Headway Systems: Hiking Biking 2002

(Click any image for a larger view.)

Johnston Canyon - May 2002

Holly and John came out west for a visit so we headed to Banff to look for someplace to hike. Due to all the late snowfalls this year, we were limited to where we could go. Johnston Canyon seemed to be our best bet so off we went.

It was a tad cold to start in the morning.

Holly & John.

Upper Falls.

Holly and Carol.

Yamnuska - April 2002

Franz, Roberta and Tony Dopf, Steve, Joanne and Mia (the dog) Riggs, Roy and Carol

Again, because of all the late snow this season, it was tough to find a destination that was accessible. We did encounter some snow just before reaching the base of the climbing face of Yamnuska, but it wasn't too bad. From there we traversed across and rode the scree slope down.

Roberta, Steve, Carol, Tony, Joanne, Mia

No worries, says Joanne!

Traversing across the bottom of the climbing face over to the scree-slope.

Franz impressed us all with his high flying summersault down the scree-slope...

Movie: check out Carol and Roberta scree-surfing

...Lucky there were just a few flesh wounds but nothing serious. He's made of tough stuff.

Franz and Roberta invited us all back to their place for cold beer and hot dogs.
Here Franz is demonstrating his calf roping technique for the upcoming Stampede. This one didn't get away.

Movie: a real Cowgirl, lassooing.

Highwood House - June 2002

We attempted a ride over the Highwood Pass on the last weekend before the road was open to vehicle traffic. 20 people originally showed interest in the trip; only 8 people showed up at the Calgary meeting spot; and we were down to 4 people who actually attempted the ride. Somehow I let Roy talk me (Carol) into having a go at it.

You can just make out the snow settling on the ridge behind us. Meanwhile we got ready in the pouring rain.

Roy pumping up the tires on his bike.

Carol with the lovely orange rubber gloves. It was a great day to test out the wet weather gear!

Had we not been so eager to get out riding we would have picked up on a few clues that would have saved us from the wet and cold. Our 1st clue should have been the dark grey clouds and drizzle as we left Calgary. 2nd clue was the pouring rain for the hour long drive to Long View where 2 people dropped out.. 3rd clue was when the rain turned to sleet as we arrived at Highwood House. At this point Vic and Ursula figured breakfast and hot coffee in Long View made more sense. 4th clue was escaping the rain, but it had now turned into pelting snow. We managed to make it about 20 kms before the grade of the road and depth of snow made it impossible to keep going. Our tires were spinning out and our derailleurs were icing up. So the clueless finally had to retreat back to the cars. Crazy as it may seem, we actually had a great ride. We saw deer and elk crossing the road, lots of bear scat, and the views, although limited, were very impressive.

I opted not to bring the camera as I didn't really think we'd be going very far. Too bad, as I could have had some great photos of riding in the snow. Oh, well. Next time.

Nahahi Ridge - June 2002

Finally, a nice hot day AND, a hot slog to the top of Nahahi Ridge.

Jo and Steve.

It was a very busy trail as this was one of the first really nice weekends.

Movie: last push through the trees.

Jo, Andy, Steve and Mia find a great spot with an awesome view for lunch.

Movie: check out the views from our lunch spot.

Looking back down to Elbow Valley.

Carol at the start of the rock climb.

Movie: Andy and Mia approaching the ridge line. Nahahi Ridge and beyond.

Andy walking along Nahahi ridge.

Movie: Andy, live from the top of Nahahi Ridge. Jo and Steve can be seen sitting on the lower ridge with Elbow Valley in distance on the video.

You can walk for miles along the ridge. Or not!

Jo and Steve on their way up.

Goat Creek / Rundle Side - June 2002

Group consensus was to ride the loop clockwise which meant climbing about 8 km up the road to the start of the trail.

We passed a few goats on the way up.

Looking down into the Bow Valley with Canmore in the foreground.

Wayne, Roy, Brian, Werner.
The boys at the trail head. It pretty much rained from here, Canmore, all the way to Banff.

Riding over Goat Creek.

The trail was just wet enough to get us good and muddy.

We stopped in Banff to warm up with hot coffee and some lunch. 5 of us were eager to keep going so we left the others with their coffee and we headed for Rundle Side Trail. By the time we hit the trail head the sun popped out and it was really quite hot. The trail was mostly in good condition but their were a few mud holes to navigate.