Bow Valley Wildland

Fri.  22 February:  Bow Valley Wildland: beneath the mountain wall

This trip had an unlikely trailhead – the local landfill site!  But this strange access led to a magical world of hidden valleys and icy lakes, blasted clear of snow by howling Chinook winds, and all beneath a mountain wall dominated by the distinctive cliffs of Yamnuska mountain.

I had no idea this secret world existed.  It was only thanks to the Kananaskis Blog website, with an article by Gillean Daffern, that I found out about it.  The Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park lies beneath the mountain wall to the north of the Trans-Canada Highway as you enter the mountains.

This hike took me up through the trees onto the lower slopes of the mountain wall.  I wandered off the trail to climb up to where I had a good view of an impressive icefall, which I would imagine should be a popular destination for ice climbers.  But perhaps they don’t know about it.  Dropping back into the well-named Hidden Valley, I strolled in an easterly direction through the three or four inches of new snow cover on a trail that was at times indistinct.  To my left was the mountain wall and ahead of me were the vertical cliffs of Yamnuska (Yam – the well known climbers’ mountain). 

The trail swung south and dropped down to a series of small lakes, each on a lower level than the next:  Crescent Lake, Hilltop Pond, Reed Lake.  These intriguing frozen lakes were being swept by the powerful Chinook winds which were blowing the snow off their surfaces, leaving bare ice, which reflected the low sunshine.  They were not smooth enough for skating, nor snow-free enough, but in slightly different circumstances they might become wonderful ice rinks, in a wild mountain setting.

I returned westwards along the forest trail with the wind racing through the trees and the sunshine breaking through the clouds.

I had seen the fleeting bodies of some deer racing away through the woods.  I didn’t see any other hikers out here. The wind was fierce as I made my way alongside the landfill fence-line, making it feel a lot colder than the plus three degrees.  Once again I wore my trusty MICROspikes all the way around. 

There are more lakes to explore in this secret world.  It’s worth a return trip on a warm summer’s day when the wind might be less violent!

Statistics:

Total Distance:   9.2 km (hike)

Height Gain:         500 ft.

Max. Elev.:       4,760 ft.

Time on Trail:    2 hrs. 59 mins.

Start hike:         10.56 am

Crescent L:      12.39 pm

Ret. to car:          1.55 pm

Start Temp:        + 1 deg.C

Finish Temp:     + 3 deg.C

Weather:           Howling Chinook winds, making it feel cold.  Chinook cloud, sun.

McLean Hill: Under the Arch

Sat.  16 February:  McLean Hill:  Under the Arch

McLean Hill:  not much of a peak, but what a grand vantage point for today’s Chinook Arch.  The strong westerly winds were blowing the clouds away from the mountains, creating this arch of heavy cloud, and clear skies below it, framed by the Front Ranges.

As I walked up McLean Creek Trail road, beyond the winter gate, I met a jogger coming back down the road.  She told me that she had seen two moose further along the valley.  I soon turned up onto the lower slopes of McLean Hill, so sadly never saw them.  In fact I saw no animals, although there were signs of deer.  The guidebook provides the adventurer with a complex map of trails which seem to head off in every direction.  So after a while I gave up trying to follow instructions and struck up a steep forested slope which was mostly snow free.  This led to a forested ridge, and so to the first of many good views of the mountain wall to the west and the arch directly above me.

There seemed to be more trail options than on the map, and I was put off by a descending section of path.  So I climbed a steep cut-line for a short while, which led me to an outlier of the summit.  I quickly dropped down through the snowy forest back onto the trail and up to the surprisingly bare summit.  McLean Hill turns out to be an excellent viewpoint for everyone’s most favorite and well known section of foothills and mountains:  Moose Mountain to the north, then swinging west and south  one could see Prairie Mountain, Powderface Ridge, Forgetmenot Ridge, and behind them all the familiar Front Range peaks heavily snow covered and with clouds boiling up behind them.

I stopped for a while at the summit to enjoy this view, and to bask in a warm wind – hardly to be expected in mid-February.  Sure enough, later that night, it snowed and the temperatures dropped by about ten degrees!  But not in time to spoil this treat.

The hillsides drop steeply down from the summit along a cut-line.  This is off-road vehicle country and it was no surprise to me to hear the constant sound of revving engines in the valley below.  As I was about halfway down the steep, icy trail, I met a couple of quads heading up the hill.  A little later, a third quad passed me, only to return back down the hill five minutes later, very cautiously!  Without MICROspikes, today’s winter hike would have been impossible.  One could have guaranteed a broken leg.  I am so confident now of my spikes that I stride happily down a steep sheet of ice as if it were a sidewalk in the city.  One slip would be terrible, but the spikes simply don’t slip.

My return along the romantically named route 1B required some more climbing up a forested ridge, before a gentle descent along snow-packed motorbike trails back down to the road.  By now the sun had broken out from beneath the arch and it was a warm day.  I stopped beside the snow-covered McLean Lake for a picnic before heading home.  The local campsite will be full this weekend of campers with their quads and bikes, revving up as loudly as they can.  Not a place for a quiet weekend trip. 

Statistics:

Total Distance:   7.4 km (hike)

Height Gain:      1,300 ft.

Max. Elev.:       5,679 ft.

Time on Trail:    3 hrs. 9 mins.

Start hike:           9.05 am

Summit:            10.28 am

Ret. to car:        12.14 pm

Start Temp:        + 3 deg.C

Finish Temp:     + 6 deg.C

Weather:           Chinook cloud, sun towards end of hike.  Warm, W wind at summit.

Sunrise from Nose Hill

Sun.  10 February:  Nose Hill Sunrise

For some reason, I had never visited Nose Hill Park, in over thirty years since first coming to Calgary.  I had missed out on a gem. It doesn’t look like much, when seen from the city; just a low hill overlooking the northern end of Calgary.

Nose Hill is more than a bare grassy plateau.  There are a couple of wooded valleys on the east side, and an interesting southeastern summit area with an old quarry and nice treed pathways.  And of course, the views all around are superb.  West to the mountains, south across the city, east across to the airport and the flat prairies, and to the north the lines of houses which were halted in time to save Nose Hill.  This is a favorite place for people to walk their dogs on a weekend.  The stiff, short climb from the many access points around the perimeter of the hill probably puts some people off, but there are good pathways all over the plateau, and they are popular.  Today my MICROspikes were essential for most of the journey, especially on the steep sections at the start and end of the trip.

I was early enough to enjoy a spectacular sunrise, with an orange glow leading to a golden sun rising up from the flat prairie horizon.  Very soon the plateau was bathed in a warm morning sunlight – on a not so warm morning!

Statistics:

Total Distance:   9 km (hike)

Height Gain:         300 ft.

Max. Elev.:       4,040 ft.

Time on Trail:    2 hrs. 43 mins.

Start hike:           7.31 am

Ret. to car:        10.14 am

Start Temp:        minus 7 deg.C

Finish Temp:     minus 4 deg.C

Weather:           Cloudless, windless, slightest occasional breeze from NW

Glenbow Ranch

Sat. 2 February:  Glenbow Ranch

This was the most perfect Calgary day imaginable, and in mid-winter.  It was cloudless, around the freezing point, but hardly a breath of wind.  The view west to the mountain wall was stunning.  Despite this, in almost three hours of wandering this popular city-edge provincial park, I met only two people on the trails, until the very end.

The feature of this walk was the frozen Bow River, with a narrow fast-flowing stream racing through a haphazard ocean of jagged ice.  The distant mountain peaks gave my camera a work-out, but I found it difficult to get them into focus.  A couple of trains passed by along the historical CP railway line to Vancouver, pulling cattle cars and containers piled two high. 

The main trail was almost snow and ice free, with the exception of a couple of flooded areas.  My MICROspikes were handy as soon as I left the main trail, where the thin snow cover hid a layer of ice.

The 2013 season is finally off to a pleasant start.  The Passionate Hiker is in no hurry to try to break any records this year.

  

Statistics:

Total Distance: 10.1 km (hike)

Height Gain:        200 ft.

Max. Elev.:       3,970 ft.

Time on Trail:    2 hrs. 44 mins.

Start hike:         11.11 am

W. end:             12.48 pm

Ret. to car:          1.55 pm

Start Temp:          0 deg.C

Finish Temp:     +3 deg.C

Weather:           Cloudless, v. light breeze