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Three Sisters Pass

Sample Newsletter for CORE Hiking club

IN THE NEWSLETTER THIS MONTH of June 2015

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

MEET THE NEW CORE EXECTIVE 2015-2016

CORE MEMBERS PASSWORD

SAFETY TIPS

Bear Awareness

Lyme Disease & Tick Surveillance Program in Alberta

NEW CORE MEETING PLACE

BRINGING GUESTS

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BELONGING TO CORE

SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS

UPCOMING EVENTS

CORE JUNE MONTHLY MEETING

……………………………………………………………………………

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Welcome, new members to CORE. We hope you will enjoy the outdoor and social activities that your club offers during the coming season.

A few pointers to new members and to old(er) members who may have forgotten:

CORE WEBSITE: The CORE website (www.corehike.org) contains event and SAFETY information (http://corehike.org/?page_id=194). It also provides a gateway on the “Activities” page to the club events calendar and the CORE event photo albums. It has been a longstanding CORE tradition to post photos taken during our outdoor “adventures” on the website. The photo albums are open to anyone browsing the website, but posting is restricted by password to club members only. If you post any pictures, please observe the privacy guidelines listed on our website at (http://corehike.org/?page_id=214).

 

MEET THE NEW CORE EXECTIVE 2015-2016

Here are the board members who will keep your club running smoothly in the coming year.

Mike – Chair	Lindsay – Co-Chair
Lynn – Secretary	Jorge – Treasurer
Fiona – Membership	Stu – Communications
Dave – Trip Coordinator	Pat – Presentations
Mark – Webmaster	Carol – M-at-L
Edna – M-at-L	David – M-at-L

* M-at-L = Member at Large

CORE MEMBERS PASSWORD

Just a reminder that the CORE password has changed as of June 15. All members will have received the password along with your membership card by email once you have registered (and paid-up) for the new season. You need the password to access certain members-only pages on the CORE website (http://corehike.org/) such as the Events Calendar or posting photos. If you have forgotten the password, please email CORE at mailbox@corehike.org

 

SAFETY TIPS

Bear Awareness

Please be careful on your wilderness hikes. There is information on outdoor safety and bear alerts on the CORE website at http://corehike.org/?page_id=214 ,

and on the WILDSMART website at http://www.wildsmart.ca/.

The PARKS CANADA website also has some EXCELLENT tips on hiking safely in Bear country. Highly recommended reading!!

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people.aspx

Note: some trails in the Mountain Parks have GROUP SIZE restrictions of at least 4 adult humans, with big fines if you ignore them. So plan your hikes accordingly.

Lyme Disease & Tick Surveillance Program in Alberta

Ticks are small spider-like animals (arachnids) that bite to fasten themselves onto the skin and feed on blood.  While most ticks don’t cause serious health problems, it’s important to remove a tick immediately to avoid infection or potential diseases. Alberta has a program where you can submit a tick if you find one on yourself, another person, and even on your pet. For more information, visit the Alberta Health website at http://www.health.alberta.ca/health-info/lyme-disease.html .

 

NEW CORE MEETING PLACE

Our Club News page (http://corehike.org/?page_id=594) has details on upcoming meetings.   These are now held in the Scarboro Community Centre: 1727 14 Ave SW (Please note this change of location; we’re no longer meeting in the “Old Firehall”).

BRINGING GUESTS

CORE generously allows members to bring guests on outings. The purpose of this benefit is to provide potential members with exposure to the club, so that they are better able to decide if they want to become members in the future.

As the guest’s host, please ensure that they:

• are fully aware of the level of difficulty of the outing
• are capable of completing the outing
• come equipped with the appropriate clothing and equipment.

If you have a friend who wishes to attend repeatedly as a guest, please encourage them to join!

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BELONGING TO CORE

As a member of CORE, you can:

• Participate in a wide variety of outdoor activities with like-minded people who are passionate about the outdoors
• Easily meet and get to know other members because CORE is a smaller more intimate club
• Increase and maintain your fitness level, year-round
• Attend informative monthly presentations on all things related to outdoor activity
• Find out what’s new on the events calendar by receiving an automatic e-mail notification
• Receive a monthly newsletter with content on outdoor safety tips and plans for club activities
• Attend at least two social events per year (Christmas party and AGM) with free food and drinks
• Participate in other special events or social outings, such as movie nights, dining out, tennis, art walks, etc.
• Offer to give a presentation at a monthly meeting of your travel adventures
• Learn a new outdoor sport, such as cross-country skiing or scrambling
• Explore the beauty and awe-inspiring scenery of nature’s playground right at our back door
• Get CORE sponsored courses to help you enjoy the outdoors even more

SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS

We have had an unusual request from the Minister at Wild Rose United Church. They are seeking a “nature expert / enthusiast” to help a newly formed band of hikers from their church learn about hiking, nature and the outdoors during the month of July. If you are interested, for further details, contact Kim Holmes-Younger directly at kim@wildroseunited.ca

UPCOMING EVENTS

Things are shaping up to be a beautiful, long, warm summer. There are several events coming up just waiting for your participation:

Canada Day Picnic: Wednesday, July 1.

Barbeque picnic and city hike.

Multi-day hiking trips:

Longview: June 26 – 28.

Travel on the Friday, hiking in Highwood area Saturday and Sunday.

Fernie weekend: July 31 – August 3.

Hiking on the Saturday and Sunday around Fernie or Crowsnest Pass area. Potluck dinner on Saturday, August 1.

Thanks to the coordinators for planning these events!

For registration information, please go to www.corehike.org Event Calendar.

CORE JUNE MONTHLY MEETING

Tues. June 30 – 7 p.m.

Join us at our new home in the Scarboro Community Hall, 1727 – 14 Ave SW. The theme for the evening will be summer event and trip planning. Come prepared with maps, guidebooks and other resources, and most importantly, your ideas, enthusiasm and a willingness to suggest trips and events for the CORE calendar. As well, this will be your chance to promote any upcoming trips or events that you may have planned for CORE.

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood

Nose Hill Walk

Today I went out for a walk on Nose Hill .. my fave pathway around the hill, with equal views of both the city and the mountains.

A path less followed

The trail leads through some cottonwood groves (alders to you Eastereners) and indeed there were two paths to take. Notice the bunny trail. Closer observation reveals more recent coyote tracks. Eventually the coyote tracks disappeared, and the bunny tracks carried on. Yaaaaaaaaay bunny. Going for a XC ski outing to Kananaskis on Sunday. Hope my legs are ready…

Recent Hikes in the Rockies

Relaxing at Three Sisters Pass

It has been a while since I posted something on my blog about excursions in the Rockies, so here is a little catchup.

In the summer, my favorite club trip was to the top of Three Sisters Pass. This is a little known and also little travelled trail accessed from the Smith Dorian road above Canmore.

Three Sisters Pass – Sloping Perspectives

The trail was mostly washed out by the June floods that torrented down every creek in the mountains (before reaching Canmore, Calgary and High River), so we had to climb up the creek bed (about 650 metres) to reach the top of the pass. There was something about this hike that made it memorable to all of us, perhaps the adrenalin rush of the climb giving way to the beautiful view and friendly weather at the top.

Here are a couple of photos, one of our group relaxing at the top of the pass, the other from a little higher up, of the trail crossing the scree, and the frozen tumult of the mountains.

Goat Creek Bridge Crossing

Now it is winter and we’re occupying ourselves with snowshoe and XC Ski trips, and trips to museums when the weather worsens. Today we are experiencing blizzard-like conditions, which means great snow conditions for the the next outing. Here is a photo of yours truly on the Goat Creek trail from Canmore to Banff (finishes behind the Banff Springs Hotel), for our trip last weekend. Generally this is moderate trip of about 18 KM, mostly a downward gradient, as you start at a trail head above Canmore, but that day it snowed heavily and we had to stop often to scrape the packed snow off our skis.  The last bridge(a bridge too far….) was also partially washed out (again due to the June floods), so we had to scramble over an ice ledge to get onto the crossing.

Stay tuned…. I’ll make another post the next time I do an interesting trip.

You can find more photos of our mountain adventures on our club website at http://public.fotki.com/corehike/

Fall Hikes around Calgary

Walk Around Calgary Series - Calgary Skyline on an October morning

Indian Graves Ridge

Well, Calgary seems bright and new today. We have a brand new mayor (his worship Naheed Nenshi), a bright and clear Alberta day, and some fabulous hikes recently experienced and more in the offing. The CORE outdoor club has been organizing a series of Walk Around Calgary (WACy) morning treks for the last several weeks, the latest one (pictured) from Varsity to Riley Park, passing hilites such as the “Lego” Childrens’s hospital, the grand statue of Robert the Bruce (Scottish national hero..go figure) at the JUB, and ending with a brunch at Shawarma Station cafe (great place and highly recommended).  And possibly almost our last Fall hike (snow is making mountain treks a tad slippy) to Indian Graves Ridge west of Longview (Ian Tyson country), Alberta.

Hope to see you out there on the trails.

Moncton Dispatches – Here Comes the Sun

I’ll write a few notes daily for those interested on my Sept 2010 visit to maritime land. Unfortunately forgot my camera USB cable, so won’t be able to download any PICs for now. Today Friday was rainy most of the day, but was a pleasant day in any case. Yesterday Arthur (my dad) and I went for an ATV ride to explore the still growing dike along the river. Yes! they are still working on it to raise the grade on parts that are not totally up to the survey marks. One BHoe and a bulldozer working away. We cruised by along the dike-top road, and I took a PIC or so of the ongoing work (no friendly waves back from the workers) and of the “old french dike” remnentants still visible long after 1755.  This new dike will be visible for at least 200 years going by that.

We followed the dike for a KM or so, to Charlie’s (David’s) boundry, then back up Henry’s road and back accross the McWilliam property and back to Art’s.

Today we went to Moncton to run some errands and then Smitty’s for lunch.

My dad is adicted to Suduko now, so have picked up a puzzell book and am now attacking the easy ones. Must ease into them slowly.

John Wilson came by today for a chat with Art. This is Cherri Wilson’s dad, and she is running for the provincial election as a Conservative candidate. The current Shaun Graham gov is Liberal, and none too popular due to earlier proposed sell off of NB Power to Quebec, and opening of the Peticodiac River to the tidal ebb and flow. Since Art and Cathy love the Kenetic Effects of daily tides, I think I can guess where their votes will go.

After raining most of today, the sun is bursting out, and we’ll get a clear day on Saturday, so will go to the Havelock Woodsman’s Expo. Art wants to find out how to build an environmentally safe stream crossing. Here in NB, it is against the law to dredge or put a culvert in a stream that will deposit silt in a tidal river (or something like that). Will have to clarify.

TTL

Stuart

Mountain PICS – or ascent to Caldron Lake

This hike was hard, and likely beyond my abilities, but I did it.  The worst part was climbing back up to the parking lot at the end of an 8 hour hike – 350 metres out of the delta. That was painful… The hike to Caldron lake starts at a major tourist attraction called Peyto Lake (because it looks like a fox) … lots of Japanese tourists at the lookout point where we started. The trail drops into a glacial delta (down 350 metres makes for an easy start), then up the creek that runs out from Peto Glacier, then upup the edge of a glacial morraine, where we had a grand view of the glacier itself – katabatic winds from the glacier kept us cool. Then a traverse across the rim above the water fall and on to Caldron lake. Not a very pretty place, rugged and all rocks, but enthraling just the same.  Coming down was fine, just the last pitch I would have accepted a heli-ride back to the car.

Here are the PICs.

http://public.fotki.com/corehike/2010/caldron-lake/

Watch the slide show.

Letters From My Father – Part 1

Peticodiac Tidal River Revisited

Letter from Arthur Cox who has lived on the River 93 odd years.

I am sitting in the “Cat Bird”  seat, watching the scenery below me along the Peticodiac River.

I can view the workings of the thirty two unit wind farm “electricity producer” across the river on the Kent Hills.

One of the turbines caught fire last summer. You can just see the smoke plume in this picture.

And moving through a mirror clear, Shadows of the world appear. I can see, residential house building  and the result of Marsh dyking “last winter”, an unfortunate spinoff of the new era (Epoch?) of the “tidal river Peticodiac”, as it is again ebbing and filling twice a day as nature meant it.

After being turned into a lake Thirty years approximately gone by, it is finally back to normal. Almost.

With the Causeway still in place and the regulating gates wide open, the volume of water is restricted to about one quarter of the original.

Tilting at Backhoes

Over the past winter when machinery was more readily available, a Monsterous dyke was scarred along the marches to protect presumedly said marches from a “Saxby” volume tide. The result is a real hole in the marches to provide dyke material, and “Mosquito breeding ponds”.

On April 14 (2010) after a lot of years of agitation and thousands of dollars ($$) being spent arguing, testing, being viewed by numerous engineers and Celebrities – and in view of numerous idle curious, the causeway gates were lifted to clapping and cheering, the water was released to run free. Within a very short time the head pond was empty and the next tide was able to meander up the river channel.

There was a fish counting site established at Salisbury to test the waters. And….Surprise!…Surprise! This being the time of Gaspereau migration, the results were gratifying.  A “Gaspereau” is a fish somewhat larger than a “Herring” but it is blessed with more and larger bones than a Herring. It is “relatively” good to eat (an opinion not universally shared). The first day of testing at the counting station resulted in a recording of over 2000 bodies (Fish that is).  The second day the station was glutted to overflowing and the run continued.

Before the tide was released, the Headpond didn’t support “Sea gulls”, “Long Legged Herons”, “Fish Hawks” etc. One pair of Eagles resided near the “Lake” but were often observed flying in the direction of the (Moncton) city dump.

Now (with the tidal fluxuation), bird population changed almost over night.

Fish Hawks are observed diving for prey, and  Bald Eagles perching on old pieces of flotsam and occasionally fighting for the bounty of the river.  Also have been observed are ten Eagle-like birds (probably yearlings), congregating (naturally*) and perched on vantage points waiting for easily acquired fish left on the mud flats after receding waters of the tide. Not always so many, but some every day.

* A bunch of Eagles, like a Murder of Crows, is termed a  “Congregation of Eagles”. I wonder who the Preacher is? <8}

All things being considered, the outcome from my point of view, except for the prodigious dyking, is a satisfying spring.

As the the man, whose horse backed the hay wagon off the wharf at Buctouche, said, “I hope you got  your &^%$# satisfy!

Calgary Outdoor Recreational Enthusiasts Membership

The CORE AGM is coming up May 27, and it is also time to renew memberships or join up with this gem of a little outdoor club. Members participate in a variety of activities, including

……Cycling  ………..  Scrambling  ………..  Hiking

…Snowshoeing …….XC Skiing       …..and more

So why not get the kinks out this spring, and join up with core. The annual cost is less than a movie and popcorn, and it will do your heart good.

For more information about CORE and how to join, click here….