Forty-Eight Hours in the Rockies

Fri./Sat./Sun 20-22 July:  Forty-Eight Hours in the Rockies

If you only had forty eight hours to enjoy the Canadian Rockies, what would you do?  How about this:  go camping by a spectacular lake and bike along the water’s edge, the mountains reflecting in the blue waters.  Then scramble up a knife-edged ridge to well over 8,000 ft. above sea level, up into the alpine zone.  Next, canoe across a wide, windless lake, beneath the sea of peaks, with beavers swimming around you.  Finally take a gondola ride to a summit viewpoint and picnic high on the mountainside with amazing views to the valleys far below.  I did all this, and more, all in a period of less than two days.

Friday


Having dropped my cousin P off at the city bus station for his long journey to Swift Current Saskatchewan, I headed west for the mountains.  By early afternoon I had settled into the most perfect campsite at Spray Lakes West.  My site sat in the trees above the lake, which lies in a mountain valley.  The lake stretches almost fifteen kilometres in length and over one and a half kilometers across. 

Just as I had completed setting up my tent and a protective tarpaulin above it, there was a huge crash of thunder.  A few minutes later, the rain was bucketing down, while I sat safely in my car reading the London Daily Telegraph (care of my cousin).  For a few minutes it was wild.  I found out later that at that very moment, a huge mudslide had cascaded across the Trans-Canada Highway just west of Banff, trapping tourists and blocking the busy traffic for several hours.  I knew nothing of this at the time. 

In a short while the rain stopped, and I set off on an exploration by bike along the old access road which follows the edge of the lake.  This rough road was once open to traffic, but is now gated.  As a result, I had the entire west side of the lake to myself – almost.

It’s a very pretty ten kilometre bike ride, below towering cliffs, through the trees, past old campsites, across open sections of lakeside, always with stunning views of the mountains all around.  Magically the skies cleared ahead of me.  The water turned dark blue, and the mountains reflected almost perfectly on the lake. 

A single biker passed me, and further on, a lone girl with a heavy pack was hiking into the back-country.  The road crosses a dam, from where a valley heads away into the Assiniboine wilderness.  From this vantage point, I could see down the lake to my next adventure, Tent Ridge, reflecting perfectly in the lake, and looking a little intimidating.  Less than twenty hours later, I would be standing up there at over eight thousand feet, looking back at my lakeside viewpoint far below.

Back at the campsite I enjoyed some tinned salmon, started a fire, and began to read my Dalesman magazine (another gift from my Yorkshire cousin) when another loud peal of thunder echoed around the peaks.  Soon the next thunderstorm started to roll in, so I ducked into the tent and enjoyed the crazy flashes and bangs above my head - which seemed to last most of the night – not that I stayed awake very long.

Statistics
Spray Lakes westside road
Fri. 20 July
Total Dist.	21.0 km (bike)
Height Gain	60 ft.
Max. Elev.	5,660 ft.
Time	2 hrs. 59 mins.

Other Stats.
Start bike:      4.01 pm Dam:             5.28 pm Campsite:      7.00 am	Temp: +19 C Clouds clearing, blue skies, warm.

Saturday


It was still raining the following morning at 6 a.m. and I was beginning to doubt the forecast of fine weather.  But the rain stopped, and I enjoyed a bowl of porridge before striking camp and driving south down the Smith-Dorrien road towards the trailhead on the Mt. Engadine Lodge road.  Within just a couple of minutes, my hiking colleagues J and R were pulling into the parking area, having driven out from Calgary.

Our goal today was to complete the full Tent Ridge Horseshoe circuit.  J and I had been beaten back by icy storms two years ago when halfway round, and so we had vowed to return. 

Another sunny forecast didn’t fool us. Up on this high ridge, at over 8,000 feet, the weather seems to have a mind of its own.  Climbing up into the heart of the horseshoe, below the curving ridgeline, we stopped to put on our rain jackets.  A misty rain was starting to fall.  At this point, we felt that our chances of completing the circuit were no better than 50-50. But we continued on up through the trees onto the bare ridge. 

One band of snow proved to be no obstacle.  The light drizzle had stopped, and although the wind was picking up, the ridge top was clear.  Behind, along the mountain ranges to the west, the peaks were hidden by the cloud.  Our hopes lifted, as we gradually climbed the steep rocky ridgeline towards the first summit.  By the time we reached the red repeater station the wind was howling.  We were glad of some protection from the gale.  Soon we were joined by three girls and two dogs, who had been making good progress behind us.  They were keen for us to act as official photographers for their party, and we were glad to oblige.

We dropped down to the col where, on our previous attempt, J and I took the steep escape route down through the trees to Tryst Lake.  This time we turned up the slope for the ascent of the central peak of Tent Ridge.  The summit, at 8,380 feet, commands a spectacular view of crazy mountain peaks, bands of snow, and the Spray Lakes spread out along its valley far below.  Here at the centre of the horseshoe one has the best view of Tent Ridge and its perfectly shaped glacial valley stretching away from the summit.  Here were some great photo opportunities for foolhardy hikers such as this author.

The second half of the horseshoe started with a descent off the summit along the edge of a spectacular vertical cliff.  After this, the ridge became flatter and less rocky – a pleasant stroll even in a strong wind.   A full gale might be a different proposition as there would be no happy landing if one was blown off the ridge.  Near the far end of the ridge we found a small triple ski sled sitting on the upper slopes.  This must have been someone’s idea of an extreme joke – for only a madman would propel himself off the ridge while sitting on that device, hoping to steer by its tiny steering wheel.  We looked around the bare slopes half expecting to find a hidden camera – perhaps a student prank?

As we sat high on the final peak of this horseshoe, we watched our earlier hiking colleagues descend to the forested valley far below, as we tried to memorize their route.  When we dropped down off the ridge, we soon picked up a good trail, and from that point we were in no danger of getting lost.  We headed down a draw.  Today’s educational portion of our adventure was brought to us by the Oxford Dictionary, and its many definitions of “draw”.  I think we added a few new ones!

It had been quite chilly up on the high ridge, but down here in the forest, it was a warm summer’s day.  Here we met our only other traveler, a man with his small dog, heading up the path.  Making good time, we dropped down onto a good logging trail and, swinging to the right, we were soon back at the cars, having made easy work of this strenuous route.  Looking back up the mountain, it seemed impossible that we had been strolling along that high ridge far up in the sky. 

To any readers of this blog, pick a day with a sunny forecast – then ignore it and go anyway.  Make it a clockwise circuit for the easiest ascent, and start early to allow time to enjoy a spectacular experience. 

Statistics
Tent Ridge Horseshoe
Sat. 21 July
Total Dist.	10.1 km (hike)
Height Gain	2,700 ft.
Max. Elev.	8,380 ft.
Time	6 hrs. 32 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:     8.00 am 1st peak:      10.34 am Summit:       11.39 am N. peak:       12.48 pm Ret. to car:     2.32 pm	Temp: +16 C to +21 C,  much colder on summit Cloudy, sunny breaks, strong W. winds, early light shower.

Sunday

After returning home last night, I was once again on the road early with C. for our special day trip to Banff.  By 8.45 a.m. we were waiting expectedly at the Blue Canoe hut beside the Bow River in Banff.  Promptly at 9 o’clock things sprang to action.  We were first onto the river in our neat blue canoe, paddling (not quite yet like professionals) up-river.  It was a perfect cloudless day and already warm and windless – ideal for a canoe trip. 

We found that the current was quite strong, but we made some progress up the side of the wide river, enjoying the river life – families of ducks and geese.  Turning around we raced back downstream before turning up the narrow channels leading to the Vermilion Lakes.  The banks were overgrown.  Here the Canada geese were plentiful, resting by the water’s edge.  There was very little current, and we made easy progress through the twisting channel before coming out onto the open water of the first of the three Vermilion lakes.  We paddled leisurely on the mirror-like surface, snapping away with our cameras at the upside-down reflections of mountains and forests that ringed our lake.  On our return journey through the channels we saw two or three beaver playing around, slapping their tails on the water.  Nearby, hidden by the trees, a train passed by, blowing its distinctive horn – a totally Canadian experience.

Our next adventure was to take the gondola up Sulphur Mountain.  Today being a sunny summer weekend, the international tourists were out in full force.  Yet despite the crowds, we did not have to wait very long for our ride, and it was all quite relaxed.  We shared our gondola with two elderly ladies from Chicago who seemed to appreciate my personal guided tour of the main peaks!  On the summit we joined the throngs making their way up to the tiny cosmic ray station on the summit of Sanson Peak, on the beautifully constructed wooden skywalks.  By stepping a few yards off the skywalk, down the west side access trail, we left 99% of the tourists behind.  Finding a handy rock, we laid out our luxury picnic of turkey, pate, brie, raspberries, and other delicacies. C’s bread roll was brazenly stolen off her plate by an aggressive gopher, and we had to swat him away.  Below us a fat marmot wisely kept his distance. The views up here were spectacular, although on the western horizon the next line of weather was gradually moving eastwards.

There’s a reason why the crowds flock to Banff year-round.  This is a superb mountain setting, and even the chattering folk from all over the world only served to reinforce the feeling that we, the locals, were privileged to be able to treat Banff as our own personal day-trip destination.

In less than a couple of hours we were safely home, ending an action-packed two days in the Canadian Rockies.