Sunday, July 15, 2012

Mt. Indefatigable

Our first official hike of the summer was at Mt. Indefatigable near Kananaskis, AB.  My friend Brooke invited us to meet her and her friends at their campsite, about 2 hours outside of Calgary.  We decided to bring Penny along with us on the adventure.  We arrived early in the morning and headed to Mt. Indefatigable.  When we reached the trail, we were greeted with this sign:
The trail was still open, but was basically 'hike at your own risk'.  Luckily, we had Penny with us to scare off the bears.  So, we started up the mountain equipped with bug spray, backpacks with water and lunch, and walking sticks.  The entire hike was about 7 km total but we didn't quite make it up to the summit.  It was an overcast day which was perfect, not too hot and no rain.  Here is the view from the bottom:
The beginning of the hike was shaded by the trees and the path was a nice steady incline, at first.
We crossed a stream and that's when our hike got increasingly more difficult.
After crossing the creek, the path got much steeper and guided us along the edge of the ridge.  We had amazing views of the mountains and lake below, but had to keep a close eye on our steps as we climbed up the mountain.
Penny did such a good job on her first hike.  As we hiked further and further up the mountain, the trail began to turn, winding up toward the summit.  We reached the tree line and found snow!  Snow, in July!  Penny was beside herself...
We decided to head back down as we realized that the snow made for a slippery, more treacherous hike.  So, we turned around and headed back down, looking for a nice place to stop for lunch.
You can barely make out a boat on the lake below.
Penny checked out the view below.
After lunch, we began the trek down the mountain.  It was MUCH easier but a little scary since there was lots of loose gravel.  We stopped to take a few photos on the way down.
View from below of our new friends heading down the trail
When we reached the bottom, we walked down to the lake.  Brooke decided to take a swim in the glacier-fed lake.  It was surprisingly not freezing and Penny decided to join her.
After the hike, we got on the road to head back to Calgary.  Thankfully, we didn't see any grizzlies, but we did catch a glimpse of a coyote and a couple of Rocky Mountain Sheep.

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