So much for hiking!

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In: Hiking, Running
I had the perfect plan.

I would do the Lost Soul Ultra, take a day in Lethbridge then make my way down to Waterton National Park. I had booked a week off after Lost Soul because I have never seen that part of the province. (Remember folks, I am not an Albertan). 

I wanted to do a little exploring, hiking and camping. There were three hikes in Waterton that were on my list. I planned to take tons of pictures so I could submit photos for a spread in the paper. 

It was chilly when I arrived on Monday. In fact it was foggy and windy. You needed xray goggles or something to make out the mountains. Snow was in the forecast. I was not sure what to do. I didn’t have a back-up plan. 
I had been really looking forward to breathing the mountain air and connecting with nature. It’s been a stressful couple of months. I wanted to find peace in the calm. 
But that was not to be. I woke up feeling like I was being smothered. I could barely breathe. I groped around the tent to the exit. My borrowed tent had collapsed under a foot or so of snow. (Look closely at the picture above. Yup that’s where I slept) 
I swear it was still summer when I went to bed and I woke up to a winter wonderland. Snow in September? Really? I just had to laugh. There goes my hiking trip. Still it was actually quite beautiful. I walked around for a couple hours to snap some pictures with the Nikon. (I’ll post those photos later this week). 

As you can see there was no point staying here. I didn’t have winter boots or enough warm clothing. I could still hike but it’s not like I would have much of a view. More snow was on the way and Calgary was also getting hit hard. I could have stayed in a hotel and waited out the summer storm. But I didn’t have any patience for that. 

I packed up my tent and supplies and hit the highway to Red Deer. My feet were soaking wet and I was frazzled. I wanted a warm bed and dry shoes. Sigh. I took my time on the roads because it was really messy out. A few times I debated crashing at some random hotel along the highway for the night. 


I had several conversations with myself during my ride home. In the end, I decided to head north. Oddly enough it seemed to be the only place without any snow. I wasn’t looking forward to another 6 or 7-hour drive but I had to get away.

Stay tuned for part two of my week’s holiday. 

9 Comments

  3. That snow storm was crazy. I can't believe you were in a tent! Too bad your vacation didn't work out. I've never seen much of southern Alberta either. Calgary is as far south as I've been.

  4. Wow, that's crazy you woke up in a tent covered in snow like that!! I would really like to spend more time in Southern Alberta as well. I just went to Lethbridge this weekend for the first time.

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