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Ministik Loop Hike From Deadfall Alley to the UofA Road

·932 words·5 mins
Ministik Hiking Geocaching

No this isn't a random shot of the bush; it's what most of the trail looked like today
No this isn't a random shot of the bush; it's what most of the trail looked like today
In retrospect, when I think about my decision to hike the trails in the eastern Ministik today, I question my common sense. The temperature was forecast to rise to 32°C today. On top of that, I knew from experience that the Ministik trails explode with growth in the summer.

Either one of these factors should have stopped me from walking those very seldom traveled trails, but I was so in need of a walk in the wilds that I forgot common sense and went anyway.

It’s difficult not to sink into a “whine-fest” while describing my experience today. It’s just that the experience I was hoping for and the actual experience were so very different. I intended on practicing the mindset of “being in the moment” as I walked, not necessarily walking to get somewhere but walking simply to experience the moment. As the saying goes,

Do what you’re doing when you’re doing it;

Be where you are when you’re there.

But the reality today was that the trails were so overgrown that by far the majority of my attention was spent either trying to make sure I didn’t face-plant by tripping over a fallen log or deciding if I was still on a trail or indeed bushwhacking off-trail.

I slowly made my way though, and after finding a geocache, reached “Dead Fall Alley” and followed that with head bowed, constantly staring at the ground to see when I should step over the numerous fallen trees the “Alley” is named for.

Eventually, I arrived at what I call “The Northeast Passage” and almost didn’t recognize it because of the amount of vegetation spilling out onto what is usually an ample trail here. A large gate that stood in tact when I first encountered it in 2015 is slowly being broken down and reclaimed by nature.

The Slow Demise of the Northeast Passage Gate
First Time at the GateNature Begins to Erase the GateNature is Enveloping the Gate
April, 2015 - the gate leaning, but intact
April, 2015 - the gate leaning, but intact
June, 2022 - the gate smashed by fallen tree
June, 2022 - the gate smashed by fallen tree
Sept 2024 - nature seems to be enveloping the gate
Sept 2024 - nature seems to be enveloping the gate
After finding another geocache along better trails to the south, I decided to continue with my original plan of walking west in a clockwise loop toward the U of A Access Road. And my goodness, if I thought the first leg of the journey was tough, this section was on another level of challenge.

Most of the images I took today are completely uninteresting shots of walls of vegetation in front of me. I’m sorry about that, but that’s all I had in front of me to take a photo of! This section is when my fun-o-meter1 went into negative numbers, and the most common thought knocking around in my brain was, “What have I gotten myself into now?”

A sweat mark left after I sat against a log for a while
A sweat mark left after I sat against a log for a while
At first, there were vestiges of a former trail in this area, but in time any trace of a trail disappeared and I was simply relying on walking in the right direction always. Despite attempting to focus on what was underfoot I managed to drop both boots straight into a former beaver trench filled with stinky swamp water. Oh joy. But what can you do but go on?

Heat exhaustion started affect me. It was tough pushing through all this vegetation, like wading through 1 km of thick pea soup in 32°C heat. I started to take more frequent rests in any shade I could find and I was so glad I’d brought enough of water to at least try to keep hydrated. My body was telling me that I was a losing battle though.

 

 

Ahh! I'd reached to the U of A Access Road
Ahh! I'd reached to the U of A Access Road
Like the gate at the "Northeast Passage", a feeling demise was weighing on me: I was being broken down by nature too. That's what made arriving at three simple trail-side posts in the ground so special because I knew I'd reached the U of A Station Access Road and now could simply walk freely on a road. This last portion was a hike, and not a constant struggle like I'd experienced for the past few hours.

And the meters now seemed to fly by until I reached the parking spot again.

My Route Today
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The image markers show where I took photos today. Click the marker to view the photo.

Gallery#

Most of the photos I took today are clearly of nothing but masses of the green - and sometimes bristling with thistle-fluff white - vegitation in front of me. That doesn’t make for very interesting photos, but it does document the reality of my experience today.


  1. I thought of the word “fun-o-meter” while on the trail, and even thought it might be original. After returning home, however, I looked it up, and it seems it was already thought of long ago . I ↩︎

 

Grant S Wilson
Author
Grant S Wilson

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