Carbondale Hill

March 17, 2018. A rewarding snowshoe trip up to a fire lookout in the Castle Wilderness. (see November 2019 update below for a shoulder-season report, and the May 2020 update for a summer hike with kids report) Distance: 9 km round-trip (winter distance due to road closure) Total Ascent: 496 m Elevation of Objective: 1798 m Total […]

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, […]

Grass Pass to “Sheep Summit”

January 5, 2018. A snowshoe trip to an unnamed high point in the Highwood region of Kananaskis Country. Safety and Disclaimer 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 snowshoe trip to the highest peak in Beauvais Lake Provincial Park. Region: Beauvais Lake Provincial Park, Traditional Territory of the Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations 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 […]

Piney Point Loop

November 17, 2017. A snowshoe trip tagging a low summit in Beauvais Lake Provincial Park, Alberta. Region: Beauvais Lake Provincial Park, Traditional Territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Ktunaxa First Nations. Distance: 5.8 km loop Total Ascent: 237 m Elevation of Objective: Piney Point 1560 m, “Piney Peak” 1596 m Total Time: 1h 40m February 17, 2021 update: I […]

Mount Lineham and Rowe Lakes

July 21, 2017. A solo trip, with a challenging hike/easy scramble to the 2nd highest mountain peak in Waterton Lakes National Park, and a visit to a family of mountain lakes on the return trip. Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional Territory of the Blackfoot, Ktunaxa, and Tsuu T’ina First Nations Distance: 24 km round-trip Total Ascent: 1433 […]

Table Mountain

June 24, 2017. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 14 km round-trip (this is based on my own tracking, others have tracked this hike as only 10 km) Elevation Gain: 739m Elevation of Objective: 2225 m Total Time: 5h Safety and Disclaimer June 2025 update: There […]

Turtle Mountain North Summit

June 3, 2017. *Update as of May 24, 2020* Region: Crowsnest Pass. Traditional Territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Ktunaxa First Nations Total distance: 6 km round-trip Total ascent: 824 m Elevation of objective: 2105 m Total time: 3h 15m UPDATE: In the 3 years since my last visit, there have been some changes, both in […]