I don’t recall such a snowy February here in Calgary…we’ve definitely got good snowshoeing weather at the moment. The thing is, the risk of avalanches in the mountains is massive right now and sticking to safe terrain is crucial. Fullerton Loop, outside of Bragg Creek, fits the bill perfectly: it’s a no-risk snowshoe trek, fast and easy and short (just over 6 kilometres). It’s fairly heavily trafficked right now, so if you don’t have snowshoes, you can simply hike it (and at this very moment, you probably don’t need microspikes).
We headed out there last Sunday morning and it snowed the whole time; in fact, Highway 66 wasn’t even ploughed when we arrived at the trailhead, beating the crowds that arrived later in the day. For us, it was snow…trees…quiet. Blissful.
Flowery Prose 
Microspikes? I’ve never heard of such a thing. I think they must be like studded snow tires for feet; I’ll go have a look. 🙂
Yes, you’re pretty much spot-on with that description! A must on icy trails here….
Yes, best to be careful. Beautiful, though.
Absolutely!
That spruce is rad! I have never seen any of the North American spruce in their natural environments. I do not even know which one that is. A few of them happen to live in that area. The firs are also excellent.
I’m not sure I have the ability to tell the different spruce species apart…I would need an ID guide with me in the field. I do have one and ought to pack it when I head out but I always forget to. On this particular trip, I was astonished by the amount of pines I saw – more than I’m used to seeing in that region. Seemed to be very localized and I want to do a bit more research.
There are probably more specie of pine there than spruce and fir, although I do not know. I do not watch pine much. We have only a few here, and they are so distinct from each other, and do not mix much. The Monterey pine lives in only three colonies, away from other pines. In our region, only the ponderosa pine and the knobcone pine mix, and they are very easy to distinguish. The ponderosa pine is very big, and the knobcone is rather small.
Excellent information, thank you so much! I am inspired to do some more research on the species here….
We have had a snowy winter here in southern Michigan – missed the big storms though! Hiking in snowshoes is not an easy matter – at least for me!
I’m glad you missed the worst weather there! It HAS definitely been a snowy winter in many places – even some areas that don’t typically get snow! Eeep…even Greece and Italy….
Wandelen met sneeuwschoenen kan spannend zijn maar geen 6 km.
🙂 It wasn’t too bad as the trail was pretty packed down and we didn’t have to break our own path. When the snow is deep it can be very tiresome, very quickly.
A short hike of 6 kilometres? My golly, I’d be finished after 1 kilometre.
Jean
🙂 Not much elevation there, at least! And we didn’t have to break trail – THAT is hard work, for sure!
Looks as though you are making the most of the weather!
Definitely trying to…it’s been a tough winter – so much snow and cold. I heard that you haven’t had the best weather in Christchurch, either; I hope there isn’t any flooding near you. Take care, hope all is well.
Lots of rain but we were okay.
So glad to hear!
Beautiful photo! Being the first to walk in new snow is heavenly!
Yes, it’s the perfect thing! Love it!
do you ever snowshoe off trail into deep snow Sheryl? I used a pair of CDN army snowshoes.They were Algonquin in style & had magnesium frames with steel cord webbing.We use to joke that If I wanted to help start a fire all I needed to do was whittle off from the tail some shavings.
I use to hike around Bragg creek.Out to the caves.
Those military-issue snowshoes sound amazing! I love the joke about their potential fire-starting capabilities! So fun! Mine are just lightweight aluminum frames, but I’ve had them quite a few seasons now and I’m pretty pleased with them. I don’t go too much off path into the deep snow but when the powder is just perfect, you absolutely cannot resist!
Now I need to look up where the caves are in Bragg Creek because I don’t know…I’m going to Google this right now! Very intrigued….
those caves can have H2S pooling in the lower areas,so be careful.
Absolutely will! Thanks so much!