Chester Lake - Snowshoeing - February 7, 2010 - From the Archives

With 10-20 cm dumping in the city, and so much more white stuff falling in the mountains (Burstall Pass had over 25 cm base before this most recent storm even hit!), it's time to start dreaming about snowshoeing! While there's still not enough of a base in the mountains for winter recreation yet (and it's still expected to be a snowless Halloween in the city -- with temperatures back up to 9C by the weekend), something about that first real snow fall always seems to get the winter enthusiasts drooling.

So to get through this transition, I thought we'd look back on a snowshoeing favorite... Chester Lake...

Even at the trailhead... deep snow goodness!

Heavy, wet, sloppy late winter/spring snow. It was still hanging in the trees, rounded off and thick.

Pure sunlight and blue sky in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Perfect day!

 It wasn't quite hoar frost, but something else...spiky, well defined ice crystals clung to the trees...

Damn.

And it was all over our poor frozen snowshoer too.

More ice. More crystals.

At Chester Lake. I'm not even sure the walking stick hit bottom.

Mushroom tree!

Hogarth Lake - December 28, 2011 - Snowshoeing

It's been pretty warm and humid (for Alberta anyway) and it seemed like a nice time to revisit the cold, chilly climbs at the other end of the calendar. You know, to remind us why we look forward to summer so much.

I present Hogarth Lake last December.

Snowshoeing - Kananaskis Lake (Lower Lake Trail) - January 24, 2010 (from the archives)

Sometimes you have no idea the hike you're about to take will turn into a classic....

Lower Lakes is fairly simple, flat terrain with plenty of chances to turn around or turn it into a partial loop.

Nat and I were still breaking in our new snowshoes and a simple lakeside trek in beautiful Kananaskis seemed like the perfect way to get our feet.... er, wet?

Only a few minutes into our trail, these friendly little whiskey-jacks made their presence known.

They had no fear of humans. 

Absolutely none....

Nat quickly found herself outnumbered...

A bird on the head is worth two in your hand?

Even your intrepid writer found herself targeted.

Once it was established we had no food, our new found friends cried fowl (heee!), and left us to our hiking. Fair-feathered friends indeed.

But still some beautiful sites to be seen.

Snowshoeing -- Kananaskis Village Loop -- January 10, 2010

It was almost two years ago, but what we saw still applies today. This isn't a terribly popular trail, likely because almost every time we've set out, there hasn't been enough snow. We've learned to stick with the north side of the trail that leaves from the NW side of the village parking lot, and only attempt the south half of the loop when there's plenty of snow cover to be found.

Snowshoeing in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (RED trail) - February 8, 2009

First time snowshoeing since our guided tour in Kimberley, BC a couple of weeks prior. Path finding is so much different in snow, especially for random snowshoe trails, but it was worth it: