Snowshoeing Day 2! This time my U of C group and I did the Penstock Loop, which is by Lower Kananaskis Lake at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (in Alberta, Canada). It was a bit more challenging than last week’s Marsh Loop, not just for distance but also because we encountered a few hills this time! It wasn’t challenging because of the snowshoes however; if anything, they made the hills easier in that you can get a good grip with them. No sliding here! If the trail was challenging, it was because I’m totally out of shape! It wasn’t super difficult though, for me this was a good step up from last week’s trail.
There was signage for the Penstock Loop and I noticed there are actually snowshoeing signs on it as well, unlike the Marsh Loop. I guess that means it is a real snowshoeing trail, haha! There were lots of other humans snowshoeing on the pathway, along with joggers and hikers with their dogs. We saw a couple of guys with fat tire mountain bikes that looked super cool! I should have taken a picture, they even stopped to chat with us for a bit. Oh well, next time! Sometimes I just don’t think to take a picture.
I noticed as well that the sign says the trail is 4.7 km yet my fitbit mapped a 7.7 km route, and I’m not sure why that is. Maybe we walked more than the Penstock trail itself, or maybe it has something to do with poor GPS for the area on my phone and the way it logged the trip? Something to look into further at some point! Makes me all the more curious about how GPS actually works.
The weather was roughly the same temperature as last time, around the freezing mark. It tried to snow off and on, not a ton of blue sky out there. I brought pretty much the same gear again, minus the second pair of mitts. The neck warmer was amazing against the occasional wind, this is going to be a ‘staple’ item for any trip I take to the mountains, it makes a world of difference for staying warm! This time I wore my fleece zip-up sweater with my base layer and down jacket and while I was definitely warmer, I was not overheating. I did sweat a bit but did not get cold when we stopped for breaks. On future trips if the temperature is around the same, I’ll probably keep the fleece layer in my pack.
…And that’s a wrap for Day 2! I’d be interested in coming back to this trail to hike or attempt mountain biking on it when the snow is gone.
