Ghost Wilderness Exploring

Spring 2020 was not what anyone had expected. The COVID-19 pandemic brought out lives to a grinding halt, with new restrictions and updates daily. For a few weeks, we were glued to social media and watching the numbers climb. Terms like and social distancing, self-isolation and flatten the curve became part of our vocabulary and we all got acquainted with virtual chat platforms like zoom and whatsapp to stay connected with friends and family. It has been a stressful time for everyone as the stock markets crashed, people lost their jobs and businesses had to change how they operated overnight with people suddenly working from home. Our usual outlets for stress relief were also out of the picture. To ensure that hospitals were prepared for the possibility of an overwhelming number of sick people, and to avoid backcountry rescue where SAR teams may be exposed to infected individuals, the backcountry essentially shut down. Trail heads were closed, high risk activities were condemned and a province-wide fire ban was in place, because a forest fire was the last thing anyone wanted during a pandemic. 

While the pandemic is far from over, Canada's response so far has been promising. The numbers are decreasing, we have not hit capacity in our ICU's and restrictions are starting to lift. As the weather warms and spring rolls towards summer, we are getting more comfortable with our new normal. Small gatherings, social distancing and "chilling the shred" will be the routine this summer. All that time at home has motivated us to do some exploring in our Alberta backyard, and the bike trainer that served as an outlet during the darkest days of spring has kicked my butt into shape for riding season.

The view from the ridge into the Ghost River Valley

Our first time leaving town after restrictions started to lift was like a breath of fresh air. We didn't go far, just out to the Ghost Wilderness Area to do some camping and dust the cobwebs off the bikes, but it felt like we had left reality behind for a few days and the trip gave us a much needed boost. Kyle and I spent our first day exploring the river valley with our bikes, following 4x4 tracks in a 24 km loop from camp. It was a very different way to see the valley compared to our usual method of transportation (Kyle's Truckasaurus) and I am pretty sure we were able to travel almost as fast on bikes.

First ride of the year on the new steed

A new way to explore the river valley

Convenient lazyboy

Glad to be out of the city

Saturday's objective was an ambitious ride from Devil's Gap in the Ghost to Lake Minnewanka. We were hoping to make it all the way to the far end of Minnewanka along the lakeside trail, about 40km return. It was soon apparent that we were some of the first people through this year and getting to the end of Minnewanka was going to be unrealistic. We lost the trail almost immediately, and crossed a swampy marsh before riding through rocky creek bed and a choose your own adventure through the underbrush.

Just out of Devil's Gap

Pushing through the marsh

We did join up with a trail for a short while, but it was so overgrown that we abandoned that quickly. I was regretting my decision to wear shorts as my lower legs became criss-crossed with tiny scrapes and scratches from the junipers.

Looking back at Devil's Gap

We arrived at a smaller lake (one of the many Ghost Lakes) and chose to follow the south-facing bank in hopes of less snow, but it turned out that riding on the snow was actually the easiest thing to do. The compact ice had been pushed up on the bank over the winter and was very supportive and quite grippy. The bank got steeper and we pushed up a steep slope to join a trail that hadn't seen any maintenance in a while. Short periods of pedaling were frequently interrupted by a tree across the trail.

Lake # 3 - still not at Minnewanka

We found the trail! It was worse than following the shoreline

Path of least resistance

By the time we reached the shore of Lake Minnewanka, we had been going for 3 hours and only covered about 11 km. Although the riding may have got easier from there, we decided it was time to turn around and head back. It was unlikely that any winter deadfall had been cleared on the trail this far from the usual trailhead at the other end of the lake and we knew it was going to be a long slog back to the truck. We stopped for lunch in the sunshine and Connor went for his first swim of the year. Brrr!

Minnewanka ice bath

After learning from our experience, we chose to return on the north facing side of the lakes so we could ride on more snow. Eventually we linked up with quite a good trail and enjoyed some single track before it disappeared into the snow again. The sun had warmed the snow and we ended up bushwhacking and post-holing quite a bit. My scratched legs were burning as I punched through the sharp ice crystals. Despite only covering about 1/2 the distance we had hoped, it was a very fun adventure. Connor surprised us with his abilities on his Canadian Tire bike, and somehow this experience made him want to do more biking rather than never go biking with us again!

Uh-oh, something doesn't look right

I would like to say that the trip finished there, with high spirits after a big bike adventure, but it didn't. On the drive out from the Ghost, we slowed to cross a cattle guard and the trailer made a very loud noise. When Kyle jumped out to check, the frame was resting on the ground. It had snapped perfectly in half, leaving the trailer disconnected from the truck. With some help from some off-roaders, we were able to push the trailer off the road but there was no way to get it back to Calgary. This was exactly the opposite of what we wanted to happen out in the bush during COVID.

Broke the frame in half

We left the trailer in the ditch and Kyle worked some magic as I drove home. By the time we reached Calgary, he had arranged to borrow a small welder and recruited help from our small COVID bubble. We picked up the welder, a generator and filled the truck with tools before returning to the Ghost to fix the trailer.

Friends to the rescue

Trail-side welding

Grinder man

It was cold and windy, but somehow we didn't get rained on (we had driven through a huge rainstorm on the way back out). Working quickly, the boys were able to put the pieces back together so we could limp the trailer back to Calgary, 11 hours after the frame broke.

Finishing up in the dark

Sometimes things don't work out the way you expect, even when you think you are playing it safe. I am very glad that we were able to be relatively self-sufficient and do a self-rescue and that we have friends that are willing to drop anything to help us out. Hopefully our little trailer will be back on the road soon.