Akamina Pass in March

Solo Cross Country Ski March 24. 2011

Vehicle to the Akamina Trail Head 1.5 km

Moving time is about 20 min

Trail Head to the Pass 1.5 km

Moving time is about 40 min.

From my vehicle to Akamina Pass

3 km

59 min. moving 10 min. stopped

3.1 km/hr moving time

total ascent 443 ft.

max. elev. 5951 ft.

Ski from Akamina Pass back to Cameron Lake road

1.5 km

18 min. 2 min. stopped

5 km/hr moving ave.

Akamina Pass to Cameron Lake and Back to the truck

6.02 km total

1 hr moving time

5.2 km/hr ave. moving time

I started to ski at about 4 pm and I skied to the trail head of Akamina pass and then I decided to ski into the pass. My time from the trail head to the pas was about 40 min.

The ski back out was a bit exciting as there was sufficient slope that I did not feel totally in control and ended up falling a few times. But the ski out seemed to be over in no time (18 min.).

I was back at the Cameron Lake road at about 5:50 pm so I decided to ski to Cameron Lake. On the way back from Cameron Lake I took the trail through the trees back to the truck. The snow conditions were ideal and the trail was fast so I got some nice gentle down hill skiing.

I got back to my vehicle just before 7 pm. This was an excellent time.

Total distance = 9 km

Total time = about 3 hours

The snow is high enough now so that you can ski over the barrier across the road.

Transitions

March 20, 2011

I went skating in Hawrelak Park. I was pleased to find the ice there was still intact. There have been some years when the skating was over by March. But the ice was in poor condition as it was rough and it seemed very soft. I only skated for about 20 min and managed to do a couple of km in that time. I expect that this will be my last skate at this park for this season. I did find it a bit curious to be sharing the ice with Canada Geese. I assume these are geese returning to the north and looking for open water. There wasn't much open water, just a couple of puddles along the edge of the pond. The geese were subjects for more than one photographer though.

March 22, 2011

I made a stop in Calgary and found myself following signs to Beaver Dam Flats Park. I have never been to this park before so I did an exploratory walk. The park is on the east side of the Bow River and south of the Deerfoot Trail. My walk took me to the Calf Robe Bridge on the Deerfoot Trail and back, a walk of about 1 hour and a distance of about 4 km. I saw the first Gull of the season.

To Go Where Noone Has Gone Before

March 15, 2011
Ski North Wabasca Lake/Willow River, solo
8.5 km
2 hr. 56 min.
15 min. Stopped
I intended to go ski for a couple of hours but it turned out to be a little longer.
Just as I started out I was joined by two dogs. One dog had one light colored eye and one dark colored eye so I called him Crazy Eyes. They accompanied me for the entire time. When I started out on the lake I broke trail for about the first 600 metres and then there were snowmobile and vehicle tracks to follow about 1.9 km. I noticed that there are far fewer snowmobile tracks on the lake now. I am guessing that deeper snow and drifting snow is somewhat of a barrier to all vehicles now. Also noticed that the snow has not been plowed off of the vehicle trails. There are several new Ice-fishing shacks just off the point of the Wabasca Town-site. I made good time to where I had explored the Willow River north channel on a previous walk. Then I left the tracks and broke more trail in a southeasterly direction to a second channel of the Willow River about 1.4 km. 950m on the Willow River. This seems to be a more well defined channel and I intend to revisit this area in a canoe sometime during the summer. My intent was to ski up the channel and then ski north back to the lake on the north channel but I missed the north channel. I skied up the low bank of the river and from there I could see back to Wabasca so I decided to Bee Line it straight back. Here is where I got into some deep snow. I had to break a lot of trail, 1.4 km. I think that I was on a Sedge Bog. I am sure that I am the only human to have crossed that marsh this winter and perhaps in the last several years. I enjoyed watching the dogs sensing rodents under the snow and pouncing and digging at them. Having a dog around gives me a greater sense of what is going on around me as the dogs smell, hear and see things that I do not. They were good company. I almost floundered in the snow a few times but then the 'going' improved. Once I got back to the open lake I was able to continue to fallow existing tracks again for about 600m. One thing about existing tracks though is that they never go exactly to where I want to go so that makes for a lot of course corrections and for crooked Track Files. Once I got back to the the Town-site I took off my skis and walked back to my starting point about 1.2 km.

Momentum

March2,
Walked about 2 km just to catch the LRT downtown and back.

Saturday March 5,
Saturday afternoon I went skating. First I went to William Hawrelak Park. One circuit around the pond there is about 1 km. The ice on the pond is in fair to good condition, meaning that it has rough areas but it can be skated without too much difficulty.
In Hawreluk Park I skated 6.5 km in about 30 minuets. My average speed was 10.3 km/hour

From there I went to the Victoria Park rink. The ice at Victoria Park is generally better maintained because it is where the speed skaters practice. The ice at Victoria Park was good to very good. I was able to maintain an average speed of about 12 km/hour for just under 30 minutes and I skated another 6.5 km.

Total distance = 13 km

Monday March 7,
In the afternoon I went to Rundle Park.
I skated 10 km there.

Tuesday March 8,
Blackfoot Lake Recreational Area
Today was a good day for cross-country skiing. It was a sunny day with little wind. The ski trails in this rec. area are well defined and in good condition. I started out at the Blackfoot Lake Staging Area. I started out on the Whitetail Trail and skied to the Springs Trail. Then I skied the Springs Trail to the Heron Hollow Trail. I skied down the Heron Hollow Trail to the Elk Island Park Boundary then I skied south for a short distance along the park fence until I came to Blackfoot Lake. Next I skied the lake out to the island where the Great Blue Heron colony is. From the colony I continued down the lake to the end of the island. I then looped back north and returned to the Heron Hollow Trail. I then returned to the staging area the same way I came.

While skiing on the defined tracks I was able to maintain an average speed of about 5 km/hour but once I got to the Park Fence there was no trail so I had to make my own trail. Breaking trail slowed me down considerably. In some areas the snow held my weight and skiing was reasonably easy but in other areas I sank into the snow that was at least 1 metre deep. Progress in the deep snow was indeed slow.

Total distance = 6.5 km
Time = 2 hours moving 35 min stopped
Average speed = 3.3 km/hr

The total distance for this entry = 31.5 km

Total to date = 100 km

March 1, 2011

Urban walk solo because it was too cold to start my vehicle. -20 something C.
South Edmonton
about 4.5 km