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Published: July 29th 2010
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It’s been a week of mountain hikes and sunshine. So I’m tired but slightly less pastey-white than usual.
Having said goodbye to Valemount I headed south to the Wells Grey Provincial Park. I spent two nights in the park, the first at Clearwater Lake (
nice, but dull) and the second at Pyramid Mountain (
less dull, but also not as nice). On a blisteringly hot day, I just about managed to complete the trek up Pyramid Mountain, but the views from the top were well worth the hike. There are also lots of nice waterfalls in the park, including Helmcken Falls (which are one of my favourites), Moul Falls & Spahats Falls.
Heading south again to Kamloops, where I spent a hot & humid afternoon doing some much needed laundry (
the excitement was almost overwhelming). On the road again Thursday, I headed east, planning to stay just north of Salmon Arm on Shuswap Lake (
try saying that when you’ve had a few). But a band of torrential rain, and the fact the campsite was already full put paid to that plan. Instead I pushed on to Revelstoke and stayed at a great campsite (Martha Creek) by the side of Lake
Revelstoke. Friday morning I got up reasonably early to drive to the top of Mount Revelstoke (23km of hairpin bends takes you to within 1.5km of the summit). By the time I got to the top, the clouds had mostly cleared, making way for some spectacular views down the valley. Heading back down and planning to push on towards Lake Louise, I discovered that the Trans-Canada Highway had been shut due to a fatal accident, so I booked into an RV park, bought myself a few cans of beer, and made the most of the sunshine.
Saturday, I resumed my journey to Banff National Park, stopping
en route at Wapta Falls in the Yoho National Park. I finally made it to Lake Louise late afternoon (
don’t get me started about the roadworks on the Trans Canada Highway on a Saturday in peak holiday season, that caused a 45 minute hold-up to my journey... phew), and got the last available pitch in the campground (
allegedly...).
Sunday morning was another early start, so that I could get to Moraine Lake before the crowds. Little did I know that there were restrictions on hiking in the area due to grizzly bear
activity, and that walking the trail up to Consolation Lake was restricted to groups of at least four people. So I hung around the start of the trail, and eventually paired up with a guy called Russ from Phoenix (whose wife didn’t fancy the trek), and a Portuguese couple, whose names I never completely understood (
and who spoke only marginally more English than I speak Portuguese - which is none!). The wait for walking buddies was well worth it though as the views were fantastic.
After doing the obligatory walk up the rock pile to take the classic photo view of the lake - it is quite literally the view on the front of the guidebook - a quick walk along the lakeside trail, and a spot of lunch, I back headed to Lake Louise, for a walk up to Lake Agnes and the Big Beehive. The Big Beehive is a 2,270m peak, overlooking Lake Louise and the Bow Valley. The walk up from the lake shore nearly finished me off. Perhaps something to do with the heat, and an inadequate supply of water, but I really thought that my days were coming to an end when I was
about three-quarters of the way up! But again (
I’m running out of superlatives here) the views from the top were amazing.
Monday I decided to have a somewhat easier day, and made a late-ish start to drive down the Bow Valley Parkway (supposed to be one of the best places in the Rockies to see roadside wildlife) to Banff. Rather like when I was there in April with my Australian friends, I saw very little wildlife - this time, just a solitary mule deer. I had a stop off at Johnston Canyon, to compare and contrast with three months previously, and then had a lazy afternoon wandering around Banff town.
Tuesday, I was intending to walk up Alymer Lookout: a 23km trek above Lake Minnewanka. But (luckily) I discovered on Monday night that the trail had the same restrictions as Moraine/Consolation Lakes, and I didn’t really fancy spending seven hours in the company of strangers. So instead, I drove to Sunshine Village for an 8km walk up the Garden Path Trail, back into British Columbia and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. Unfortunately, due to a bit of dodgy map reading, I started off the walk in completely the wrong
place, and ended up adding an extra 10km onto an already long walk. The views of the three lakes (Rock Isle, Grissly and Larix) were worth the hike though, and the views down the Simpson Valley were stunning. Having nearly exhausted my energy reserves in their entirety, I had a quick trip to Johnston Lake in the afternoon, spent fifteen minutes at Lake Minnewanka, and then headed to the liquor store to treat myself to some much needed (lager) refreshment.
Wednesday I said goodbye to Banff, and crossed into the Kooteney National Park. The previous night's lager had clearly done its job as I decided to attempt the hike up to Stanley Glacier - it's actually one of my favourite places in Canada, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that I decided to walk to it. To get to the glacier you have to walk up the side of what feels like a cliff, before entering a hanging valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Unfortunately despite being hot and sunny, there was a lot of haze in the valley, so my photographs aren’t particularly good. But it was definitely worth the pain of walking up there. Back in the
van, and heading south-east, I re-visited Marble Canyon. I first went there in 2003, about a month before a forest fire destroyed 90% of all the trees in the area, and I went back two years ago to see how things had changed. Now, after 7 years, the forest is starting to reclaim the landscape. The fir trees are about a metre high, and it is easier now to see how it will recover over the coming decades.
Anyway, I travelled further south to Radium Hot Springs, where I treated myself to a much needed soak in the Hot Springs - my leg muscles are threatening to leave me if I make them walk up any more mountains in the next couple of days. Overnight at Dry Gulch, just south of Radium, and then today I have headed south again to the “Alpine” village of Kimberley - it’s like a mock-Swiss mountain resort. Perhaps the less said about that, the better... Tomorrow, I’m planning on turning west again before heading to Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, and then crossing back into the US to visit Glacier National Park in Montana. I’ll let you know how I get on.
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