Nordic Centre to The Legion Canmore March 24, 2022

The closer we got to Canmore this morning, the sketchier the conditions became with snow build up on the road, minimal visibility and vehicles off in the ditch.  I wondered what would transpire and what our hike would be like!  Our start location was at the Nordic Centre and it would be a one way hike up, some traversing, a few more ups and downs with a final descent to The Legion in Canmore townsite.  Then just like that, the closer we got to the Nordic Centre, the snow stopped, the sky cleared and this was our view as we hit the trail.  I noticed the flags flying today were of Alberta, Canada and Ukraine.  

We worked our way from the Nordic Centre, along a short portion of the 742 where we looked for a trail that would lead down to the reservoir. We found it, broke trail in the new snow down to where we hiked with views of the reservoir and the mountains to the north.  

reflection in the reservoir

We began the ascent where we were now aiming for the trail that would take us to Grassi Lakes.  

Now I could see the reservoir down below us.  

view of Ha Ling Peak

view of the mountains to the north

We arrived at Grassi Lakes and did a loop.  

I had been here many moons ago.  

It was nice to see this area at this time of year and especially on this day.  

reflection in Grassi Lake

view of Grassi Lake 

This photo of me was taken by 

my photograph friend (credit posted under photo) 

who was on the other side of the Lake.

photo credit Ann Nickerson

After a short break at Grassi Lakes, we carried on and aimed for the Highline Trail.  No one had been since the new snow so we broke trail.  At times we had to find where the trail was due to the amount of new snow.

It's called the Highline Trail for a reason!  

This is the view from along it.  

That's the reservoir down below.

view from the Highline Trail

view up at Ha Ling Peak from the Highline Trail

It was a steep descent in the snow at times getting off the Highline.  Thank goodness for spikes!  We made our way to Quarry Lake and this is the view from there.  

view up to Ha Ling Peak on the left and East End of Rundle on the right, both of which I have been up

We were nearing the townsite and it crossed my mind I should get a location shot.  

Our finish location was at The Three Sisters Legion Branch #3 in Canmore.  

Seeing as I was not a driver, I indulged in a Sheepdog IPA draft beer. 

This map shows our route in red.  The trails were new to me except for a short section around Grassi Lakes.  The one-way hikes are a treat and today there were many treats including the scenery, the friends and the beer!