Another Defeat

I really need to update this site more. I think the issue is that I also post trip reports on other sites. Sites that easily allow me to upload my GPS data and overlay it on a map.

The hiking season in this part of the country appears to be coming to a close for the year. The season has ended with a significant amount of precipitation. There are still routes but for me it's time to transition to other pursuits while waiting for the snow pack to stabilize and the temperature to really drop to winter levels. We're in that awful transition phase right now that results in deep slushy snow everywhere that's no fun.

I got snowed on during my last two outings. We went out to Kananaskis for the Labour Day long weekend. We had planned to hike into Aster Lake on the first day, the go over the Northover Ridge to Three Isle Lake the following day. Then hike out on the third day. I had done the route twice before and it was the last hike I had ever done with my father so it will always be a special route to me. This time I took my sister along so she could see the country our father loved so much.

The trip started out well enough. Some mixed cloud in the skies. A little light rain and a short but intense hail storm as we arrived at Aster Lake. We made extremely good time, so we set up camp and prepared dinner and explored the area. I showed Keri where my father and I used to camp back before the parks department created an official campsite. Our campsite was far superior but in a more fragile area so I can see why they wouldn't want the hordes camping there now that there's a semi-official trail.

We went to bed with high spirits, looking forward to the highlight of the trip; the walk across the Northover Ridge. We woke up to roughly 20 cm of snow. Heavy, wet snow.The weight of the snow had caused the side of Keri's dome tent to collapse on her and the tent of another group in the area completely collapsed on them. The skies were socked in and the snow was continuing to fall in large flakes. I weighed our options and decided that without knowing the conditions on the ridge it would be safer to return the way we had come the day before. The return route wasn't free of challenges either. A significant portion of the descent was very exposed with large cliff bands above and below the trail. There were even a couple short steps that were interesting when dry so I had some concern that we might be stuck high in the alpine.

We broke camp before 6am and suffered an immediate blow to our moral as the a simple rock face that we ascended to camp the previous day became a very difficult descent when covered in deep snow. Although we didn't know it at the time, that proved to be the most technical portion of our return. The next significant challenge was the complete disappearance of the trail. A large portion of the trail is a faint alpine trail that doesn't cut deep into the landscape. Large sections cross hard rock and it sneaks its way through dense forest. With that much fresh snow the trail across the the rock sections was invisible and the weight of the snow caused many trees to bend, often blocking the path in an innocuous way that caused me to follow the wrong trail a couple times.

Despite the adverse conditions I had a great time though and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I had to break trail the entire way down and was exhausted by the end of it. As we descended back to Upper Kananaskis Lake the snow had turned to rain. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground but nothing significant. We put it in high gear and walked those last, extremely boring 5.5 km as fast as could. We arrived back at the car around noon, soaked through but in high spirits. We had left refreshments in the car in anticipation of our return the following day. For once the cold weather proved a blessing and we found our beverages nicely chilled.

The trip report on Everytrail.com with GPS data.

The following weekend I decided to do a short scramble. I'd bought a new pair of mountaineering boots and on my previous two outings in them, they had left one of my feet blistered fairly badly so I wanted to give them one more try before attempting to return them.

I had an idea what the conditions in the mountains would be like from the previous weekend so we chose Heart Mountain because of its location in the front range and relatively low summit. The day started out with intermittent light showers and some occasional misting drizzle. It was still mostly sunny though and we enjoyed a nice lunch in the sun on the second summit.

As we approached the third summit the weather changed. The wind picked up, the temperature dropped and precipitation started to fall. At first it was a rain and then quickly turned to sleet. As we made our way around the ridge the snow started to fall as the wind howled. It was as though the wind was trying to drive the snow through us. It wasn't cold so I battled on for a while. My lower half protected by good alpine pants but the wind quickly took its toll on my ears. I had to stop and put on my ninja-clava. I was told the entire side of my face and neck were completely red from the driving ice.

We hurried down the ridge and the snow changed back to rain and began to fall vertically as opposed to being driven horizontally. As we completed our descent the rain stopped and the skies opened up again. It was almost as though someone didn't want us to be on that mountain.

Heart Mountain on Everytrail.com with GPS data.

All told, it was a fun day and my boots performed perfectly this time. I guess I'll have to give them another shot with crampons. I hope it's not the crampons causing me to walk differently that's causing the blisters.