Fernie – 6th December

After our day in Lake Louise, we drove down to Pincher Creek instead of back to Didsbury, and went to Stavely on the way, where Lawrie played a game of hockey with a bunch of friends, as per the usual Thursday night schedule! He had a fantastic game, and we got down to Trent and Dena’s in Pincher Creek rather late… But they waited up for us, which was lovely, and we stayed up even later!

In the morning we took a little longer than we thought to get going, especially after discovering that it was in fact -35ºC outside, the coldest we’d ever experienced… So it was NOT pleasant getting into the car (or getting TO the car, which was just on the street), but the car gradually warmed up as we drove to Fernie for a day at the skifield! Thankfully the weather forecast was pretty accurate, and Fernie was much warmer, at a ‘mild’ (also known as freezing…) -20 to -24ºC! Which is somehow fine to walk around in (in the appropriate clothing of course!), but feels  LOT colder when you’re up in the air on ski lifts, or coming down a run! However, Fernie was amazing – absolutely stunning scenery, although we don’t have much to show for it, and an incredible snow field! It is beyond gigantic, and even the ‘Lower Mountain’ part, which is just one sixth of the total mountain, was about the same size as most snow fields we’d been to! Nice long runs, and ridiculously awesome snow! Already in the season there is a 160cm snow pack, and lots of powder too! Also, due to the weather, and it being a weekday, there was virtually NO ONE there – about 30 or so cars in the parking lot! Seeing as this was Fernie, which people come to all the way from Australia specifically for the snow, this was pretty amazing!

The 'Crowsnest' from the Crowsnest Highway, heading to Fernie

Fernie in the distance

Sun on the mountains in the distance, from Fernie

At the top of one of the lower chairlifts

Empty!

So empty! Lots of runs were still perfectly groomed by the end of the day!

Beautiful snow covered pines at Fernie

Powdery runs through the trees

We ended up only having a half day at Fernie, by the time we got there on the scary roads, but we’re sure glad we went!!

On the way back to Pincher Creek it just got colder and colder, which seemed odd as Pincher Creek is often much warmer than many other places, with a lot less snow (which certainly is NOT the case at the moment!). So we were pretty thankful we were inside the car (and therefore didn’t have to worry about the windchill factor making things even colder!) when we passed through an area that was -40ºC, not far at all from Pincher Creek! It was almost a relief when we got back to Trent and Dena’s place and it was ‘only’ -35ºC! Almost…

The next morning we played our last game of Saturday morning hockey in Pincher Creek, then had another lovely pancake breakfast with most of the Lewis clan at Ken and Dorothy’s. After a couple of games (way nicer to be inside appreciating their gorgeous views, than outside when it’s that cold!) we went via Robin and Kim’s place just to drop off Jane, which turned into staying for lunch and a bit longer, as things do! We headed back for a much needed catch up on sleep, then drove the icy roads back to Didsbury!

If this doesn't show at all, it is our car saying that it's -40 outside...

Snow covered trees looking more like ice cream cones, in Pincher Creek

Lake Louise – 5th December

Well the snow just keeps coming here in Didsbury, and elsewhere around Alberta, just for us it seems! (well no one else is quite so happy about it, anyway!! I guess it means winter could be here to stay for even longer…) There are some really deep snow drifts around the place, and LOTS of snow shovelling being done around the town (thankful for farm machinery here instead!)

Awesome red barn in Didsbury

Knee deep going to put some stuff in the burn pile...

Serious snow drifts in the back yard

Snow plowing, farm style

Sunset over the snow-drifted tree farm

On Thursday 5^th December we headed out to Lake Louise in the Rockies for a day of winter fun, and first up after the beautiful drive there, we hired some snow shoes to explore some trails near the Lake. But first we stopped off by the lake and admired its frozenness, and even though we’d seen many photos and knew what to expect, it’s still somewhat of a shock to see the beautiful blue/green lake we saw in summer covered completely in white, with an ice rink on it!

Coming into Canmore, driving into the Rockies

Majestic mountain over Banff

Typical wildlife crossing in the Rockies, with majestic scenery

Frozen Lake Louise!

Cute frozen plants at Lake Louise

Snow shoeing was pretty cool! I guess it’s not the most exciting of things to do in winter here, as it’s essentially just walking, but it’s great to be able to walk the same tracks as in summer, and just walk on top of most of the snow drifts, rather than sinking up to your knee every step, and getting sick of it very quickly! Going downhill we found was fantastic especially, as you could just take massive steps and they were so grippy you could go really quick! The scenery was absolutely beautiful, and pretty much exactly what you’d imagine of a Canadian forest in winter! Things were dark green/grey and white, with all of the pine trees speckled with big clumps of soft powdery snow J The view from the top of the trail we walked was the same as in summer, yet so different – a white Lake Louise from above, with the colour subtly sucked out of everything, but so pretty still! However, there was a slight downside… It was COLD. As in -30ºC or so almost all of the day. COLD, right?!

Lawrie with snow shoes :)

The trail (this was actually uphill, although doesn't show...)

Frozen but happy :

It's winter in Canada!!!

Frozen Lake Louise from above

Close up of the Fairmont Chateau and the ice rinks

Still very excited about the winter & snow :)

There were a few reasons why we knew it was this cold…

1. The obvious – it is winter in Canada, after all

2. The temperature guage in the car said -33ºC before we started, and -31ºC when we finished…

3. When we stepped out of the car, our noses froze, and when we breathed in through our mouths, it felt like we couldn’t get enough air, because lungs don’t seem to be made to cope with air that cold!

4. Our eyelashes clumped together

5. My hair went white wherever it was exposed to the open air!!

Although it was rather chilly at the time...

Very chilly, in fact! Not such a fan of white hair, myself!

After snowshoeing we raced over to the lake with our ice skates to have our first go out skating outdoors ON A LAKE! We were pretty excited! Even when we realised how much bumpier it is than skating on a regular ice rink, and how much colder… Lake Louise has such beautiful surroundings, and on this day there was almost no one there to share it with us (just one Australian family who were struggling to stay upright on the ice!) – possibly because it was so cold…

Ice skating on Lake Louise

Lawrie skating backwards

Us on Lake Louise

Ahh winter :)

Lawrie chilling out on the ice...\

I walked further out onto the lake, which still felt a little iffy, as there was no one else out there (just follow the footprints, they said… And look out for dark areas, or creaking, or slushy ice – however, a little difficult when it’s covered in half a foot of snow! J) – was pretty excited to stand in the middle (well OK, not even nearly the middle, but still well out from the shore!) of a lake!

On Lake Louise!

We were planning to somehow fit in a hike to a hopefully frozen waterfall at Johnson’s Canyon, also in the Rockies, but as it gets dark around 4:30-5pm, there wasn’t much hope for that by this stage! So we decided to try again another day, and enjoy a hot chocolate and warm up instead, before getting back into the freezing car for the drive back…

Whole bunch of elk on a lake on the way back