Kananaskis Country: Prairie Mountain

Calgary is such a great city, I think often us Calgarians really take it for granted. It is clean, beautiful, vibrant, and best of all so close to the mountains. Often when people think of Calgary’s hiking scene, Banff National Park is the first thing that comes to mind. But Kananaskis Country is so awesome, especially if you live in the south end of town. Just half an hour down the 22X and you’re where the Foothills meet the Rockies (to be fair K-Country is close to most of Calgary, I have just explored the Highway 66 portion much more than the Highway 40 part). Even if you aren’t into hiking, there are ATV trails at McLean Creek, numerous day use areas including Elbow Falls, and provincial campgrounds like Little Elbow. Sure, it gets pretty busy on a sunny Saturday, but I really think Calgarians don’t take full advantage of our proximity to such amazing terrain. I know didn’t in the past! Just a few years ago I was a full-fledged MAC girl and would much rather be perfecting my smoky eye than getting sweaty on a mountain. Maybe it’s just a function of growing up?

Exhibit A: View from halfway up Prairie Mountain.

So while living south of Calgary made for a tedious commute into my Beltline office everyday this summer, being in such close vicinity to K-Country made it more bearable. So one Saturday, at about 4pm, we decided to head west and climb a mountain. This was one of my favorite hikes of the summer. Potentially my favorite hike ever. It was cold, it was rainy, it was difficult, it was snowy, but the feeling of standing with your partner, alone, on the top of a mountain is so peaceful. Screw dinner and the movies, the best dates are on mountain summits.

Exhibit B: Jon at the summit of Prairie. My favourite photo of the entire summer, just a candid of him enjoying the view.

The trailhead for Prairie Mountain is a little tough to find. It is just on the north side of the Highway 66 just after the winter closure gates west of the Elbow Falls parking lot. The trailhead is unmarked, so you’ll just see a little path going up the hill. The hike is only 3km to the top, but has a really steep elevation gain. Jon and I were the only people we saw on the hike that day without poles. So if you have any knee problems or don’t trust your balance, bring poles. The summit was snow covered, so some poles might have been nice up there too even if you have no issues. You will start to gain elevation immediately and that will continue for the whole 3km.

Exhibit C: Another view from the top.

Because we seem to have terrible luck, it started raining when we were part way up the mountain, making some of the hike dicey, especially (seeing a theme here?) because we were fairly ill-prepared. You would think as born and raised Calgarian I would realize that the weather can turn on a dime, and sunny at the base of the mountain does not mean sunny at the summit. Oh well, I guess that’s why this is “Athyna’s Adventures”. And I must say, this is one of those hikes where it is harder going down than up because of the steep grade.

Exhibit D: Jon down the trail from me. 

The views from the top are amazing. I feel like there is only so much I can say about this hike except for: short and steep. The rest I’ll leave to the phone pictures!

Kananaskis Country: Prairie Mountain

Distance: 3.5 (ish) km to summit

Difficulty: 8/10

Scenery: 10/10

Great for: Beautiful views of K-Country, the Rockies, and Calgary. If you’re looking to climb a mountain in a few hours (we were home by 8pm despite leaving in the late afternoon), this gives you great bang for your proverbial buck.

Wildlife spotted: A duck-toller. Not wild of course, but a rare dog breed nonetheless.

Banff National Park: Johnston Canyon to Inkpots

Jon and Justin are constantly pushing one another to their limits. So when we came down from Borgeau that day, while I would have been content driving back to Banff to enjoy a latte and cookie (or five), it would have been blasphemous for me to suggest that. It was cold, rainy, and Jon’s legs were bleeding from breaking the ice over the avalanche paths and falling through (Justin and I were spared, too bad Jon is so heavy), but 11k? That’s nothing! So we had to go find another hike.

Which brought us to Johnston Canyon. Tourist destination extraordinaire about 15-20K down the Bow Valley Parkway (Highway 1A), the trail is paved all the way up to the upper falls. It is beautiful, with numerous falls along the path. I can see why this is so popular, as it is a high pay-off for a very short hike (just a few kilometres to the upper falls). There are catwalks and interpretive signs, and the place was FULL of families, tourists, and casual hikers.

Exhibit A: One of the lower falls

The upper falls are very neat, as there is a metal platform you can stand on very close to the falls. There is something so awesome about feeling the mist from cold mountain waterfalls!

Exhibit B: Standing on the platform over the upper falls

Upon getting to the upper falls, we (OK, maybe just the boys…) still wanted to go further. We decided to continue on the 4(ish) kilometres one-way to the Ink Pots. The journey to the Ink Pots had a few hills, and despite being described as a more rough, back-country hike, the trail was gravel and very well maintained. I was pretty tired, as we had hiked almost 15k at that point, but I trudged up the hills behind my companions. To be honest, this is probably a very easy hike. But because I was cold, soggy, and had already climbed most of a mountain that day it felt tough. But it was all worth it once we got to the Ink Pots, because the sun had come out and the pools were beautiful.

Exhibit C: The inkpots

The Ink Pots were gorgeous colors and crystal clear, if I had a towel I would have been so tempted to strip down and jump in (but I bet they are deceptively cold). It is also really neat that the pools are in a little valley in between a bunch of mountains, making the area surprisingly flat. No doubt the area has been a gathering place for a long, long time.

Exhibit D: View from the inkpots

I don’t quite remember why the pools are the amazing colors, but I believe it is something to do with the minerals in the water. I’m so informative, I know.

Exhibit E: The awesome colours of the inkpots!

Banff National Park: Johnston Canyon to Ink Pots

Distance: 11.5km (return)

Difficulty: 5/10

Scenery: 7/10 (might be higher if there were less people at Johnston Canyon)

Great for: Well, Johnston Canyon is great for a touristy, paved walk, with some beautiful views.

The hike to Ink Pots is great for if you want something less busy than Johnston Canyon and would like to break a sweat. The pools are very pretty, but be warned you may be taken over by an overwhelming urge to jump in.

Banff National Park: Borgeau

Sometimes life just takes over. You may not realize just how busy you’ve been until you plop down on your bed and pick up the laptop to do anything but your Family Law readings (OK, maybe this doesn’t happen to everyone). Since my last post, I’ve gone to Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Medicine Hat (X2), and BC. Also, I’ve started 2L (WTF?!) and school has already tightened it’s grip on me. AND I not only moved up to Edmonton again, but I’ve moved again since being in Edmonton to a new apartment.

Which brings me to the present. I should be doing my Family readings for tomorrow morning, but one of my friends that I’d barely seen this summer told me today that she loved my blog. And that got me thinking about how I’m a friggin’ terrible blogger and still haven’t posted about hikes I did in JUNE! And, I am a master procrastinator, perfect combo.

So rewind, all the way back to June. Imagine a crisp morning in the mountains and the snow hasn’t melted yet. In the car I have Jon and Justin, probably my fave hiking partners, and we are on our way to Borgeau for a quick jaunt up the mountain. This is the hike that inspired my blogging, the hike after which I wrote “Why blog? Why now?”. It was the crisp air, the snow in June, the chats with the boys that got me thinking, “this is good enough to share!”.

Exhibit A: Justin trudging along the trail.

The trailhead for Borgeau is a few kilometres past Banff heading West on the TransCanada from Calgary. The parking lot is on the South side of the highway, and pretty well marked. It is a decent grade, nothing too extreme but not a walk in the park either. It is a 7.5km hike one way, with some very very minor scrambles (real hikers, please don’t judge me for calling them scrambles).  The biggest hurdle on this hike was a) when it started to rain, b) making the snow covered avalanche paths hard and icy. This being said, June was so not the best time to do this hike. In hindsight, if you’re a casual hiker like me, wait until the snow melts.

Exhibit B: The snowed out trail. Well, not so much snowed out as avalanched out.

Nonetheless, it was a good hike. We got about 5.5km up the mountain when we realized that it wasn’t going to work with the rain and the snow. We weren’t prepared for the weather, and trudging through icy snow banks lost its allure the higher we got on the mountain. Being that we got well over halfway up, we still got some great views of the area.

Exhibit C: View from Borgeau

Also, being that I went with crazy boys we also stopped for lunch in the rain. There is a cute bridge over a little creek about halfway up so we sat for a snack and admired the view, and our sweet shoes.

Exhibit D: Some serious Vibram love going on here.

Exhibit F: The creek going down the mountain where we stopped for lunch.

Banff National Park: Borgeau

Distance: 7.5km to the top (one-way)

Difficulty: 7/10

Scenery: 8/10

Great for: climbing a mountain without extreme scrambles or extreme elevation gain. It is a little bit of a longer climb, but with a relatively small grade so your bum won’t hurt too much when you’re done.

Kootenay: Marble Canyon to Paint Pots

Exhibit A: Hiking creekside. My blog hates me and wouldn't let me put this photo where I wanted, so it has made itself at home at the top of this post.

What a great night it has been. Just did a major organization haul of all of our paperwork from the last few years, teared up a little from finding our wedding vows again, looked through some old photos I found, AND we’re listening to Johnny Cash on repeat. Thus, I can think of nothing better to close off my night than another blog post. I’m starting to chip away at the 8+ hikes I have left to share until I’m caught up. Luckily this weekend is a girls trip to BC which I highly doubt will involve hiking (that being said I doubt it will involve anything other than sangria, hot tubs, and girl talk), so I’ll have a bit of a dry spell before I add to my “To Blog” list.

So that same 4th anniversary weekend the day after we hiked Juniper and Marble Canyon, both just little guys, we went for a swim at Radium Hot Springs. I love going there in summer because they have their cold pool open and the ONE athletic activity that I can kick Jon’s bum at is treading water. I’m not sure if that is something to be proud of as it only means I’m more buoyant (and thus, likely the opposite of fit, but I’ll take it!!). I challenge him to treading competitions until he gets mad and starts sinking to the very bottom on purpose. We do this every year (the joys of married life?).

After our dip in the pool we decided to find a relatively flat and easy hike before we headed back to Calgary. We saw a trailhead the day before at Marble Canyon to hike to Paint Pots, another roadside attraction a few kilometres further into Kootenay National Park. You can hike this either way. Either stop at Paint Pots and walk to the attraction, and a small sign will point you towards Marble Canyon. Or, begin the Marble Canyon interpretive trail and before you begin to climb up the canyon there is a small gate pointing to Paint Pots. And here is the thing about blogging about a hike over a month after I did it, I can’t remember exactly how long it is, uh oh! I do know it is between 3.1 - 3.3km one way, so the round trip ends up being about 6.5km.


The trail is neat, it runs right alongside the river through a very new growth forest. The brunt of the forest along the trail was burned to the ground in the massive Kootenay fires in 2004. The mountains almost look hairy, as all that remains higher up are the skeletons of the old forest. But closer to the river are the new little fuzzy pine trees, I think I noted their cuteness about five times before Jon stopped listening. Fires are very important to the life cycle of a forest, so while a little sad to see the husks of what once existed there, the magnitude of the fire was breathtaking.

We also met another friend along the way.

Exhibit B: Spot the frog!

Soon we made it to the paint pots, which were super cool! The Aboriginal people of the area used to press the red dirt of the paint pots into disks, then use the pigment later to paint their clothes, tipis, and bodies. We did the whole interpretive trail for the paint pots. Something worth noting is that they have a trail that is almost fully paved so those who are disabled may also enjoy the beauty of the pots.

Exhibit C: Paint Pots

Exhibit D: Another shot of the paint pots. My cell phone camera really doesn't do the colour justice

Kootenay National Park: Marble Canyon to Paint Pots (or vice versa) about 3.2km one way
Difficulty: 3/10
Scenery: 5/10
Great for: A way to stretch the legs while driving down highway 93. You could easily combine this and the Marble Canyon Informational trail.
Wildlife spotted: A giant frog (and a few baby frogs)


As a side note that didn't really fit into any of the hikes I blogged about, we saw TEN bears that trip. Apparently they love dandelions and eat off the flower heads (yes, I viewed the bears from a respectable distance, this is the max zoom on my phone).

Exhibit E: Three of the ten bears we saw

Also a final note, since this will be my last post about that trip, the highway to Radium is gorgeous. If you haven't been, please go. The background on my blog right now is just a snap from my phone at a random roadside turnout on the highway.

Kootenay: Juniper

I’ve been to the Radium area more times than I could possibly count. It is a great vacation for Calgarians looking for a super cheap weekend getaway. There is a lot to do, especially if you love the outdoors. While Jon and I have stayed in Invermere, Fairmont, and Radium, we’ve for sure gone to Radium the most as it is the cheapest of the three. There is something so appealing about cheap family-run motels and diners, familiar faces, and having to park your car while a herd of big horn sheep cross through the middle of town (and as a side-note for those who know me: I’ve checked all of the hotels we’ve stayed in and there hasn’t been a sign of a bed bug yet!).

We go to Radium enough that it has become somewhat of a routine. Drive to Canmore, stop for coffee, drive down highway 95, stop for animals/interesting informational trails, get to Radium, go to the hot springs etc. Juniper Trail is a part of this routine, I don’t remember a time that we’ve gone to the Columbia Valley area without doing at least a kilometre of the trail. This time was no different, and we did the trail that night (after visiting the Marble Canyon that afternoon).

The trailhead is accessible on the North side of highway 93 right by the gates to Kootenay National Park entering (or leaving, unlucky you) Radium Hot Springs. While there is a little pull out where you can park at the trail head, you can easily walk from most hotels in town. Also, if you’re feeling a little saucy, the trail ends at the hot springs, so bring a suit to go for a dip.

Exhibit A: Sinclair Creek

There is a short downhill to Sinclair Creek and Sinclair Falls, it is very pretty and something about it reminds me of the Westcoast Trail. Could just be how green it is, covered in junipers and spray from the falls. From there you can check out a few campgrounds in the valley, or begin the climb to a nice vantage point where you can see the town from above. While the climb seems short and very reasonable to me now, I remember the first time I did it I was very out of breath so I’d recommend bringing some water just in case you need a lil’ break halfway up, or even at the top to take in the views.

Exhibit B: Jon as we start climbing the hill

After the vantage point at the top of the hill, you’ll descend until you hit the springs. From here, you can either A) Go back the way you came, B) Take the road back, or C) Take the trail by Redstreak which begins in the hot springs parking lot. Oddly enough, for the number of times we have done this hike we have never taken the Redstreak way back. We either turn straight around the way we came, or take the road if we’re in a hurry to get back. Maybe one of these days we will try the other way, but old habits die hard and who knows if we’ll be back this summer with all of the other awesome trips we have planned.

Exhibit C: A different trip to Radium, but Sinclair Creek as you start to climb the hill

Kootenay National Park: Juniper trail (3.2km one way)
Difficulty: 3.5/10
Scenery: 7/10
Great for: A short work out super close to the townsite. It is a great way to see the town and a fun way to get to the hot springs if you don’t mind walking back a little damp. Because it is so close to town, it would be easy for half your party to go mini-golfing and half of you to hike if so inclined.

Kootenay: Marble Canyon

I graduated high school at 17, wide eyed and elated at the thought of attending university in the fall. My first days on campus I was so excited I could die, the colors seem brighter and the future endlessly optimistic. New people, new opportunities, so many things to learn.

I was a biological sciences major, and I had one lab that first week of school. I heard a rumor that who you sat beside would be your partner for the rest of the semester, so when I walked into that cell bio lab, I sat across from a guy who looked vaguely familiar from high school. Not quite as scary as having a lab group of total strangers. But there was still an empty spot beside me, still my partner was undecided.

Enter Jon. He came in and plopped his books beside me. Fast-forward 13 months, I was 18 and engaged. Another 6 months and we were married. It was a whirlwind, and I don’t regret any of it for a second. Every anniversary we have done either a walk within Calgary or a trip to BC, so the weekend before our fourth anniversary was no different. We packed our bags and food for the weekend (remember: student budget) and trekked off into Kootenay National Park.

The key to driving to Kootenay from Calgary is taking your time. Highway 93 is ridiculously beautiful and there are tons of hikes of varying lengths along the way, including little self-guided interpretive trails. Marble Canyon is one of those trails. It is 0.8km one way, with catwalks criss-crossing the canyon. Small informational signs are posted along the way giving little nuggets of geological facts.

There were tons of chipmunks (not actual chipmunks, but close enough for my tastes), and Jon and a chipmunk has a death match over a banana peel. The 'munk won, but Jon survived.

The falls were really neat, and as the height increased I was scared that with my luck I’d drop my phone down the canyon. Jon made the point that dropping my phone 10 feet versus 100 really makes no difference, so I took the risk and my lil Android served me well as I held it over the rails and took a photo of the crevasse.

Kootenay National Park: Marble Canyon informational trail (1.6km round trip)
Difficulty: 1-2/10
Scenery: 7/10
Great for: those who may not otherwise hike. The trail is short and very cleared, and for only a few minute investment you can get some really amazing views. Also great for stretching your legs if you’ve been in the car for awhile.
Wildlife spotted: Chipmunks. Lots of them.

Elk Island: Shirley Lake Trail

There is so much that I love about the University of Alberta. The sense of community in my law class is unparalleled, the professors are amazing, I have awesome friends, and I love learning about the law. The downside? My husband of four years lives over 300 kilometres away.

The two of us are unbelievably close, so long distance has been an adjustment. To be honest, at times it is a good thing we are apart so that we can both focus solely on our studies. We are both total nerds. We split our weekends between Calgary, Edmonton, and unplanned dates in cheap Red Deer motels when the distance becomes too much. During exams, we often don’t see each other for a month.

The final exam period was a stretch. I was lucky enough to have an awesome study buddy who made March 15th to April 27th entirely bearable. We built a study cave and barely surfaced for air; our only breaks were food, bathroom breaks, and a daily episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (or Mad Men as a treat on exam days). I dove into the exam period head first and shut out everyone who wasn't my study buddy. So as soon as I closed my laptop at 4:45pm on April 27th, the only thought in my brain was that a summer full of Jon was a door away. I knew he was waiting right outside the room for me: no more study cave, no more long distance for four entire months.

Exhibit A: The 2012 study cave

But now I am left in a kind of purgatory, where nowhere really feels like home. Calgary doesn’t have the life I’ve built in Edmonton, and Edmonton doesn't have the love of my life. Thus, May long weekend rolled around and I really could not think of any better way to spend it than for Jon and I to go up to Edmonton. Some of my friends had a hike planned for that Sunday and I’ve wanted to go to Elk Island for a long time, so we decided to join along.

Elk Island National Park is 35 kilometres east of Edmonton on the Yellowhead highway. It is home to both the largest (wood bison) and smallest (pygmy shrew) mammals in North America. One hundred ninety four square kilometres of Aspen Parkland, it is the 8th smallest national park but the only one that is fully fenced. There are a range of different hikes, but we settled on the Shirley Lake trail. At a flat 10.5 kilometres, it was a short-but-sweet crowd pleaser.

Shirley Lake trail loops around numerous little lakes. It was flat, allowing all of us to chat the entire way. A great way to catch up with friends without breaking the bank or too much of a sweat ($19 for a park pass for full car).

Exhibit B: Oster Lake

I would have to say the highlight for me was seeing wild bison for the first time! I spent the whole day searching for them on our hike. I anxiously drove around the 1km bison loop to no avail. Then finally as we were driving out of the park, I saw two! They were beautiful! While the highlight for me was seeing two live bison, the highlight for Jon was seeing a dead one. On the side of the trail was a bison skeleton, which Jon speculated had died in the winter, froze, then rotted all spring.

Exhibit C: Jon with dead bison

All in all, this was a good hike and a great weekend in Edmonton. Easy, super close to the city, and beautiful, it has a wide range activities (Jon and I hope to do more hikes later this summer). There is also a picnic area if you're more inclined to snacking than walking, or a lake if you're more of a boater. Personally, I chose to cap the evening with drinks and friends at Original Joe's on 109th. A great end to a great day in the capital!


Elk Island: Shirley Lake trail
Difficulty: 2/10
Scenery: 6/10
Great for: A short getaway with friends
Wildlife spotted: Two live bison, one dead bison, one beaver, two frogs

Why blog? Why now?

Summer.

While out on what has turned into a weekly jaunt into Canada's national parks, I thought, "this is going to be the best summer yet". I can feel it. Maybe it was breathing cold mountain air hundreds of metres above civilization. Maybe it was passing across an avalanche path, June and knee deep in snow. Maybe it was laughing with my husband and our good friend Justin. Or maybe it was the pumping of my legs beneath me as I waddled along behind the (much more fit) boys I was with.

Whatever it was, I felt it. It doesn't get much better than this. Friends, roadtrips, hikes, sunshine, rain, mountains, water, animals (and perhaps most importantly, a break from school and my intense first year of law school). What better way to celebrate a beautiful summer than to share it? So here it is. My first attempt at blogging. I'll try my best to document all of my summer adventures, I already have three weekends of hikes to share, so I better get caught up.

Stay tuned for hike #1: Elk Island National Park.