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Muddy Hike on a Sunny, Spring Day At Short Hills

Muddy Hike on a Sunny, Spring Day At Short Hills

Hiking Short Hills Provincial Park

Was a bit cloudy when we started out hiking and we expected mud because it has been raining so much lately.  And it was muddy!  We've hiked Short Hills many times and we tried to stay higher up and it helped a bit.  Almost no one at the provincial park today, I think we saw three others hiking.  Only a couple of cars in the parking lot.  Pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Way over dressed, though.  Had to take off jacket and sweater after the first 10-15 minutes in the woods.  Sun was shining and almost no wind.  Was a stunning day.  There are several spots to enter the park - three main parking lots.  We parked at the Wiley Rd lot.  Hiked in on the big muddy path for a couple hundred metres going south and then a couple hundred metres in, headed in on a path through the fields and woods.  Again, we hiked along the peaks of the hills as much as we could. Went by a small waterfall and hung around the bigger one for a while at the south part of this loop. That one is pictured below.  Loads of paths through South Hills park, it's about 1600 acres.  And at least a couple of rivers running through.  We've snowshoed in the Winter, Hiked through most seasons.  I prefer without the bugs though, if I can help it.

And some video on Instagram @martysroadtrip1

 

 

Niagara Falls - Horseshoe Falls

And don't miss the real falls: Horshoe Falls

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Hiking Grotto Canyon, Exshaw, Alberta

Hiking Grotto Canyon, Exshaw, Alberta

Perfect Weather for a Mountain Hike

When we lived in Calgary one of our favourite short hikes was Grotto Canyon near Exshaw.  A short hike; about seven kilometres to the hoodoo and back.  But quite spectacular nonetheless.  And it is less that an hour from Calgary, depending where in the city you are coming from!

Not difficult at all.  That said, the walk in is rocky so wear sturdy shoes or boots.  We went in near the end of May and there were sections with still several feet of ice. In winter one should definitely wear crampons on your footwear to keep from slip sliding away.

From the parking lot it is probably a little over two Kilometres to the bend where the falls are (to the right).  The bend is to the left.  Surprisingly, there was very little water in the stream or coming down the wall near the waterfall

If you go past the falls through the steep walls to the left you will come to a section where there are about a hundred cairns (piled up rocks).  I’m sure these get destroyed each year with the water cascading out of the mountains, then rebuilt each year.

Keep going past that you will come to a hoodoo on the left with a small cave near the top of it.  We have in the past gone a couple of kilometres past the hoodoo but never got to anywhere there was great views.  Lots of other hikes for that. 

Yvonne and I went with her son Spencer on this hike. He’d never been to this spot.  Great day, perfect weather.

Check out a nice walkabout at Elbow Falls, Alberta

#elbowfalls #alberta

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