Catch up with last week's fun

For all of you holding your breath, I did not do the Castle Mt. traverse; the leader was sick and cancelled the day. But I met a great woman from Zurich in the parking lot as the group disbanded (she was one of the group. No, I don't go picking up women in gas station parking lots at 6 am on Sunday mornings - haha). We went to Mt. Indefatigable and meant to scramble up to the south peak. We go onto the 'wrong' trail, but it was great anyway. Passing through a bowl and tarn (snowmelt lake at the base of a mountain bowl) we hit the east shoulder and there was a scramble either up to the north peak or a slightly lower east high point. We went east; I like the mountains, but I'm not really a peak bagger yet! We had great weather, great views, and we beat the weekend mountain rush by starting so early.

The next day, I went to ride the lower Powderface loop with two friends. This is my new summer loop. Last year I rode one Jumpingpound loop 4 or 5 times over the summer and it was great to judge my learning curve. I figure lower Powderface will do for this year's training track. There are some serious climbs and a few good water crossings, neither of which I'm any good at so far...

Then last week my mom came to visit! On Wednesday, two of her PhD students joined the two of us for an afternoon trail ride. If you are looking for a trail ride in the foothills I strongly recommend AnchorD, the horses were very well behaved but without seeming like depressed trail ride horses. Three hours in a saddle is definitely all my muscles can handle - what a weird feeling! There was a lot of walking, some trotting and once or twice a little canter. The scenery was beautiful, the conversations lovely and our guide keep signing bob marley; a relaxing adventure. I have pictures from mom's camera, but I do not look lovely on the back of a horse, so you may never get to see them... I'm thinking it over.

Weekend Warrior it seems

This weekend Jeff and I were planning on renting a truck and driving up the Forestry trunk road all the way to Jasper for a little sightseeing, camping and hiking. Unfortunately, Jeff's schedule changed and he has to work on Saturday. So, with a weekend day to myself I started to cast around for activities in the mountains. With bear activity and whatnot, people recommend that you have a group of 6 or more to do any of the hikes between Banff and Lake Louise. Sadly, that would be everyone I know who likes hiking to all be free on the same day! I asked around, but wasn't surprised when that wasn't the case.

I decided that if I didn't have my own friends, I'd have to pay for some - Haha. Really though, I checked out the trail hikes, scrambles, traverses and glacier hikes listed for this weekend at the University of Calgary Outdoors Center. After getting to the top of Yamnuska on the long weekend, I've been really excited about testing my limits with more technical scrambles. I'm not really sure if it was the right decision, but tomorrow at 6:00 am I am leaving to meet a group for a traverse route of Castle Mountain in Banff. We're having lunch at the hut - http://alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/castle.html

I am very happy that I am not trying this on my own. There will be 5 of us with a trained guide and I think all of them are more climbers than hikers. The weather forecast is for cloudy with sunny spots, high of 14C and no rain. Hopefully perfect weather - no bad sunburn, but not too cold either. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Most likely. I will bring my camera and post the proof on Sunday.