Twelve Mile Coulee (June 13, 2013)

Where: Off of Stoney Trail in northwest Calgary
Distance: I'm actually not sure. Went from the parking lot at the condos to the end and back.
My time: 90 min
My rating: Easy, unless the creek is high. Expect jumping over it. A lot.

Okay, so this is technically a walk in the big city as opposed to a hike in the mountains, but it was a good workout. There's a small creek that runs through the ravine, and it's pretty high due to the snow melt and lots of recent rain. This means there were many opportunities to practice my creek jumping skills and put my core muscles to good use. None of the crossings have anything more than old logs or rocks to step on. (Spoiler alert - I stayed dry for once! My mom only got one foot wet.)

The mosquitoes were out and about, and were worst near the parking lot. Once we got down the hill and into the trees, they all but vanished.

There are several paths through the coulee bottom, although two main, more defined paths follow along either side of the creek. The one on the west side climbs up and down the hillside more so than the east side, making it good for getting those legs ready for the mountains. During the summer and fall, it might be possible to walk through the creek bed itself, but I've never been there when there's been no water.

That's obviously the creek in the fall. Again, I didn't take pictures of it because creek jumping is hard. Also, I didn't want to lose my camera.


The coulee is its own little ecosystem. Some of the things I've seen here include:

 Butterflies

 Grasshoppers

Dragonflies

 These weird pod things on the wild roses. Haven't figured out what they are.

 Bell-like wildflowers

 Bee balm

And on this trip, coyotes. A woman we had passed earlier on the trail had warned us about a coyote up ahead, but we didn't see them until we were on our way back to the parking lot. And we certainly didn't expect to stumble across a den of them. When Mom and/or Dad noticed us and kept looking, we decided to move on and let them be. Just afterward, we found some dry coyote scat with bones in it on the trail.

 

The only major hazards on the trail are the aforementioned creek jumping, mountain bikers, other people with their dogs (both of which are difficult to pass/let go by on the skinny trails), and very minimal exposure hiking up on the hill. There have been times where it's been too muddy to get anywhere - I've slid off the path and into the creek on several occasions.

This is one of those walks where it's worth it to go during each season and watch the changes as they spread through the coulee.

Grassi Lakes (June 12, 2013)

Where: South of Canmore on the Smith-Dorien-Spray Lakes Road
Distance: 4 km
Recommended Time: 1.5-2 hours
My time: 90 min
Recommended Rating: Easy
My rating: Easy with slightly more strenuous stretches (more difficult trail only)

Yes, the lakes are actually that colour. And, because this picturesque little spot is so easy to get to, they draw in many, many, MANY visitors. Did I mention the many? My friend and I had to share the trail with a good number of junior high students (who were mostly well behaved. Gold star, guys!). However, if you go other times of the year, you might not even encounter anyone else on the trails.
Get here early is what I'm saying.

There are two paths to take up to the lakes, and I suggest taking the more difficult route up and the easy route back down. The easy route is constant uphill on a wide road and not very scenic. The more difficult trail is skinnier, rootier, and has warning signs about cliffs, but you get some awesome views of a waterfall, the reservoir and Canmore itself. Both routes are clearly marked early on.

If you go in the winter, be aware that the more difficult route is treacherous and will often have a sign suggesting you take the easy route if you don't want to slip off the cliffs.

Depending on the time of year, you will see wildflowers! This trip I saw some yellow lady-slippers, and last year in July the trails were full of wood lilies.

The hardest part of the hike is a set of switchbacks and stone stairs just before you reach the lakes. I don't have any pictures of that because it was the hardest part. Having said that, I got up it in relatively short order, with a few quick breaks to catch my breath and let the burn in my quads die down.

It took me 45 minutes to reach the top. And then you get to see things like this:

How awesome is that? There are some petroglyphs on the rocky walls, and you can sit and watch climbers as they work their way up the mountainside. It's also a lovely spot to have some lunch, but pack out whatever you pack in.

The trip back down the easy route took about 15-20 minutes. If there aren't a lot of people around, you might just see some wildlife.

*These are pictures I took on various trips to Grassi Lakes. The hike yesterday didn't give me a lot of good shots, so I had to pull them together from my other outings.

And so it begins . . .

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is ebullient_one, and I plan to use this lovely space on the interwebs as a record of all my hiking in the Rockies this year. And in any subsequent years. Let's just say that I don't intend to stop hiking any time soon.

You probably have some questions about this blog and/or about me. Great! Let me attempt to answer some of them for you.

What's with the weird blog title?

The title refers to me. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, such as work, a recently diagnosed chronic illness and me being a lazy ass, I found myself at my highest weight ever earlier this year. Since about May, I've been working on getting healthier, building my endurance and watching my weight begin a slow decline. Hence I am fat and scant of breath.

Fat? Yeah, right. Prove it.

Well, last time I checked, I weighed around 207 lbs. Combined with my height of 5'8", that puts me squarely in the obese category on the BMI. The only upside to this, as my doctor pointed out, is that I tend to put fat on all over my body and not just around the mid-section. So . . . hooray, I guess?

So besides hiking, what else are you doing to be healthier?

I'm not calorie counting per se, but I am watching my portion sizes. I've been trying to eat less unhealthy junk like candy and chips, but it's so super hard when you have a sweet tooth. I'm just eating small portions and not, like, two chocolate bars at once. I've also been doing more active things. I hate exercising, but enjoy playing Dance Dance Revolution on my Wii, and I've been trying my hand at yoga as well.

How do you choose your hikes?

I choose based on my own hiking ability. The biggest thing is to not overestimate what I can do - if a hike is too dangerous, or if I don't feel safe, I'll turn around and go try another easier or less strenuous hike. Weather counts for this, too - no hiking in snowstorms, thunderstorms, or any other perilous conditions. Dying in the mountains is the last thing I want to do.

I consider myself a beginner in terms of hiking, and have found that I can do most "easy" rated hikes without too much difficulty. The most strenuous hike I've done was the Enderby Cliffs. It was a fantastic hike, but we were seriously under prepared in terms of how much water we brought and what hiking equipment we used. (I was in running shoes. My poor, aching and supremely sore feet! I also couldn't walk without pain for almost a week afterwards).

I also like pretty scenery, water, wildflowers, glaciers - if it looks cool in a picture, I'll probably try hiking it.

Here are some of the books that I've been using to plan my hikes:
Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies
Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies Trail Guide
Kananaskis Country Trail Guide (but an older version from the 1990s)

Some good internet inspiration and resources:
Hiking with Barry
Family Adventures in the Canadian Rockies
K Country trail reports

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Always make sure you know your route, tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back, and plan accordingly. Make sure you have proper equipment and supplies. Consult any good hiking book for more info.

What equipment do you use?

Since I'm new to the part of hiking where I've actually bought dedicated hiking equipment, I can tell you what I have right now - Scarpa boots and Leki hiking poles. Yes, I have some non-cotton clothing, too, but not a lot of it. I'm saving up so I can splurge on some really good, lightweight hiking wear.

Cool. Who are you and what do you do in real life when you're not traipsing through the wilderness?

I'm a hospice palliative care nurse by day, aspiring novel writer by night. Or vice versa (lousy shift work). I'm in my thirties, I have some cats, and I try to spend a lot of time outside. Unless there's hockey or CFL football on, because I'm either at the game or plunked down in front of my TV.