Cascade Mountain 9,833' (2997m) October 8, 2010




View of Cascade Mountain from the trail.

 


View of the last portion of the trail heading toward the top.  Two hikers were coming down and are visbile on the trail.




View of the Amphitheatre. If you look to the left of the amphitheartre you can see the ridge we took to start the hike up!




Lake Minnewanka and Two Jake Lake




Phil and Marilyn at the top!




Keith starting the descend with a view of Banff and Norquay ski hill.




Phil resting with the false summit in the background.




View of the trail coming down with Norquay ski hill in the background.

 Phil, myself and a friend of ours Keith, scrambled to the top of Cascade Mountain.  The trail head starts at the Norquay ski area parking lot and is well defined in the 'Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies' by Alan Kane.  The weather was great for mid October and because we have been having reasonable warm weather the last few weeks we didn't run into any snow on the trail at the top.  This is a very arduous hike/scramble to the top. Nothing technical but just a long day!  Took us 4 hours to reach the top and about 4 hours to return.  Total elevation gain is listed in the book as 4,347' but it felt more like 4,500'! We didn't spend too much time on top as it was windy and cold but got some great pictures of Lake Minnewanka, the Cascade Amphitheatre and Banff townsite. If you plan on going, start early.

Calgary Zoo October 2, 2010

Went to the Zoo for one of my class assignments.  I was only there half a day so didn't see the whole zoo but got a few pictures to post.  Enjoy!

Larch Valley October 1, 2010

Moraine Lake Early in the morning

View of Valley of the Ten Peaks from the road





Eiffel Peak from Larch Valley Trail

View of the Ten Peaks from the trail

Looking at Fay Glacier from the Valley



Marilyn at Sentinel Pass with the view of the Ten Peaks



Marilyn & Phil at the top of Sentinel Pass

Phil, Gayle and Brad in the Valley with the top of Mt Temple in the background

Hike Larch Valley to Senital Pass.  Trailhead is at the beginning of Moraine Lake.  Early Moraine Lake was very cool...probably around 0C.  Larch Valley had a restriction of 4 in a party...so along for the hike included my husband Phil and my sister Gayle and her husband Brad. Started off with hat, gloves, jacket and long pants....but the sun came out by high noon which made for pleasant conditions.  Great views of Mt Temple (11,621') and The Ten Peaks. We made it up to Sentinel Pass (8,566').  Gorgeous day and was able to get some awesome shots.  Enjoy!

Griffith Park Fall Colors September 2010

French and Robertson Glacier Sept 26, 2010

Great Horned Owl we rescued off of the highway

View of the trail from the top of the col

At the top of the col looking north at Commonwealth peak

Marilyn at the top with views of Mt French and Mt Robertson

Phil at the top with Mt French in the background

View of French Glacier

Another view of French Glacier

Phil coming down the trail

View of Commonwealth peak in the clouds with the larch turning colors

One single larch at the knoll just before we hiked to the top which you can barely see in the distance

Great view of the vegetation and larch with Phil in the distance

Start of French Creek at the end of the trail

Our adventure actually started on route to do a hike Sunday morning.  We were driving on west on highway 8 and I spotted an owl in distressed on the side of the highway.  Two Ravens were trying to get at this bird as it could not fly.  Phil stopped the car and we placed a towel over it and scooped it up and drove to the Wildlife Rehab centre located in the north part of the Calgary. I was able to get a picture of the Great Horned Owl just before the vet took a look at it.  Unfortunately we followed up with the owl's progress and the vet had to euthanize it due to a head injury.

Well onto the hike....this trail is not marked on a map but is accessible by using the Burstall Pass hiking trail.  Park at Burstall Pass trailhead lot elevation is 6,266' (1,910m).  Hike almost to the bike racks (approx 2.9 km).  Just before the bike racks is an off shoot of an overgrown trail on the left hand side of the main trail.  It was marked by a small orange ribbon tied onto a tree.  The trail starts uphill immediately and is marked by a few cairns along the way.  You will do a few stream crossings so wear good hiking boots with gators that are waterproof. The approx. elevation gain on this trail was close to 2000 ft or (600m).  Phil and myself didn't have the best of weather as it was overcast and rained for most of the hike up to the view point.  Magically it stopped raining just before we ascended to the view point and were able to get our cameras out and take some pictures.  From the col looking southward you get an awesome view of Mt French (3,234m) and Mt Roberston (3,194m).  You get a good view of French Glacier but can barely see the toe of Roberston Glacier. Most of the larch and trees were all changing into fall colors so the view looking down from were we climed was nice, however I'm sure in a brighter day the colors would be more vibrant. Commonwealth peak is in view looking across to the north. The hike took us 5 hours and is approx. 12 km roundtrip. Despite the crappy weather we had a good hike and would most definitely do it again.

Bragg Creek September 24, 2010

Walking in Bragg Creek

Group shot of Maureen, Gayle and Ann

View of Banded Peak

Wood Fired Pizza and Wine Paring September 11, 2010

Dave Thurgar's outdoor Mugnaini oven...cost about $15,000!

Gets pretty hot in there...700 - 800F

Making the pizza...Dave lends a hand!

Getting pretty messy...but had lots of fun!

Al Drinkle on the right discussing the oven's capabilities and wines to pare with!

Pizza cooking....only takes about 3 minutes!

Finished product.

Group shot....Dave is standing with the apron on and Al is behind him.  Thanks for a great afternoon!

Had a fabulous afternoon at Dave Thurgar's house making pizzas in his outdoor Wood Fired Oven.  Al Drinkle from Metrovino provided his knowledge on wine paring. Thanks to Cookbook Company's for setting this all up!