North Fork - Westy Night

Info to come.

Little Elbow - Westy Night

Info to come.

Moose Loop

Activity: X-Country Skiing

Distance: 10km (RT)

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Ben, Steph

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes


Steph and I finally got a cross-country ski in together this season, at Moose Loop. I am getting over injuring my back from our Whitefish trip, and physio told me that I could give some of my usual activities a go! We were a little nervous about the -15 forecast however it was a beautiful, sunny day and we kept warm while skiing. We left early enough to have most of the trail to ourselves so we had a great time.

 Blue-bird day.

Steph and Bennett in front as we take a quick break in the sun

Prairie Mountain ii

Trip #2:Crew: Bennett, Jon
Date: January 17, 2017
Click here for the Prairie Mountain Post

Good winter conditions! Snow-covered in the forest, would have been icy if it was colder, and snow blown on the top with lots of visible grass.

Moose Mountain Trail Race

Name: Moose Mountain Trail Race

Activity: Trail Running

Distance: 29km (RT)

Altitude: 2,437 m

Elevation Gain: ~1000m

Area: Bragg Creek (Kananaskis)

Mom and I at the finish line

Moose Mountain ii

Hike Name: Moose Mountain

Activity: Trail Running

Distance: 14.6 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,437 m

Elevation Gain: 470 m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Mom, Lianne, Donovan, Jason

Time to Summit: 1:20

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Moose Mountain Parking

Getting There:
Once you have passed Bragg Creek going south, you will come to a T intersection. Turn right onto highway 66 towards Elbow Falls (West). Take the turn-off for Moose Mountain on the right and continue up the road until you can go no further.

Additional Info:
After summiting Mount Temple earlier this day, I was pretty damn wary about whether I would be able to do this trail run. BUT I promised my mom I would go with her, and she invited a bunch of her trail running friends, so I just couldn't let her down. I ended up being able to do it just fine (I have NO idea where that energy came from!), and we had an awesome trailrun up Moose Mountain!


I've hiked up Moose Mountain before too.


Note: This trail is open year-round, but there is a gate in front of Moose Mountain Road from December 1 to May 14 every year. You will have to hike an additional 7 km (one-way) to the above trailhead.

 Group heli-pad/summit pic

 Looking out into the mountains

So happy to lie down.. only 7 km to go.

Forgetmenot Ridge

Hike Name: Forgetmetnot Ridge
Activity: Hiking

Distance: 12.5 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,200 m

Elevation Gain: 700m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Julia

Time to Summit: 2.5 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Little Elbow Campground

Getting There:

Heading south on the 22 from Bragg Creek, turn right (West) onto Highway 66. Turn into the campground. Park at the last trailhead parking area. There is a bridge over the Elbow river here.

Additional Info:
I am not sure whether to call this an attempt or to call it complete. It was so cloudy up there that we would hit a high point on the ridge and were unsure whether there was more to go. Since the entire ridge up to Forgetmenot Mountain would add +10k to our hike, we decided that the view would be the same no matter where we were - clouds.
So, I will definitely be back to do this hike and see the views that we missed out on!

Note: Highway 66 is closed annually from Elbow falls to Little Elbow Campground from December 1 to May 14.

Me wading through Little Elbow.. We were reluctant to do this on a chilly, wet day.

Julia taking in the view before heading up into the clouds

 Julia in the clouds

 Enjoying a great view! ;)

Powderface Trail

Activity: Trail Run

Distance: 14km (RT)

Altitude: 2,024 m

Elevation Gain: 500m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Bennett, Mom

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Winter gate closure on Highway 66

Getting There:

Go west on highway 66 until the gate closure.

Additional Info:

Beautiful (and windy!) winter day for a trail run.
You can also hike straight to the high point if you are looking for a quicker trip!

 Bennett on the trail

 Me on the trail

Bundled up in the wind

Prairie Creek Trail

Activity: Trail Run

Distance: 12.5km (RT)

Elevation Gain: ~300m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Mom

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Winter gate closure on Highway 66

Getting There:

Go west on highway 66 until the gate closure.

Additional Info:

A warm winter day for a solid trail run in Bragg Creek with my mom!

 Mom on the trail

Bye sun!

Nihahi Ridge

Hike Name: Nihahi Ridge
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 9 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,359 m

Elevation Gain: 760 m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Ben, Jon

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Elbow Falls Campground

Getting There:
Head West on the 66 and turn left into the Elbow Falls Campground. Drive to the end of the road.

Additional Info:
Once you attain the ridge you can do a solid ridge walk (7km one-way!), it was November so we hit the ridge and turned around (total 9km RT).

 Sun is setting!

 Jon and Ben heading back down

Elbow Falls

Name: Elbow Falls

Activity: Hiking/Walking

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Bennett

We were on our way to Powderface Ridge, and the weather was looking iffy so we decided to at least stop at Elbow Falls to walk around and take in the view. While we were here, the weather cleared up a bit so we drove to Powderface Ridge and had a successful and sunny afternoon!

 Ben and the falls

Beautiful fall colours

Powderface

Hike Name: High Point on Powderface (Direct Route)
Activity: Hiking

Distance: 6 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,024 m

Elevation Gain: 700 m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Ben

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Side of Highway 66, beside the High Point on Powderface Trail before it turns towards the campground. There is a road-side parking area.

Getting There:
Head West on Highway 66 towards Elbow Falls. Continue past the winter road closure gate and pull over before the road turns towards the campground.. Good luck..

Additional Info:
We started off the day with some cool inversion. When we got to the high point there were clouds passing through, covering the view and then revealing it again, changing our view every few seconds. We headed back into the trees to find a place to set up the hammock to make tea and eat Clif bars. By the time we set up, the sun was shining!


Note: The gate is closed West of Elbow Falls from December 1 - May 14 annually. You can still get to Powderface if you walk a few hundred meters down the highway after the gate closure. The trailhead will be the first car-turn on your right. This is NOT the direct route so the distance stats will be different - you can still get to the high point on Powderface, but it takes quite a while longer.

 The view from where we parked, looking at the inversion and towards Forgetmenot Mountain

 Almost at the top!

 Clouds at the High Point of Powderface

Enjoying the view of sunny Mustang Hills with our tea

Moose Mountain i

Hike Name: Moose Mountain
Activity: Hiking

Distance: 14.6 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,437 m

Elevation Gain: 470 m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Mom

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Moose Mountain Parking

Getting There:
Once you have passed Bragg Creek going south, you will come to a T intersection. Turn right onto highway 66 towards Elbow Falls (West). Take the turn-off for Moose Mountain on the right and continue up the road until you can go no further.

Additional Info:
This is a good trail running spot. It is nice because you get about half-way up the mountain by driving up the road. The mountain is not extremely steep, you will notice that the 470m elevation gain is over a distance of 14.6 km, whereas a lot of other hikes are much steeper.

EDIT: I have also done this as a trailrun.


Note: This hike is open year-round, but there is a gate in front of Moose Mountain Road from December 1 to May 14 every year. You will have to hike an additional 7 km (one-way) to the above trailhead.

Me and my mom on Moose Mountain

Prairie Mountain

Hike Name: Prairie Mountain
Activity: Hiking

Distance: 6 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,210 m

Elevation Gain: 716 m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Trevor

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Elbow Falls

Getting There:
Once you have passed Bragg Creek going south, you will come to a T intersection. Turn right onto highway 66 towards Elbow Falls. Take the turn-off for Elbow Falls on your left, or pull over on the right side of the road where the road-closure gate is.

Additional Info:
A quick but steep hike. We caught the sunset up on the summit at 9:45PM.

Me on Prairie Mountain at Sunset