Climb Every Mountain

Well, I definitely won't be climbing EVERY mountain. This one was...well, let's be honest. I was pretty sure I was going to die on this mountain and that my sister would have to drag my carcass back down behind her. But I didn't. I survived it and, standing at the top of that mountain, I silently congratulated myself for not sitting down on the trail and waiting for my sister and her boyfriend to come back down to retrieve me. It was incredible up there. But more on that later. 

As you may remember, shortly before my trip, Alberta was hit by a series of huge rainstorms, which caused massive flooding. By the time I arrived the worst had been cleaned up, but many places were closed, including, very sadly, the Calgary Zoo, which is my favourite place in the city. Another place that was closed; the mountain my sister and her boyfriend had planned to take me to climb.

Time for the back-up plan. A few days before I arrived my sister's boyfriend and his friend went for a hike and the only mountain open was Mount Yamnuska. They didn't die, and, since it was still the only mountain open when my turn came around, I decided to go for it.





Here's a bit of info on Mount Yamnuska. Its official name is actually Mount Laurie, but is most often referred to by its native name, Mount Yamnuska which means "wall of rock". It has a vertical elevation gain of 533 meters, with a trail for hiking and multiple areas for rock climbing. It is listed as a moderately difficult climb and should take about 1-3 hours to complete.



The weather forecast seemed a bit ominous for hike day, but by the time the day rolled around it was sunny and bright. I, of course, didn't have a hat (and received a lecture from my sister in response. Like I'm a mountain climbing expert and knew I'd need a hat! I was surrounded by trees! But I digress...), but I was in luck and my sister had a spare hat in the car. 



As we started out I felt great. I had on my new outfit I'd bought just for the occasion and my comfy new sneakers. I skipped along behind my sister and her boyfriend with a smile on my face. And then I ran out of flat ground. By the time I reached this sign about 10 minutes in, the thought "what have I gotten myself into" came screaming into my head. 



Turns out I was a little bit more out of shape than I'd thought. And apparently I'm much more appetizing to Albertan mosquitoes than I am to the New Brunswick variety because I was absolutely eaten alive during my hike. I rarely get bitten at all, but on this day I think that every square inch of my body was bitten and itchy. I had to take multiple scratch breaks, so frequently, in fact, that a stranger and his daughter stopped to offer me some After-bite. It helped for a minute, but it was excruciating for most of the journey. 

Aside from the bug bites, the fatigue and the fact that there were times when I literally had to lift my leg up the hill with my hands, I couldn't have been happier with my climb. By the time we reached the plateau about half way up I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get to the top. Mostly so I could rest, but that's beside the point.

This is the "crown" of the mountain as seen from about half way up. You don't technically climb to the top unless you use rock climbing equipment. I climbed up to where the tree line ends.

This is the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. I can't describe how amazing it feels to be looking out at that from the side of a mountain.






 

I thought this heart shaped lake would make an interesting picture.

 Just relaxing.










 

Somewhere in this picture is the overly friendly (and slightly maniacal) chipmunk who kept disturbing me as I sat admiring the view. My sister's boyfriend and his friend had encountered one on their hike and it bit his friend's finger. I was paranoid that one would bite me too so I kept squirting it with my water bottle when it got too close. Which was frequently. Little bastard made me waste my precious water. They were even worse at the top when we had our snack. I was surrounded on three sides at one point, which we took as our cue to go.

As we neared the top I started to doubt my ability to scramble up the last few feet. My sister and her boyfriend had encouraged me all the way up, and they told me they wouldn't let me cross it off my list if I didn't go all the way to the top. And so I did. Here I am with the beautiful view in the background.

And here is the view from the top. You really can see for miles on a clear day. It's breathtaking.

Here's the view of the valley at the back of the mountain. My sister's boyfriend said that sometimes you can see bears running through the field...which only scared me a bit. Also, as we were sitting here we heard a huge crack of thunder and, consequently, tried to boot it back down the hill as quickly as we could. Because no one wants to be stuck at the top of a mountain in a thunderstorm. We made it down in about 2.5 hours, well ahead of the thunderstorm and headed to Canmore for a celebratory meal at the Grizzly Paw. Yum, yum! 




And so, here I am; Lisa Magee, fearless mountain climber. I'll do it again someday, just so I can see that view again. And if you're in the Calgary area, say hello to Mount Yamnuska for me and tell her I'll come see her again soon.