The Passionate Hiker: January 2020

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

AND THAT'S IT !

And that's it !

The Passionate Hiker

TOP TEN (10): Crypt Lake Classic (August 1987)

TOP TEN (10)

More than three decades ago, between 1983 and 1987 the Passionate Hiker was busy setting the foundations for his career, and his family, in Alberta, but it didn't stop him from going on a number of exciting adventures in the Canadian Rockies.

Here is the tenth and final of his selected "Top Ten" trips during that time frame. The narrative comes from his diaries, written at the time. Several of the photos come from the original negatives and have never been printed before. It was a clear day, ideal for photography.

Sitting on the US-Canadian border at Crypt Lake: no customs post!

SAT. 8TH AUGUST 1987:

CRYPT LAKE CLASSIC

Background to this Story:

The Crypt Lake Trail, in Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park, right on the US border, is a classic, and had been on my list for some time. Finally I had an opportunity to tackle it, as the second part of an active two-day hiking weekend.

If I had to choose just one of my “Top Ten” adventures, to recommend to a keen hiker, it might be this one. It’s quirky, spectacular, and provides the perfect hiking experience.

An exciting trip by boat then on foot down to the US border,
then back again the same way

My Diary:

The hike that has it all! Probably the classic hike in the whole Rockies. And finally, after much anticipation, we’re poised to add this fine experience to our list of memorable mountain trips.

Roger and I join the early risers as they head for the boat pier on the edge of Waterton Lake. About 40 or 50 assorted hikers and one dog pile into the ferry boat and promptly at 9 a.m. we’re off on our adventure.

During the day we experience the boat trip across this mountain-ringed lake, pass beside a series of beautiful waterfalls, and below a spectacular headwall with cascading waterfall, crawl through a tunnel far up on a rocky scree slope, discover a hidden lake overlooked by towering peaks, and stroll into another Country.

It seems that there must be an unwritten rule that there’s no stopping allowed, for the hikers of all ages stride out purposefully from the boat landing, leaving us behind! Most unsettling.

The route is pleasant – up a long series of zigzags in the forest. Past a double waterfall then another falls, after which we climb in zigzags up the open slopes. On the far side of the valley is a colossal headwall with a waterfall tumbling down at the centre and tall conifers lining the top. The hidden valley above this headwall looks impossible to reach. However, we keep climbing up the pathway, through the trees, across a tumbling stream, before moving onto a steep scree slope towards an impassable buttress. From further back along our path, we could see people moving across what seemed like a vertical cliff then suddenly disappearing.

This is the tunnel. A short climb up a ladder leads us into a cavern which immediately shrinks into a hole just big enough to enter at a stoop, with backpack being pushed ahead. It’s about 60 feet long then opens up again at the other side. A fixed cable helps the hiker along a cliff edge up to the pathway up the headwall.

This delightful section of rocky ledges and wet moss under the trees is a wildflower paradise. Quickly through the trees we are at the edge of a beautiful alpine lake, surrounded by high cliffs and mountainsides.

There’s an enormous contrast between the north and south ends of this lake, called Crypt Lake – apart from the fact that they are in different Countries! At this north end, high-spirited youths are taking an icy dip while others are lying beneath the trees on the grass by the beach. A stroll down to the far end takes us into alpine glacier country, with piles of rocky moraine, a snowfield, and rocks tumbling off the mountain slopes into the lake.

Today it’s baking hot. People sunbathe as if this is the Okanagan, not way up in the Rocky Mountains. We stroll across the International Border, which runs exactly along the foot of the lake. No guards here, just an impassable mountain barrier above.

Making good time back down the pathway*, meeting several parties still on their way up, presumably from the later boat, we arrive at the wooded cove where 20 or so people are waiting for the 4 p.m. boat. My hot feet cool down in the cold lake waters.

Finally at about 4.15 our boat arrives and we climb aboard for the short journey back up the lake to our starting point.

Boat dep. = 9.00 a.m.

Start hike = 9.20

Crypt Lake = 12.00

Start down = 1.30

Finish hike = 3.45

Boat dep. = 4.15

Dep. Waterton = 5.00

Home = 8.15 p.m.

STATISTICS:

Highest Elev. = 6,500 ft. (Crypt Lake)

Height Gain = 2,300 ft.

Hike Distance = 17.4 km

Time on Trail = 6 hrs. 25 mins.

* It was here just last year that 2 hikers in a hurry to catch the boat ran right into the path of a grizzly sow with cubs. They were both badly mauled but luckily survived. Happily the path was free of bears today.

Speeding south through Alberta

Boat trip down Waterton Lake to the trailhead

Looking south to the waterfall below Crypt Lake

Another view of the headwall, and, centre left, the tunnel

Approaching the famous tunnel...

...along a narrow cliff path....

...then up a short ladder and into the tunnel...

..with views out the other end...

...and down to our approach route

The Canadian end of Crypt Lake, looking south to the US border
at the far end of the lake, beneath the mountain wall

And the view looking north from the other end, on the US border

Same view, from behind a snow drift.
I'm probably on the US side of the border line here.

Our route followed the right (eastern) shoreline.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

TOP TEN (9): Up the Crowsnest (August 1987)

TOP TEN (9)

Here is the ninth of his selected "Top Ten" trips during that time frame. The narrative comes from his diaries, written at the time. He took very few photos on this demanding trip, and so has turned to the internet for suitable shots of the climb.

Crowsnest Mountain (9,137 ft./2,785 m) from the south - looking impregnable

FRI. 7TH AUGUST 1987:

UP THE CROWSNEST

Background to this Story:

From the Crowsnest Highway running west through the southern Canadian Rockies, this mountain looks impregnable. But there is a steep ascent available from its northern side. In anything but perfect weather, it would be foolhardy to attempt it. Luckily we picked a perfect day. This was day one of an energetic 2-day weekend.

Our steep ascent is from the north side of the mountain

My Diary:

It is safe to say that the view from the top of Crowsnest Mountain (9,137 ft.) is one that I shall see only once in my lifetime!

This is one challenging mountain. The trail guide is perhaps not sufficiently cautionary – or maybe I’m out of shape. Despite it being August, this is my first hike of the year.

The Crowsnest Pass heads east-west across the Rockies about 150 km south of Calgary. Crowsnest Mountain rises dramatically on the north side of the Pass, seemingly an impossible climb with steep vertical sections. The logging road (Allison Creek road) – complete with speeding logging trucks – leads up round the west side of the lower forested slopes of the mountain, to our starting point – a clearing in the trees.

From here it’s upwards all the way – in only 4 km we will climb 3,400 ft. There are three very different stages. The first is an increasingly steep path through the forest up the slopes, passing by pretty streams and colourful wildflowers. Finally coming out of the trees we find ourselves in the bottom of a bowl. Above us the steep scree slopes end below towering cliffs. Without the benefit of a guide book, we would happily stop right here, have lunch and then return down to the car.

But our book insists that there’s a way up. So we scramble up the steep scree slopes until I have to leave my walking stick behind in favour of two hands. We pull up onto an outcrop. There’s no obvious route from here. We drop down and around the cliff, up another scree then climb up into a narrow and steep chute. This is tricky going up and probably dangerous going down, but we are committed now. At the top of the chute is a ledge along the cliff. Luckily this leads onto another scree slope at the very foot of the cliffs, which are black from constantly dripping water.

Just beyond this black cliff we find the so-called “chimney” – maybe 20 feet wide and 150 yards long, at an angle of about 45° upwards. Each side of us are the steep cliff sides. At our feet is loose rubble.

As we reach the top of the chimney, several times sending rocks tumbling down, we have to do a tiny bit of climbing to get out onto the bare mountainside above [I see from the internet that there is now a fixed chain up this most difficult section].

The final stage of our climb is an unexpected and unwelcome section of rubble and scree contouring up an increasingly steep slope onto the summit. There were times when I wondered if we’d make it. Probably the worst surface imaginable and designed to twist an ankle.

Finally the summit! Spectacular, and today the 360° unrestricted views are unspoiled by any cloud or haze. West across the BC Rockies; North to glacier-clad peaks; East to the distant prairie; and South to the jagged Waterton peaks. Below lies the Crowsnest Pass and the villages of Coleman and Blairmore, a vertical kilometre below.

On the summit is a plastic tube containing the names of those plucky people who made it up here. Some humorous comments. It’s clear that most people shared our feelings about the dangers of this mountain and quite a few expressed concern that they may not get down safely.

The average time to the top appears to be 3½ hours (our time) but one guy made it in a staggering 1 hour 50 minutes! Another man writes “My wife made it up here last year and said I couldn’t do it – so there!”. One climber came up in May, noting that he “had to use both ice axes to detour past the chimney”! It’s clear that the difficulty would become extreme in anything but perfect weather. Luckily today was such a day – only a light breeze on the summit and cloudless skies.

To our great surprise, we share the summit with a gutsy 7-year old boy and his dad. I’m not sure how he made it up and I’m still worried that he didn’t get down.

We charge down the rubble slopes, bringing part of the mountain down with us. The descent back into the chimney requires steady nerves and all the experience gained hiking in Scotland, England and Canada. I really don’t enjoy having to cling on by 2 hands as well as 2 feet.

It’s all relatively straight-forward from here on, except that it’s very steep. We’re thankful to reach the treeline and disappear into the cool forest.

This afternoon we drive south to Waterton National Park for the next adventure in this jam-packed weekend. [See my final Top Ten story: “Crypt Lake Classic”.]

STATISTICS:

Summit Elev. = 9,137 ft./2,785 m

Height Gain = 3,400 ft.

Hike Distance = 8 km

Time on Trail = 6 hrs. 00 mins.

Time to Top = 3 hrs. 30 mins.