Elbow Falls in Early Spring

We are now in early spring, the time of year when the hiking trails are best navigated with a pair of snow shoes.  I am hoping by the time I return from Houston, there will some trails we can begin to hike without running into much snow and ice.  There are so many beautiful areas near Calgary that you can get to easily even in the winter.  One area we just discovered thanks to the recommendation of friend, Ida, is Elbow Falls.  It is about 35 minutes west of Calgary off highway 66 near where the road closes in the winter.  We actually live a block away from this river where it flows through Calgary!  Jim and I visited the falls last weekend and it was packed with Calgarians suffering from "cabin fever" just like us.  The water will be at its highest in June.  So we plan to go back and hike some of the many trails around the falls.  

We are expecting a high of 52 F this weekend.  Sounds like biking weather to me!!

Another Beautiful Day on the Slopes

The skiing this year has been mediocre at best.  We just haven't had enough snow to make it worth the drive and to justify the expense of the lift tickets. But.....last week, the slopes got 36 inches of snow so we decided to take advantage of the spring time weather and enjoy possibly the last ski weekend of the season.  We had lots of sunshine and it was in the mid 40's. Being the fair weather skier that I am, I had no complaints!  The last day there, we hiked across frozen Lake Louise to a beautiful frozen waterfall at the other end.  What a great experience!

Jim's next adventure is to climb a frozen water fall using pick axes and crampons.  I have no desire whatsoever to do that. Nope, nada, no-way!  I do, however, want to learn to cross country ski, which is on the agenda for next winter.  We are planning to take lessons through the University of Calgary Outdoor Centre.  It's a great resource for "all things outdoors"!  You can rent winter and summer equipment and take lessons to boot!  They offer lessons on just about anything you want to do in the Rockies.  

Enjoy the last of the ski pictures for the season!  The pics at the end are on the way home.  We stopped in the town of Canmore for a coffee.

Jim came down the right side of this hill that was steep and full of moguls. I chose the easier route on the far left side.

A view of Lake Louise from the ski hill

On the slopes

Heading out across frozen Lake Louise

Jim with the Chateau Lake Louise in the background

Chateau Lake Louise in the foreground with the ski hill behind

A crazy person climbing the frozen waterfall at the end of the lake.  This picture only shows about one third of the falls.  It goes up another 300 feet or so.

Approaching the falls from the lake.  The climber was on the bottom third of the falls.

A mural on the side of a building in Canmore

This beautiful (but drooley) dog (half Mastiff/half Great Dane) posed while Jim took his picture.  He weighs 220  pounds.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Outside!

Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, you get another foot of snow or at least what feels like a foot of snow!  The winter's snow fall had all but melted off the streets and yards in Calgary.  There were only a few spots in the shady areas that still had a bit of snow.  AND...it was 52 F on Friday!  Now this.....snow.  Good thing I like it!  Jim and I had breakfast at a little diner by our house this morning and then took a snow walk.  We had planned to go skiing today but decided that the avalanche conditions were just too risky.  Hopefully we'll have more ski pics next week!  Stay tuned!

The Elbow River

Snow on the Elbow

Swinging bridge over the Elbow river

Yours truly trudging through the snow

Jim trying to stay ahead of the snow.....keep shoveling

On our snow walk

Man of the Arctic shoveling  snow

This is how we measure snow fall