Saturday, February 2, 2019

PRACTISE HIKING WAS FUN!

   75 % of my hiking involved taking students out on their outdoor field trips. The program had been set up and running before I was assigned a couple of outdoor ed classes.  People had to go out and check out locations and see if they would be suitable for students. Much of this had been done.

     This continued after I joined the program. Start checking your maps now. Every one of our trips involved driving out on the David Thompson highway. We would watch the land as we drove out to a hiking site. So the odd Saturday we would go out and check a location to see if it was suitable to take kids out. We'd look to see if there were trails. Was it too steep for kids? Were there dangers? So this was done on our weekends. Many times we got up early on a Saturday morning so that we could have time to go up and down and get back home in the evening. Some of these hikes were fast and some involved scrambling which is climbing over and among rocks.


    This shows me "scrambling" The last 200 meters to gain this peak were by scrambling. It was also steep. The water body is Abraham Lake .
 When we reached the peak or what we thought was the peak we found a cairn. I wrote about this before and how my friend had a near miss with a golden eagle. This turned out to be the end if a ridge and not a peak . If you continued along the narrow ridge you came to the actual peak. Of course we had to try for the peak. We didn't make it . The wind got up and since the ridge was very narrow we were afraid of being swept off the ridge.

     This was a very strenuous hike. We took kids or tried to take kids on this several times . Weather was always an issue. It could be very windy and sometimes very cold. I never did make it back to the cairn. Very few kids ever made it to the cairn.

   This was many of the Saturday adventures .

    Dates on the photos were when they were digitalized. The actual photos were from the late 80's or early 90's

34 comments:

  1. ...for the time being I'll stick to walking on the beach.

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    1. Nothing wrong with walking on the beach. I do it myself!

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  2. I don't like heights so I am in awe of people who can hike so high!

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    1. With these heights you're always on the ground.

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  3. This sounds like a fun hike but I don't think it is one I would want to take a group of kids on! That would be a big responsibility with mountain peaks like in your picture!

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    1. No real danger for kids. These kids stayed with you. It looks dangerous but it's not.

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  4. Hello, it does look like a strenuous hike. The scrambling part looks a little scary to me. Neat photos of you, the ridge and the hike. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day, have a great new week ahead.

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    1. It was strenuous and we didn't find a trail until we got back!

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  5. You have had some amazing adventures! I enjoy reading about them!

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  6. What a great hike that was. I love that cairn.

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    1. It was fun. the cairn was very well done and there was a log to fill in.

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  7. Timing is everything when hiking. It's always good to be able to decide whether to go or not on the day. When a hike is a planned event, this is more difficult. I always try to have a weather dependent alternative just in case...

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    1. We went to the weather dependent option a few times. I remember coming all the way down Colisium in the rain.

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  8. Yeah, looks like fun. But I bet that ridge is covered in snow right now!

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    1. the ridge will be dare and both sides of the ridge will have huge drifts.

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  9. I'd love to get up to those heights!

    In regards to your question, the new ten dollar bill went into circulation in November. I've had them in hand on a few occasions, so it'll just be a matter of time. It's likely that your bank will have some.

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    1. The front ranges where I was are only 7000-9000 ft. I'll watch for a ten.

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  10. It sounds strenuous, all right. I climbed several of the 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado and they looked a lot like these pictures. Thanks for showing them! You were young once, it seems. :-)

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    1. These are called front ranges and in the 7000-9000 ft range.

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  11. Nice hike and a gorgeous view.

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    1. I wish I had the camera then that I have today.

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  12. Wow, that is high! But it looks like a lot of fun.

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    1. The looks are a bit deceiving. the next post I'll show you the highway below us.

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  13. That looks dangerous to me! But I have no head for heights. It must have been exciting to find the cairn.

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    1. One must be careful. We didn't do mountaineering and exposed walk.

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  14. Sweet memories of your highlights of climbing. I wouldn't be so brave with fear of heights...

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    1. Just remember that I'm still on the ground.

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  15. It looks like one misstep on the scramble up and you would have tumbled down and hit the water. I guess your motto was “Don’t look behind”! Fun times to remember, I’m sure.

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    1. Looks are very deceiving. the water is more than a Km away.

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  16. You appear to be wearing a "Coca Cola" cap. Did "Coca Cola" sponsor your Saturday scouting missions or are you simply a bg fan of that particular soft drink?

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    1. None of the above. I just picked up a cap at a display!!!

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  17. I led hikes into the mountains of New Mexico as a US Forest Service volunteer. Never had one as challenging as this one!

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  18. These were safe enough to take kids up.

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