2009 Canadian Rockies

Snow in June Some of us have all the luck. After a long, but not so long as going to Hawaii flight into Calgary, we got into our rental car and there it was: yuchy wet snow slamming into our windshield. And there was lots of it, too. The temperature was above freezing, so it didn’t accumulate much. Where were those famous Rockies, wondered Debbie? A la Denver, you’re supposed to be able to see them from Calgary. Not with the snow pelting down, however. Finally, about halfway on our 90-minute ride to Canmore, the snow subsided, and there they were.

 And they were as gorgeous as advertised. Canmore is a small town just south of Banff national park, and it’s where we were to stay for our first couple days. Surrounded by the mountains, it has a spectacular setting. We walked a long way into the central part of the town for dinner before crashing. We spent a great deal of time during that first day or two being confused. Maybe we’re just getting old, but there were just too many activities to choose from. After talking about it some, and wandering around the Banff Information Centre as well as the town of Banff for a while, we managed to come up with a plan. It really wasn’t all that tough – we knew we wanted to hike and to see the various other sights, so it was just a matter of which hikes and sights. In the end, we chose wisely… Banff Hiking 

We should begin by saying that there was plenty of great hiking just outside our hotel in Canmore. Canmore is about 15 minutes from Banff Townsite, and it’s every bit as nice. I did my running on the Canmore trails, but our hikes were all within Banff and Jasper National Parks. Our first hike was to the summit of Tunnel Mountain. At 3 miles with 800+ feet of elevation gain, it was moderately difficult. Accessible directly from Banff Townsite, it is probably the most popular hike of all in the Canadian Rockies. There were, therefore, many other people on the trail. But the views of the surrounding scenery were great, as was the cool mountain air. It took us about an hour to make the climb to the top, and then only 40 minutes to roll down. We had considered the Gondola ride to the top of a mountain, but since we hiked up another nearby one, we didn’t feel it was necessary. Afterwards, we did pay a visit to the famous Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel. It’s a castle to rival those in Europe. We had a nice lunch. For our next trick, we chose the Plain of Six Glaciers Hike in the Lake Louise area of Banff. We knew something was amiss as we were driving up towards Lake Louise and noticed that the cars coming back down were covered with snow everywhere except their windshields. Sure enough, it was snowing off and on as we arrived at the lake for the start of our hike. It was mostly off as we got going, but it sure was cold. Off for us, that is; it was still snowing on most of the mountaintops, and virtually all the trees were covered. The first part of the hike is along the shore of Lake Louise. Although the lake would have been beautiful on a bright, sunny day, the snow added its own beauty and enchantment. Did I say enchantment? This entire hike was enchanted; it was a wonderland the entire way. Once on the other side of the lake we began our climb, which would wind up being on the order of 1,100 feet up to close to about 7,000 feet. We walked through sub-alpine forests, along rocky cliffs, and over past avalanches. Those snowy areas made for slow-going, and they became more numerous as we neared the top. At some point there was more snow than non-snow on the trail. Finally, after two hours we reached the tea house. In the middle of the wilderness and supplied by people on horses is this famous teahouse where we were served a sandwich, soup and tea. 

What a great tradition this is. There was all snow at this elevation, and we were not able to continue any further because the snow was too deep to hike through. We had actually seen one or two glaciers, but not all six. In any case, it was time to turn back. We will remember this as one of our most wondrous hikes ever. One other thing about that Plain of Six Glaciers Hike: we saw a strange animal back in that wilderness. Could it have been a wolverine? It had reddish and light orangish coloring, and it walked funny, sort of like a skunk. After much research and discussion with park rangers, we decided that it was indeed a rare sighting of a wolverine. Incidentally, wolverines are so tough that they will attack a grizzly for food. Good thing we kept our distance. “Oh Canada, Eh!” was a fun show involving Canadians making fun of themselves, but also celebrating their heritage and arts. That was our cultural experience for the week. Icefields Parkway This drive through Banff north to Jasper National Park is as great as any drive anywhere. The mountain passes were cold and snowy, and we did a short hike at one of them, Bow Pass, to get a great view of Peyto Lake. After the passes came the Columbia Ice Field, a huge frozen lake from which there are six major glaciers. We got a great view of a couple from the Icefields Information Centre. At that point we had just entered Jasper National Park, and the terrain changed again. Now as we descended in elevation, the forests and rivers became more beautiful, as did the weather. It was actually warm for the first time on the trip. We did a nice hike down to the lower Sunwapta Falls – there were actually three more falls after the main one that everyone can see without hiking. Did I mention the wildlife? We saw a young black bear, several mountain goats, an elk, an eagle, a ptarmigan, not to mention beautiful magpies (black and white with a streak of iridescent blue), ravens, and tons of other birds. Jasper Finally, we made it to our destination: Pine Bungalows in Jasper Townsite. Pretty rustic place, but it’s a very nice location directly on the Athabasca River. Unfortunately they are four for four in the malfunctioning plumbing fixtures department. And it’s overpriced at $CN 140 per night. After the snow and cold in Lake Louise as well as on the Icefields Parkway, we were surprised by the 70+ degree warmth in Jasper. Although it’s 4 hours north of Banff, Jasper is lower and is therefore often warmer. In this case, I think it was getting warmer in Banff as well, but we were now out of there. The Pyramid Lake hike was supposed to be easy, but maybe we’re just getting old. Or maybe we’re over-doing the hiking bit. Anyway, this 2 ½ hour hike was indeed beautiful, just as all the others have been. The view of Pyramid Mountain in back of the lake was grand. We also walked to an island in the lake. Later that afternoon we drove to Malign Canyon for yet another walk down along the falls. That canyon sure is deep. On our second to last day in the Rockies we were pretty darn tired. We nevertheless wound up hiking the Bald Hills loop near Malign Lake. Listed as “moderate”, it wasn’t. Maybe it was just our sore muscles and tired bodies, or maybe it was the snow at the higher elevations. But methinks it was the effort at getting up to those higher elevations that did us in. Starting out at 5,500 feet, it was sunny and warm. About halfway up, and I do mean up, a closed gravel road we turned onto a small rough trail and continued our upward climb. The tree roots and rocks made it difficult, but as we climbed higher, it was the snow and mud that really slowed us down. At times we weren’t even sure where the trail was because of all the snow. But whenever we stopped to catch our breath, the scenery all around us itself was breathtaking. And eventually we did make it to the top. The view of Malign Lake and all the surrounding mountains was great. At 7,000 feet, it was pretty cold, so we hurried through our picnic lunch, giving crumbs to the gray jays who had asked for the handout, and then we headed back down. Altogether it was 6 ½ miles with 1,500 feet of elevation gain in about 4 difficult hours. 

During the ride back to Jasper we saw several bighorn sheep on one side of the road, and then later on a large black bear on the other. You may have figured out that Debbie and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the trails in Canmore, Banff and Jasper. Collectively, in fact, this has to be the best hiking anywhere on the planet. Yes, we’ve had great and memorable hikes in other places, especially Hawaii. But nothing comes close to the grandeur as well as the simple volume of great hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Besides all our great hikes on these trails, I had some wonderful runs on them as well. My running is, as always, chronicled in by running blog: danhorvath.blogspot.com. To do next time we come to the Canadian Rockies: • See nearby Yoho and Kootenay National Parks • See Miete Hot Springs and Mt. Edith Cavell area in Jasper • See Lake Minnewanka in Banff • Take a canoe trip on a river or lake • Take one of the gondolas to the mountaintops in either Banff or Jasper • Take one of the other million great hikes that we weren’t able to do this time • Avoid staying at Pine Bungalows (not so terrible – nice location, but not worth the price)