Distant rugged peaks + soaring views – real life = Kananaskis country.
Situated about an hour to the west of Calgary, Canada is beautiful Kananaskis Country. Spending 2 months on a summer camp nearby was an excellent way for met to to see a great deal without any real effort or planning, although I suppose this is not a practical choice for many people.
I could not even tell you where any of these places are: being a leader on a camp you are generally only slightly ahead of the kids in terms of knowing what’s going on. I was given the name of the places, any further knowledge had to come from Google. We tell the kids to get on a bus and we all get on a bus, sing songs for an hour and get off to views such as this:
Ok, admittedly, this was after a 3 hour hike, but you get the point. This is taken from the peak of Prairie Mountain, and we were lucky enough to be treated to a show from a daring paraglider who dipped and floated and soared until he was so high we actually lost sight of him. The below photo is from the same peak, but facing a different way.
As far as thrill-seeking goes, few names would get the heart beating more than ‘Powderface’. It just sounds menacing, yet inviting; adrenaline-inducing, yet approachable. The trail itself is a decent length, approximately 3 hours return. It is very doable, yet still a challenge to reach the summit. We took a busload of kids aged 8 up it, and despite plenty of whining they all made the distance.
In fact most of the conversations going up the trail went a little like so:
Kid: “I’m tired and hungry and sore, how much further to the top?”
Leader: “This is the steepest part of the trail, we are almost there”.
Did we lie to the kids? Absolutely. Did they call us on it? You bet your arse they did. Did they keep walking anyway? Every time. But this just proves that although challenging, it can be completed by 8 year olds so the the difficulty is not too high. I would definitely recommend this hike for people looking to ease their way into hiking.
The stony mountains created a perfect backdrop to keep you interested even on the way up. At each clearing the view became better, higher, more distant. I find that the less detail you can see, the more can actually take in. Despite any feelings of fatigue the view inspires you to press on to continue improving this view.
This is why I love hiking: to get as high as possible; to see incredible sweeping landscapes; to get a perspective one can only find by working for it. Like many aspects of life, the greater the challenge, the more rewarding the view from the top will be.
Despite these amazing views I felt that I really only got a taste of what Kananaskis has to offer. But as I say after trip: the more of the world you see, the more you realise there is to see. So why should Kananaskis be any different?
For more information on this part of the world have a go at this link.
