Urban Walking

I am now spending considerable time in Lethbridge helping out my daughters so when I have some free time I take walks for my physical and mental health. The joy of walking is that no matter where I am when I have a few spare moments I can always talk a walk. The next three records are walks I took in West Lethbridge.

March 12, 2012, walked West Lethbridge. Solo.

I started at about 4 pm and finished around 7:30 pm. I walked around the edge of new and not so new development in the SW part of West Lethbridge. Found a few new parks and trails. I was able to keep up a pretty good pace but I wore blisters on my feet

12.8 km

On the same day I also walked back and forth between my daughter's places a few times which added about another 4 km. so my total distance for the day was about 16 km (10 miles).

March 14, 2012, walked from West Lethbridge to downtown and back. Solo.

Started around 12:30 pm from my daughter's place and ended at my other daughter's place at around 3 pm. The walking trail took me well off the direct route because it goes through the U of L before it swings back to Woopup Dr. I saw a flicker in the river valley. The Route that I took back was a bit more direct. Not a peaceful walk because it is mostly along a busy thoroughfare.

The walk to downtown was about 5.5 km. the walk back from downtown was about 5.1 km.
The total distance was 10.1 km.
My time was 2 hr. 15 min. moving. 4 min stopped.

March 15, 2012, walked West Lethbridge, solo.

I started around 6:30 am and finished around 8:30 am. Walked north to Walsh Dr. and then counter clockwise around the new development.

Total distance 7.36 km.

My time was 1 hr. 48 min. moving. 2 min. stopped.

Saturday Stroll

March 10, 2012, solo Saturday afternoon walk in Cold Lake Prov. Park. Solo.

Face with an afternoon with spring like weather and a bit of free time how could I resist and not going for a walk. I started at the Beach Parking Lot at about 1 pm and walked the path clockwise to the boat launch and then returned on the path beside the road back to the parking lot to close the loop.
This was a reflective and contemplative walk. The ravens were talkative on this walk and as I ended my walk one flew over head. Could this be a good omen? I ended my walk at about 2:30 pm. There were a few people also on the path enjoying the day.

Walked about 6 km. in about 1 hour 30 min.

http://www.albertawow.com/layout_maps/Cold%20Lake%20Brochure.pdf

March 7, 2012, Ski near Bonnyville Beach, Moose Lake, with my sister and her neighbor.

This ski track turned out to be not easy to find but well worth the search. I started out just tagging along but I ended up being the navigator. This seems to be maintained and monitored by the local residences and there are rules so pay attention to the signage. The track was in good condition and fast. This is a track with some topographical relief which makes it a fun run.

Total Distance = 8.27 km.
Moving time = 1 hr. 37 min. Stopped time = 15 min. My moving average was 5.1 km/hr. which is a pretty good time for me.
Max elev. 1878 ft. Total ascent 402 ft.


March 9, 2012, skied Campbell Lake, Hamilton House track, with my sister.

Spring like temperatures and new snow made the track fast to start with but when I got to the lake the snow was sticking to my skies so I put some roll on glide wax on. Then I had no kick for 15 minutes or so until the glide was wore off. I skied on that wax to the old grade okay then the snow was softening and sticking again. My sister took my skies and scraped the wax off and applied her yellow wax. From then on I had good kick and no snow sticking. We heard a Pileated Woodpecker.
Our moving averaged started out at 5.5 km/hr on the first part of the trail but that dropped to about 4.2 km/hr when we started breaking trail on the lake.
The total distance was 6.65 km.
Moving time was 1 hour 26 minutes, Stopped time was 19 minutes.

Bison and Burke

March 5, 2012, solo cross-country ski Flying Shot Lake trail to the Ukrainian Village.

This was a spontaneous ski that turned out pretty wonderful. I was driving east on Highway 16 and remembered that I had not skied or walked the Flyingshot Lake Trail in Elk Island National Park for well over a year. I stopped to check out the trail and a fresh cover of snow was a draw that I could not resist. I started about 7:30 am at the Flying Shot Lake trail head and skied clockwise until I came to a cut line. I check my GPS map and remembered the cut line takes me to the west boundary of the Ukrainian Village. I decided to ski the cut line to goose lake. I then skied a couple of kilometres south on the park boundary and back. This is a portion of the route skied during the annual Canadian Burkebeiner race.

http://www.canadianbirkie.com/

I accessed the Village by acrossing Goose Lake and my friend was generous enough to drive be back to my vehicle. There was no track set on this route so I had to break trail the whole way making it a More physically demanding ski but a very good one.

10.3 km

3 hours 29 min moving

stopped 1 hr 29 min. (doesn’t seem accurate).

Max elev, 2418. Total ascent 485 ft.

In Motion

March 1, 2012, a group walk in the Edmonton river valley.

I am never happier than when I am in motion under my own power. This includes walking. Walking is one of the most affordable ways to keep fit. Walking outside gives me energy, and walking with a group is a good way to meet new people.
This group walk starts at the Glenora Club in Edmonton every Thursday. The group kept what I consider a brisk pace and we covered about 8 km in 1 hr. 40 min.

March 3, 2012, a walk with a friend in St. Albert.

We started our walk at the Arden Centre, where the St. Albert Museum has an exhibit of artifacts from the Eastern European Settlement in St. Albert.

http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/20120218/SAG0307/302189997/-1/sag/exhibit-explores-eastern-influence

We walked to the Lois Hole Provincial Park and back. The trail is paved and it appears that some snow removal is done up to the viewing platform on Big Lake. There is new a boardwalk through some marsh lands. Then we followed a path in the snow back toward Ray Gibbon Dr. where we had to dart across the street and wend our way back to the original trail. This is definitely a walk to take again in spring, summer, and fall as it promised some excellent water fowl viewing.

http://www.stalbert.ca/big-lake

Covered about 8 km.

Moving time was about 2 hrs. stopped time was about 11 min.

Max Elev. 2425

March 4, 2012, a group walk in the Edmonton river valley.

This walk started from the Storyland Valley Zoo Parking Lot. Walked to The Off Leash area across the foot bridge at William Hawreluk Park then came bank south on the east side of the river across the Whitemud Bridge and back to the parking lot. This is much the same route that I Blogged about when I tried out my Trekking Poles.

Distance was about 7.7 km In about an hour and a half.

A February Finish

Feb. 22, 2012, Campbell Lake, Hamilton House track, skied with my brother and sister and my sister's neighbors.

On this day five of us got out skied. It is always to ski with family and friends. We got started about 10:30 and finished about 1:30 pm. It was a beautiful mostly sunny day.

Total distance 7.2 km.
1 hr. 45 min. moving, 36 min stopped. 337. Max. elev. 1811ft.

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Feb. 23, 2012, Skied Campbell Lake, Hamilton House track, with my sister and her neighbor.

Started around 10:30 am and finished around 1 pm. We skied around the lake clockwise to the old railway grade then skied east on the grade to the Alberta - Saskatchewan boundary, the 4^th meridian. At the Meridian I skied up nice sized hill on the the south side of the grade, and did a fun run down with a fall at the bottom.

Total distance 9.18 km

2 hours moving and 17 min stopped.

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Feb.24, 2012, Skied Campbell Lake, Hamilton House track with my sister, and her neighbor, my brother and my grandson.

My grandson is a novice so we stuck together and the others went on ahead. I checked out one of the biggest beaver lodges that I have ever seen.

Distance skied 2.8 km.

We walked back to my sister's house.

Distance walked 1.2 km.

1 hour 30 min moving, 20 min stopped.

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February 28, 2012, Skied with my brother to the Akamina Pass and then Cameron Lake.

We started out at about 10:30 am. There were 10 inches or 12 inches of new snow so the ski up the pass was a bit more difficult than it had been for me on February 20th. For most of the way we followed alpine ski tracks. Alpine skiers do not do the Herring Bone up the slopes so with the new snow I kept burying my tips which made the up hill more difficult. The Alpine Ski tracks went to within 200 or 300 metres of the boarder so the last few hundred metres we had to break trail. I had a plan to ski on to the Forum Falls but hours to ski up and about 15 min to ski down. The new snow made control on the glide breaking a bit of trail convinced me not to go any further. The ski back down was fun and easy because the deep snow kept our descent at nice manageable speed. It took almost 2 hours to ski up and only 15 min. to ski back down.

We were back down at about 1:40 pm so we decided to ski to Cameron Lake. There was such a high drift behind the Information Centre that I was able to clamber up the drift and onto the roof.

Total distance 8.83 km.

3 hrs. moving. 1 hour stopped.

Total ascent 667 ft. 5959 ft. max elevation.

I wasn't able to do any hiking or skiing on February 29 as I was too busy dodging all of the proposals for marriage.

Mystque In The Woods

February 20, 2012, Waterton National Park, Ski Cameron Lake and Forum Falls, solo, (the second half of my day skiing).

By the time I followed my tracks back to the east point in the lake it was around noon. I would be following my own tracks back across Cameron Lake so I was confident that I would have a more relaxed ski back so I paused at the east point for a break and a snack. The snow had gradually lightened up so I could now see the other side of the lake. I watched some other skiers along the west shore. I entertained the notion of crossing the lake to join their track but I had already broke enough trail. Also I remembered the places where there was water under the snow and I couldn't be sure that similar conditions did not lie between where I was and the west shore. Skiing over there would be a chance to revisit the west shore of the lake, it has been a couple of years since I have been there, but I chose the more 'comfortable' route of following my own track back. . I noted three Alpine Touring skiers doing a run down the slope just south of the west point on the lake. The air was calm enough now for me to hear their whoops as they slalomed down the mountain.
When I reached the north end of the lake many more skiers, snowshoers, and even a few hikers had arrived. My single track was now a well set ski track so I covered the distance of about 3 km., from the point to the trail head of the Akamina Pass, in about 50 minutes.

My total ascent so far was 509 ft. Max Elev. 5555 ft.

At about 1:30 pm. I started up Akamina Pass. There were lots of skiers and snowshoers on the trail now, so the trail was well packed. The snow had stopped falling and the sun even broke through momentary. It took me about an hour to do the 1.26 km. from the trail head to the pass. I had made good time, because the trail was well packed, so I decided to continue on another 1.6 km to Forum Falls. Akamina pass is also the boundary between British Columbia and Alberta. To the falls via the pass my total ascent was 482 ft. and the maximum elev. was 5956.

At about 3:45 pm. I started my fun ski back down from the pass. The tension of my ski on Cameron Lake was swept away by the shear fun of coasting back down the Akamina Pass trail. This was turning out to be the best of days.
Then I heard someone playing a flute, SWEET!
If you visit Cameron Lake in Waterton National Park during any time of the year you might just meet Demetre. Indeed he is well known because everyone that skied passed on that trail in brief time I visited with him greeted him with a cheery "Hi Demetre!".
I met Demetre the first time in April 2009. He is a bit of a mystic to me in that I don't know where he is from. I do know that if he had his way he would never leave the woods of Cameron lake. It is as if the mystic of his soul is inseparably interwoven with the mystic of the woodlands and mountains and waters of Cameron lake. He is the ambassador of aesthetics in that he seems to connect with everyone he meets that and in simple words he expresses the beauty and grandeur of his surroundings, " people come here and leave too soon" he says, " I don't want to leave", he continues, " just want to stay". I couldn't agree more with you Demetre, I couldn't agree more.

My total distance skied that day was about 16 km.

No Bounds

February 20, 2012, Waterton National Park, Ski Cameron Lake and Forum Falls, solo.

I arrived at the Cameron Lake Staging area before 10 AM on the Cameron Lake road. By 10 AM I had my skis on and was starting down the trail. There were a few centimeters of fresh snow and it seemed to me that, so far, I was the first park visitor to ski to Cameron Lake. As I started out there was light snow falling.

The Canada-USA International Boundary cuts through the south end of Cameron Lake and my goal was to ski to that boundary. Skiing to the lake was easy but at the lake there is a sign that says Nordic Ski Trail Ends here. Up to the sign there was a track but beyond that sign there were no tracks to follow.

I have skied on Cameron Lake before but on every previous occasion I had a track to follow and I had only skied around the west shore of the lake. This time I was striking out into the middle of the lake. Still I was pretty confident, that is until I got about 500 m from shore on the the frozen lake. My ski poles seemed to be going into the snow rather far. I remembered that a just a week earlier Waterton Lake was not entirely frozen over in places. I probed deeper with my ski pole. The poles went in to within about 10 cm of the top the pole. When I pulled the pole back out there was wet slush on the basket at the bottom of the pole. I began to wonder if I might be skiing on snow over water rather than over ice and perhaps the whole surface might collapse beneath me. I have walked on frozen lakes before, anyone reading my earlier posts will know this, but I now felt that I was walking into 'uncharted' territory in which I have little experience. Nevertheless, I continued on. I probed the snow ahead to ensure that there was solid ice beneath it. Often the crusted snow would slump beneath my weight and give a soft whoosh as it did so. This feeling and the fracturing sound only served to heighten my trepidation of skiing on a frozen mountain lake. My response was to alter my route by drifting east and closer to the east shoreline of the lake. Presently I made it to a rock point that juts into the lake and I was happy to relax on that bit of 'Terra Firma'. I was some what dismayed, however, when I checked my GPS and realized that I had another 500 metres to go to get to the international boundary. Up to this point there is a continuous tree cover along the shoreline of Cameron Lake. The tree cover is a good indication that there is no risk of an avalanche. Beyond the point the slopes steepen and the tree cover dwindles away and the risk of avalanche increases. My assumption then was that I would be skiing the next 500 metres adjacent to a possible avalanche zone. I have no training or experience with avalanche areas and so I am not certain how far out an avalanche, if one were to be triggered, would extend into the lake. I simply reckoned what a safe distance from shore might be and I tried to maintain that distance. The 500 metres distance eventually became 800 or 900 metres because my route kept drifting to the west and the required course corrections resulted jn me having to go further. Eventually I reached 49 degrees latitude as indicated on my GPS. Once there I took a moment to check my position on the GPS map which indicated that the boundary was just a little further south. I really wanted to turn back right then as I felt to go further would be tempting fate. The snow fall had increased to near white out conditions and the mountain at the south end of Cameron Lake now loomed in front of me as a huge wall of grey rock, white snow and blue ice. The stark whiteness of the falling snow made the mountain seem all the more gigantic. I could see no top to it and no clear way to distinguish the base of the mountain from the shoreline of the lake. A quiet had descended with the snow. It was the kind of quiet that only comes in winter and is only deepened by a heavy winter snow fall. There is a rather intense feeling of peacefulness and calm to be felt in these places. A feeling which is made all the more intense by the possibility, real or imagined, that something above me or below me or beside be might break loose and bring a shattering and cataclysmic end to it. Nevertheless, I was compelled to continue on. I watched the pointer on the GPS inch steadily south toward the imaginary line that indicated the Canada - USA boundary. I only covered another 150 meters and then I was certain that I had crossed the boundary line into the USA. That 150 metres might well have been miles and the minutes it took might well have been an eternity!

I tarried at the boundary only long enough to set a Waypoint and take a couple of snapshots. It was a relief, indeed, to now be following my own tracks back.

The distance from the parking lot to the international boundary and then back to the east point = 6.4 km.
1 hr. 57 min moving, 21 min stopped.
My moving ave. was 3.3 km/hr., a fair average for having to break trail a lot of the way.