Summit Trail

Hike Name: Summit Trail - Panorama Mountain

Activity: Hiking

Distance: unsure

Altitude: unsure

Elevation Gain: ~950 m

Area: Panorama, BC

Crew: Stephanie, Christine

Time to Summit: ~2.5 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Panorama Mountain Village

Additional Info:

We were in Panorama for the No-Boat-Houseboat 2018 partayyy for the Labour Day long weekend. Christine, Steph and I decided to hike to the top of the resort and take the chairlift down! Much needed exercise after some pollution the night before... (and the coming nights...)

 The GIRLS

 The VIEW

The GLORIOUS KNEE-SAVING TRIP DOWN!

Stanley Glacier/Storm Mountain Fire Break

Trail Name: Stanley Glacier Trail & Storm Mountain Fire Break
Activity: Alpine Touring/Backcountry Skiing

Total Distance: ~12 km

Altitude: ?

Elevation Gain: ~900 m total

Area: Kootenay National Park

Crew: Jon

Time to Summit: ?

Trailhead: Stanley Glacier Parking Lot

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head south on the Kootenay Highway (Hwy 93). Take a left into the Stanley Glacier Parking Lot.

Additional Info:

Jon and I decided to get our during my Christmas break from work. We wanted to do something on simple terrain since we are avi beginners, and even though the forecast was green/green/green, we settled on the Storm Mountain Fire Break. We ended up taking the wrong trail, and went up to Stanley Glacier - which was a great warm up! Then we came back down towards the parking lot and tried to bushwhack over to the Storm Mountain Fire Break, which was unsuccessful. Not sure what to do next, we tried to find the Fire Break by driving up the road a few hundred meters, and had success! (Its impossible to miss). We ended up parking at the bottom of it, got 3 runs in, and called it a day. Overall, we both wanted something a little more adventurous but were happy with the day due to our avi experience.

Heading up the Stanley Glacier Trail

 Jon, some poor visibility, and yellow-pants behind

 Jon again! We got a few fresh turns in on the Fire Break.

Black Rock Mountain

Hike Name: Black Rock Mountain

Activity: Hiking 

Distance: 11.4 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,642 m

Elevation Gain: 920 m

Area: Ghost River Valley

Crew: Bennett

Time to Summit: ~2 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Ghost River Valley



Additional Info:
Bennett had already done this hike with Julia but since we were meeting some friends in the valley afterwards for some beers, we decided to hike Black Rock Mountain. It was an awesome hike, beautiful, pretty easy, and cool terrain. I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone! I just wish we had better weather..

 Rock that looks like a bear in my opinion haha.

 An Ominous Devil's Head

At the old fire lookout

Coliseum Mountain

Hike Name: Coliseum Mountain

Activity: Hiking

Distance: ~13 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,045 m

Elevation Gain: ~680 m

Area: David Thompson Highway (Nordegg)

Crew: Bennett, Kris, Jaimie

Time to Summit: ~2 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Coliseum Trail Trailhead

Getting There:
West of Nordegg on the David Thompson Highway (Hwy 11), follow the signs to Coliseum Trail.

Additional Info:
We were on our way back from Valemont after hiking out of the Berg Lake Trail. We decided to split the drive and stop along the David Thompson Highway to camp for the night and hike the next day before returning to Calgary. We stayed at the Two O'Clock Creek Campground and hiked up Coliseum in the morning before stopping by the Shunda Fire Base to say hi to some of Bennett's friends and head home.

Bennett and I hiking up the summit block

Limestone Mountain

Hike Name: Limestone Mountain

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~4.5 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,174 m

Elevation Gain: ~610 m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Steph, Kris, Andy, Travis, Carly

Time to Summit: ~2 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: Pullout on the east side of Hwy 40

Getting There:
Heading west from Calgary on the Trans Canada (Hwy 1), head south on Kananaskis trail (Hwy 40). At the end of Limestone's west ridge, there is a parking area on the east side of the highway.

Additional Info:
This was a bushwhack all the way up but the views from the top were nice. Seriously though, you are in pretty thick trees the entire time with no path, having a GPS track was super handy. We had a gorgeous, sunny day and enjoyed the summit thoroughly!

Travis and Carly on Limestone Mountain

Kris and Andy on Limestone Mountain

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.

Grey Mountain

Hike Name: Grey Mountain

Activity: Hiking

Distance: 5 km (RT)

Altitude: ~1,500 m

Elevation Gain: 250m

Area: Whitehorse (Yukon)

Crew: Pouyan

Time to Summit: ~1 hour

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: End of Grey Mountain Road by the Comms Towers

Additional Info:
After arriving in Whitehorse, Pouyan and I did a nice afternoon hike while we waited for Mike to get off of work! The best part of this hike is that you do 80% of the elevation gain via car, so it is an enjoyable hike through the alpine.

 View of the summit from the trailhead

Hanging out, facing Whitehorse below 

 Back at the car

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

Mist Mountain

Hike Name: Mist Mountain

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~12km (RT)

Altitude: 3,143 m

Elevation Gain: 1,330m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Travis

Time to Summit: 3 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: ~600m south of the Mount Lipsett Trailhead, there is a shoulder area to park on the northbound side of the road.

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40). Continue past the turnoff to the Smith-Dorrien. The trailhead is about ten minutes past Ptarmigan Cirque.

Additional Info:

We went for round 2 with this mountain and hit the summit + warm springs! After our first attempt on Mist, we would have been heart broken to have to slog back in a third time. It was a gorgeous day - we were the first ones on the summit, hit the warm springs on the way down, and made it back to the car just 5 minutes AFTER huge storm rolled in. So our timing today was almost perfect!

ps. My legs were still dead from the Temple/Moose Mountain day.. Mist was a struggle for me!

 View of the summit from the Mist Outlier. Just a quick ridge traverse from here to the summit.

 Looking north from the summit

 Looking south from the summit

 Me on the summit ridge

 Kicking the feet up for a nice lunch view on the summit

 Cool warm springs!

The best way to end a hike.. if only this was on every mountain.

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.

Cascade Mountain

Hike Name: Cascade
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~19km (RT)

Altitude: 2,998 m

Elevation Gain: 1381m

Area: Banff (Town)

Crew: Crescent Point Hike

Time to Summit: 4:00

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: Mount Norquay Ski Lodge

Getting There:

Heading west on the Trans Canada (Hwy 1), continue past the town of Banff, then take the turnoff on the right towards Mount Norquay. This roads winds up towards the ski hill for 6km, and the hike starts from the first parking lot at the lodge.

Additional Info:
This hike was organized by my work - so at 9AM we set off from the Mount Norquay Ski Lodge, heading to the Cascade Amphitheater, where some stayed behind to relax while the rest of us scrambled to the peak.

 This cloud was stuck to the peak for quite a white, obscuring the view of Banff.

 Summit photo looking towards the mighty Mount Assiniboine

 Me on the summit

The cloud cleared off on our way down. Banff town on the bottom right, and Rundle Mountain directly ahead.

Mist Mountain (Attempt)

Hike Name: Mist Mountain (Attempt)
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~12km (RT)

Altitude: 3,143 m (at summit) 2,948 (our turnaround point)

Elevation Gain: 1,330m (to summit) ~1,200m (our turnaround point)

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Travis, Stephen

Time to Summit: 2.5 (our turnaround point)

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: ~600m south of the Mount Lipsett Trailhead, there is a shoulder area to park on.

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40). Continue past the turnoff to the Smith-Dorrien. The trailhead is about ten minutes past Ptarmigan Cirque.

Additional Info:

We had to turn around pretty close to the summit, due to a thunderstorm rolling in. It was pretty disheartening but definitely the right choice. We will definitely come back to summit Mist and of course to bathe in the warm-springs!

 Our first glimpse of the false summit of Mist Mountain

 Snowing where we are. Storm on the right. And to our left we have...

To the left is this storm. When you hear & see this coming at you quick, it's time to go. Especially when the last death on this mountain was due to a lightening strike.

 Snow in July. I love the mountains!

Look how high we already were! Still ~100 vertical meters from the summit.

 Travis on our way back down

 

Beautiful valley on our way down. The peak of mist was thunder storming by this time, I'm glad we left.