I know I say this all the time but … you have to add the Skoki loop to your bucket list. I don’t have enough expressive words in my repertoire to describe the beauty. Even though my iPhone camera doesn’t quite capture the sheer beauty I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
I joined a Calgary Trail Runners meetup for this well-travelled loop. Half of the group (myself included) have never done the loop before. The others happily agreed that it would not disappoint, which is why so many people make it a repeat affair.
Excited to start, we had to taper our expectations as the first bit involved hiking up a gravel road for four kilometres. At least we were warmed up by the time we reached the actual trailhead.
I haven’t been in this area before so I can’t go into great detail about the mountains and the route because quite frankly I was awe-struck by the beauty to retain any sort of detailed information.
Our run featured four lakes – Ptarmagian (above), Baker, Myosotic and Zigadenus. I have to be honest with you. I had to look at my Strava to remember the name of two lakes.
We expected it to be a hot day but we were pleasantly surprised with a gentle breeze throughout the day.
We had expected to split into two groups: a 30k group and a 35K group but we were having so much fun and keeping a steady pace that we decided to stay together for the longer loop. Above is a section of boulder pass.
Blue skies. Glorious colours. We couldn’t have asked for a better day.
I know if I were alone, I would have spent way too much time taking pictures and staring at the mountains.
Thankfully our ragtag group kept us all moving along at a steady pace. Most of us were relative strangers when we started on this run. But by the end of the run, we were making plans to run together again.
Did I mention we had half-way beer at the Skoki lodge? We got there before the lodge opened but the kind-hearted barkeep opened early for this thirsty crowd of runners. Let’s just say a few of us were a little wobbly for the next kilometre after downing our $8 beers.
Surprisingly we had the trail mostly to ourselves. When we looped back on the home stretch, we crossed paths with a few hikers.
We had a surprise rock-climbing “chimney” section that revealed a gorgeous lake on the other side of the rock slab.
Right after I took this photo, I easily convinced Erin to jump in the snow to make a snow angel with me. It was warming up and the dip in the snow really made a difference.
And here’s our crew right before we kicked it up a notch and ran back to finish our day. What a fantastic day to be out in the glorious rockies with great company. I know my iPhone photos do not do the area justice. It’s really one of those places you have to see yourself.