Canadian Rockies, 2008

Canadian Rockies 2008

Well it takes a lot to keep me down and I’m not going to go into the details of having ME, but at its worst it’s a nightmare and on ones best days I loved the sunshine and the sunshine loved me. So as always I was busy planning a trip even if it wasn’t a practical idea to undertake one.

In the summer of 2008 I had planned to travel to the Canadian Rockies to camp and walk as much as possible, this time with my dearest companion, my husband Martin.

It was a difficult task to fundraise when I was in so much pain and had so little energy. I was still working as a teaching assistant and looking after my family so often I found myself wrapping parcels or sticking numbers on prizes late into the evening. Standing on a stall or doing a collection was an exhausting task but I always came home with a warm feeling inside. I meet so many wonderful people who had endured so much, either by living with cancer or having lost someone they loved. They had all come out the other side of that cloud and watched another sunrise. Their strength kept me going and fund raising for Macmillan cancer support. If I could help others then I was happy.

We set off on a summer’s morning from Heathrow and flew out to Calgary. As on so many of our trips we didn’t stop in town but made our way to the mountains and a hotel for the night at Banff. It wasn’t the grandest of hotels but breakfast was rather good and the scenery was very beautiful.

What is it about maps that are so exciting? I had almost lived this trip through the pages of trail guides and hiking maps, but nothing ever prepares you for the beauty that you will witness. Lake Louise was like a Sapphire in a crown that was the Rockies.  We walked the lakeshore trail and up to lake Agnes and the lovely Beehives. It’s a tiny hidden lake in a hanging valley and from the Beehives we enjoyed break taking views of Lake Louise and the Bow valley below.

On another day we headed back up to the same lakeshore trail that’s dominated by the impressive Chateau Lake Louise hotel, the water blue and peaceful around it. On this day the trail led us up to The Plain of the six Glaciers in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. Here glacier-capped summits of Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy shone in the afternoon sun and all was incredibly beautiful. Up here we found a most lovely little mountain hut and enjoyed refreshments there before continuing our walking journey.

We walked the lovely Moraine Lake trail to a lake so blue, every reflection was a joy. Paradise valley was out of bounds to group of less than four because of bear activity but as we travelled further north we came across many bears and other animals too.

We had planned to move to a campsite in Yoho but instead we stayed on at the one near Lake Louise and listened to the goods trains hurtling by in the middle of the night. It was always just the one train but it seemed so close like it was bearing down on us in our little yellow tent in the forest. So on the following day we travelled over the mountains to Yoho NP and the beautiful Whisky Jack falls, Twin falls and the stunning Takakkaw Falls. From here we walked up to yet more amazing falls – Laughing Jack falls. This is a stunning area of high mountains covered in the snow and ice of glaciers high above. As the glaciers melt their waters collect and form the huge and beautiful falls that make this area so wonderful to visit. It’s a very peaceful area and there is only one walk-in campsite so this was why we had decided to stay another night at Lake Louise.  There were folks at the car park with little trolleys, piling everything up, ready to haul down to the campsite. We had walked up to the falls and stood below the mighty waters as they tumbled down with a thunderous crashing sound from high up on the mountain. These falls really are stunning, at 254 metres Takakkaw falls gush down straight from the extensive icefields above. 

After looping back down on Emerald lake loop, we left for our last night at Lake Louise. The campsite here was quite busy with families enjoying the holidays but there was plenty of room and lots of privacy on this woodland site. Right in the centre of the camp was a huge pile of logs and you only needed to pay a fixed fee to take as many here as you needed for the night's campfire. Some people say on site for most of their holiday and keep their fire going while they cook large pots of strew or other steaming pots of supper. The camp would have a smoky haze over it and little children played out mock battles on the wood mountain, looking stubborn and hurt as you removed their part of the castle defences. It was on this last evening that a truck arrived and after rounding up the children and shooing them off, the wood lorry emptied its load and the children cheered with delight. No log pile safety sighs here, these were Canadian kids with parents who had probably done the same in there time. Another thing that fascinated us at this camp was the vast number of Columbian Ground Squirrel who made numerous excavations around the camping area, their little heads bobbing up from time to time to check on what and where the various noises were coming from. They didn’t seem to mind the campers being there as I guess they had the area to themselves for most of the year and they perhaps found a few tasty items of food left unattended occasionally. 

So it was sad to say goodbye but I was happy to bid farewell to the night train as it made its way south and the equally noisy one heading north. Even if it was going to be a lot colder at our next camp it would at least be quieter.

As we had a long way to drive up the Icefields highway, I had decided to plan both a schedule for heading up country and another for our return the following week on the same route. You never know what the weather will be like and I want to see all the best sights and attractions in the glorious weather that we were currently enjoying. But I didn’t want to spoil the return trip so I divided the waterfalls, glaciers and river walks up so that there would be a stop every 30 minutes or so to enjoy the views and wonders of this amazingly beautiful, mountainous region.   

The Columbia icefield was busy but visiting it just had to been done. It’s a place where you can walk was on the ice of the glacier itself. This is something that most people never get to do as there are many dangers associated with glacier travel. The ice that has been formed by compacted snow higher up on the mountains many years before is often transparent and glossy or divided by deep crevasses of the most wonderful blue. This fissure of glacial ice often appears deep blue or even black, it’s a sharp contrast to the white of the surface snow, especially on a bright day. There’s a reason for this colour that really rather interesting and it’s all due to how much light is able to penetrate the ice crystals. On the surface the snow is white, the full spectrum of colours as it passes through tiny air bubbles, scattering and reflecting in the ice crystals, making white. The tiny bubbles of frozen water of the deeper ice have been compressed greatly and consolidated under pressure. Here there are no bubbles in the ice so without the scattering effect light can pass through undisturbed.  In the ice of these glaciers the absorption of light at the red end of the spectrum is six times greater than at the blue end. As the fissure deepens more of the red photons are lost so to the human eye the ice appears blue.

It was cold up here, in stark contrast to where we had come from.  As we descended the world became green once more.  There were some very lovely waterfalls along this section of the Highway, often with only a short walk to enjoy them, Sunwapta falls and the Athabasca River view point were welcome stops.

We decided to stay in Jasper itself for the night and enjoy a meal out and a hotel room with a shower. The hotel was rather dingy but we found a lovely brew pub where we ate well and Martin was able to enjoy a beer or two without having to find a stream to keep the keep the bottles cool in.

The next day we headed out of town to the campsite. As we had sometimes had problems in the USA with finding a campsite during August we had booked well ahead. I had worried about booking into the larger site of Wabasso campground but I had not needed to as there was only one other tent or vehicle in each huge wooded circuit. We only had a tiny two man mountain tent which was quickly erected. It wasn’t long before it started to rain and the air was defiantly much cooler, so we left in search of some sunshine and that’s just what we found.

Cavell Meadows and Angel glacier were only a short distance away. Travelling up the Mt Edith Cavell Road to the Path of the Glaciers trail. It’s only a couple of hours up to the meadows and the scenery is quite stunning. Angel Glacier hangs majestically like the wings of a beautiful white angel clinging to the dark, layered rock of this region. The tall pine trees of the valley below seemed dwarfed but it close proximity. A small glacial lake at its base is scattered with drifting ice as if floating on a powder blue sea. Mount Edith Cavell is the highest peak in this area of the national park at 3363 metres the cliffs appear very powerful as if you are standing in a huge amphitheatre. 

I wondered who Edith Cavell was, not having come across her name before. She was a British nurse during the First World War who saved the lives of many soldiers from both side without discrimination. She was caught whilst helping allied forces to escape and shot by a German firing squad. I guess this beautiful mountain and the very lovely Angel glacier make for a fine celebration of her life and all she did for others.

The following day we took the Maligne road down to the lovely Maligne Lake You can enjoy boat rides here, but we walked The Moose lake trail and enjoyed Maligne Canyon with its wonderful waterfalls and river trails. These were prefect for me as I can’t walk long distances. When you have always enjoyed being able to walk long distances and climb high up into the mountains, not being able to do this is quite sad really. You long to just walk and explore again, to feel no pain, no tremble when you walk, but the years seems to go by and you go from one poor state of health to another. I have been able to get insurance for our trip but only to the trailhead and not to access the trails themselves so if I was to become unable to walk this would have been quite a problem for us. The good thing was that I was able to enjoy quite a few walks as long as I was careful on this occasion.

Maligne Canyon is an impressive limestone slit canyon. A slit or slot canyon is where water rushes through the softer rock. It is often very deep and narrow. We read that the area was often busy with visitors but only the upper canyon, as you descend to the river you leave the people and enjoy the river.

We saw so many animals in this area, Columbian Ground Squirrel who they hibernate for up to seven months of the year, these little creatures form an important part of the diet of grizzly bears, coyotes, wolves and golden eagles. Marmots live in the alpine zone and whistle a loud warning when alarmed. Although Pika’s are some of the smallest animals you are more likely to see them up around Mount Edith Cavell as we did while we were walk. Moose, Caribou and elk are some of the largest animals, while there are plenty of deer in the forest too. Pine marten and coyotes live in these forest as well and if you are fortunate you may see them for a brief moment. Animals that you are unlikely to see are probably wolf, cougar, wolverine and Lynx as these are either nocturnal, few in numbers or very private creatures. Bears are present too, both black and grizzly. Black bears are often cinnamon and tan in colour. They mostly eat vegetation and berries and can be seen in the forest areas quite frequently. Their cousins the Grizzly bear is larger with a muscular hump on its shoulders. Bears need to know where you are and will avoid you if they hear your voice. If you do come across them on the trail, keep them in sight, back away slowly and avoid eye contact. Never leave food near your campsite and avoid walking with food in your pack that is not wrapped. If a bear follows you hand over your rucksack first and play dead if you can’t get away. Never run or climb trees, they are much better then you will ever be at both of those. Protect your face and head if playing dead, they will most probably only claw you a little. Walkers are rarely killed by bears.

Another walk we enjoyed was at Wabasso Lake, a short drive from our campsite and although short, it was very pretty and very wild. We had only walked a few meters along the little trail when there before us was a large bear, followed by another slightly smaller one and a baby in tow. They were enjoying nibbling the plentiful berries as they walked across the path. We gently stepped back, watching them but slowly retracing our steps until we had reached a safe distance. Oh, so lovely this experience is, to be among truly wild large predators. We were sharing their paths and nibbling their berries and both were just so good.

The bears passed and we carried on our way as well, enjoying the pretty scenery, trees and streams. From the lake you can see the summits of Mount Kerkeslin, Christie and Brussels peak.  We didn’t see the bears again on this circular walk but we did bump into another couple who were pleased to receive our warning that they too might meet our four legged friends quite unexpectedly as we had done. It’s best to keep talking when bears are in the vicinity. I’ve tried bear bells but they just ring too loudly and telling stories is so much more fun. Then of course if you happen to be walking alone I guess you will have to endure the bells on sing to yourself.

Kootenay national park is was more than a hoop away, in fact we had to follow the Icefields Parkway back down to Lake Louise enjoying more wonderful waterfalls, rivers and lakes along the way. Some of the lakes are so blue that the silt or rock flour in them that has come straight from the glaciers above reflects the light giving the lakes their unusual blue colouring.

Marble Canyon is rather lovely, here the Tokumm Creek plunges into a chasm, where several bridges span the canyon sides to allow visitors to hike up and back the other side. It’s another canyon carved out by water flowing through the limestone. Further down the road you come to the Paint pots, it’s only a short but very pretty trail, full of wildflowers. Here the iron-rich waters have left brilliant clay deposits of yellow and red. The trail continues through more pretty meadows to the orangey iron oxide “paint pots” that are in fact cold mineral springs. It was here that members of native tribes came to collect the coloured clays to decorate their bodies, they believed that this was a sacred place and inhabited by animal spirits. It certainly felt like that to me when I walked through this lovely place.

We walked down the Tumbling creek trail (oh, what lovely names these places have), for a short while before returning to the car. This side of the continental divide the plant life changes and it’s evident that these are plants of a temperate rainforest. The road continues with many more treats, Numa falls, Vermillion River crossing and following the river all the way to Kootenay River crossing. Leaving the park we headed south through Radium and Windermere, where we turn east and into an area of old mining towns.

It had been a very hot day and we were feeling quite grubby from all our camping and walking. Stopping in one of the little towns we had booked a room in a hotel the night before. There was a wedding reception in full flow at the hotel so they didn’t really notice how smelly we were, or at least no one said anything to us. We quickly made our way up to the last available room in the hotel and discovered that it was in fact a suit.  We had a huge bathroom with two showers where I spent about 20 minutes enjoying the cleansing hot water. Martin found the kitchen and washed his clothes while I laid on the palatial bed that was twice the size of our little tent. With washing hung out on the balcony with walked down into down to find somewhere to eat. It was nice not having to cook tonight, Martin usually always cooks while camping but there is always the food preparation and washing up to do normally. I don’t think I will ever forget that bedroom, not because it was the most extravagant or expensive that I had stayed in before but because it was just so welcome after a long period of camping.

After a night of blissful comfort we arrived in Waterton Lakes National Park, which lies just above the border between Canada and the USA at Glacier National Park. You need a National parks permit to visit or stay in all these park , but if you are visiting more than 2 it’s best to buy an annual pass as we did. 

Camping at Red Rock Canyon we were in a kind of heaven. With brown bears visiting the open grassland behind the campground and a lovely deer nibbling the grass around our tent when we woke in the morning. During our stay we walked the beautiful trail along the western edge of Cameron Lake where moose were wading out into the cool water, a most lovely scene. Here a high wall of mountains surrounded the lake, greenwood’s came down to the water’s edge and the warm sunshine glinted on the lake like silver glitter.  In the Canyon itself we watched a brown bear hidden in the tall grass and crept up on him to take a sneaky picture. I don’t know who was more surprised when we spotted each other. He ran off in the opposite direction making funny little noises.

I loved these encounters with the local wildlife. I would take my binoculars into the valley behind the camp and watch a mother and twin baby grizzlies grazing on the rich tapestry of berries that the bushes provided. She stayed in the area for the two or three days that we were there, but fortunately never wandered nearer to the camp. Well at least we never saw any evidence of her in the vicinity.  

On our last day we took the boat all the way down to Goat Haunt Ranger Station in the USA from Waterton town. The border between the USA and Canada is half way down this lake and is clearly visible as a wide band of cut trees. This had come about as the USA wanted to have a clear boundary with Canada a few years previously. We had walked a short way down the trail along Upper Water Lake but were advised to stay well clear of the border or we may be arrested if we crossed by mistake. Well there wasn’t much chance of mistaking the border, it was quite clear that visitors were not welcome to cross unless you were Canadians or Americans. At Goats Haut the clear water was edged by washed up tree trunks and small green brushes. This was a most beautiful spot. We were not allowed to leave the area but could enjoy a small trail that ran along the shore in either direction. It was a very pleasant way to spend our last full afternoon.

Returning to Waterton town and Canada itself, we watched deer stroll peacefully on the grass around the mailboxes of the little towns’ residents. Such a beautiful and tranquil place.

It had been quite a magical 17 days away, I’d loved the walking and it had meant so much to me at this still very difficult time. None of our walks had been difficult ones but they were walks and I was still very much recovering in the painful episodes that came rather too often.