Mt Allen, Centennial Ridge

Scramble at 2900m

In step with keeping the weekly escapes fresh it was time to hit some serious peaks again and high time to tread some rocky slopes after weeks of mostly snow. Sparling , Brooks and I hit the Ribbon Creek parking lot late morning with clear skies , a light breeze and ambitions of ascending the highest established trail in all of Canada. Yet again we were the only ones in the parking lot, the Rockies seem completely deserted and abandoned in popular opinion. Apparently there was some sort of important pig skin punting game going on in Toronto on the same day. Something about glorified obesity, never mind , back to hiking. Centennial Ridge must first be gained and in order to accomplish that you need to negotiate a long and relatively steep series of switchbacks. Once we had gained the ridge we found ourselves eventually looking down on the highest run at the Nakiska ski resort. We pitted for a quick lunch at this point watching young slalom hopefuls running through the paces far below us. As we continued along the long ridge we were treated to spectacular views on either side of us. The ridge was virtually free of snow as it is exposed to a great deal of wind, which was also the case for the day we traveled it. The ridge is also fascinating in that the environment atop it continuously shifts, at times to the completely unexpected. At one point, after negotiating a long boulder field, we found ourselves in a landscape that looked like it came straight out of a 70's western film. With red shale, towering pillars of rock and a narrow winding path only a few cactus and the omitting of the surrounding peaks would have made it more authentic. The ridge is long and as I said earlier, a spectacular undertaking, but nothing quite compares to what meets you at the end of the trail as you find yourself atop Mt Allen at just under 3000m above sea level. The view is staggering. On a clear day you can just make out the city of Calgary in the east, with Canmore in the west, the Kananaskis range, a sight to cherish.
Compatriots at the summit of Mt Allen.

The long route down was enough to make even our season legs weak at the knees. The posted time for the trip is 10 hours, but after 16 km and 5.5 hours I could once again go back to face the frustrating challenges of city life again. I rolled in to my evening shift at the Oval by the dinner hour and after a quick pedal home 5 hours later another day was done.

Silhouettes are always magical Go out and take care of business

Thanks to Sparling for the outstanding pictures. He has a waterproof digital and a quick draw frontal mounted pouch for on the fly picture taking, along with bearing bangers, GPS, knives...refer to MTN post.

Northover

Last weekend J Sparls had in true form planned a route in stride with the progressive nature of the season's outdoor pursuits. Following the multiday adventure the week before it was time to take proceedings to the next level and pursue the near impossible. Experts rate the Northover Ridge Loop at just over 30 km and recommend that the route be divided into a two day trip, in summer. This is confirmed on the www by chubby fellows in bad tilly hats and zip off khakis who drive out in F-150's, which left us with brimming confidence in our abilities to meet the self set challenge. By now the Rockies have assumed a very winter like feel with snow, low temperatures and shorter days. We figured we could tackle the entire loop in one day given our rate of travel the past few weeks. Not only did we give ourselves one day, but budgeted 8-9 hours for the loop that includes multiple ascents, ridge traverses and a glacier crossing. For this time around Sparls and I teamed up with the German mountaineering duo of the legendary Haspel siblings. Between Rebecca and Felix we felt we had enough alpine knowledge to curb our at times overzealous optimistic drive into potentially dangerous circumstance. We arrived at the trail head at Upper Kananaskis Lakes in the late morning and got the show underway.
After a long blast around the lake we found a scrawled sign pointing us up a valley towards Aster Lake, which we had hoped to hit around midday. This was to be the final pit before the largest hurdle of the day which was to gain the ridge, cross the glacier and find the way back down, but we were not worried, Aster Lake was only minutes away...
After picking out way through an endless mess of dead fall and no trail we came into a dried up lake clearing, crossed it and hit what we thought were the final low slopes before lake. Hours later after navigating icy windswept ridges, nipple deep snow and rocky steeps we had eaten away daylight and failed to find the lake. Our most pessimistic schedule was long passed and standing waist deep in powder in an isolated alpine tree cluster we decided enough was enough and it was time to admit defeat and head back the way we had come.

The ridge on the way back down offered a few solid chutes to do some sliding. Once back into the valley we lit up the headlamps and trudged our way back to where we had started with constilations overhead. After 28 kilometers and 9 hours on the trail we piled into the Durango and turned our hearts towards home.

Fay

One of many log creek crossings on the out and back route to Fay Hut.

The adventures are piling on so fast I can't keep up. The most epic journey of the fall happened this past weekend with an attempt at a 33 km Northover Ridge assault, but I will have to fill you in on that after a summary of Fay Hut.
In the spirit of steady progression the next step was naturally a multi day adventure. After some research on the Alpine Club of Canada it was determined that Fay Hut would be a suitable destination considering the time of year and our lack of avalanche and glacier experience. With a solid crew of 6 we once again turned our sights towards the towering Rockies for the weekend. After much confusing trying to find the trail head according to AC directions we eventually found the Marble Canyon parking lot on the 93 some 30 km from where we had been told it was. With the prospect of significant snow depths, Pipp and I had opted to lend snow shoes for the occasion. The 14 km hike in to the remote alpine log cabin known as Fay didn't require their use as the snow levels were fully manageable in my new Salomon trail runners which now have the added capacity to navigate all seasons thanks to a set of MEC budget gators. The hike in is unique in that the entire forest sandwiched between high ranges is an endless expanse of burnt out pines. A forest fire a few years ago has left only blackened trunks, creating a unique ambiance. After several hours of trekking along the valley along the creek the trail points upward in a final push to the shelf that hold the hut. Initially the ascent it is a simple series of steep switchbacks up through the pines, but eventually the highlight of the inbound journey comes to view in the form of a steep rock and ice route requiring rope assistance. Fortunately a rope is already in place and after three ropes and much hand over hand death gripping of the icy fibers you are at the top and on the home stretch.

Fay Hut is truly marvelous perched on a small plateau looking out over the valley towards a towering and dominating string of peaks opposite. The hut is a log construction that offers a spacious interior on two stories, capable of sleeping 12. With the hut to ourselves we settled in to firing up the wood burning stove, got the propane flowing for snow boiling and stocked up the ceiling suspended drying rack with wet gear. The evening meal spear headed by trusty adventure companion Pip was a delicious compilation of top grade steak, asparagus, baby potatoes, vegetable medley and rutabagas carrot miss mash mush. We retired early in anticipation of a big day ahead with light snowfall and deafly silence tantalizing the senses on the last trip in from the outhouse.

The next morning we awoke to a very healthy dose of fresh powder which continued throughout the morning. We started the day off with an equally healthy breakfast of fried bacon, fried sausages in bacon fat, fried potatoes in bacon and sausage fat, ultimate Quaker instant porridge pot and Jamie's signature "viscosity is an asset" sludge based mtn man custom percolated coffee. The crew minus the camera man topping up the cholesterol bank.

Finally, it was time to fill the thermos, back in what we packed out and hit the trail back to civilization. The dump of snow justified mine and Pip's decision to bring snow shoes and for the first part of the 14 km return trip we blazed trail and soaked in the perplexing environment we had wound up in. Along the way we took snow covered log bridges in stride, witnessed an avalanche and spooked some unsuspecting day tourists at the canyon near the parking lot with a bear banger into the deep crevice which created a most spectacular red flash and accompanying deafening bang.
With seat heat on full and the Bimmer revving high mountains and snow gradually flowed over to bare grasslands and city lights. Another weekend, another adventure. It only gets better...

Hopefully I get the chance to fill you in on last weekend before tomorrow's events need to be documented. The rope steeps were easily navigated with the additional snow over night.

Long line of Gore and Bamboo

MTN

Go Go Gadget
Adventure Man does it right with GPS navigation, bear bangers, knives...all at his finger tips.

Playtime

I am now a few adventures behind, but by the end of today I hope to be all caught up. Photos from the adventure two weekends ago are unavailable as my camera froze. Here is how that happened.
It was Sunday and time for another mountain escape. I was unsure if it was going to happen as the weather had turned for the worst with snowfall in the city and bad roads to our now familiar play area to the west. However, the J Sparls adventure mobile never fails to "grab life by the horns" and with only the core of the group in attendance, Sparls and I, we took the higher road and embarked on another alpine thriller. Once on Hwy 40 conditions deteriorated quickly and once we saw a truck upside down in the ditch we knew it was go time. We soon arrived at the trail head in driving snow and sub zero temperatures. Fortunately I had thought to pack some extra clothing and once we were suited up we hit the trail to the first destination which was an alpine lake at moderate elevation gain some 6 km down the trail. We made excellent time with our new found super hiking form and soon started reeling in fellow adventure seekers including a large group of university foreign exchange students in blue jeans, which needless to say took our extreme meter into the negative digits. We had to take it up a notch so we attacked the lower slopes of the ascent to the lake and soon found ourselves overlooking a stunning alpine scene as we looked back down the valley where we had come. The constantly shifting cloud cover let limited light through to the snow blasting off the surrounding peaks. We pitted for a quick bite and then ripped the trail back down to the lower lake and back country campsite in true skiing sans skis fashion, pole plants and jump turns included.

At this point we decided that we could get substantially more out of the day and ran back down the trail a couple of kilometers to the Guinn Pass junction. As the sign read "Not recommended for winter travel" we knew this was our ticket to ride and headed off up the steep trail in what was now about a foot of snow. The trail quickly vanished into a small gully that pointed straight up towards a windswept open scree slope. The snow in the gully reached waist deep at points, but with trekking poles in full swing we pushed on to the summit. It was tough going but within an hour we cleared the gully and made the final push up the snow covered scree slope to the knife edge cliff nestled between two lower peaks.
Up and Away, the only way.

On the scree we encountered a group of 6 baby snow owls and Sparling saw numerous wolves, cougars and other predatory mammals. This was the closest to a pure mountaineering feeling I have ever been. The wind was incredible and the alpine bowl that opened up beneath us at the summit was breathe taking. There are some stunning photos of this section which I don't have yet, but I will try to get them asap.

The trip back down was fast and fun with more sans skis ski like maneuvers. We have become refined in our craft and even with two major ascents on the day we managed to cover nearly 18 km in around 5 hours of hiking. Arriving back to the parking lot just before darkness set it another day was done and final training had taken place for what ended up being another magical mountain adventure this past weekend. Two days , 28 km, snowshoes, back country log cabins, rope assisted ascents and descents...its all coming your way soon.

Putting on some warmer hand wear. We had climbed out of the valley you see behind me.

Modest Mouse Live

Last Friday night I attended what could arguably have been one of the concert highlights of the year for this counter cultural oasis in the grasslands. Modest Mouse was in town and despite the show selling out in 7 minutes I had a ticket. Outside Mac Hall desperate fans were paying up to several hundred dollars for tickets, but some experiences are simply priceless. In tune with my new life motto of "Tracking Treasure" I didn't sell out. I have been a Modest Mouse fan for a number of years and agree with most true believers that their early work is what defines them as a group and sets them apart from their now mainstream counterparts. People never fail to use terms like washed up and sold out, but their music is still unique and remains incredible. Bands evolve with exposure and changes in taste, it is only natural.
The show was very slow to get going, but when it did a delicious blend of old and new took the crowd on a musical journey through past and present gems. Modest Mouse have a great stage presence and are worth seeing live. From the front rows the energy was present in spades and resonated in the crowd enthusiasm. Being an all ages show the regular shoving match was staged front and center, but being just off to the side one could enjoy the full force of the sound, aid in surfing young and old to the front and not fall over.
After a long set, Modest Mouse came back for an encore that took the show to a whole new level. If they had played the first hour the way they did those last three songs, this show would have been one of the best I have ever witnessed.
Great gig, my right ear was still ringing 48 hours later...