Trip Report - Wasootch Peak

Anita woke up looking a bit lethargic, so it seems fitting that she wore a t-shirt with a Low Battery icon pattern on it while we scrambled up Wasootch Peak yesterday. And while the photos make the day look beautifully sunny, it was actually incredibly windy and chilly at the top. The views over Kananaskis were pretty spectacular though, and the south west facing ascent means that the snow was largely melted, so this is a good shoulder season starter for those of you itching to head out for a scramble.

Also, Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mom's out there!! Hope you were pampered by your loved ones.




View of Mt. Kidd, from the early part of our ascent trail.


















Summit Brew: Tool Shed Brewing's Star Cheek IPA.




Me!

Trip Report - Heart Mountain, Grant MacEwan Peak

"A day in the mountains is worth ten in the city." -famous quote by some Asian wise guy. <--me.

As the avalanche risk continues to be high for many peaks in the Rockies, we played it safe and took a short scramble up Heart Mountain yesterday, doing the counterclockwise circuit to Grant MacEwan Peak, and descending back down the northeastern ridge to the road. As if to emphasize the avi risk, we heard and then saw a massive avalanche on neighbouring Mount McGillivray while at the of summit Grant MacEwan Peak. Be careful out there.

Aside from some knee deep snow, and a few icy patches, it was a beautiful day. We were in largely good spirits until Anita slipped hard on a steep downhill ice slope, landing on her bum, and conking herself in the nose with her trekking poles. Then she was grouchy - at the ice, at her poles, at me ... pretty much at anything in near vicinity. :)

First peak down this season. Many more to go.









Just to give you an idea of how steep some parts of this scramble are.


Anita showing off some of her mad scrambling skillz.


A colleague remarked that 'We look too happy' for people scaling up rocks.


The massive Mt. MacGillivary, to the west of us.


Panoramic view. Click to see it bigger.


Because beers taste better up here.




Knee deep snow on the ridge leading towards Grant MacEwan Peak.






The painfully long, but incredibly beautiful descent.

Cherry Blossom season in Seattle

Anita and I lucked out with the tail end of cherry blossom season during our visit to Seattle over the Easter long weekend. I don't think I could handle all the rain of the Pacific Northwest, but when it's nice there, it's really nice. These photos were shot in the neighbourhood of our friends' home, and on the U of W campus.


























And while checking out the blossoms at the U of W campus, this cute little guy came by to say hello.

Chasing Auroras and the Milky Way

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, we headed out about 45 minutes south of Calgary to try our hand at some shots of the northern lights and the Milky Way. There was only a limited time window where we could get decent shots, so I didn't get very many keepers. But these three were among my faves.

Spring Skiing and an Ugly Snowman

I'm hobbling around like a 75 year old today, after a hard day of riding at Lake Louise yesterday. It may 'officially' be spring, but one would hardly know it from the full day of snowfall on mountain. Terrain was hard to see in the flat light, but we still managed to ski 36km total distance, and 6.8km of total vertical.

Not to be outdone, it then snowed in Calgary today as well (that heavy wet snowball snow)... so of course we had to make an ugly snowman. See for yourself below.














Apres-Ski




And because old man winter refuses to go away, it snowed again today.