When I reminisce on the four days that Victoria and I spent at the end of July in Skoki Valley, I still feel like I’m trying to remember a wonderful dream. So many times during our backpacking trip we looked at each other in awe and commented on how it was hard to really believe … More Friend-venture Backpacking in Skoki Valley (the Redemption trip!)
I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to convince my husband Ryan to go on any mountaineering or climbing trips, but he loves camping and backpacking! Let’s be honest, climbing is hard and it takes a certain special (potentially masochistic?!) kind of person to tolerate the mental and physical demands of mountaineering. We also generally … More A mini-backpacking trip to Ribbon Lake
Mount Joffre is an impressive, glaciated mountain located in Peter Lougheed Park that stands at 3,450 m tall! It is generally known as one of the “easier” 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies, and it was our selection for the first summer mountaineering trip of the year. Hannah, Trish and I met during a Women’s Introduction … More Mount Joffre, the 5th AAWSOME Summit (nope, not a typo)!
The weather is finally getting warmer, the snow is melting, and most importantly, provincial parks have re-opened! May and June are beautiful months to get outside and enjoy nature – but in the mountains, it’s still considered to be “early season” and a lot of destinations are snow covered, especially at higher elevations or further … More Early Season Hikes and Scrambles near Calgary!
The final installment of Victoria and Christina’s grand friend-venture is finally here. I’ll admit this is long overdue, but better late than never right?! If you missed parts one and two, you can find them HERE and HERE! For the last part of our trip, the plan was to attempt Mount Cline, which is … More Cline Lakes and Mount Owen (Friend-venture Part 3)
For the second year in a row, Manny, Neil and I decided to tackle hiking Northover Ridge in a single day push. Northover Ridge is a spectacularly beautiful backpacking trail in Kananaskis Provincial Park that most people take around 3 days to complete, camping at Aster Lake and Three Isle Lake. Manny had done this … More The Northover Ridge Challenge!
I was very excited for the next couple days of our trip because this part of our journey was part of a very, very belated birthday gift for Victoria. I gifted her a stay in an Alpine Hut a couple years back, but last year, our reservation at Abbot Hut was cancelled when the mountain … More Bow Hut & ‘The Onion’ & Bow Falls (Friend-venture Part 2)
In mid-July, Victoria, one of my dearest and best friends, and I embarked on our fourth annual friend-venture in the Rocky Mountains. What started out as a casual girl’s weekend camping trip way back when we were rekindling an old and forgotten friendship has blossomed into a celebration of our love for adventure, the mountains, … More Borgeau Lake and Harvey Pass (Friend-venture Part 1) + Mulled Wine Recipe!
In July 2016, I took an Intro to Mountaineering Course through Yamnuska Mountain Adventures as I was keen to develop some alpine skills so that I would be able to start climbing taller and more complex mountains. On that trip, I met a handful of awesome women who have since become dear friends and adventure … More North Victoria – Kicking off 2019 Summer Mountaineering
Trip Stats! Round trip time and distance: Approximately 5-7 hours and 13 kms Elevation Gain and Max Elevation: 1,196 m; 3,054 m If you live in the Calgary or the surrounding area, it’s likely that you’ve hiked or snowshoed to the incredibly popular Chester Lake in Spray Valley Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country. It’s an … More Mount Chester Scramble
Christina Lives Freely 