April 4/2024 Spring Hike, Alberta Canada (A Winter Hike to No Where)
In this video we will be hiking around the Sandy McNabb Day Use Area in the Southern part of Kananaskis County. Our original plan was to hike up Coal Creek to see a frozen waterfall. This did not pan out, as the Sheep River was flowing, and we were unable to cross it. So, we decided just to explore a little bit. I am so glad we did as we encountered a Mama Moose and her calf. This made the Day.
The drive here was very interesting as there was a snowfall warning in effect. After we turned right at Turner Valley the highway had at least a foot of slushy snow on it. For a portion of this drive, we followed a Snowplow which helped. We turned off the highway and drove into the Sandy McNabb Day Use Area.
We found ourselves in a Winter Wonderland. All the trees had inches of fresh snow on every branch. We started out hiking down the road and made a right not very far from the car. The trail was flat for the first part of it. We then came across a trail marker and made a right. Soon the trail started to take us down. We crossed another road and then proceeded towards the Sheep River. We got to the river and could see Coal Creek across it. The only problem was the Sheep River was not frozen, and was flowing. With no way across it we decided to explore a little. We went right and started walking upstream hoping to find a way across the river. We didn’t make it very far as the snow was now getting up past our knees, so we decided to turn around and go the other way. We started hiking downstream. The snow wasn’t as deep going this way. Soon we came across a road and continued along it. Soon it opened up in front of us and we could see picnic tables way off in the distance. We continued towards them to have our lunch. At the bathrooms we decided to walk towards the creek to see if there was a way across. Once again, the snow was up past our knees. We were walking in what looked like Moose tracks. This didn’t pan out, so we turned around and continued onto the picnic tables. Then suddenly, to our right we say a Mama Moose and her calf. What a sight to behold. We kept our distance and zoomed in with my Sony camera to take a few pics and video. This made our day. We continued to a picnic table and had our lunch. After lunch we walked down to the creek and enjoyed the beauty surrounding us. We continued hiking along the road which made a loop. We were going to follow the road back up to the car but then noticed a trail off to our right. We decided to take it. The trail was quite steep but very short. Soon we were back on another road which led us back to the car.
In total we hiked 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) with an elevation gain of 48 meters (157 feet). This really showed me that any day in the mountains is a GREAT DAY.
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Thank you,
Cary Mason
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