After my off-trail Collembola solo I was exhausted, but sunny days with no wildfire smoke were literally a treasure this Summer, so next day I decided to ignore all knee pain and to take advantage of the weather and do something long enough for a nice day but easy and adrenalin-free. Pigeon Mountain totally fits this description: very moderate but steady incline, no scrambling, no loosing shit, no exposure, but very rewarding all the way to the summit once you […]
I tried to summit Mount Collembola two times before. My attempt via North route from Dead Man’s Flats failed because I could not find a safe way to climb up the summit block (23 m of elevation left but hiking solo this time, I was not comfortable with exposure and turned back with tail between legs). My second attempt via Marmot Basin and Fisera Ridge also failed because I could not find a safe way to climb down from the […]
A few pictures taken during our Opal Ridge South Loop hike, with visible peaks later labeled by PeakVisor application.
This is definitely an undervalued route. It’s steep from the very beginning, and that is good because you don’t have to warm yourself up for several kilometers through a boring forest just to get to the fun stuff. There are a few scrambling sites, and by scrambling I mean hanging the hiking poles on one arm and using teeth and both hands to pull up. Some sections have loose rocks, and one might say even “exposure”, but nothing too scary […]
This is the second one of the three monsters promoted as scramble routes by Parks Canada for tourists. The 1st one (the easiest) is Cascade, the most difficult of them is Temple in Lake Louise. As much as we liked Cascade, and I did it twice so far – first with my wife, and then with my son-in-law, this one I would not do again. Fun it is, but long climb with loose rocks, steep, windy, – overall in my […]
On the picture above there is The Rimwall mountain, as it’s seen from the Wind Ridge, which we hiked a few weeks ago. Looks pretty intimidating from Dead Man’s Flats side, but from the South-West slopes it’s a surprisingly very pleasant hike, moderately challenging and highly rewarding. Allocate half day for it, but to really enjoy it you do need good weather. Don’t get scared away with foggy Spray Lakes in the morning, it happens more often that you might […]
User: Write me a “no salt, no sugar, no alcohol” diet recommendation for a regular hiker. There are actually a few variants of the diet, negotiated with AI during the chat. No surprise there, and all of them make sense! The entire conversation with AI is here. ChatGPT: Breakfast: Oatmeal: Prepare with cow’s milk. Top with fresh berries, nuts, and seeds for added flavor and nutrition. Eggs: Scrambled, boiled, or poached eggs. Pair with sliced avocado and tomatoes. Whole Grain […]
Mount Sarrail is a 3,159-metre (10,364-foot) mountain summit located in Kananaskis Country. Mount Sarrail is situated 1.0 km north of the Continental Divide, within Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Foch, 1.0 km (0.62 mi) to the southeast. Mount Sarrail can be seen from Upper Kananaskis Lake and Alberta Highway 40. The mountain was named in 1918 for General Maurice Sarrail (1856-1929), the commander of the French Third Army in World War I (Wikipedia). Here are […]
Start early: it’s a long hike. Park at the Upper Kananaskis Lake lot closest to the Rawson Lake. First 9 kilometers along the shore of Upper Kananaskis Lake and then after left turn on the fork to Aster Lake through the forest next to Hidden Lake are plain and easy. After the tree line an established and scenic path ascends through a couple of boulder fields. And this is where all the fun begins. The ridge goes on, and on, […]
This year Parks Canada closed Moraine Lake Road for private vehicles and the only way to get to the lake and its amazing trail system is their shuttle (as a local, I am not considering other overpriced options like taxi or commercial shuttles, leaving them exclusively for tourists). The first shuttle departs from Lake Louise Ski Resort at 6:30 AM (so in the fall you even can catch the iconic sunrise on Moraine Lake), the last return bus from Moraine […]