Hiking, Skating and Skiing

I would like to Blog about each outing individually because each walk, hike, ski or skate is unique in its own way. Fortunately I am getting out a lot which is leaving me little time to be pecking out text on my keyboard and uploading photos. Nevertheless, here is a list of activities that I have done over the past several weeks..

January 26, 2012, Skied Campbell Lake. This ski was solo.

Thank you again to the Hamilton's for providing such an excellent trail and track to ski. I often see deer tracks but on this run I noticed a deer track with blood in it. Was it from an accidental injury or was the animal ambushed by a coyote? It seemed to be the rear right leg that was injured which would be more indicative of an ambush attack. Either way it is another stark reminder of the hard and uncertain life these creatures live.

Distance = 4.18 km. Moving time = 1 hr 9 min. Stopped time = 8 min.

Walked back 3.7 km

Then I met up with my sister and did another short ski run.

Distance 4.5 km

Moving time = 2 hours 52 min. both walking and skiing.

Stopped time = 30 min.

Walked 2 km

Total distance skied 10.2 km

January 28, 2012, Skied Blackfoot Lake with a friend.

We started at the Blackfoot Lake Staging area at around 11 am and finished around 2 pm. The track that starts at the Blackfoot Lake Staging Area is a favorite place for me to go. We skied the track and then skied out to the Heron nesting colony on Blackfoot Lake. My friend was a novice skier and found the track challenging. It is always great to share favorite places with those who are visiting them for the first time.

Distance skied = about 6 km.

Moving time = 2 hr. 3 min. Stopped time = 30 min

January 29, 2012, solo skate on Hawrelak Park Pond.

I had an hour to kill so I went skating. The ice on the pond was in reasonable condition. I regret to think that this might be the only skating that I do in Hawrelak Park this winter. I have many happy memories about skating that park.

Distance = 6.21 km.

Time = 32 min.

February 1, 2012, ski with my sister and her neighbor, around Campbell Lake.

Again we skied on the Hamilton House trail and track. The track is becoming well set making it better to ski on every time we go. Most of the stopped time shown was so I could reminisce about my experiences in this area when I was young, like my buddy and I crawling into a bear den.

Distance = 6.65 km.

Moving time = 1 hr. 32 min moving. Stopped time = 20 min.

Max. Elev. 1805

February 3, 2012, ski with my sister and her neighbor, around Campbell Lake.

This was another skiing outing on the Hamilton House trail and track.

We noticed Muskrat tracks on the surface of the snow so somehow a muskrat must have found itself on top of the ice and it could not find it's way back into its more familiar and safe habitat under the ice. Then there were the tell tail flecks of blood in the snow and coyote tracks. The coyote got to eat and the muskrat got eaten, it is a harsh life for animals in the woods.

Distance = 7.34 km

Moving time = 1 hr 55 min. Stopped time = 26 min stopped.

February 10, 2012. Hiked in Waterton National Park, to Lower Bertha Falls with my brother.
We got started just after noon and finished around 4pm. It was calm with light snow.

There is noticeably more snow on the trail this time compared to when I did the hike with my grandson and granddaughter in January. There was a Montana Gov. truck and car in the parking lot and foot prints and toboggan tracks on the trail to Boundary Bay. We assumed they were officials checking the trail and boarder crossing at Boundary Bay and Goat Haunt Lake.
After the hike we checked out the beach. There is still some open water out in the lake. We found it a curiosity how the lake seems to freeze in stages.

Distance 7.9 km

Moving time = 1 hour 58 min. Stopped time = 1 hour 8 min. I Question that we stopped this long. I think we were just moving slowly and there was also interference with the GPS signal because of the surrounding mountains.

684 ft total ascent, 4788 max elevation.

Feb. 19, 2012, Woolford Provincial Park, solo winter walk.

There was enough snow to see tracks so I could tell that one person had walked there recently. I followed the general path that previous person took. I started walking around 4:30 and finished back at my truck around 6pm. The river is mostly frozen but there are areas of open moving water. I noticed green algae in the moving water, a reminder that even in winter there is sufficient sun for photosynthesis to be taking place. I saw a whitetail deer on the river. I might have seem raccoon tracks, or would the racoons be hibernating now?

3.14 km

1 hr. 3 min. moving, 6 min stopped.

Max. elev. 3786 ft.