Minnewanka Winter Bikepacking 2016

“Hey dad, you know how I sometimes complain that it’s freezing when the kitchen is 18ºC at home?” Tadhg and I were just finishing up our day’s ride on Lake Minnewanka from the LM 11 campground to just past the end of the lake at the first of the Ghost lakes. It was -15ºC, not that cold, but significantly colder than our home.

We started out on Friday afternoon after finalizing our planned destination on Friday morning. Our original destination was going to be the site of a snowmobile rally, and though I never mind having snowmobilers on the trail with me and offering me beer, I thought hundreds might intrude on the tranquility I was seeking.

The trail was in great condition, but we decided we would make better time and see more of the mountains by riding on the lake. I could see skate ski tracks on the lake and if snowpack is hard enough to skate ski, it is hard enough to fatbike.  We indeed moved quickly along the ice, and a scant 3 hours after leaving the parking lot, we found ourselves at the LM11 campground where we had booked both nights. LM11 in this case is a bit of a misnomer in that we only rode about 8km to get to it – I don’t call it cheating since if we took a canoe or kayak in the summer, we would travel a similar distance.

With sunset at around 5pm, we had an hour or so to ride in the dark, or at least twilight and the sunset over the mountains reminded me of how much I like this place.  We had camp set up in a very short time. Having cleaned my stove on Thursday meant that I had boiling water from snow in very short order. Our dehydrated meal was home made refried beans and cheddar which is always popular with Tadhg and I have to admit is quite delicious.

We spent some time off and on during the evening walking out on to the lake to look at the stars and watch for aurora. Though the aurora did not appear for us, the sky was clear and we were treated to an impressive array of stars. Tadhg spent some time speculating on their trajectories – different than his sister who invents and names constellations.

In spite of the fact that we were sleeping by 10pm, Tadhg and I managed to sleep in till 10 in the morning. It was nearly noon by the time we loaded up the bikes for a ride down the lake.  Though we were planning to return that night, I made sure to bring enough to spend the night in case something went wrong. The temperature was -18ºC when we left the campground – not very cold, but well within the realm of dangerous to the unprepared.

We made it to the end of Lake Minnewanka where it drains to a river and then a series of Ghost lakes. We rode on the river bank as far as the first Ghost Lake and decided that was a good point to turn back. In hindsight, we both probably had plenty of reserve energy, but when you are that far away from rescue, taking chances is probably not the wisest choice.

At the LM20 campground, we saw some fresh cougar tracks. We didn’t see the cougar, so it was either gone or hunting us.

The east end of Lake Minnewanka is in my opinion the more impressive end of the lake. I highly recommend it as a fun destination.

We were back at camp and done eating by 5:30 on saturday, so with heavy clouds in the sky, our entertainment recourse was to lie in the tent reading. Fortunately, I had brought the book I am currently reading to Tadhg and more fortunately, we were not that far along in it because after 3 hours of straight reading, we made substantial progress.

Our Sunday morning started early for Tadhg with us getting vertical at 8:30. The sky had cleared and the temperature was moving upward with it being above -10 when we got up and warming as the morning progressed. By the time we hit the trail at 10:45, it was only single digits below freezing.

For the trip out, we decided to take the trail since it looked to be almost rideable.  In fact, as I pushed ahead and rode 20% of the trail and pushed the rest, Tadhg was merrily riding along in my bike’s track.

We took to the lake at the washout next to LM9, and rode the lake for the km or so to LM 8 where we returned to the trail. From there, the trail was fast and comfortable for great riding all the way to the parking lot.