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explor8ion

Tag : snow

Jägermeister Peak (+ Shunga-la-she)

My round trip time of 7.5 hours surprised me on this trip as I never felt rushed or like I was pushing hard. A combination of great conditions and interesting scrambling and climbing kept me moving all day. The views from these front range peaks always take me by surprise – they’re better than you’d expect. I highly recommend my route considering the other options and what they seem to entail. I think I found a combination of routes for these two peaks that utilize their best features without getting too dangerous. Just bring your brain bucket and don’t forget ax and ‘pons if there’s any snow still laying about!

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Highwood Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Fortress South Outlier

As I wandered back along first the small Headwall Lakes trail and then the much larger Snowdrift trail to the Chester Lake parking lot I reflected on all my 2021 scrambles and trips and the ideas that I’m considering regarding explor8ion and lifting all of the restrictions I put in place last year. For me it’s come to a point where being grumpy and upset about others using, or even overusing and/or oversharing (whatever that means) the landscape gets more tiring and depressing than the actions themselves.

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Hike / Kananaskis Range / Scramble / Trip Report 2

Sentry Peak (Banff)

Sentry Peak is a lovely viewpoint situated in the heart of Banff National Park at its eastern boundary with views of Malloch, Mamen and Wampum Peak.

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Bike / Clearwater Ranges / Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 5

Lost Guide Peak

Lost Guide Peak feels like a special peak to me. To be honest, most of my ascents are special for their own reasons but this particular peak feel much like some other locals that I’ve done such as Condor, Bellow, Howl and Tomahawk.

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Bike / Clearwater Ranges / Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Scalp Peak & Skeleton Mountain

Scalp Peak and Skeleton Mountain are some of those front range mountains that sat on my list for a while before finally getting direct attention late last year after Wietse and I hiked two nearby peaks – Well Site and Hat Mountain. I highly recommend combining these two peaks into a single trip. The only question left to you is how many days you’ll set aside for it.

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Bike / Clearwater Ranges / Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Sparwood Ridge (Natal Lookout)

I had a nice day traveling in a “new” area with some unique views but there is enough route finding, bushwhacking and stumbling around on this ridge to justify perhaps waiting for the easier west access roads to dry off before tackling it.

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East Kootenay / Hike / Snowshoe / Trip Report 0

Junction Lookout | “Hill 651038” | Green Mountain | Hoffman Hill

Neither Wietse or I were really in the mood for front range hiking but we decided it would be good exercise and a good test of my ankle.

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Hike / North Highwood Range / Trip Report 0

Schlee, Mount & Piper Pass Peak

Mount Schlee is never going to be at the top of anyone’s list but combined with Piper Pass and the small hill next to it on a beautiful summer day, it’s a respectable day trip that is worthy of anyone’s time and effort.

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Opal Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Tornado Mountain

I didn’t feel rushed all day and other than some crappy riding and forgetting my poles, this was a solo trip that’ll stay in my positive memory banks for a long time I think. Tornado Mountain is a combination of hard work (the approach), route-finding, hiking and gorgeous alpine and forest landscapes.

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High Rock Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Proctor, Mount (+ Planner Peak)

It felt great to be back on a normal scramble again, a much different feeling than all the front range hills and ridges I’ve been wandering up and down so far this spring. With wide ranging views and different angles on familiar peaks such as the Flathead Range and Mount Harrison, I was happy to finally get a scramble in the Fernie area.

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Scramble / Trip Report 0

Bluff Mountain & Greenhill Ridge

I would rate Bluff Mountain as an excellent and easy scramble via the SE ridge and I would highly recommend going back over Greenhill Ridge. We didn’t run into any “No Trespassing” signs or private land issues and the pictographs are a pretty unique Rockies experience.

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Hike / Livingstone Range / Trip Report 0

Loop Ridge

I can’t say Loop is a premier hike, but it doesn’t fall into a bottom category either. It’s worth a spring trip when other peaks are still out of condition and you’re looking for mountain views, some exercise and fresh air.

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Flathead Range / Hike / Snowshoe / Trip Report 0

Mockingbird Lookout

The views from Mockingbird make it worth your time – they are 100x better than the “view” from Blue Hill. The hike on the approach road is rather “meh”, but with a family this is worth the nice drive.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Hike / Trip Report 0

Blue Hill Lookout

I can’t really recommend Blue Hill Lookout as a premier hike but it’ll do in a pinch when you have 4-5 hours and want some fresh air with glimpses of mountains through sweet-smelling pine forest.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Hike / Trip Report 2

Wigwam Ridge

As with many of my “Covid Hikes”, Wigwam Ridge is a long drive from my house. This was a good thing considering we were going on a weekend and a very nice day – probably the nicest day so far this horrible spring of 2020.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Snowshoe / Trip Report 0

Dawson Hill

Despite the lack of views and the snow globe hiking yet again this “spring” I found myself enjoying the company, the conversation and the lack of city traffic. No surprises there.

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Fisher Range / Snowshoe / Trip Report 0

Stimson Creek Hills

I have to admit that this little hike is pretty underwhelming. I wouldn’t recommend driving all the way from anywhere just for this one.

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Hike / Trip Report 0

McLean Hill

As my habit has been over the past few weeks, I found myself driving west of YYC towards the Rockies front ranges after work on March 11. Snow squalls were busy making the roads slick and wet and the weather wasn’t inspiring.

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Fisher Range / Hike / Trip Report 0

Condor Peak

After biking, hiking and scrambling for many hours and many kilometers in the past 28 hours or so it was finally time for Phil Richards, Joanna Ford and I to attempt the highlight objective of our so-called “Three Passes” trip.

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Clearwater Ranges / Scramble / Trip Report 2

Wapiti Mountain

Finally, after 1.5 hours of steep hiking we topped out on a high point on the southwest ridge with the summit of Wapiti still looking a long way off and distressingly snowy.

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Backpack / Clearwater Ranges / Scramble / Trip Report 2

Tomahawk Mountain

After enjoying a nice supper break at our Tomahawk Pass bivy site, Joanna, Phil and I set off up the easy looking western slopes of Tomahawk Mountain.

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Clearwater Ranges / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Middle Kootenay, Miles & Krowicki

I was still hurting quite a bit from my first bike ride of the year on Deadman Pass Peak a few days earlier, but the only way to cure pain is to liberally layer more pain on top so I readily agreed that something with an even longer and much rougher bike approach was the obvious choice (!!).

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Bike / Clark Range / Scramble / Trip Report 4

Burke, Mount Loop (North Burke)

As Phil and I drove home from our successful scramble up Mount Berland in Kootenay National Park on Saturday, May 11, my thoughts turned to the following day.

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Livingstone Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Berland, Mount

As the weekend approached, Phil Richards and I were getting a wee bit desperate to find a peak that didn’t involve obvious avalanche hazards or post-holing hell.

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Brisco Range / Scramble / Trip Report 2

Dormer Mountain

On March 23, Phil Richards and I hiked up a snowy Sheep Creek and scrambled Winchester Ridge. From the ridge we enjoyed spectacular views over the Dormer River towards Dormer Mountain and started to plan what kind of adventure would get us to its summit.

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Bare Range / Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 4