hiking

Bear Poop Cookies: Backpack Baking in the Canadian Rockies

October 22, 2014 by Jenn

It’s bear country here in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. In fact, there was just a horrific grizzly attack recently, a couple of hours from our house. The man survived, but still, attacked, and mauled by a grizzly! Yikes!

This video is definitely one that is to be taken with good humour. We are having more fun with our videos, and I want you to have fun while you’re watching as well! Stepping outside the box (of our kitchen) keeps us interested, challenged, and hopefully adds an element to life that you might not see where you live. We are so lucky to live where we do, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and with our Backpack Baking series, we love to showcase our home turf!

This hike takes place on a local hike called “The Butte”, and it is located halfway between our city of Cranbrook, and the nearby one, Kimberley. It is about a 30-45 minute hike, and is one that can be done easily with kids, but when filming and hiking, it takes a couple of hours! Paul has recently started a new hobby, flying remote control aircraft’s (quadcopters, wings, planes etc), so we were loaded our backpacks up with the ingredients needed for baking, the quadcopter stuff, and the tools needed for the filming. It was a heavy load for the two of us. We need to hire a pack mule next time.

These bear poop cookies could be done a with a number of different add-in ingredients. I chose to use coconut, white chocolate chips, and pine nuts for optimal “poopness”. You could use other nuts, and ingredients if you prefer to have your scat look like something else. Black bears tend to eat a lot of berries around where we live, so the pine nuts were an essential add-in for my version.

Thanks to my mom for lending me her bear costume. Doesn’t everyone’s mom have a bear costume on stand-by for emergency bear videos? No? Oh. Well, my mom does! It must be the Kindergarten teacher in her. It’s her tickle trunk.

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Filed Under: Backpack Baking, Cardio Tagged With: aerial photography, Backpack Baking, backpacking food, bear poop, bear scat, camping, camping food, chocolate cookies, coconut cookies, cookies, hiking, pine nut cookies, pine nuts, quadcopter, white chocolate

Grotto Canyon Ice Walk: Alberta, Canada

June 19, 2013 by Jenn

Reliving our Spring Break trip in Banff, our first hike was to Johnston Canyon (where we had our encounter with a yuppie pig) and our second was to Grotto Canyon. How could we NOT want to hike somewhere called the “Grotto”? It was a beautiful sunny early spring day. You know, one of those ones where the chill is still in the air, but the sun is finally warm on your skin?? It’s the best kind of weather!!

To get to Grotto canyon, we had to drive about a 15 minute drive from our condo in Banff. If you’re familiar with the area, it is closest to the town of Canmore.

The canyon is actually a creek bed, and during the winter months, the hike is actually on the frozen over Grotto Creek! We had to have our ice clamps on our hiking boots, so make sure you have something for grip if you’re doing this hike in the winter.

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Filed Under: Cardio, Hiking Tagged With: Alberta, Grotto Canyon, hiking

Hiking Johnston Canyon: Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

June 16, 2013 by Jenn

During Spring Break in March, Paul and I were able to take some much needed time off. We decided that the short drive to Banff was going to be our destination. We are super lucky to be so close to a world destination.

Going to Banff during Spring Break is a risky choice. The weather might be awesome- or you might be in a blizzard, wishing you packed your parka. The town might be packed shoulder to shoulder with tourists- or you could be rubbing elbows with the locals.

We were able to get a good deal on a condo close to town and thank goodness it was only the two of us, as I don’t think there would have been room for even Ruby to join us! It was super tiny and dated. But, we decided to make the best of it (since we didn’t plan on being in the room much anyway) and we got out on a couple of great hikes.

One of the hikes that we chose to start out on was the famous Johnston Canyon. Now, this is basically a walk along a canyon but it is very beautiful and worth it. Paul is a TRUE hiker . . . he wants to be out in the woods, stomping through the forest, establishing his own path, so this was definitely not his idea of a good time!! But, he sucked it up and we were able to get a good video out of it!

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Filed Under: Cardio, Hiking Tagged With: Banff, hiking, Johnston Canyon

Hiking Bear Lake Trail, British Columbia, Canada

November 9, 2012 by Jenn

This summer, we were able to manage our time MUCH better than last, our starting year in this crazy, self-run business. We tried to get out each and every Sunday, and for the most part, we were successful. There are so many stunning areas around us in the East Kootenay’s that we can be out and hiking in minutes. Since, we are not in the same kind of shape we used to be *cough* we re-hiked a number of our favourites . . . which made my complaining, and constant questioning of “when we are going to get to the top?” pretty much non-existent! I’m sure P was glad about THAT . . . except he HATES going to the same places over again. I love it, and he hates it . . . and we ended up re-doing hikes all summer! That’s a total win in my column I think. I have few, people, oh, so few.

This particular hike was done with my good friend Karen, from Toronto Girl West fame. She was in town finishing up some work leftover from before she moved. Karen is in much better shape than I, so I was glad to have someone around who could keep up with Paul’s speed . . . and incessant need to talk. All. The. Time. Thanks Karen 😉 I love Karen dearly, but what I found out after the fact was that she is terrified of bears! She told us she was frightened of them (I think most sane people are), but it came out later (FB? Twitter? I can’t remember) that it was a much greater fear than she led on. Why was this a big deal? Well, we were headed to BEAR Lake! Grizzly country!

I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but there was a story from a couple years ago that two guys were camping at the lake, left their backpacks at the camp, went fishing, came back and a grizzly was going through their backpacks (in which they had stupidly left food). The bear apparently charged them and they shot it. Grizzly gone. I thought this story would make Karen feel safer, and ended it with, “apparently Grizzly’s have territories and so therefore there isn’t a grizzly there anymore!” Until Paul had to butt in and say something along the lines of “but a new one’s probably moved in by now”. Very helpful Mister.

Karen was a great sport, came along, suffered the fear, and lack of hiking boots . . . and most of all, she agreed to do this video with us! Make sure you check out her post on this as well, and give her some much deserved love.

Enjoy the stunning scenery!

Filed Under: Cardio, Hiking Tagged With: Bear Lake Trail, British Columbia, Cranbrook, hiking

Fortunate Friday- 2011 Hiking Recap

December 24, 2011 by Jenn

I am very fortunate to be able to spend the holidays with (most of) my family, Paul, and Paul’s mom. It is one of my favourite seasons and I can’t wait for the fesitivities to begin tonight. The baking is done . . . all 300 lbs of cookies, bars and treats! The decorations are up, and the presents are wrapped.

This year, with Paul and I in our new home, we are having to juggle each other’s families and traditions . . . and attempt to build our own. Also, I am having to learn to work around someone who is less than enthusiastic about the Christmas season . . . I know that all I have to do is give him a video game, and he will have a great day . . . other than that, it’s best to leave him alone.

The first year that Paul and I were together, he willingly went to the grocery store and loaded a cultured, perfectly shaped tree into the back of his truck. Little did I know that that was the last time that would happen! The next year we went out and cut down one from the bush. We also happened to find the largest, perfectly coiffed tree for my parents. We got a small one for Paul’s mom too, but it was NOT liked by her . . . so we took it to my Grandma’s. This year, we continued our only existing tradition in heading out into the bush and cutting down a real bush tree. It’s up in all of it’s Charlie Brown splendour, in our first home, and it is as perfect as I could ever want.

As 2011 is coming to an end, one of the things I have been most fortunate for is all of the many outdoor adventures that we were able to go on, despite being busier than I have ever been in my life! Hunting for Christmas trees is one adventure that I love, but it doesn’t really get the heart rate up . . . hiking does!

We made a couple of videos to go with our East Kootenay adventures in hiking, so enjoy as you check out some of the amazing secenry that I am fortunate to live surrounded by!

Hiking Kimberley Nature Park

Kimberley is a community that is famous for it’s winter time sports of skiing, but as we discovered for the first time, it also has some beautiful trails through their nature park. We were out on an early fall day and basically had the woods to ourselves! We encountered a couple of bikers, and noted that next time, we would definitely bring our bikes back to ride the trails. They made for decent walking trails, but weren’t much for actually hiking.

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Filed Under: Cardio, Hiking, Videos Tagged With: British Columbia, Canada, Climbing, Cranbrook, East Kootenays, hiking, Lakit Lookout, Lakit Mountain, Park, Park (name)

Bear Lake Hike

August 24, 2011 by Jenn

There are bears at Bear Lake. In fact, it’s Grizzly bear territory. What the heck was I doing heading in to a place like that?

Basically, I had to conquer it. In July 2010, Paul and I hiked into this spot in the pouring rain, through mud up to our ankles, slipping and sliding and reached the top to see. . . . nothing! It was too stormy to see anything! There was still snow at the top, the rain was blowing sideways from the strong winds, and the clouds had settled so low that we couldn’t see but 10 feet in front of us. I remember huddling at the top, standing to eat our sandwiches, and then quickly headed back down the mountain . . . slipping and sliding the whole way down.

Today, a whole new story:

The lake! So exciting to finally see it!

And this view . . . WOW!

The wind at the top is pretty strong . . . check out the trees!

Here is Paul, posing with his friend, who is “this high”. Truthfully, I have no idea what he is doing.

Even though we got a late start to the hike, we still had enough daylight left to be able to go around the lake to check things out. There is an extensive trail system running around the area, and hiking over the ridge you can see in the background, leads to a couple of other lakes and day hikes in the area. But remember, it’s bear territory, so be careful!

View from the other side of Bear Lake

And we saw these beautiful mountain flowers along the way and I decided to play with my aperture settings.

This is a great day hike to a beautiful spot to fish, and wander around. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a challenge for a short hike. A new trail has been carved out recently, probably following a game trail and it is fairly steep, but well marked and easy to climb. The previous trail is said to be 2.5km long, and I would say the new trail is fairly similar.

Filed Under: Cardio, Hiking Tagged With: Bear Lake, Cranbrook, hiking

Eager Hills Early Summer

July 24, 2011 by Jenn

I did this hike a couple of weeks ago now, and I’m just getting to posting about it. Sometimes, I take a lot of pictures, download them to my computer, and let them brew for a while. I’m convinced it makes them better.

I have done, and blogged about this little jaunt before (Midget Dog Party) and if you are in the area, it’s a must do! It’s easy, relatively short, and gives you spectacular views when you get to the top. You could run it for some serious cardio, and it would probably take you 15 minutes, you can walk it leisurely and it would take about 40. But maybe your legs are long. Mine, aren’t.

Oh Cranbrook . . . how lovely you are from afar!

This is the south view, looking back down the highway, towards town. Ruby can’t see it. She’s too short.

Ruby

This particular hike was Ruby’s outing with her new friend Daisy! Finally she has a dog her own size to play with. Daisy can’t see the view either . . . the grass it too tall!

Daisy

North view . . . I can see the dreaded Mount Stevens in their somewhere. That was an 8 hour hike of hell that I will never forget. Nor will Paul, as I cried the entire time. He wanted to leave me there for cougar food. I might have been having a moment.

Earlier in the year, when there was still snow on the ground (JUNE!), Paul and I bypassed the hike to the lookout, and went up the back side of Eager Hills. There are lots of trails throughout the area there as well . . . apparently you used to be able to hunt back there too. Not that that has any relevance to anything, but it’s a random fact. Maybe you still can, Paul’s response was “Look in the hunting regs.” I definitely don’t care that much.

I don’t see any snow on those mountains! Finally! The temperature has dropped again here, so I imagine it is just a matter of time. It will probably get really hot and sunny when it’s time to go back to the non-air conditioned classroom.

I guess the positive side of having a large amount of snow from last year, and coming our way this year is that we can burn, burn, burn! Backyard campfires in the fire pit, here I come! If I had time to head to a real fire pit, I would, but no such luck for this chick. Hopefully I don’t burn the house down.

All tuckered out at the top . . . you would be too if you had such short legs, and a long furry coat. Don’t worry animal activists, Ruby has had a hair cut, and she officially looks like the Pug that she is, for the first time in her life. No more hot, hot days for her!

Sun loving dog . . . sun hating dog. See the difference? Ruby will literally chase the shade around the deck. Everytime her body gets a little patch of sun, up she moves, only to repeat in five minutes.

Filed Under: Hiking Tagged With: Eager Hill, hiking

Bear Poop Cookies: Backpack Baking in the Canadian Rockies

Grotto Canyon Ice Walk: Alberta, Canada

Hiking Johnston Canyon: Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Hiking Bear Lake Trail, British Columbia, Canada

Fortunate Friday- 2011 Hiking Recap

Bear Lake Hike

Eager Hills Early Summer

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