I'd stayed at one of the rental yurts at Manitoba in August 2014 and wanted to check it out in winter. This time we stayed in Spirit Walker Yurt, which has a propane heater. We also got to take advantage of the brand new sauna and meet others staying in Toba's Yurt.
I'd hiked from Baldy to Ptarmigan Valley before, but never up Ptarmigan. Going this direction, you get good mountain views once you're out of the forest, which takes up the first couple of miles. When the snow is deep enough, which it hasn't been for the past couple of years, this trail is open to snowmachines. But on this bright, sunny Saturday, we saw only three other hikers and felt like we had the valley to ourselves. We hiked as far as the bridge below where an old ski resort used to be--the original purpose of the road that leads up the valley.
Distance one way: about 4.5 miles This has been such a low-snow year that the Turnagain Arm trail has been melted out nearly all winter. We hiked from Rainbow to Potter and only had to use our ice cleats the last mile or so. The rest of the trail was either dry ground or muddy.
Distance one-way: 7.6 miles |
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July 2016
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