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Blueberry Hill
Kananaskis, Alberta
February 28, 1999
Distance: 6.3 km
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 377 m
In the the summer, Blueberry Hill is an uninspiring plod that takes a long approach using West Elk Pass trail to reach the summit. In the winter, the snowshoe trip is equally humdrum, but mercifully shorter, taking a more direct approach from Kananaskis Upper Lake day-use area. Because of trees, we could see little after reaching the hilltop.
On the way back, I was injured by a snow cookie, a huge lump of snow that hung in a tree. This being one of my first snowshoe trips, I underestimated the danger of being struck by one of these. When I got too close to one weighing hundreds of pounds, it hit my back and pushed me straight down, causing my knees to buckle in a fraction of a second. So fast, that I felt the tendons in the back of knees stretch. If you ever stretched a plastic bag, that's what it felt like. Fortunately I recovered in a couple of weeks and had no lasting damage.
View from the top Blueberry Hill
I'm standing next to the snow cookie that fell on my back