Looking for an Awesome Scramble in Kananaskis? Try Opal Ridge!
For some reason, the south peak of Opal Ridge is a scramble I had forgotten about, so when a friend suggested we hike it, I was total on board. Four of us headed to the Fortress Junction Service Station on Highway 40 in Kananaskis and geared up, ready for a long day. From the north side of the parking lot, we headed north through the grass and crossed over the drainage creek to start the ascent on trail that leads to the top (Note: You want to be on the left side, or north, of the drainage as you ascend). This one has it all: a steep ascent, loose and large rocks on which to scramble, lovely wildflowers, a grassy meadow before the last push (equipped with the perfect rock on which to have lunch!), and then a final hike up to the south peak with views of the surrounding valleys and mountains that will leave you breathless. As an added bonus, you can scree down parts of the descent. Squeee for the scree! Photos don’t do it justice, but it’ll give a pretty good idea of the awesomeness to expect. Continue reading “Opal Ridge (South Peak): In Photos”
And what a wonderful weekend it was. I knew I wanted to get to the mountains this past weekend for a little rejuvenation. There’s a crazy week on the horizon, also known as the holiday visit home, so the fresh mountain air did me some good.
The next day, I was back in West Bragg to hike the Snowshoe Trail. We opted not to use snowshoes, and luckily the trail was packed down to make hiking easy. The trail was a short 5 km loop, but since I haven’t been hiking in weeks, it was the ideal distance. After both outings, we ate at the Cinnamon Spoon, which seems to be the remaining coffee shop in Bragg Creek. Unfortunately the cosy coffee place with the awesome hot chocolate closed down recently :(. Let’s hope that the businesses in the area continue to recover okay.
The weekend made me realize: there are no excuses not to get out of the city, even in the winter. (I guess inclement weather is an excuse…). I may not love the winter, but I love doing activities in the winter. Especially the ones that have me exploring the great outdoors.
I’m slowly starting to enjoy the winter. It’s been coldish, but I’ve already been out for two hikes. The first was Tunnel Mountain, and then on Monday, Robbie and I took a quick drive to Canmore to hike the Grassi Lakes trail. We left Calgary late and started the hike around 3 pm, but by 4:10, we were back at the car. I loved that the sun was out (albeit setting), and that we had great views of Canmore as we ascended. Walking past the icy waterfall was a nice touch before watching the sun set behind the mountains surrounding Grassi Lake. With all of the cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing planned, will it be possible to add more hikes?? Of course it will. Of course.
Last weekend, the snow came to Calgary. It was one of those weekends where I stayed around the city. I knew that this weekend… the long weekend… a visit to the mountains was necessary. I get really antsy when I haven’t visited the mountains in quite some time, and for me, ‘some time’ is more than a week! So Robbie, Tushna, Shari and I headed out to Banff today ready to climb something. It was cold but the sun was shining, and the weather was ideal for a winter outing. We didn’t want anything too strenuous, so we opted for a quick hike up Tunnel Mountain. Tunnel Mountain will always have great memories for me (Os!), and for not a lot of effort, there are beautiful views of Mount Rundle, the Bow Valley, and the town of Banff. The path was snowy and a bit icy at times, but the spikes helped with the grip. It got me thinking- if there are ever days where I need to do a winter hike up a mountain, Tunnel Mountain is a good ‘go-to’. I’m hoping that this marks a bit of a change. October and November are always very difficult months, from motivation to mood. But getting out to the mountains felt so great and definitely made me more excited about the winter activities to come.
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 