountains to conquer!). We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the summit, had great conversation, and then headed back down as the sun began to set.

The summit of Powderface Ridge is at about 2210 metres and the elevation gain for the hike is about 594 metres. We started the hike at 5:35 pm and returned at 8:10 pm. In my opinion, it was a fantastic way to spend 2 hours and 35 minutes after work! Then, while driving home, we saw a cute black bear and many cute deer. How cute.