Thu, Nov 27 2008 - Ptarmigan Cirque Snowshoe - Slowpokes & Dawdlers (View Original Event Details)
|
Twas an International snowshoe to Ptarmigan Cirque today !!!! We had a total of seven members, and here is the international breakdown: Cdn x 2, USA, Belgium, France, Ukraine, and Columbia !
When I left Canmore today, it was a chilly -10°C, and once at the Barrier Lake Visitor Centre, went up to -5°C with a cold wind. Ed & Eugene picked me up and we headed to the trailhead. Once there, it was sunny, warm, and lo & behold, no wind !! Very very pleasant. Our other carpoolers arrived, and we all geared up. A short survey found that for 3 of our group; this was their inaugural snowshoe event, and for Juan, his first time in the Rockies – Yippeee !!!!
We started off on our journey ! The trail was hard packed snow with hard packed dirt & rocks in some areas. I was out here last Sat, and the snow had since melted lots. What I thought would take us approx 2 hours with my slowpoke lead, we were at the cirque within 55 minutes !! Wow, how come it took me 2 hours on Sat ????!!!! The wind was minimal to non-existent, and we spent about ½ hour snacking and enjoying the views. Eugene & Olivier decided to do a small scramble (sans snowshoes of course), and climbed the scree slope and returned within 20mins.
We began our trek back, and when arriving at treeline, we decided to play in the deep snow off trail. All we were missing were our krazy carpets to go down !! Many were slip sliding away, and falls were had by everyone – lots of fun & laughter !
Once at the parking lot, the group of 3 whom we saw on the trail earlier in the day, told us that they could see us from the parking lot sliding down the slope and heard our laughter !!! Wow, I like that !
De-geared, we headed to the PLC Visitor Centre for our lunch. Four members had never been there before, and like my first time, were pleasantly surprised at the facilities ! We enjoyed a leisurely lunch, talked about future events, and how great it was to be here mid-week with the whole place to ourselves.
Thank you for joining me on my snowshoeing south of the winter gate !! I had a great time and hope you did as well.
Juan, welcome to the Club & to the Rockies !!
Encounters on the trail/event: Sunny skies, deer, bighorn sheep, coyotes (on Hwy 40), other snowshoers, dirt, rocks, ice, snow, great conversations, and lots of smiles!
Happy Trails :)Karen D.