[at-l] Fwd: The 135 mile barbeque (Long)

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Trip report -
We just spent two weeks in the Canadian Rockies - in Alberta and British 
Columbia.  It was a good trip -
Walk softly,
Jim


Oh - you want a REAL trip report, huh?  Well, OK ---

We left Washington, DC on Aug 2 - flew to Calgary, Alberta - picked up a 
rental car and stayed overnight in Calgary, then started driving toward the 
mountains Sunday morning.  Yeah - Calgary is on the plains - 70 miles east 
of Banff.  By the time we got within sniffing range of the mountains, we 
were truly within "sniffing" range - cause the smoke was obvious and 
obnoxious.  We had checked the Canadian Parks fire page before we left, but 
it turns out the fires were far more serious than we'd been told.  Seems the 
Canadian gubmint (and tourist industry) don't want to scare the tourons 
away, so they're not telling the world how serious their fire problems are.

Anyway, our plan was to drive to the north end of the park system in Jasper 
National Park and then backpack and dayhike our way south through Jasper, 
Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks.  Ginny had a list of 24 different 
possible hikes that she wanted to do - enough to keep us busy for a couple 
months.  We didn't get to do all of them.  Yet.

So - onward - to Jasper. The drive to Jasper along the Icefields Parkway was 
a good one - lots of wildlife, bunches of mountains, good road, easy 
driving, great scenery and more glaciers than I've ever seen in one place 
before. As we drove north, the smoke even abated somewhat and we got lots of 
pictures. We'll see how they look when we get them developed. We even 
managed to stop long enough to meet Karl Bushby, the Brit who's walking 
around the world (http://www.earthtrekuk.net/). He left Calgary on July 24 
and we passed him on the Icefields Parkway north of Lake Louise. Stopped and 
talked to him for a while. Took pictures, of course. We also took pictures 
of the mountain goats (mama and baby) at a salt lick alongside the road. 
Then when we got on the outskirts of Jasper, there was a whole herd of 
female elk - again, grazing alongside the road.

At Jasper there were even more fires, although the Syncline fire on the 
eastern slope was nearly under control by the time we got there.  Regardless 
- they had closed many of the trails due to fire danger - and we couldn't 
get a backcountry permit. Yeah, you need permits to backpack in the Canadian 
Park  system.  You also get to pay for those permits - as well as for a 
daily (or yearly) Park entry permit.  So, since we couldn't backpack in 
Jasper NP, we changed direction and went west - to Mt Robson Provincial 
Park.  Wonderful decision.  On the way to Robson, we got our first bull elk 
picture - he was a beauty - he was also feeding right beside the road.  When 
you pull into the parking lot at the Mt Robson Park office, you're looking 
straight up at a beautiful 12,900+ ft snow and glacier-capped mountain.  
Better yet - they told us we could have a backcountry permit. Of course, our 
designated campsite at Berg Lake was a 20 klick, 800 meter elevation gain 
walk - and we were starting at 2 pm.  Cool ---- well, OK - it was a 
bitchkitty.  But doable. And we did.

The trail passed a whole bunch of absolutely beautiful waterfalls, including 
one area called the Valley of a Thousand Falls.  Our campsite for two nights 
was directly across Berg Lake from the Berg and Mist glaciers.  And we spent 
two nights listening to those glaciers calve - sounded like freight trains 
all night long.  And then there were the wolves.  We also met Charlotte and 
Charlene - the two local campground mule deer who kept wandering through our 
campsite. The next day, we got our second lesson in "Canadian trails" - a 
short side trip to see the Robson glacier followed by a 1600 ft climb in 
something under a mile from Robson Pass into the Mumm Basin - and then a 
long, loooong descent back to our campsite across flower-filled meadows, 
then scree and talus fields.  Between the flowers and the views, it was 
worth every bit of sweat and strain it took to get up there.  The following 
day was "going out" day - we got to descend that lovely 20 klicks/ 800 
meters -- in the rain, of course.  Yeah - while we were in the Mumm Basin 
looking at all those mountains and glaciers, I got to thinking about all 
those fires and how we might not be able to hike much more in Jasper if they 
kept on going, so I invoked the rain gods.  And they answered with a soaking 
rain that helped to at least get some of the northern fires under control. 
Yeah, Mark - we actually tried to find the weather witch.  But that didn't 
really work all that well.  Someone's got her trapped on the East coast, I 
think.

After leaving Robson, we went back to Jasper and managed to get a campsite, 
groceries, a couple meals and a permit starting the next day for two nights 
in the backcountry in the Tonquin Valley.  Most of the other backcountry 
trails were closed except to dayhikers.  Again, our campsite was a 20 klick 
700 meter elevation gain walk, but this time we started about noon rather 
than at 2 pm so there wasn't the same sense of urgency about getting there.  
The Maccarib campsite was probably one of the most beautiful we've ever seen 
- it was on a ridge with killer views of the mountains in all directions.  
Including a 12000 ft ridge called the Ramparts.  The only problem was the 
mosquitoes - swarms of them.  The others people at the campsite were bundled 
up like it was January in the Arctic - complete with mosquito nets -- when 
we wandered in wearing T-shirts.  DEET is a wonderful invention.  Not that 
we use that much of it - we've managed to use up two 1-oz bottles of 100% 
DEET in the last 12 years.  Plus the 1/4 inch that we used out of the bottle 
we took with us this trip.  The mosquitos were a constant for the time we 
were in Tonquin - and I had a wonderful time killing the hordes that invaded 
the tent each night before we went to sleep.

Hmmm - the campsites - kinda like Glacier and Yellowstone - are limited, 
scheduled and assigned by the Park - and paid for by "you." Backpacking in 
Canada ain't cheap.  Except that it is paid for in Canadian dollars. Not 
much privacy, as the sites are all right next to each other, but in grizzly 
country, that’s probably a good thing, in some ways.

Next day, we did a dayhike to Chrome Lake and the entrance to the Eremite 
Valley.  The trail turned out to be much rougher than one might expect 
because most of it is used by commercial horse packers.  And we followed a 
group of horses for awhile - even gas masks wouldn't have helped.  But it 
was still a beautiful day and a good hike, parallelling the Ramparts and 
Amethyst Lake through the valley.  The Eremite Valley is fairly remote and 
looks like a good place to come back and try again someday.  Next day, of 
course, was "going out" day again - funny thing is, we saw only one new 
group coming in.  Got to wondering if we should have stayed longer.

So - back to Jasper - fires were still raging, and in fact, according to the 
local paper, there were over 200 fires in Alberta and British Columbia at 
that time.  Which, of course, meant no backcountry permits except for those 
who already had reservations.  We didn't.  Sooo - we changed direction again 
and decided to try Willmore Wilderness Park, which is northeast of Jasper.  
No fires, no permits required, supposedly lots of horses, no camping 
restrictions - and we couldn't find anybody who knew anything about it.  
Finally found a map (an old map) and hit the Internet Cafe to look it up on 
the Web - then drove to Hinton and got groceries, a motel room, a meal and a 
shower.  First shower in a week - it was wonderful - and necessary if we 
were ever to emerge into civilization again.  On the way to Hinton, we 
passed the Syncline fire - it was mostly out, but it was a HUGE area.  I can 
see why they closed some of the trails on the other side of the ridge.  On 
the edge of the burn area, along the road, we saw more mountain sheep at 
another salt lick - and then a black bear.  Took the obligatory pictures, of 
course.

Willmore - well, we finally found the entrance to the area - after some 60 
miles of wandering along highways and logging roads.  At one time, we looked 
at a logging road we KNEW would lead to the trailhead and decided that the 
rental car just wasn't up to that kind of bushwhack.  We finally found our 
way out of the logging roads (there are a LOT of them, mostly not on the 
map) and wandered into a local Provincial Park where the ranger knew about 
Willmore - and even had a map.  But she'd never been back there either.  By 
this time, both Ginny and I were getting the idea that we just weren't 
supposed to do this particular trip.  We were both getting "bad vibes" about 
it and we've learned to pay attention when that happens.  So, being 
stubborn, I insisted that we at least drive far enough to find the entrance 
road so we'd know where it was when we come back next time.  I should know 
better by now - the ranger had said it was 4 or 5 km up the road.  It turned 
out to be over 30 km.  Enough -- we turned around and headed back to Jasper.

Stopped at Maligne Lake on the way, did a short (5 mile, 2000 ft eg) dayhike 
in a brief thunderstorm, saw our moose on the way out the 30 mile entrance 
road, got a meal and a campsite and went to see a program by one of the 
Canadian grizzly reasearch program directors.  Funny - he's doing the same 
kind of research that we started doing in the States 30+ years ago using 
satellite tracking.  Really funny thing is that his conclusions don't 
support all the popular doctrine about grizzly behavior.  But they do 
support the conclusions that were reached 30 years ago by the programs I was 
involved with then.

The next day we started our "dayhike" phase - drove south to the Athabasca 
Glacier and climbed to Wilcox Pass in a light rain - but still got some 
really good views of the glacier.  And some pictures of a couple herds of 
mountain sheep.  One herd was females and young, the other was the males.  
And then there was a lone male on the ridgeline as we came down out of the 
pass.  Hordes of people up there, too.  That's been the "fly in the 
ointment" this trip - and continued to be right up until we left.

After Wilcox Pass, we drove to the Nigel Pass trailhead and walked the 6 
miles in to Nigel Pass - beautiful country, but still too many people.  By 
this time, I was tired and sweaty, so we drove to Yoho National Park, got a 
campsite - and a shower (sorta).  Ok - I got wet and soapy - but it was't a 
great shower.  And you're not expected to picture the "wet and soapy" part.

Next day we drove up the road to Takakkaw Falls, which is also the trailhead 
for the Iceline Trail -  a 13 mile loop that climbs 2100 feet, then follows 
along the foot of the Emerald Glacier and loops back through the Little Yoho 
Valley.  For those who love "above-treeline" hiking, most all of these hikes 
are terrific.  The trails climb like a banshee to get you above treeline and 
then you wander for miles through scree and talus fields with views like I 
haven't seen since last year in the Absaroka-Beartooths.

Next day we went to Lake Louise - we'd skipped Lake Louise on the way north 
because of the smoke.  But this time we were serious - sorta - we did the 
"tourist thing" and took the Plain of Six Glaciers trail directly from the 
Lake Louise Lodge.  Lodge?  It's a bloody zoo - a great monstrous monolith 
of a hotel with thousands of people - all of them trying to prove how 
"outdoorsy" they are.  Oh well - once we got up into the bowl with the 
glaciers the views were great.  And the crowds thinned out a little.  But 
then we got to follow the horses back down toward the Lodge - so we took off 
on the Mirror Lake trail.  This was my day to bitch - about the unexpected 
climbs and about how tired I was and --- well, other things.  It wasn't a 
pretty sight.  So we went back to Yoho to camp for one more night.

Next day we moved camp to the Lake Louise campground and tried to get a 
backcountry permit for the Skoki Valley.  Well, that was a disaster  - 
they're not issuing ANY backcountry permits anywhere in Banff Park.  And 
some of the trails are closed due to bear activity.  The Paradise Valley 
trail was open, but the requirement was that a minimum of 6 hikers go 
together - and stay in a tight group.  We were only short by 4 hikers, so we 
decided to do a dayhike into the Skoki Valley - at least as far a Boulder 
Pass.  It was only an 11 mile round trip, but it was also a nasty little 
climb along a fire road for a while.  When we got to the pass, we had lunch 
at Ptarmigan Lake, watched the pikas and horses for awhile, tested the trail 
to Redoubt Lake (it was solid talus - and we didn't care that much), then 
followed the horses down the trail and back to Lake Louise, the campground, 
a shower and another (different) grizzly presentation by Park interpretive 
ranger.  It was a beautiful clear morning, with incredible views of the 
snow-capped mountains above Lake Louise and the Skoki Valley, and of course 
we left the camera in the car.  We had a beautiful lunch spot, and an easy 
day, but portentous.  As we came down off the ridge, we could look across 
the valley and see billows of smoke coming from the direction of the 
Kootenay fire.  As one of the rangers said - "Kootenay is on fire".  And she 
meant the whole Park.

Next day - and our last hiking day - wasn't so easy.  We went back to Yoho 
Park to Emerald Lake to do the Emerald Triangle.  This is a 12+ mile loop 
with the first half mile flat, the next 2+ miles climb 3000 ft, then a 4+ 
mile slab above treeline across the mountain with fantastic views all the 
way, followed by a 4+ mile descent down a steep scree trail and back to 
Emerald Lake.  We found exactly one water source along the way - for which 
we were grateful cause it was a furnace coming down that final couple of 
miles.  Don't get me wrong - there was certainly water along the way - but 
it was almost all glacial runoff.  which means it was half water - and half 
silt.  Not something you really want running through your pipes.  To add to 
the humor on this little cruise, the Tokum and Kootenay fires were feeding 
smoke up the Emerald Lake valley, so we had the pleasure of smelling like 
we'd been barbequed by the end of the day.  Interestingly, two of the major 
fossil beds in the world are on this particular ridge.  They're both 
"closed" areas, but very close to the hiking trail.

The rest of the trip was kind of anti-climactic - dinner in Field, BC, 
another night (and shower) at the campground, then back to Calgary with a 
stop in Banff to see what it was like.  It was another bloody zoo - 
thousands of people, hundreds of tourist traps and restaurants, and more 
traffic than I'd seen in two weeks.  We couldn't wait to get out of there - 
and we likely won't go back again.  Spent the last night in Calgary, then 
flew out on Sunday - and the less said about traveling (especially flying), 
the better - it's not my favorite part of any trip.

Final thoughts - for those few who are still here --
For Skeeter - no - no 11, 000 ft passes the first day this time.  In fact 
most of the trails never get above 7200 ft, but they ALL involve a 2000 to 
3000 ft climb.  Also - it took a while to get to this - first cause we were 
literally exhausted and I was lucky to be able to find my way to the office 
on Monday morning and second because I've been busy - Aug 1 was the end of 
my contract (and job), so I started a new job on Monday morning.  We'll see 
how this one goes - I loved the last job, but if I don't love this one I 
might join a friend who's retiring in 10 weeks and go do the Colorado Trail 
and John Muir Trail next summer with him.  Fat chance.

In general - we had a fantastically good trip in spite of the fires.  Put 
down 135 tough miles, didn't want to come home, and still have some places 
we want to go back to there.  But it won't be next year.  Next year is 
probably Alaska – in three years we’ll be back to the CDT.  After that, 
quien sabe?

For those who didn't notice - most (but not all) of the wildlife sightings 
were alongside the road.  Reason - the Canadians have a VERY wide 
right-of-way along the roads.  Probably saves a lot of roadkill cause you 
can see them coming.  Also provides wonderful feeding areas for moose, elk, 
goats, etc.  In fact, in two weeks we only saw one ( count'em - ONE) bit of 
roadkill on the 1200 miles of highway that we drove.  And that was a ground 
squirrel on a blind curve on a narrow mountain road.

Sniff, sniff - we didn't see a single grizzly.

Fires - there are those who bemoan the fires.  And there are those who 
don't.  The grizzly researchers don't.  Reason - because for 50 years we've 
followed the "Smoky the Bear" dictum and not allowed the forests to burn as 
they would naturally.  They (the forests) have overgrown those places which 
once provided prime grizzly habitat.  The fires will open some of those 
places up and once again provide "space" for the grizzlies.  I know - there 
are some who think that's not a good idea either.   I'm not one of them.

Enough - gotta go pack for this weekend.  We'll be doing trail work in PA 
again.  It'll be good to see friends again.  And to get away from the city 
again.

Y'all have a good weekend,
Jim & Ginny

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