hiking galore!

Well... looks like hiking season is almost over...

2005-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

but we are looking forward to NEXT year because we have this little one in training. Mikah is 8wks old in this picture... so by next summer she will be ready for lots of hiking action. Right now just walking through the grass in her front yard is a hiKE!

Canyon Creek and Cassie!

2005-07-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Time: 3 hours approx - taking lots of time for pictures!!
Distance: 3.5km to end of lower Canyon Creek trail
Access: easy
Difficulty: easy - except for the first & last 5 minutes because its really steep at the start!

Today Mandy & I hiked Canyon Creek Trail in Golden BC. We headed out there Friday night after work, drove for a couple of hours, and then got stuck about 10-15 min out of Golden because there was an accident on a bridge. We soon became part of a long train of traffic that was stranded for about an hour and a half!
During that time,
Mandy and I met up with our friends, Chris and Jared to hang out and walk around a bit. I took one of Chris' dogs, Cassie, for a walk and we chatted with some people in the line and made friends on our little journey.
Canyon Creek did only take about 3 hours, round trip. It started out really steep (which we were warned about, but I didn't expect it to be that steep!) and elevated so that we were walking on the ridge of Canyon Creek. The trail leads you in and out of the forest so that you get lots of glimpses at the canyon and mountain range that is in the Golden area. Lots of mosquitos though!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pictures don't capture the beautiful view. Mandy and I did the hike with Cassie! Having a dog makes a hike 100 times better... I loved pretending I had a dog for the day!

Wasootch Creek to Baldy Pass

2005-07-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Time: 4.5 hours
Distance: 8km round-trip
Access: Easy - from Wasootch Creek parking lot
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Eyk & I hiked the beginning of Baldy Pass. We discovered Baldy Pass when we were looking at the trail map in the Wasootch Creek parking lot, although we later found out that the actual trailhead for Baldy Pass is not as far down highway 40.

Nevertheless the walk from Wasootch creek to the actual Baldy Pass trail was very beautiful! It was a narrow path in very dense forest. But none of the trees had branches really low down, so you could see through the trees forever in all directions! I liked that! The path just rolls up and down small hills. We did encounter a couple of mountain bikers on this path so that is something to watch out for! The path crosses a bridge over Porcupine creek, and then heads back into the trees for the remainder of the hike. This section of trail is 3km long.

Once we joined up with the Baldy Pass trail it heads straight up the mountain. It's not a very steep climb, but its basically uphill all the way. Eventually you get out of the trees and start walking on an old rock-slide or creek bed... whatever it was - there were rocks everywhere. It's NOT easy trudging as the terrain is very uneven. I'm not sure how long this part of the trail goes on for... but I would guess probably 1km. Watch for piles of rocks as trail markers.

Finally, the trail heads back into the forest beside a HUGE scree slope. This is where we stopped and turned around. The entire Baldy Pass trail is 10km and we had a late start so we didn't have time to finish. I am really excited to get back and finish this trail! We took a picture of a gigantic rock in the middle of the path as a marker of how far we got this time. Next time we hike this, we will won't start from Wasootch Creek, we'll start from the actual Baldy Pass trailhead. Stay tuned for more details on this hike when we come back and finish it!

Wasootch Creek, Kananaskis

2005-07-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Time: we took 2 hours... you could go longer or shorter.
Access: Easy - look for creek sign ~ 15km down Highway 40 off the TransCanada Highway. Turn left off highway 40 down a windy road into the parking lot.
Difficulty: Easy

Eyk & I hiked up Wasootch creek because we were looking for an easy hike. We were not disappointed except that it is very rocky terrain and certainly not for anyone with weak ankles. Basically, you walk up an old creek bed (there is still a creek, but it is very small) between 2 mountains.

Apparently the shear rock faces on the north side of the creek are very popular for rock climbers, AND mountain goats. We saw a couple of climbers and one goat while we were out.

We sat and ate lunch on a couple of huge rocks with the creek rushing beneath our feet. It was nice! We never made it to the end of the trail... it's the kinda thing where you walk however far you want, and turn around when you are done... Not really any end destination that I know of.