Since it warmed up after the Polar Vortex last week, we headed out to the mountains for a hike. However, everyone in Calgary must have had the same plans. We tried to go to Grotto Canyon, but the parking lot was all jammed up, so came up with a Plan B. We headed down Hwy. 1A back to Jura Creek Trail.
Jura Creek is a 6.9 km out and back trail in Bow Valley Provincial Park, which follows along the canyon. However, it's a great trail because even if you can't make it all the way to 'the end' you still get to enjoy the main feature of the trail along the way, which are the narrow pathways through the canyon walls. The wind was quite strong today, but the canyon was well protected from the wind.
The path was snow covered and packed, so it was easy to walk with just boots on. We didn't hit any icy areas, but the combination of enough snow cover and not going very far into the canyon were probably the main reasons for that. However, crampons or poles wouldn't hurt as there are sections where you might be walking on ice. The kids did enjoy using their hiking poles throughout the hike.
The main excitement of the hike was finding some large rocks that could function as a slide!
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