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Tag : spring

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pringle, Mount

It wasn’t about the hike or the views, it was about getting out of the house and the city and about doing something within my control. It was about finding a legal way to hike in these strange times of quarantining the healthiest among society rather than the sickest.

Okotoks Mountain

The summit ridge was longer than expected, the views were about as underwhelming as expected.

Corral Creek Mountain & Cutline Ridge

I have to say that I enjoyed Corral Creek Mountain more than I thought I would, especially with fresh snow coating the landscape around me. The Willow Creek PLUZ area provides lots of hiking and rambling opportunities if you are desperate for some foothill / mountain views but don’t expect pristine wilderness.

Indian Graves & Willow Creek Ridge

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. If it weren’t for Covid-19 and the many restrictions around hiking and closed parks and areas I would NOT have done any of the hikes in the Willow Creek PLUZ area.

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.

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 (!!).

Deadman Pass Peak

Deadman Pass Peak is one of those mountains that snuck onto my list many years ago when So Nakagawa posted a trip report in 2015 from a trip he did in 2013. When Dave McMurray posted another trip report on the same peak in 2015 it went up the list a bit higher before fading to other, bigger, more remote objectives as these things tend to do.

Sulphur Mountain

On Saturday, June 1 2019 I was at home getting texts from a bored Wietse who was sitting on the summit of Sulphur waiting for the rest of his hiking group. He indicated that the rumored true summit on the fourth peak clearly looked lower and after seeing his photos I agreed.

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.

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.

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.

Observation Sub Peaks

I’ve heard of the Observation Sub Peaks for many years as a pretty tame but highly recommended ski objective along the Icefields Parkway near Bow Summit and Bow Lake in Banff National Park.

Winchester Ridge

Even before Cornelius Rott forged a route to the summit of Winchester Ridge, it was on my radar. This has happened with a number of relatively obscure peaks over the past 3 or 4 years as Cornelius is attracted to the same types of objectives as Phil and I and usually manages to nab them before we do.

Stony Ridge (StonyCat)

Hanneke had a rare opportunity to join me for a hike on Sunday, May 6th 2018 so I figured I should take advantage of that. I was determined not to make her wade through the knee deep snow drifts that I kept ending up in over the past few weeks and decided that surely Stony Ridge in the Highwood area of Kananaskis would be dry by now? Yeah…The past few weeks have seen me drive past Black Diamond and Longview a few times, including a solo jaunt up Three Cairns, Hell’s Ridge and Mount Mann.

Gravenstafel Ridge & Mount Haig

June 14th, 2008 found me wanting to bag a peak pretty badly! The spring of 2008 has not been a very friendly one for scramblers and hikers. It’s been wet, and cold and nasty. After much deliberation, Wietse and I decided that we would head down to Waterton for the day, attempting the Lost / Anderson / Bauerman triplicate.

Limestone Mountain (Kananaskis)

On May 30, 2008 I joined Kevin Papke on the ‘mighty’ Limestone Peak in Kananaskis Country. So far the year 2008 has been pretty slow for me and mountains. Most of this is due to a priority shift on my part and the copious amounts of snow on the weather’s part. I tried getting up Limestone a few weeks ago but turned back because of the snow.

Wendell, Mount East Peak

On Saturday April 12, 2008 I joined Wietse and Keith on a tramp up the east ridge of Yamnuska, down into the CMC valley and then up the southeast ridge of the East Peak of Wendell.

Morrowmount (Jura Peak)

On June 02 2007 Wietse and I headed to the mountains to attempt a peak from Kane’s scrambles book. Unfortunately for us, there was way too much snow in all the areas that we wished to scramble so we were forced to come up with alternate plans for the day.

Lawson, Mount

On Friday, May 11 2007 Jason Wilcox kicked giant steps up Mount Lawson’s steep eastern slopes while Wietse and I followed him.

Wendell Mountain

After being inspired by both Andrew Nugara’s and Rob Eastick’s recent ascents of this relatively obscure and out-of-the-way peak, Wietse and I decided to give it a shot on a beautiful April Friday.

Hailstone Butte & Sentinel Peak

On March 24, 2007 Wietse and I returned to the Livingstone Range to bag some more peaks. Our objectives this time were Hailstone Butte and Sentinel Peak.