Snowshoeing to Gypsum Ridge

Years ago, if you had asked me if I could convince the missus to get out of bed early on a -26 degree Sunday morning to go for a snowshoe ascent up a small mountain (500m of elevation gain), I would have laughed. Now, after years of priming her with increasingly difficult hikes, scrambles, and multiday treks, I've actually managed to get her interested in doing even winter hikes. It was pretty frosty when we arrived at the trailhead in Kananaskis, but that didn't stop us from pounding up to the west summit of Gypsum Ridge in about 2.5hrs. We had the entire mountain to ourselves... likely because we were the only three morons in Calgary dumb enough to go out in this cold.

The hike was mostly uneventful, save for one stretch where we found clumps of greyish brown fur on the ground. None of us are terribly well versed in wildlife, so we could only make an educated guess as to the animal - we suspected a bear. Jas grabbed the fur and sniffed it. I sarcastically inquired 'Do you know what bear smells like?' and he immediately realized how silly the action was. LOL.

If you decide to make an attempt up this route, the trek to the ridge is a steep slog through trees, so don't expect any views until you reach the end. But with the blue skies, ample snow, and wind free summit, we had an incredible day, despite the freezing temps.




It was a little bit wintery today.




Only a few minutes into the trek, Anita's eyelashes started to frost up.


Check out that water vapour/ steam rising off of Jas. Yes, it was cold out.


























Summit Brew: 2 Crows Brewing - Wild Skies Brett Sour

Winter in Saskatoon

Have you ever wondered what -53 degrees C looks like? No? Me neither. But since I made the poor life decision to schedule a work visit to Saskatoon this week, where it was that very temperature this morning, I figured I may as well embrace it and snap some photos for you to see. While -53 degrees (factoring in windchill) is indeed cold enough to freeze the nuts off a bridge (or insert any other hyperbole here), it also makes for some moody Siberia-esque scenes. I went outside for about 1/2 hour to capture these scenes, before I lost all feeling in my face and fingers, and called it a day. I hope you enjoy these 'more frigid than a 70 year old nun' scenes from the comfort of your toasty home.