Mount Baldy to Mount Albert Loop

December 10, 2019. A scenic snowshoe loop, touching two low summits in Beauvais Lake Provincial Park. Distance: 8.45 km loop Elevation of Objective: Mount Baldy 1,585 m, Mount Albert 1,691 m Total Ascent: 425 m Total Time: 3h 16m I had been meaning to do this trip for a while, but the weather for the last couple […]

Lower Bertha Falls

March 16, 2019. A pleasant snowshoe trip on one of Waterton’s most popular trails. Distance: 2.7km to the lower falls / 5.4km out-and-back Total ascent: 209m Elevation of objective: 1448m Hiking time: 2h 30m round-trip (this included frequent stops to take test photos with a new camera) Through the winter of 2019 much of the fire-damaged terrain in Waterton […]

Tunnel Mountain Circuit

February 8, 2019. A short winter hike around the base of Banff’s Tunnel Mountain. Distance: 5.0 km loop Total Ascent: 153 m Elevation of objective: N/A Hiking time: 1h 25m Last February I had the chance to follow the trail up to the summit of Tunnel Mountain. This year I decided to put together a route that […]

Mount Backus

January 13, 2019. A tedious climb to a low summit in the Castle Wilderness. Distance: 6.25 km round-trip Total ascent: 478 m Elevation of objective: 1800 m Hiking time: 3h 13m Steep, uphill bushwhacking. Barbed wire. Copious deadfall. Traveling through trees. Bare ground alternating with thigh-deep snow. These are the features that await on Mount […]

Saskatoon Mountain

January 5, 2019. A straightforward winter hike to a low summit in the Crowsnest Pass. Distance: 8.29 km round-trip Total Ascent: 495 m Elevation of objective: 1820 m Round-trip time: 3h 17m As is typical at the start of the winter season, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to get […]

Carbondale Hill

March 17, 2018. A moderately challenging snowshoe trip up to a fire lookout in the Castle Wilderness. (see November 2019 update below) Distance: 9 km round-trip Total Ascent: 496 m Elevation of Objective: 1798 m Total time: 3h 6m Carbondale Hill is the site of a fire lookout and is featured as a hiking or snowshoeing trip […]

Island Ridge

March 11, 2018. A snowshoe trip up a low mountain in the Crowsnest Pass with moderate elevation gain, in challenging snow conditions. This is a trip I’ve been sizing up since the beginning of the winter. It’s described by Dave McMurray on his amazing Peaks and Streams blog, which drew the attention of Andrew Nugara, […]

Tunnel Mountain and Stoney Squaw Mountain

February 10 & 11, 2018. Two easy snowshoe trips to the tops of a pair of low mountains in Banff. I had a conference in Banff over the past weekend, so part of my preparation was making some plans to snowshoe. There was a winter storm which rolled through the province just before the start […]

Grass Pass to “Sheep Summit”

January 5, 2018. A solo, moderately challenging snowshoe trip to an unnamed high point in the Highwood region of Kananaskis Country. Southern Alberta is about one week out from its most recent major snow dump. I spent most of December 30, 2017 shovelling snow off various driveways. Actually, I can’t ever remember spending so much […]

Mount Albert Loop

December 27, 2017. A solo, moderately challenging snowshoe trip to a peak in Beauvais Lake Provincial Park. Distance: 8.3 km Total Elevation Gain: 318 m Total time: 3h 43m Elevation of objective: 1690 m The remnants of Southern Alberta’s first snowfall of the winter season vanished in Chinook winds in early December this year. At the beginning of […]