Alison and I were both itching to get outside the city. We headed to Canmore Saturday with one goal in mind – take in the fresh air and climb a mountain.
We decided on Lady MacDonald trail just outside of Canmore. I’ve been up this mountain in years so I was excited to see another view. It’s one of Alison’s regular summer time haunts so I knew we wouldn’t get lost.
Blue skies and clear roads greeted us. Mother Nature was on our side. And it was about time!
Thankfully it wasn’t too snowy through the trees. There were a few places with ice hiding under the snow that were sketchy. We used our poles for extra grip. The path looked quite defined so we knew there were runners/hikers using the trail quite frequently. A couple of solo hikers passed us on the way up but we saw way more people on our way down.
The heli landing pad was our turn around point because neither one of us were feeling the icy and windy climb along the ridge. That was fine with me because my right ankle was not feeling the uneven footing.
We had our gloves off for about a minute before our fingers started to freeze. I ate an apple while Alison enjoyed a wrap before we started our descent.
The wind was really beginning to pick up so we cruised down below the tree line. I slide right we met a hiker going up so we stopped to put on our Kahtoolas. I was relieved we had the good sense to packed them because it definitely helped going down.
Overall I felt pretty good. My mountain fitness level needs a little work but that will come the more time I spend in the mountains. The weather is finally starting to improve and I couldn’t be happier. I am looking forward to spending most weekends in the mountains.