The Ghost - Orient Point and Valley of the Birds

The driving access to the North Ghost opened this weekend. To celebrate, we set up camp at the bottom of the Big Hill and spent two days ice climbing. Kyle and I met Connor early Saturday morning to make our way into the Ghost with the trailer. We had to chain up for a few icy hills on the TransAlta road but made it in without any issue. We dropped the trailer then drove to Orient Point where we were able to get Kyle's truck all the way to the top of the road. The drive was an experience on its own. That was the steepest road I have every been on as a passenger! Kyle made it seem easy but it was exciting.

Orient Point ice (L to R: The Joker, Hooker, Candle in the Wind, Candlestick Maker)

Jumbo Pass Nov 17-19

Early season touring can be hit or miss. This year we nailed it up at Jumbo Pass. 

We left Calgary just after 5 am to meet Emily and Trevor at the Petrocan. From there we drove west to Invermere, stopping at Kicking Horse Coffee for some caffeine on the way through. Then it was up the road to Panorama and beyond. 

Emily catches some zzz's on the drive out to Jumbo

Puzzle Peak - Remembrance Day Ski Tour

Snow came early to the Rockies this year and it seemed like everyone was out enjoying the novelty of October turns while I was stuck in Red Deer. Patience paid off however. A quick trip to the Icefields Parkway on Remembrance Day for some powder on Puzzle Peak was the perfect way to start the season! I left after work Sunday night and drove out to Mosquito Creek Hostel which we basically had to ourselves. I met Kyle who had been skiing dirt on South Hector that day. According to reports from friends, Puzzle Peak was in much snowier condition so we made that our objective for Monday.

Emerging from the trees for our first view of Puzzle Peak

The "Tit" Scramble

Distance: 11 km

Elevation: 1200 m

Time: 6.5 hrs

The majestic "tit" as seen from the approach ridge

Mt. Baldy Scramble

"Close to Calgary, close to the road, close to the ground"

- Alan Kane

 Distance: ~5 km
Elevation: 800 m
Time: 2 hrs 40 mins

Down climbing the crux of the scramble

Mt. Baldy is the peak across highway 40 from Barrier Lake which made it an easy half day escape from the city at the end of October. Not to be confused with Baldy Pass hike, Mt. Baldy is an actual scramble, much to the dismay of people commenting on trailpeak about how difficult this hike is. As far as scrambling goes, there are a few fun ridge sections with a bit of exposure and I feel that the moderate rating is appropriate. The majority of the scrambling is easy with a few short moderate sections.

Paddling the Yukon River - Whitehorse to Carmacks

Yukon River
Whitehorse to Carmacks by canoe
320 km - 6 days

Packing the canoe on the banks of the Yukon in Whitehorse

Whitehorse is the perfect staging area for a number of canoe trips through the Yukon Territory. Logistically, the easiest thing to do is to rent a canoe from one of the outfitters in town and put your boat right in the water to start your trip down the Yukon river! We rented a 20 foot (3 seater) canoe from Kanoe People in Whitehorse and only had to walk 20 meters to the bank of the river to get started. It doesn't get much easier than that! We booked the canoe a few weeks in advance and they were super friendly and flexible as we kept changing the number of days and number of canoes. We booked a shuttle through the same company so that we could get picked up at our end-point of Carmacks. We were able to time the pick up so that we shared the shuttle with another group which saved us 25% on the price. This gave us the most time on the river and saved us the headache of organizing our own drop offs and pick ups.

Mountain Hero Trail, Carcross Yukon

Mountain Hero - IMBA Epic

29 km, 1400 m elevation gain

5 km of descending, 835 m descent

5 1/2 hours

Dropping into Mountain Hero on Montana Mountain (Carcross, Yukon)

Somehow Kyle always finds the "epics," even in unlikely places. This is the 4th IMBA epic trail that we have done together and they always end up being a blast. As with all the epics so far, Mountain Hero was a long day. The common epic theme includes lots of pedaling and excellent scenery, without much in the way of technical riding (blue trail).