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