There’s lots of snow on the High Rockies Trail and conditions along the Smith Dorrian section are excellent. I took a quick snowshoe up to the suspension bridge yesterday to see how it looks near the end of a heavy snowfall season. There is enough snow on it to reduce the effective height of the handrail and it has been closed.
Nakiska Ski Area is advertising snowshoe trails and guided snowshoe trips! While the original press release had the trail open to everyone, guided or not, just before Christmas they declared their snowshoe trail would be for guided parties only. No other snowshoers allowed. This decision may affect how the the rest of us get to Marmot Basin. The upper section of Mid-Mountain Road (the old Marmot Basin Road), part of the Nakiska snowshoe trail, is the only way for snowshoers and skiers to access Marmot Basin.
It may be Spring in the foothills, but there’s still skads of snow in the Smith-Dorrien. Right now is a really good time for snowshoeing, the base has firmed up and the snow isn’t yet isothermal (wet from top to bottom), though it’s getting there.
The Smith-Dorrien area with its ample snowpack has some of the best snowshoe trails in Kananaskis Country with something for everyone. Here I am featuring the Chester Sawmill Snowshoe Trails, suggesting four loops varying from the popular 5.1 km Sawmill Loop to a 13.3 km Grand Tour.
Yesterday we headed down to the Sheep River area west of Turner Valley for a change of scenery. There is substantially less snow down there than around Bragg Creek and the Elbow. We parked in the Sandy McNabb skating rink parking area and walked down the trail to the Sheep River opposite Coal Creek. After crossing the well-frozen [...]
