A quiet retreat in a the fabulous Canadian Rockies playground!
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Sat Nov28: A xc skier's day in paradise. Sunshine, blue skies, -10 temp and new track set trail.
We set out on Cascade Trail near Banff and enjoyed a fun classic ski; 29 km return. The snow was great and the sun shone brilliantly , especially nice at our rest stop@ Wardens' cabin. The return ski back was fast and even had time for a little "MOVEMBER" snowy fun on the bridge.
It was -25C when we grabbed another coffee in Lake Louise, and continued into Yoho National Park, just beyond the Divide into BC. We parked just off the highway at the gate, put the skins on our alpine touring gear, and headed on up the road that had been packed down by Park's Canada skidoos before the last storm. Numerous frozen waterfalls are displayed on the cliffs around you as you make your way along. After a 6km trek on the road (almost 2 hours with the AT gear), we had some tea, and then headed up a creek drainage heading west off the road. At times, it was a little tough going through tight trees towards Mt Field, but before too long, we were into the alpine, cutting our own track way north, below Mt Wapta.
We weren't in the sun much, being November - stopping on a cold day like this isn't in the cards. We ripped the skinsoff, and headed down on a semi-predetermined route that we had eye-balled from the road.. We had to adjust the route a bit when we ended up standing on a reasonably substantial cliff, but it wasn't a big deal. The snow was fantastic for the third week of November - really only wind-affected at our high point. Soft and fluffy to the valley bottom on a nice firm snowpack with 10-15 cm of new stuff on top! Apart from the cold, and a still-open creek by the road, it was a stellar day! -15C back at the car, after an hour of doing the xc shuffle - and I could feel both my feet...
Given the 12 km of road travel - not a venture I would do every week. But for some awesome scenery, and one great run, I wouldn't have missed it!
Yesterday, we cross-country skied at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (PLPP)- specifically from Boulton Bridge, up Wiskeyjack, over Tywritt, Elk Pass, and out on Fox and Boulton Creek (new trail). What a beautiful day!! Blue skies, no wind, great snow, and about -1C. It's about an hour and a quarter to PLPP from Canmore, and worth the drive. Conditions were better than anytime last year.
Today, three of us headed into Black Prince in Kananaskis (an hour from Canmore), for some alpine touring. There was supposed to be a pretty good snowfall, but I the storm is either coming tonight, or it's not coming in any big way. First thing we encountered in the parking lot is the car wash bull moose - loves that salt on your car! Next was the stream crossing - no bridge yet! Choice is between a picnic table dropped into the middle of the creek (worked OK on the way back), or a dubious crossing over thin logs dropped in place (not really recommended). After that we cruised the usual route to the BP trees. However, conditions were fairly stiff due to sun, wind and warm temps (yesterday).
Instead we toured looker's left through a few gullies, towards the route to Purple Knob. The light was not optimal, and we ended up skiing the big gully below the col to Purple Knob, and then another run up the big slide path towards Mt Warspite. Great temps and no wind all day. Snow was so-so, but great for November!
