Group Hike

Every summer my supervisor suggests that we do a group hike every month. Unfortunately organisation of the outings always falls on to me so we usually end up doing one hike per summer. After scouring the hiking literature for an interesting hike that was essentially wheel chair accessible (some group members carry a number of sporting and food induced injuries) I came up with Chester Lake. Unfortunately on the morning of the hike a Grizzly Bear warning was posted for the trail so we were forced to Black Prince Cirque. For some reason I seem to have a poor memory for difficult sections of hikes and I though the hike was easier than what it actually was. However, in the end no one died and we had a great day.

A friendly Grizzly poses for the tourists and despite how big this one looks it is probably only a couple years old and has a lot more growing to do!

Looking up to Black Prince Cirque

The survivors

Burstall Pass

The last few hikes we have done have been revisits of last years failures. When we did Burstall Pass last year the weather was miserable and the view from the top was non-existent due to rain/fog/cloud. Thankfully though the weather last weekend was simply perfect and the hike just as good. The drive in was also spiced up by seeing a Grizzly Bear wandering by the side of the road.

The snow cover uplands close to the pass

Aleisha and Karl approach the pass

The much improved view, definitely worth the second trip.

Insane hail storm in Calgary

Thunder storms are quite common for Calgary at this time of year but the storm we got earlier in the week was something truly incredible. We had golf ball sized hail for about 10 min and while a lot of the city got missed the University copped a beating. Walking home that evening a saw a number of cars that had their windows smashed but thankfully our Saabaru was safe under ground.

This movie was taken just outside the Chemistry building (video from Karl Dawson).

I also recommend checking out this video which shows the Botany Departments glass house being destroyed.

Forgetmenot Ridge and Galatea Lakes

The last couple of weekends have been chock-a-block full of outdoor goodness. Last weekend I managed to get out to the foot hills and finally get to the top of Forgetmenot Ridge. The last time Aleisha and I were up there, there was a foot of powder to contend with so the going was a little easier this time around.

The view from Forgetmenot Ridge

This weekend we travelled a little further out into the mountains and did the Galatea Lakes hike. Unfortunately the weather gods decided that we had seen too much sun of late so we had to put up with rain, wind and cold on the final few km's. Despite of this the lakes were quite impressive and well worth the few drops of rain.

Aleisha and Kim struggling through the rain

Galatea Lakes