The snow is melting, the long john’s have been stored away and I’m ready for some hiking! Or at least attempt some hikes in the snow covered mountains. It’s always a bit of a struggle to find places to hike early spring and it something I often hear people asking about. Below are three areas in Alberta and only about an hour away from Calgary that are manageable as early as April in some years. I recommend gaiters and water resistant shoes for early hikes because you will encounter some snow. Sun glasses and sun screen are also helpful with the white glare on a the frequent sunny spring days. If you have snowshoes they would still be worth throwing in the car.
I'd love to hear about other peoples favorite early season hikes!
Kananaskis – Mount
Yamnuska, Alberta
Itching to get out to the mountains and decided to leave our skis at home last weekend of March 2011 and ended up in the parking lot at Mt. Yamnuska. There were two distinguished snowshoe / walking paths from the parking lot one towards the mountain and the other away. The trail towards the mountain had significant less snow, a few inches and was manageable in hiking shoes. We did not submit the mountain (way too much snow and wet rock) but you can enjoy a few hours wandering around the mountain and enjoying the peacefulness!
Mt. Yamnuska in late spring is full of wildflowers and is also a popular area with climbers. Yam is considered a moderate hike by most books and maps, over 500m elevation gain, 7km return, roughly 3-4 hour hike. The trail kiosk is at the backend of the parking lot, it heads across a gravel road and up to the right. The trail takes you to the back side of the mountain where it becomes steeper and more exposed. There are tons of fun areas to scramble, expect some challenging areas on this hike. It’s a classic and beautiful!
Driving to Mt. Yamnuska from Calgary: Leave Calgary head west on the TransCanada Highway (Highway #1). Exit at Seebe/Exshaw/Bow Valley Provincial Park onto Highway 1X. Travel about 4 kilometres and turn right onto Highway 1A. The parking lot for Mt Yamnuska is less than a kilometre! After your Mt. Yamnuska adventure and you want to try a different way home to Calgary, continuing on Highway 1A to Bow Valley Trail for a scenic ride. Bow Valley Trail is almost parallel to the Highway #1 and you can take Morley road back to Highway #1 or continue on past Ghost Lake onto Cochrane. From Cochrane you can continue on Bow Valley Trail (turns into Crowchild Trail) or turn South on Cowboy Trail (Highway #22) back to Highway #1.
I used this map.
