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Carol Patterson

INSPIRING EVERYDAY EXPLORERS Through wildlife tales and trails

Carol Patterson

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Make your alpine hiking easier at Sunshine Village

October 11, 2016 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Alberta HikingThe last time I visited the Banff National Park’s Sunshine Meadows I wanted to murder my backpack. The clear blue waters of Egypt Lake and the ragged edges of Pharaoh Peaks hadn’t been enough to take my mind off the leather boots chewing my ankles and I was convinced hiking elves added rocks to my pack with every step. Once back at Sunshine Village parking lot I dropped my pack on the pavement, gave it a kick, and swore I would never backpack again.

Three decades later I still abstain from backpacking but was I missing some of the Rockies best views? When Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort announced they were opening their Standish chairlift for the first time in twenty years for summer hikers I was ready to revisit the site of my earlier pain.

I arrived at Sunshine Village winded only by the climb up the gondola stairs and headed to Trapper’s restaurant to shore up my energy levels. The chicken wrap and fries was a luxurious change from the crushed bagel and cheese I’d feasted on during my previous trip. Recharged, I headed for the Standish chairlift and an open-air ride to the hiking trails.

Stepping off the chair I was sorry I’d stayed away for so long. Rock Isle Lake glittered in the distance among stacked peaks of the Continental Divide. Mount Assiniboine – the Matterhorn of the Rockies – was clearly visible and I could see into British Columbia while standing in Alberta.

The best part? Most of the hiking from that viewpoint is downhill! I moved slower than when I’d been here before. Partly because my knees were older but mainly because last time, the smartphone hadn’t been invented and I didn’t have a social media addiction. With Wi-Fi at the top of the mountain I stopped for a few minutes of Facebook Live before hitting my hiking stride. I met several people puffing their way back up the trail making me wonder if they were slaves to their Fitbit or didn’t read the map.

Gravel crunched under my shoes and the calls of nervous ground squirrels rang in my ears as a hawk patrolled above. This is also bear country and I saw several recent digs, evidence grizzlies had been looking for lunch nearby.

A Sunshine Meadows employee tended the trail making sure human impact on this sensitive environment is minimal. “Sunshine trail managers also walk around to make sure people are staying on the trail, obeying all the signs. This is a big focus of our marketing efforts as well,” explained Lindsay Gallagher, Sunshine Village’s Media & Marketing Coordinator.

A brazen red fox circled several hikers before trotting back down the trail. He appeared more curious than dangerous and soon I was hiking after him. Without a heavy backpack I was able to reach Sunshine Village with enough energy to pick up an ice cream. As I swallowed the chocolaty goodness, I placed my pack gently on the picnic table, happy it had brought me back for a do-over and a renewed love for alpine places.

If you go:

Sunshine Village will be running their summer gondola and chairlift in 2017. Look for opening dates at http://www.skibanff.com/sunshine-village/summer-hours-of-operation/

TWEETABLES

How to avoid suffering on your next alpine hike. Click to Tweet.

My friend, @reinventure, recently visited @SunshineVillage & she’s got all the to-do’s: Click to Tweet.

If you’re looking for an amazing hike discover why my friend, @reinventure, recommends @SunshineVillage, Click to Tweet.

Filed Under: Alberta Tagged With: alberta, banff, hiking

When Winter Goes Missing

April 14, 2015 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Castle Mountain ResortWhen I think of winter, I think of cold temps and snow, lots of it. But this year winter didn’t show up in western Canada. Castle Mountain Resort in southern Alberta closed its ski hill in mid February because the white stuff disappeared. In Banff, parka-clad tourists strolled Banff Avenue as locals scurried by in shorts, the clear sidewalks and brown hillsides more in keeping with late April than mid-winter.
I had headed to the mountains to try fat biking, a cross between mountain biking and skiing. “We are not renting out fat bikes due to the lack of snow,” chirped Jenn at Soul Ski & Bike, “but you can rent a mountain bike.” With dreams of winter adventures fading fast, White Mountain Adventures came through with a promise of snow in the midst of one of the warmest winters on record. It wasn’t fat biking, but several days each week White Mountain Adventures take snowshoers to the alpine meadows above Sunshine Village. At 2,240 meters, “there’s lots of snow up there,” guide Magda Idasz promised, when she picked me up for a half-day tour.

At the Sunshine parking lot, Idasz handed out snowshoes, the light metal, synthetic fabric, and meter-long length suitable for navigating deep powder. After assuring our group of ten that we would not be in avalanche terrain even though we were headed to the backcountry, Idasz had us carry our snowshoes onto the gondola and then Standish chairlift.

To avoid being struck in the bum, dismounting a chairlift on foot means hitting the ground running. That was my last burst of speed for three hours. If you can walk, you can snowshoe, but waddling with the wide stance needed to avoid stepping on your own platter-size feet, gave me lots of time to enjoy the scenery. It felt like we were on top of the world as we walked across the Continental Divide and into British Columbia. “All the water on this side of the mountains, flows to the Pacific,” Idasz said,” and all the water from the mountains on that side flows to the Atlantic Ocean.”

Unfortunately, there is not as much water this year to flow to either ocean. Idasz unfolded a probe and punched it through the snow at her feet. It disappeared an impressive 150 centimeters. However, Idasz said, “normally we would have another 50 to 100 centimeters at this time of year.”

As we had left Sunshine ski resort, Kim Titchener, a local bear expert, had told us to watch for bears as some were stirring with the warm weather. Now, I looked at the shallower snow pack we crossed en route to Rock Isle Lake and wondered if we might encounter a confused grizzly. I asked Idasz what signs people had seen that indicated bears were waking up, thinking perhaps of empty dens. “They are actually seeing bears,” she said, ” a black bear was spotted near Bow Pass in the park.” With our puffy winter clothing, we could have been mistaken for giant corndogs by a hungry bruin, but Idasz was carrying bear spray and the only tracks we saw belonged to snowshoe hares and pine martins.

My hopes for blue-sky photos faded as skies darkened and snowflakes began to drop from the sky however it gave me hope that winter would continue to provide snowy adventures, even if we have to travel higher to find them.

TWEETABLES

One of the warmest winters on record is leaving Canada wondering. Click to Tweet.

Are snowy winter adventures disappearing for good in Canada? Click to Tweet.

How far do you have to go to find snow in the mountains of Alberta? Click to Tweet.

Filed Under: Alberta Tagged With: alberta, banff, british columbia, canada, castle mountain resort, reinventure, think like an explorer, white mountain adventures, winter

Dogs save lives in avalanches

April 17, 2012 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Cazz and Mike Henderson look for drowning victims and do poaching patrols in summer
My latest story on Cazz, the avalanche dog, ran recently in the Red Deer Advocate. Watching this highly-trained canine search for his 'victim' was thrilling and highly inspiring. This is important work and dogs do it well- a dog and his handler can search the same area as 20 humans eight times faster!!

To read more click here http://bit.ly/HSgHAx

Filed Under: Alberta Tagged With: avalanches, banff, dogs, national parks, service dogs

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