Location: Alberta, Canada
Participants: Jimmy Quigley, Patrick Latter
Time: 7 Hours
Weather: -10°C

Directions

From Calgary take the Trans-Canada Highway to Canmore. There follow signs to The Alpine Club of Canada. More road detail to follow. Check in with the folks at the ACC before parking in the Clubhouse parking lot. The space is limited so guest will have first rights. You can park further down the road if the lot is full.

Gear

• Hiking Boots
• Food
• Water
• Warm ski jacket
• Warm fleece
• Warm socks (or 2 layers of socks)
• Toque
• Snow-pants or gaiters
• Gloves

Map

Story

The hike begins at the alpine club and it isn’t long until you have a great view of the mountains across the valley. We started the hike at 6:45am, which was early enough to get an amazing red glow touching the opposing mountain tops.

A closer view of the 3 sisters. From left to right, the little sister, the middle sister and the big sister. I’d like to hike 2 of 3 this summer.

It was relatively easy going for the first 2/3rds. Some of the snow had begun to melt and there was well defined trail in the snow.

Once we broke through the tree line the snow quickly deepened as we hugged the left ridge.

We loved grotto for the fact that that it’s basically a very long ridge walk to the summit. Great views the whole way!

We stopped to grab some lunch and take some pictures at the summit. We didn’t stay long as there was very strong cold wind coming over the top and no where to gain shelter from it.

Turns out Lucha Libre masks make for amazing wind breaks.

Heading back down was easy going as we just traced back our recently placed footsteps in the snow.

Jimmy risking his life for another photo op.

Location: Alberta, Canada
Participants: Jeremy Stroman, Cory van der Linden, Tony, Patrick Latter
Time: 5 Hours
Elevation Gain: 726m
Weather: -5 °C

Directions

22 km west of Bragg Creek, you can turn off highway 66 at the Elbow Falls Parking lot. Park on the North side of the road on the shoulder at the winter closure gates. The trail is well-defined and heads straight up (North) from the highway.

Gear

• Hiking Boots
• Food
• Water
• Warm ski jacket
• Warm fleece
• Warm socks (or 2 layers of socks)
• Toque
• Snow-pants or gaiters
• Gloves

Story

The trail starts off in trees and with the fresh snow it made for a slippery climb on the steeper sections. Cleats or crampons would have helped here.

Looking back down at the valley below you could see the Elbow River which leads to falls that are close by.

We choose this particular hike partly due to the accessibility in the Spring and the large number of geocaches on the trail.

As we neared the tree line, we spotted a paraglider that had jumped from the summit.

The snow was quite a bit deeper for the last 150m, but not too much to be trouble.

The final push to the summit was gradual hike through an area with few trees.

We stopped at the top for lunch and took a few pictures on the large cairn.

The Eagle migration takes place in both the Fall and Spring and we were lucky enough to have one pass over head while at the summit. Wish I had brought my telephoto!

With the sun heading behind the clouds we headed back down the trail.

With all the trouble we had on the slippery sections of the trail we were surprised to come across someone with a unicycle on their back! They said they were planning on riding it down from the summit, hard to believe considering the conditions.

Participants: Jeff Trudel, Jimmy Quigley, Patrick Latter
Date: Jan 27, 2013
Distance: 10km
Time: 6 Hours
Weather: -8 °C (17.6 °F)

Directions

Drive south from Canmore on Spray Lakes road for about 45km. There will be turn off for ‘Burstall’ and a large parking lot.

Gear

• Snow Shoes
• Food
• Water
• Warm ski jacket
• Warm fleece
• Warm socks (or 2 layers of socks)
• Toque
• Thermal underwear
• Snow-pants or gaiters
• Gloves

Story

The trail passes through the forest for 4km until you reach the flats.

The snow here was already a meter deep in some areas but with the snowshoes, we had no trouble.

As were neared the base the mountain, the morning sun began to break through the clouds above.

Once we reached the base, we decided to have some lunch.

While it wasn’t brutally cold, the temperatures still began to freeze our water bottles.

Jimmy decided to build a snow cave while we ate. With almost a meter of snow, he was able to build it right into the ground.

Attempt Date: January 19, 2013
Participants: Jeremy Stroman, Cory van der Linden, Patrick Latter
Distance: 7.9 km
Elevation Gain: 960m
Max Elevation: 2230m
Time: 7 Hours
Weather: -5ºC (23ºF)

Directions

From Calgary head west on highway 1 and then take exit 114 to highway 1X, after 3.5km turn right onto Highway 1A. The turn off for Yamnuska is on the left.

Gear

• Food
• Water
• Warm ski jacket
• Warm fleece
• Warm socks (or 2 layers of socks)
• Toque
• Thermal underwear
• Snow-pants or gaiters
• Gloves

Map

Thank you Cory for providing the map and graph!

Story

As we made our way through the birch trees at the beginning of the trail, the very low lying clouds seemed to be promising near white conditions at the peak.

The higher we climbed the thicker the fog seemed to get, until we could no longer see below us.

As we neared the bottom of the towering south east face, we began to break through the top layer of clouds. The morning sun bathing the looming rock wall was a welcome sight.

It wasn’t long before we were well above the clouds and had an amazing view of the fog covered prairies with the lower part of Yamnuska just peeking out.

Geocaching involves using a mobile GPS systems to play a sort of digital version of hide and seek with containers. These ‘caches’ can be found all over the world and there were number of them hidden on and around mount Yamnuska. Using the coordinates given and sometimes a helpful hint, we managed to find a few of them that day. The containers range in size from a small film canister to much larger metal cases.

Inside you’ll have a logbook and usually some random trinkets. Everybody signs the log and you later go online and sign the digital log for the cache as well.

As we made our way towards the summit, you have to keep an eye out for a pile of rocks and some sticks– these mark the section that must be traversed with the aid of chain bolted to the wall.

The chain is needed to navigate the very narrow ledge safely. With a 4-5m drop below, you have to give your full attention to this portion of the hike.

The final ridge walk to the summit offers amazing views of the surrounding Rockies and prairies. On a clear day you can even see downtown Calgary.

The preferred route for Yamnuska is a loop that has you come back around the front face from other side. The sun was now setting and most of the earlier fog had dissipated.

We had to hike a little ways off the trail, but we found one final geocache just as we were losing the last bit of light.

Background

There are tons of great walking paths around the town of Canmore. This one even includes a boardwalk over some marshy areas that follow along the river.

Directions

Take Highway 1 from Calgary and turn right at the first Banff exit. From here follow the signs for Lake Minnewanka.

Background

For the best results when doing astrophotography you want to ensure the following things:

• Clear night.
• As cold as possible.
• No moon.
• Drive as far away from any sort of city or town to avoid light pollution.
• Shutter speed no longer than 600/focal length. This will ensure the stars do not trail.
• If you have liveview, try zooming in 10x and manual focusing on the brightest star.
• Aperture of at least F2.8 will help in keeping the iso low enough to avoid too much noise.

This particular night was nearly -20 Celsius. I parked half way across the dam and began to setup. Spent the next 40 minutes trying different compositions and exposures before the cold was too much and I decided to call it a night.

Directions

Vermilion Lakes is a short 5 minute drive NW of Banff. Take Mount Norquay Rd from downtown towards Highway 1. Then turn left at Vermilion Lakes Drive.

Story

November is one of my favorite times of year to take photos, as the lakes have just begun to freeze and there is plenty of foreground interest.

This is the sunrise from the 3rd Vermilion Lake at the end of Vermilion Lakes Drive.

This is the sunset from the second lake, with Rundle in the distance.

Directions

Take Highway 1 from Calgary and turn right at the first Banff exit. From here follow the signs for Two Jack Lake

Background

I didn’t find a composition I liked at the shoreline, but there was some amazing light hitting the distant cascade mountain range.

After leaving I came across an elk in a nearby field.

I will be traveling to Maui on November 23rd and will be there for 10 days with the main focus being hiking and photography. I would love some suggestions from any of my followers who live there for photo locations and hikes. What are the most famous locations and are there any that are off the beaten path that may not be so easy access? I will have a rental car but will a 4wd vehicle be needed for some locations?  Thanks in advance!

Directions

Take Highway 1 from Calgary and turn right at the first Banff exit. From here follow the signs for Two Jack Lake.

Background

I passed by Lake Minnewanka on my way to Two Jack Lake and took a few shots while it was still dark. The cold temperatures caused an icy fog/mist to rise off the still unfrozen lake.

Once I arrived at Two Jack Lake, I began to make my way around the icy shore trail.

After the sun had risen, I made my way back to Minnewanka to take a few more photos.

After trying to leave, my path was blocked by a rather smug Bighorn Sheep.