Fri, May 1 2009, Sat, May 2 2009 - Shunda & Coliseum Mountains (View Original Event Details)
|  |
Well, it was a great 2 day trip to Nordegg! The weather could not have been better, beautiful blue skies, and warm termperatures. The two vehicles met up on the road to the Shunda Mountain trailhead about 1:30pm. Snow on the road prevented us from parking at the actual TH but regardless, we hiked up an extra 2km on the snow covered road, past the gate marking the true TH, and up the trail to reach the summit. We had a good time enjoying our snacks, chatting, and the wonderful panorama of snow capped mountains and grassy prairie to the east.
After Shunda Mountain, we got to the hostel where we cleaned up and enjoyed a wonderful dinner thanks to Nancy. The hostel stay was enjoyable. A few got to enjoy the hot tub.
Our second day was Coliseum Mountain. With a lower trailhead elevation, we were able to park at the trailhead. With only an inch of snow on the trail, we made decent time in the lower forest. However, as we gained elevation, so did the snow level increase. The snow did hold fairly well for us with the occasional post hole. We enjoyed a lunch stop near some boulders with an excellent view. Once back on the trail we soon reached a point in which our group split momentarily. After a bit of re-grouping and such, it was Ron, Lenka, and Jeff that continued on to reach the true summit of Coliseum while the remaining participants got up to a false peak. We all made it back down to the vehicles albeit in two groups.
All in all, it was an excellent 2-day trip. I cannot say thank-you enough to Nancy for her dinner! It was delicious. The drivers certainly need to be thanked. Our trips would never be possible without our kind drivers. And want to say thank-you to everyone for coming with me to Nordegg! Even though the conditions were not as ideal as maybe one would like, I was very impressed with the group and the desire to hike in the snow. I look forward to more trips this season, and hopefully a little less snow :)
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.