VE6AB Mobile Ops

Trails of The Alberta Rockies

With a dusting of snow overnight and the landscape looking stunning in its fresh covering, I felt a need to get out and go for a hike.

Arriving at the trailhead for a frozen waterfall located several kilometers away, and the sun still too low to have cleared the valley ridge to the east, it would be a half hour or so before the sun was high enough in the sky to make that happen.

Still it was a beautiful morning with the temperature sitting at -8 Celsius as I prepared to get underway.

In the photo I have just activated my ABWX aprs weather station located in the cargo bay of my mobile, including having activated the digipeater as well, allowing my UV-3R/TNC to keep me connected to the outside world with the help of my mobile.

I was fortunate enough for my mobile to be within the footprint of the Pigeon Mountain digipeater, located about 15 kilometers west/northwest of my location, and it was hearing my beacons fine as I stayed connected to the APRS network via my mobile.



I can remember a time when this road did not exist, and when I think about it, that was about 40 years ago.
At the time the road ended at the Powderface Trail junction near Sibbald Lake, and from there if you had a good 4X4 like the 1972 Bronco that I owned at the time, you could bushwack your way west all the way to highway 40.

The trail followed Sibbald creek that you forded or drove through for many miles (we didn't use kilometers then) before arriving at the valley floor located down this draw looking over the roof of my Avalanche.

The distance from the Powderface Trail junction to the Kananaskis Lakes road is 15 kilometers.
Today you can drive it in a half hour, but in those days it took most of the day fighting mud, creek crossings, climbing over boulders, and maybe winching.
Of course we were in no hurry as we always carried camping gear as well as our fishing rods, and if night caught us, so be it as we were never in any hurry to get back to Calgary.

Also at the time, Kananaskis Country did not exist, and the Kananaskis Lakes road was 35 miles of gravel and Bailey bridges from highway 1 to the upper and lower lakes, and we loved it!

By the way this road is graveled when it is not covered in snow, and a dirty dusty drive with dust hanging in the air for miles.
I hope it stays that way as it keeps the sunday drivers off of it!

Just so you know, you are allowed to park on the road when hiking in the area, as they do not plow any of the takeouts.
The same thing applies on the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail south of Canmore as well.

Click on the photo for a closer look....

2014hamradio.mobilegearmotorscrewdriverAPRSweatherstationantennaradioanalyzertransceiverhanditalkicomputerbondingbraidcoaxferritebeadsTNC