Knitting is the new Nintendo

What do you do when you get an extra day off work for a long weekend? That's a rhetorical question. Go hiking of course! This time I recruited a handful of friends to come with and we had a blast. No rainy drizzle would get us down! Grotto Canyon turned out to be the perfect overcast day trail and in answer to a quick prayer, we still got some warm sun mid afternoon :)
Grotto Canyon
Difficulty: easy
Round trip: 4km to 7km
Hiking Time: 2-3 hrs
Elevation Gain: 100m to 235m
FitBit: approx 9,000 steps and 58 floors

The trailhead is nice and close to Canmore so this one makes for a great short day trip from the city. Driving west on Highway 1 take the Highway 1A exit for Canmore, go left/east onto Bow Valley Trail (Hwy 1A) at the stop sign. Reset your odometer to 0. When you get to 9.8km turn left into the Grotto Pond picnic area parking lot. The trail is marked with a sign on the west side of the lot.

From Calgary - click for directions on Google Maps

The initial trail is easy going and whenever it appears to fork just look for the directional signs. You'll hear the hum of the Baymag plant to your left, but once into the canyon that noise will fade. You'll pass through a small makeshift parking lot (another option I suppose, but with no facilities) and at about 1km you'll come to a small ridge with a bench which offers a nice view of the Bow Valley. 
From here you can see the mouth of the canyon slightly below, that's where you want to go. The hiker sign that indicates a path ascending into the trees slightly, ignore it! Then just follow beside the creek, it's very shallow and there are plenty of narrow places to traverse when you are required to skip over it. Just be careful of your footing on any wet rocks.
There are several unique factors about this canyon trail. The first is that it is a popular place for climbers. We only spotted one pair, but it's fascinating to watch and try to comprehend how they can climb a surface that appears basically flat with few hand/footholds. So neat! (Even if you don't see any climbers look for the bolts drilled into the rock.)
The other drawing feature of this canyon is the 1000 year old native paintings on one of the canyon walls. You would likely miss it if you aren't aware. It's about 40 min from the trailhead on a rock that juts out from the left. Basically at eye level they are now a faint red. You'll see a few warriors, a canoe, buffalo and more! It's fascinating :)
Just a few minutes past the rock art you'll come to the spot where to to the right in the distance is the slim waterfall that feeds the creek. If you are satisfied with the progress you've made you might choose to turn around here, but the path through the canyon continues to the left for those who desire to see more.
A little ways further the canyon opens up wide and the creekbed is now dry. The terrain is slightly rougher with larger rocks and boulders, but you'll get a nice view in front of you and as you continue, behind as well of some snowy mountain peaks. You'll also pass some hoodoos. Once at approx 3km, 1.5hrs from your start, the views lessen and so there is no real reason to continue.
Though at first it was a bit dreary of a day for us, the sun did come out. We took our time as we meandered, myself quite enjoying taking in all of the things that others in my groups spotted that I might otherwise have missed. In total with a few snack breaks we did the return trip in about 2 hours and 45min. We rounded out our day trip by going into town for some yummy bagels and hot beverages. Not a bad day at all :)
Happy Hiking!

Have you ever told someone you'd pray for them and then completely forgotten until the next time you see them? I'm sure it's happened to the best of us, but it doesn't have to anymore :)

A few months ago I decided to really commit to prayer. Specifically that when I tell someone I am going to pray for them I mean it! The best practice is to actually pray for them on the spot, but if I can't do that (I admit sometimes I'm not bold enough) I commit to pray for them after we part ways, and not just once, but ideally for the long haul until the situation changes. 

Prayer is important and I have personally experienced how valuable and encouraging it is when others tell me they will pray or are praying for me. I want to be able to give that same encouragement to my friends as well and I especially want to honour that commitment to do what I promise to do.

"...pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" James 5:16

So what I've come up with to keep myself accountable and is really easy is to use the Reminder's App on my iPhone. Let me break it down for you:

1) Open your Reminder's App (already installed on an iPhone) and start a new list and label it "Pray For" or something like that.
2) Start adding prayer requests that you are committing to.
3) Input the details so your phone will remind you - tap on the line you want and tap the little blue 'i' to open up the item details. Fill in the details as to the date and time you want to be reminded.
4) The last detail is now is deciding whether this is a one time prayer or an ongoing one. In this app if you tap the item to 'check it off' it will disappear as completed. However, if you would like it to be reoccurring you can set it up to repeat in the details as well. Then when you mark complete it will refresh with the next time it's scheduled to remind you.

Easy Peasy!

This might not be for everyone, some might think it's too rigid of a practice and whatnot, but I think it's valuable in creating discipline to pray for others more regularly. I have personally experienced times where life has you running from one thing to the next you really don't even stop to think, let alone pray. So this is simply what I do to help keep myself accountable and to not forget about those that I have committed to lifting up in prayer.

Blessings,

So funny story. With the best intentions to do a hike to Rummel Lake, Elizabeth and I ended up doing a hike that we didn't figure out the name of until I was able to ask Google later that night. All that to say the one reading the directions (me) does admittedly have my natural blonde moments haha :)

Nevertheless we still had a lovely day and it was a great hike that (though we didn't make it to the end) spoiled us with amazing views of the magnificent mountains!
Smut Pass
Difficulty: moderate
Round trip: 15.3 km*
Hiking Time: 5-6 hrs
Elevation Gain: 505 m
FitBit: approx 23,000 steps and 148 floors

To find the trail head get onto the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail (Hwy 742). You'll pass the Canmore Nordic Centre where you can reset your odometer to 0 and your turn off will be approximately 34km from there. Turn right onto Mt Shark Road (the same turn off for Mount Engadine Lodge). Drive just a little ways up around a curve in the road, you'll cross one bridge, and turn left into the first parking lot you see.

The path for this hike is pretty well defined and is nice and wide to start. The day before we were out there it had rained like crazy in the city and so of course with the lower temperatures it had snowed in the mountains. There wasn't too much snow, but just a little mucky and first thing it was only about 2 degrees Celsius and there was lots of frost on the grass and trees. It was chilly, but beautiful.
One thing I love about hiking with my friend Elizabeth is that she knows things about nature and the smaller finer things about the mountains that I would be oblivious too. Such as wild strawberries! They are so tiny I would never have noticed them and walked right on by, but instead we stopped to pick a handful, such a delicate sweetness, yum! She also pointed out the Indian's Paintbrush, which I've seen many times before on other hikes, but she showed me how you can pluck the feather out and get a few drops of sweet sap from those. Who knew? :)

Can you spot the strawberries?

As you walk you'll hop a few minuscule streams and not too far into the trail you'll come to a fork in the road. Someone has placed a cairn right in the middle of both so to be honest, I'm not sure why because it does not indicate either direction. You want to go right. (We went left at first and it's a short walk down to the river, but the path ends in the trees with no easy way to cross). The path continues and narrows as you make your ways through some thick brush single file (note to self: do not, I repeat, do not do this hike in tick season...*shiver*). You'll also have to climb over a large tree trunk and keep trekking on.
In the forest you'll encounter a small but rushing waterfall. Make your way carefully along the ridge of the bank, it's not too steep or dangerous, but you'll want to be cautious of your footing around roots and a few big mud puddles (logs have been laid to help you across the puddles, but it didn't stop me from plunging ankle deep into one).
Eventually you'll come to a beautiful meadow with a wall of mountain in front of you. As you walk more into the open you'll find that you are surrounded on all sides by majestic rocks and it is breathtaking. I find it interesting how some hikers can walk so quickly, while I'm just trying to soak it all in and not trip over my feet or a root at the same. I also am slower because I have to take lots of photos haha!

This mountain is a smiley one :)

You'll hike a ways through the meadow, a little bit more forest, and cross a narrow part of the river (look for cairns to direct you). Up until now the trail has had negligible elevation gain, but you will come to the base of the mountain where your ascent to the pass begins. By small, close switchbacks you'll make your way up. Pace yourself and you'll be just fine.

At this point we didn't make it all the way to the pass. The trail appeared to end where a rockier terrain began in more of a scramble and the footprints we were following in the snow dissapeared. Seeing as we'd hiked for 3 hours and were clearly not on the hike we planned with no idea where the end was we decided that was where we'd have lunch and turn around. Even still the view is amazing so we were not disappointed!
According to other hikers online, there are two lakes over the pass and some more great views so I think I'll mark this one down to try again another time. I imagine we were so close, and just didn't know it. 

As usual the way back takes less time and so our round trip total was 5 hours. We even saw a frog! He startled Elizabeth as he blended in so well!
Happy hiking!






*Seeing as we didn't complete the full pass, stopping short when we didn't know how much farther there was to go, I've pulled the complete details for the km, hrs, and m from hikealberta.com. 

Chocolate pretty much makes anything delicious! And that includes these muffins. My mom asked me to make some zucchini muffins and I'll admit, my reaction was like that of a kid who's like "Zucchini muffins? You can't taste it? Really?" But really! I am living proof haha! These muffins are delicious and nutritious (okay maybe not entirely healthy...), but I like the rhyme.

p.s. the flavour of these muffins from the spices taste like autumn which is approaching all to quickly!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Yield: 2 dozen 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups margarine
1/2 cup oil
1  3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk
2 1/2 cups flour
4 Tbs cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Set oven to 350F.
2. Cream together margarine, oil and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and sour milk.
3. Sift dry ingredients together and then combine with creamed mixture.
4. Stir in the zucchini and 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
5. Spray your muffin pan or line with parchment muffin cups and fill with batter. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. (If you want to make a cake instead, bake for 40-45min)

They are best enjoyed warm out the oven with a cold glass of milk :)

Enjoy!





Please note: This recipe is for personal use only. Please do not pretend that you made any of it, please give proper credit when featuring elsewhere. Thank you!

Old Goat Glacier, Kananaskis

On my latest hike I adventured with two friends and my sister. It was a great day out in the mountains (how can you be surrounded by God's magnificent mountains and it not be a great day?).

The Old Goat Glacier Trail was our hike of choice as it is only a short 20min drive out of Canmore up Hwy 742 and it promised to be shorter than many others beheld in my hiking book.

Old Goat Glacier
Difficulty: moderate
Round trip: 10.5 km
Hiking Time: 3-4 hrs
Elevation Gain: 620 m
FitBit: approx 15,000 steps and 164 floors

To find the trailhead from Canmore get onto the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail (Hwy 742). You'll pass the Canmore Nordic Centre which is a great place to grab a snack and bathroom break if you need it before hitting the trail. If you reset your odometer to 0 when passing the Nordic Centre your turn off will be 13.8km from there.

You'll come to a road where you'll turn right to cross the dam. At the end turn left and follow the road until your odometer reads approximately 15.5km. Look for the large sign that says 'trailhead parking' although no indication of which trail. But this is it. There is room for quite a few cars here (my book indicates a different spot to park a little farther up the road, however this lot has been created since then). Begin your hike at the SW corner of the lot (kitty-corner to where you drove in from). The creek will be on your left and you'll join up with the trial from the old parking spot not too far in to the hike.


The first half of the hike is beautiful and easy as you traverse through the forest beside the creek. It took us about 45 min at an easy pace. Then you come to a clearing which is an avalanche run-out. So many rocks, lots and lots of rocks! The reason why the trip is ranked as moderate becomes apparent quite quickly.

The avalanche run out

Enjoy the view of a tall but narrow waterfall ahead (W), but you now need to turn left (S) where among the many rocks you will see small cairns (piles of rocks) showing you the way. We actually missed these originally and headed towards the waterfall. There were people up there so it was deceiving, but that is not the trail, if any trail at all. Look for the massive boulders on the mountain side, you may see ants of people along the path...yes that is where you are to go!

Your route is ahead to the right of the big boulders. See the little carins at the bottom of the picture?

Do not be discouraged because as I have said before, if I can do it, you can do it! So follow the cairns, and you'll come to a boot-beaten path through the trees and come out at the base of the hill. Begin your ascent on the path which is discernible amidst the rocks. This is where my book says the path is "surprisingly merciful" but I might disagree and say what is surprising is the amazing view behind you that only grows better as you climb and what is merciful is the chance to stop and snap pictures in order to give your body a rest haha! If you have poles, this spot is where you might want them.

One thing I love about hiking is seeing how far you've come. It never ceases to amaze.

Part way up you'll find some respite from the sun as you continue the ascent among the trees again, which means you're getting close! It was at this point where the lady that had been trailing us from the base of the waterfall caught up. Unbelievable! I had the feeling it was like the scene in Princess Bride where Westly is gaining on the Andre the Giant when climbing the rope on the Cliffs of Insanity. Every time we took note of where she was, she was closer than before, it was inconceivable! Finally, when she did in fact catch up, in a brief conversation she indicated this was her first hike of the season. *pick jaw up off the floor here* I mean she wasn't old, but she wasn't young either. Just super upbeat and super fit! I hope I can be like that in 25 years.

You'll come to the point where you are nearing the top and you can see a ridge ahead and you think "just over that ridge", but so you are not deceived, there are 2 small ridges. But the end is nigh and you can do it! You'll come over that second ridge and though there are some trees in the way of the glacier (you can see it if you veer to the right off the path a bit), the grade levels and it's the home stretch.

Now we had to stop and have our lunch quickly due to a time constraint to get back, but you can keep going all the way to the glacier if you so desire. We found a nice place to rest our legs and enjoy some eats while enjoying the lovely mountain air with good company and the Old Goat Glacier just over our shoulder. It was beautiful.

Panorama: Old Goat Glacier on the left

Can never get enough of this view!

As we climbed I commented how this mountain looked fake because of the way the light hit it. But it is very real. God's art for us to enjoy :)

Our total time to ascend we estimated was 2.5 hours. Our total time back to the car was only an hour. The descent can be tough on the knees, but again poles would help. And though you'll be watching your footing on the way down be sure to glance up once and a while to enjoy the view because it is magnificent!

 Happy Hiking!