As 2022 is just around the corner, time to share what my plans are for the coming year! 2021 was a bit of a rebound year from COVID as I really only took up trips in the last half of the year and none by plane (after no travel at all in 2020 from March onwards!). Lots planned for 2022 provided COVID is kept at bay – haven’t set everything here in stone but here are the main challenges I hope to tackle this year. My brother also recently got into hiking himself, so I’m hoping to be able to hang out with him for some of these as well.
Intro Mountaineering Course in Alberta
This is my big cornerstone trip for 2022, owing to its very high cost and time commitment! I just booked a 6-day course with Yamnuska, which is one of the more well-known, established larger names in mountaineering courses/expeditions in western Canada. This course looks like it’s a great introduction to mountaineering and, based on my current experience level in the backcountry, a perfect fit for me.
The course is near Canmore, AB, and my company has an office in Calgary, so I will probably take a few days either before or after and meet my western colleagues there. I’ll be attending the June 19th to 24th course (fairly early in the season, so the snow conditions should be great) and am already super-excited about it. Another great benefit of doing one of these courses is to meet like-minded people who could be potential future climbing partners.
Canada High Points 3 & 4
With the mountaineering course on the menu, it might be trickier to find time to do any high points in 2022. I was thinking to do Baldy Mountain (Manitoba) next, but it’s actually a very simple high point (you can drive to the summit!) so it’s not worth a trip just for that. So I will aim to grab the last two Maritime highpoints (Nova Scotia and PEI) in the same trip. Will drive out for this one (likely in the fall), and make a stop in Halifax to visit my grandma while I’m at it!
Multi-Night Hiking Trips
Two places have my eye in 2022 – Killarney Provincial Park and Gaspésie National Park. I’ve done a bit of canoeing/portaging in Killarney, but this park features one of the more intense multi-day hiking routes east of the Rockies – the La Cloche Silhouette Trail, which is ~75km long and has a ton of vertical. This trip at the very least is a 4 day endeavor, possibly 5, and looks incredible. I’m aiming to do this one in May to avoid the bugs, and hopefully bring my brother along.
Gaspésie boasts the highest mountains in the eastern provinces save the Torngat Mountains in northern Quebec/Labrador (which feature the QB/NFLD highpoint). Looks like there are lots of great trails here, so I’ll hopefully try and take advantage of that at some point if I can. Might have to wait until 2023 for this since I can only commit to so many long trips requiring time off work!
Lots of Weekend 1-2 nighters
These are super cheap, don’t require me to take any time off, and can be done any weekend, so I’ll look into doing 1-2 per month. Algonquin is probably the best place, though I may return to Frontenac or find another park within reasonable driving distance from Toronto. Would probably do these between April and October inclusive.
Lots more to see on Algonquin’s Western Uplands trail, and there are a couple more trails in Algonquin that fit the bill. And now, seeing the US has finally started opening up the land border with Canada to non-essential travelers, I’ll hopefully be finally able to get in some hiking trips in the Adirondacks (NY) and Green Mountains (Vermont) provided I can get it done within 72 hours and COVID settles a bit more.
Return to Climbing
I got into indoor climbing a few months before COVID hit, buying my own shoes, chalk and harness. Definitely want to start doing this again (the gym, Rock Oasis, is only about a mile from home), get into lead climbing, and perhaps try to do some outdoor stuff as well. These skills are definitely important especially as I plan to do some more advanced climbs (class 3-4) in the future. I also don’t go to the gym (not a good thing) so this will be a nice little bit of upper body and strength work for cross-training. I plan to start this up again in January (2x per week) or as soon as cases in Ontario decline a bit to be safe.
Trail Races
I’m really big into running, and while I enjoy road races, being out in nature is a whole other beast. I got into trail running a bit more during the pandemic – there’s a really great trail at Crothers Woods in the Don Valley, a few km north of me, which is popular for mountain biking and trail running. Some great trails up north in York Region where my parents live as well. Races sound like fun, so I’ll look into trying this out as my schedule permits.
Winter Activities – Snowshoeing, Winter Camping, Skiing
I don’t have winter camping gear, but may do a winter trip with friends if schedule permits. I also bought snowshoes last year and had a ton of fun playing in the snow…will try to take advantage of the fresh snowfall when I can. I also want to go skiing again – I used to do this a lot especially when I did ski patrol. Haven’t skied since Feb 2019 so it’s been a while!
Any other suggestions on outdoor adventures? Let me know!
Veg 'n' Alpine 