Saturday, May 31, 2014

Black Rock Mountain!

Day Hike
Distance: 18km (Up&Down)
Height gain: 892m
High Point: 2462m
Time: 6-7 hours
Difficulty: Hard

Access:
Take highway 1A out to Cochrane and then take a right onto Forestry Truck Road, past the paintball place. The road will turn right and then after that you will take a left onto Township Road 270A, this is a messy road so be really careful in a car. Take this road till you reach the river. You might have to stop and get out here and find your way to the trail head. I wish you all the luck because it is hard to find. The trail head is on your right through a creek.

Experience:
This morning I woke up and I really didn't want to go on a hike. I slept in to 8:30am and I rolled around in bed debating if I should just stay in bed. The hike that I chose to hike was going to be really long, hard, and that sounded very unappealing this morning. I then grabbed the little hiking book, and read other hikes I could do instead. I then developed a couple other choices and presented them to my Dad who was checking the trails and such. By the end of our research we decided to go to Black Rock Mountain!

So we started to get ready and I made oats on the stove for the first stove which is funny because I went to collage for cooking and I have never made oats on the stove till today. It turned out great with a quick lesson from my Dad and we added apples, coconut, and raisins which made a very tasty mixture. Anyways, by the time we left it was about 10:30am. We went out there there was no more road! The flood of 2013 ruined the area! We still went on, going through the river 3 times and made it to what was leftover of the campsite. There was a stream coming out of it, and it was pretty hidden because there was so many trees and places where it was completely washed away. We found our way and went up the mountain! 

For about half the hike it was a gradual incline but nothing to difficult for us! We took the easy routes and made it to the base of the really rocky part. We took pictures here and I was in such a good mood. I felt like I could do anything because we were already so high up and the view is incredible. My brother Jesse was telling us how this is his favorite mountain because of the view and thrill of it. 

We continued up the rocky part and it was HARD! We took our time and made it to the first shelf and ate some food. Jesse found a tick and we all decided to move on. We then made it to the second shelf and we got to finally see the top of the mountain with the little hut up there. I then was in a completely different mood and did not want to hike up more steep gravel. So we quit there! Mom was having some cramps and wasn't doing too well up at that height so we took some pictures and left. We still feel accomplished even though we technically didn't make it up to the tippy top, but this was good for us. We then went down because it was really windy and thunder clouds were coming in. There is something to be said though of the feelings you get when you are on top of a mountain. Its like "Wow I was just down there. I can't believe I am actually this high." It's a feeling I used to hate because the journey up was to much for me, but I have come to love the mountains and that feeling. It always seems to make me happier in a sense. 

Anyways. We were making good time coming down, but we could hear the thunder. I asked if I could just go ahead with Jesse so I didn't get stuck in the rain because I forgot a jacket which is a really dumb idea FYI. So Jesse and I hurried down the mountain, and just as we were coming out of the trees it started to hail. Of course the weather always has to find me! It has rained or snowed a bit every time I have been hiking. I think God just wants me to come back with a good story to tell everyone. I will be that old lady that says to my grandchildren "I went, did it, and was happy even though it rained, hailed, or snowed on me." Jesse and I then waited for Mom and Dad to come down. We talked as we waited, and when Mom and Dad showed up they were soaked! We just turned on the 4runner and went on our bumpy ride home. Today ended up turning out pretty great! =D

My brother Jesse took some photo spheres here are the links:
The River

The road eroded away!

The sign! It was laying in the dirt haha

No path, just find your way

The stream we walked through

What a nice sign haha



What bird is this?

Are we there yet?



YES!

Hoodoo doo doo

Devil's Head

SO HARD!

First shelf

It is a pretty big shelf

Thats the top? No more!

Party Selfie!

The view of the second shelf



Its a wave!

The difficult way down :(

He scared Dad by popping out when he walked past

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Prairie View

Day Hike
Distance: 5km (Up)
Height gain: 500m
High point: 1875m
Time: 4-5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate

Access:
Take Trans-Canada Highway out to Canmore. Take the turn off onto Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40). Then at the Barrier Dam day use area.

Experience:
This was a really nice hike! Its about 7km to where we stopped which is by a large metal plate. The weather was perfect because it was cloudy with a bit of sun. For most of the hike it was just my Mom, Gabi, and I and it was really fun to walk and talk with them. If I was to rate this hike it would be about a medium hike for my skill level. Even though it was easier than last week's hike it still made me sweat and I will be a bit sore tomorrow. Surprisingly I'm not too tired, it was definitely a nice day hike to take some friends on. There were steep parts and flat parts, and the view was very rewarding. Nothing really interesting happened other than the cute chipmunks stealing Gabi's bread haha. My 3 older brothers also came along (Jesse, Robert, and Devon) but they went ahead by themselves to leave the snails in the back. On the way back we were debating about if we should go into the water but our feet were starting to hurt so we just wanted to get home. All in all it was wonderful to get out into the woods and seeing some wild flowers with pretty amazing people.
Barrier Lake from the parking lot

My hiking buddies

Selfie!

Almost at the top!



What is this? I dont know but this is the top!
Some wild flowers! The first ones I have seen since the winter has finished

The Prairie View

Gabi and I at the top with Baldy Mount behind us

A view of Barrier lake

To the right is Heart Mount, but this is the view that was to our right

Mom and I <3

Monday, May 19, 2014

Ha Ling's Peak (Chinaman's Peak)

Day Hike
Distance: 1.6km (Up)
Height gain: 732m
High point: 2408m
Time: 3-4 hours
Difficulty: Hard

Access:
Go to Canmore and follow signs to Smith-Dorrien Spray Trail (Hwy 742). Then go up the hill and then park in the Goat Creek parking lot.

Story:
For this mountain there is a little story on how it got its name. Originally the mountain was called 'The Beehive' Then in 1896, Ha Ling, a Chinese cook working in the Oskaloosa Hotel in Canmore, was bet $50 he couldn't climb up and down the mountain in 10 hours. Starting at 7 on a Saturday morning with a small flag to place on the summit, he was back in time for lunch. No one believed he did it that fast because they couldn't see the flag. So on Sunday Ha Ling led a group of doubters to the top and next to the original flag proudly flapping in the wind set up a 12 foot high flag pole with a scarlet six foot square flag that could be seen with the naked eye from Canmore. They then decided to call the mountain Ha Ling's Peak, but it is more renown for the name Chinaman's Peak.

Experience:
 From my experience, if I was to describe this hike in one word it would be Torture. 
At first we were pumped to get going on my first hard hike of the season. As we climbed I was getting tired fast! After the first 30min I felt I was ready to go back down haha. It was kinda steep and it was snowy and wet. Nonetheless we took pictures and continued up the mountain. Once I got past the first bit I was feeling okay, and I didn't feel as out of breath. Anyways we trekked through the trees and saw some chipmunks yapping at each other just like Arthur and the pink squirrel from The Sword in the Stone by Disney. It was SOOO Cute! After that that's when we hit the snow which was deep, slippery, and cold and that's when it started to get really really really HARD! We came out of the tree line and stared at the challenge in front of us. Loose gravel and more slippery snow. Yay.
 I was already tired but we were determined to get to the top. We slowly made our way up. My legs and ankles were dying and every time I looked back I could see how steep the way down was and if I slipped and fell the wrong way I would mostly likely die. At least that is what I thought at the time. 
We were so high up! and we weren't even at the top yet! About 1/3 of the way up the steep loose gravel path I was taking 4 steps and resting for 30sec. I was barely moving. Mom was with me and it wasnt helping that she was saying she wanted to stop, or that she wanted not to go any higher BUT I pushed through her suggestions and walked like a snail up the gravel. 
Once I was about 50 feet from the tippy top, which seemed so far away, I broke down because I could see over the edge and actually believed I was going to die. Seems irrational I know but that is what I believed. My mom stopped about then and I decided to make it to the top with Dad so I did!
Once I got up close to the edge I was freaking out a bit because I am quite afraid of heights. While I was up there I was questioning myself why am I going on hikes when I'm terrified of heights? I dont know why but I believe I can do hard things and being up high is very hard got my head to wrap around. I calmed myself and then I felt like I was a very important person to be so much higher than very body else haha. I could see everything around me, there was nothing blocking my view . It was so good! 
After a few minutes I wanted to get down because every possible path I could take was either straight down hill or really steep. So we left and made our way down and it started to rain. Everything was just going down hill for me (pun intended). 
Because we were so high up we could see the easy path down so we took it, but that path soon turned into a very difficult path because the snow started again and it was up to our waist! We trudged through it and because I was already SOOOOOO EXHAUSTED and the snow took soo much effort to walk through it I just couldnt hold it in anymore and I started crying because my legs, butt, and hands were frozen. Also I got stuck in the snow and my Dad had to come back and pull me out. It was really traumatic at the time for me.
We met up with my mom and headed down together, but the first half we were basically just sliding down in the snow on our butts. It was easier than walking and falling over every 2 steps we took. The downside is that it hurt our butts A LOT! My bum was stinging so bad and once I fell on a rock and I couldn't even feel it because my butt was so cold it was numb. I wish I got a photo of us sliding down the hill but I didn't even think of it at the time. 
Once we got through the icy slushy snow we were fine and cruised down the rest of the mountain while passing a few groups of people which rarely happens when I hike with my mom. We made it down and my body was covered in pins and needles and my muscles felt like jello. We got in the van and went home.
I might never want to do that hike again but I'm glad I got to the top and didn't die afterall. 
If I was to do it differently I would have brought a crazy carpet to slide down the mountain on :P
 At the parking lot

The man made canal on the bottom

The sign for the start of the hike

What it says


The stream by the path

The tiny waterfall





Mom and I at the start of the snow



Its getting hard!




When the path was nice.

Mom and Dad. 

The yappy squirrel 


The snow and the loose gravel :(



We were sweating buckets

This is proof I made it to the top!

The scary edge. You can see a bit of Canmore

Canmore Side. North view

East view

South View

South West View

West View

The party who made it to the top

I did it!

Time to go down. :(