Banff trip Part 2 - Kicking Horse to Lake Louise August 1, 2009

Day Two saw me leave the campsite in Golden and head for Banff with a number of stops along the way.

STOP#1 KICKING HORSE REST AREA AND BRIDGE VIEW

For years the trip through the Kicking Horse Canyon from Golden to near Lake Louise was always a winding twisting drive up through the canyon with a couple of very narrow bridge crossings - it was a highway death trap - in the past few years the Fed and Prov governments have been funding its gradual four laning and bridge replacement - this rest area give you a good view of the new Bridge which is a bit of an engineering marvel - it cost something like $300M but has reduced the traffic accident rate substantially.

STOP #2 NATURAL BRIDGE - YOHO NATIONAL PARK.

I had hoped to stop at both the Hoodoos and the Spiral tunnels but when i got to the Hoodoos campsite it has basically been closed and there is only an overflow area and therefore the walk to the Hoodoos was considerably longer - as for the Spiral Tunnels - too much traffic to take the time to stop and see the trains goes through the tunnels.

As I was turning off the main highway onto the Emerald Lake Drive - there were 3 moose making there way to some water at the turnoff - because of some construction there wasn't a safe area to pull off and get some pictures.

Just up the road from the turnoff is the Natural Bridge.

STOP #3 EMERALD LAKE - A GEM IN THE ROCKIES AND A HIKE I REALLY ENJOYED.

When I arrived at the Lake I wasn't sure just what I was going to do - the views weren't that sharp because of some smoke haze and the position of the sun but I started to hike in a clockwise direction - before I knew it I was at the upper end of the Lake so i just continued along the remainder of the Lake - it is about 5.2 KM around the lake and the trail is flat but on the east side it is much less developed - also a lot more people were arriving as a lot of canoes started to dot the colorful lake - with the sun higher in the sky the views started to increase greatly - there was also a good flower show which will be reflected in the next stop.

STOP #4 WILDFLOWERS IN BLOOM IN THE ROCKIES.

While walking along the Lake there was a good display of alpine wildflowers - I will let the pictures tell the story.

STOP #5 HIKE TO HAMILTON FALLS.

This is advertised as a short hike - less than a km up to a waterfall and then on to a lake - it climbs most of the way and I was more than a little disappointed with the end result - while the canyon wall is impressive the water flow was quite low.

STOP #6 LAKE LOUISE IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR.

My final stop of the day before heading into Banff was at Lake Louise - as the traffic seemed to be back up getting to the parking lot I parked on the road and walked the last km to the Lake - turns out one of the reasons that the traffic was backed up is that Parks were checking each vehicle for their Park Pass.

I walked around and down the lake before returning to the truck and heading for Banff. The pictures tell the story of the beauty of the area and why it is so popular.

This last picture is taken along the Bow Valley Parkway - the slower and more scenic way to Banff - it wasn't far from here that traffic had stopped to watch a bear - unfortunately by the time the cameras came out it had wandered into the forest.

Thus ends Part Two of this trip.

Part three will be of my time in Banff - including town scenes, a walk to Bow Falls and the floral beauty of Cascade Gardens.

Rockies trip 2009 - on the road to Banff

PREVIEW OF THE TRIP.

On Friday July 31, 2009 I set out for Banff, Alberta and the Banff Y Mountain Lodge to meet up with my hiking group to do Camp 4 with the Skyline Hikers of the Canadian Rockies - I am planning on taking two days to reach Banff with a couple of stops along the way. The weather is still very warm and this is some smoke haze as I make the trip out the Fraser Valley stopping in Abbotsford for both breakfast and gas and then it's up the Coquihalla to Merritt where I decide to take the more scenic Highway 5A into Kamloops and from there it is on towards Revelstoke and a possible overnight stay.

STOP#1- THE LAST SPIKE REST STOP AT CRAIGELLACHIE.

As luck would have it just as I started to explore the site a CPR freight train goes roaring by creating a different sense of the meaning of the this achievement in Canadian nation building.

Having made good time into Revelstoke I decided to head over the Rogers Pass and on towards Golden and the Kicking Horse Pass - which brought me to my second stop in Rogers Pass.

STOP #2 - LOOP BROOK TRESTLES DISPLAY, ROGERS PASS AREA, GLACIER NATIONAL PARK.

This display provides a very good example of the early 20th century challenges in trying to build a railroad from coast to coast - long replaced by tunnels through Rogers Pass they are a great reminder of the our railroading past.

STOP #3 ALPINE FLOWERS ALONG THE WAY.

While not taken at any one place these few flowers do indicate that the season is right for viewing them. Won't try and identify them as I will probably get some or all of them wrong.

The recent warm weather has brought them out in profusion .

While I didn't capture any photos I did see a Rocky Mountain sheep along the side of the Highway, three moose, three deer and one black bear as I made my way to Banff.

STOP #4 OVERNIGHTING AT THE GOLDEN MUNICIPAL CAMPGROUND - GOLDEN BC.

Getting close to supper time and not feeling like cooking up any meals on the camp stove because of the hot weather I decided to call it a day at Golden BC - gateway to both the Rockies and the Columbia and Radium valleys.

Stopped at the tourist info site and got some info on campgrounds - decided on the municipal one - they still had a couple of shaded spots left - since it was only for one night I am sleeping in the back of the truck instead of putting up the tent. After checking in and dropping some of my camping supplies I head back to the highway in search of a place to eat - no shortage of fast food places along the highway strip - settled on a 50's place called the Legendz - what a mistake - order a simple to make Hawaiian or ham and pineapple pizza - here's what I got - a warmed over frozen crust - eight slices of tomato, cheese with about 5 pieces of pineapple and equal amount of ham - only because I was tired, hot and hungry did I not send it back.

After the disaster for the meal I drove around town and then returned to the campsite and walked along the Rotary sponsored trail that circles the campground.

The campground itself is located along the Kicking Horse River and is adjacent to both a secondary high school and the towns swimming and recreation center - for a small fee they also provide wi-fi which I passed on since I can use my Blackberry to retrieving emails etc.

Tomorrow it's on to Banff and a meet up with some of my fellow hikers for next week's hike and a few from this week's camp.

I am planning on stopping at Spiral tunnel, Hoodoos, Natural Bridge and Emerald Lake and finally Lake Louise

More on the next post

Cheers

Dennis

Whistler Mountaineer at Brandywine Falls July 19, 2009

A little over a week ago I took a drive up the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler to check out the status of the highway improvement project which is mostly finished and to stop at a couple of the scenic attractions along the way - My first stop was a Brandywine Falls where I did the short five minute walk to the Falls - the water was flowing pretty good as you see in these two photos.

Returning back to the trailhead I thought I heard a train engine - figured it would just be a CN freight but lo and behold it was the Whistler Mountaineer heading north to Whistler - it slows to a crawl at the Falls and with lots of people on the trail - the conductor actually called out for us to wave and say hi to the people on the train which we did. The photos tell the rest of the story.

After the train left I walked a short walk into Swim Lake and then back to the truck and lunch at Whistler - drove into the Olympic Winter Park in the Callaghan Valley on the way back - tried to reach both Callaghan and Madegley Lakes but wasn't in the mood to nurse the truck over some of the potholes and water bars so instead settled on checking out Alexander Falls and then home.

Cheers

Dennis

A light show to remember - July 25, 2009

Saturday night was our second fireworks competition night with South Africa - a new participant providing the entertainment - but Mother Nature must have been a little jealous as she decided to put on a show as well - the weather has been hot and humid and a thunderstorm was a possibility but we got more than a few clasps of thunder, sheets of lightning and some heavy rain.

We got one of the most intense storms seen in this part of the country in living memory - some how they were able to have the fireworks while the storm raged.

I started with a little light rain just as I was walking from from dinner at Moxies on Davie and intensified as the evening progressed - it also created a rather spectacular looking sunset - the thick black clouds, a setting sun radiating off the downtown towers - first photo below and then I went out to our rooftop terrace to catch the rest of the sunset - pictures were taken without a tripod so they aren't the best but hopefully they do convey a small sense of what the scene was like on Saturday night.

Oh the fireworks was great too - one of the other owners brought a radio out onto the deck so we could enjoy the music that accompanies the fireworks.

Next show is scheduled for 10PM tomorrow night - it will be the last one that I will be able to watch as I will be leaving for Banff and the Skyliners hiking trip later in the week.

Cheers

Dennis

Hike to Cabin Lake and Black Mountain Summit July 25, 2009

Needing to get in some quality hiking before I head for the Rockies in a week's time and also having a couple of other events on tap for today I decide to head over to Cypress Provincial Park and do the Cabin Lake - Black Mountain summit trail - the trail to the top has been altered by ski resort expansion - it is now a much shorter but steeper trail - it only took me about 45 minutes to reach the lake - the trail is hard surface gravel and is well marked - only met a couple of other hikers coming down - it was still early in the day when I started - about 9:30AM but already the temperature was well in the high 20's - one couple remarked about looking out for the skinny dippers at the Lake - the lake is popular with the pure au naturel types - except there wasn't anybody at the Lake.

You get some great views on the way up - across to the Bowl to Strachan, the Lions and up Howe Sound and the massif of Garibaldi at Squamish.

The lake itself is quite charming and peaceful - the opposite shore is where the naturalists usually sun tan - judging by the amount of people I met while hiking down the trail I am sure that some where going to do just that.

After you reach the Lake it is only a short five minute walk to the Summit of Black Mt - here there are more great views in all directions - from Black you can continue west across a short plateau to Eagle Bluffs and then down to Horseshoe Bay - you can also loop around Black Mt and rejoin the new trail just before Cabin Lake. I opted to return the same way.

Yes there is a bit of a flower show on the Mountain - it is alpine terrain after all - here's a few of the flowers that I noticed on the hike.

I was finished up and off the mountain before noon - had a quick lunch at McDonalds at Park Royal and then home to take in event #2 for the day. The Granville Street Party and a preview of the new Vancouver Center Rapid Transit station and one of the new trains that will run on that line.

Later in the evening it was supper with Jim and then home for the fireworks and quite the show it was. In addition to the regular fireworks mother nature presented us with one of the most spectacular thunder and lightning shows seen in these parts in years.

More on than in a separate post.

Cheers

Dennis