Joining on this hike is Shauntae! We were eager to hit the trail. Parked at the Allstones Lake staging area. Snowshoes and crampons were not going to be left behind on this journey. The hike begins just across the highway and heads up the meandering trail through the forest. The forest is thick, there are no views to take in until you make it to the first clearing.
This clearing takes you back into the the trees. This is where we can look back and see the shine of Abraham Lake. Windswept and mostly clear of snow.
The next section of trees does not last long and you are treated to the view you were waiting for.
The trail got a little more difficult; hiking the mountain side with no trail blazed. Route finding skills came in handy here. The snow was terribly deep in certain parts, post holing in my 30 inch snowshoes. The snow also had a crust on the top that caught your snowshoe as your right foot stepped up. Our pace was not fast on this section. Here we are moving up the mountain to get on the GPS track we are following.
The peaks across the valley looked daunting. I can't count the amount of times we stopped and stared in wonder.
There is a fork in the trail, the left takes you to Allstones Lake, right takes you to the peak of Allstones Ridge. Allstones Mountain is located directly behind the peak centered in the middle of this next shot. Mount Abraham is the peak to the left. We took the right turn and we finally found solid ground and ditched the snowshoes to make our way up the rocky surface to the peak.
This is not quite the summit, but the first step. The summit is not at all far from this spot. I can't say it enough, always take the time to look back. Staring at the ground going up a mountain doesn't compare to taking a moment to be still, and appreciate the world around you.
No photos were taken at the very top. The winds began to howl while we were having our summit beers. We ducked in on the East side of the summit to find cover from the winds. The Play Dead IPA from Yellow Dog Brewery hit the spot. So did the PB&J sandwich. Shauntae had a Strawberry Milkshake IPA. Very interesting!
Heading back down, I trailed behind and caught a few shots of Shauntae with a majestic background!
The sun decided to make a strong appearance. Things were warming up! It was a lot easier coming back down on the trail we had blazed.
The skies were incredibly clear to grab some shots of our neighbouring mountain.
We made it back to the first clearing. It was a quick descent after walking the side hill.
On the way up through the first clearing, I yelled out "CHAAAIIIIRS!". Shauntae thought I was having a stroke or something until I pointed our the red chairs! We agreed we would sit in those chairs on the descent! They were just the right amount of buried for us to recline back and get our feet up on the snow.
Not a bad view
Made it back to the highway! The sun was out and the mountainside reflecting the heat down to the road. Time to take off some layers and do some obligatory highway photos. #InstagramersInTheWild
The rest of the Mountain Hooligans in this shot would make for an awesome album cover!
We wanted to check out the lake. I do have my skates, stick and pucks in the car and I was tempted to get out there! However, the climb down to the lake where we were would have been treacherous. Ice Climbing gear would have been needed to get down and back up the icy banks. Could have Red Bull Crashed Ice my way down, but getting back up would have been an issue.
Look at that ice just begging for it...
That was the end of Allstones, but we were not finished with this day. We took a trip up to Crescent Falls. Ice climbers were down below doing their thing!
The sun was shining bright and we could feel its warmth feeding our souls. This was the end of our Adventure. Back to the car and we hit the road back to Edmonton!
