Freya's first hike.

A winter hike in Kananaskis Country

When J’s Dad was visiting in mid-December, we took him to a well-known hiking spot that is still one of our go-to favourites for a last-minute “want-to-be-outside-but-don’t-want-to-spend-hours-researching-trails” jaunt (in fact, you will probably recognise the mountain range and treeline from other posts I’ve written). The temperatures must have been -15ºC or colder, there was wind chill, very little sun and ankle or knee-deep snow (which makes walking a one step forward, slide two steps backwards kind of game) during our 4 hour adventure in the woods.

This being Freya’s first hike at only 10 weeks old, we heeded the advice of other dog parents and stayed cautious with over-exerting her. Until they are fully grown, pups are not yet supposed to be going on such long hikes or being over-exerted in order to prevent long-term injuries as their growth plates develop. Further to that, this may have been the longest period of time we will have had her outside in such cold temperatures. The three of us took turns carrying her and putting her in our jackets to keep her warm whenever she would start shivering or showing signs of exhaustion (when you make it to the end of this post, you’ll see my favourite photo of her burying herself in J’s arms).

So, without further ado, here’s some photos from our day taking our new pup and J’s father on a near 9km hike that was mostly uphill on the way in, and definitely cold enough.