Ink Pots - June 30, 2012

Ink Pots - take the Bow Valley Parkway turnoff from Highway 1, west of Banff. The Ink Pots can be accessed via the very popular Johnston Canyon trail, but if it's summer and you want a little peace and quiet, the Moose Meadows trailhead is usually much quieter and doesn't add much distance to your hike. The parking lot for Moose Meadows is about 2-3 minutes past Johnston Canyon.

There should be a million photos from this hike. It was a hike we'll never forget, for all the wrong reasons. The rain, the swamp-like conditions of the trail, the bugs.... oh the bugs. And that feeling that I was hiking just to get through it. So I didn't think to take the camera out until we'd arrived at our destination. Wet, bitten, muddy, and generally in need of some therapy for our therapy.
 
But it wasn't a total loss. It is true, the cloudy days do make the colours seem impossibly bright.

Bow Falls - May 5, 2012

It was a banner moment for the HipHiker household. The moment when our family hiking group no longer consisted of two pairs of feet along the dusty trail... but four.

Ok, so at 14 months (at the time), the boys weren't going to be kicking up too much dirt in their Stride-Rites, but it was time to see if they wanted to come along for the ride, so to speak.

Buying child carriers was a foregone conclusion for our family until a couple of friends mentioned their kids did not take kindly to the backpacks. Dropping $200+ (times two!) for something we might never get to use wasn't terribly appealing. I was lucky enough to find out the local twins club (Twins, Triples and More Association of Calgary) had loaners. We borrowed them for a few weeks, and started light.... Bow Falls in Banff.

Despite being twins, my boys are nothing alike. Benjamin is my outdoorsy kid, he'll giggle in a snowstorm and turn his head to smile into the wind. But he has never liked any carrier contraption we've put him in. He hated the wrap and barely tolerated a Snugli. Joshua on the other hand doesn't seem to relish the elements as much, but is good to go with any mode of transport. I was curious to see what this combination of personalities would bring to the trail.

Though they began with a lot of crying, once they were lifted onto our backs and realized how much they could see and touch, they got into the hike. Once they reached out and started touching trees.... nothing but smiles.

Not a bad way to start your hiking career... and not a bad view either...

Hitting the trail! Benjamin was already mesmerized by the view...

Now we just need to find time to buy child carriers of our own.

Tunnel Mountain - June 26, 2010 (from the archives)

Banff National Park tweeted earlier this week that a number of Banff area trails are now snow free, including Lake Louise Shoreline, Glacier Lake Trail, Johnston Canyon, Bow River Loop, and Castle Lookout. This got me thinking about Tunnel Mountain Trail, a good trail for getting the hiking blood flowing and getting your first good views of the post-winter Banff landscape.

It's a great short hike, especially if you haven't warmed up those hiking legs yet. Even if you're not in peak form, it takes about 45-60 minutes to reach the top without pushing you beyond your limits, and gives you a little bit of rocky terrain near the top to whet your appetite. There's lots to room to stretch out in the sun at the top and enjoy the views.

I can never get enough of the views of Mount Rundle... right next door.

Stewart Canyon -- May 28, 2009

Less of a hike, more of a stroll, Stewart Canyon was a nice way to end the day. The Lake Minnewanka area can be so busy during the summer, so sneaking in there in the spring was an added bonus.

There's not much to add on this particular trail. It's a stroll along the canyon, crossing over early on. But I'm always a sucker for another perspective of Mount Rundle (in the first shot).

C Level Cirque -- May 28, 2009

We rarely get out to the Lake Minnewanka area in Banff National Park. I'm not sure why this is, but any chance to hike near a large (for us) body of water is a treat in southern Alberta.

C-Level Cirque is near the historical site of the abandoned coal mining town of Bankhead (the trailhead is actually located right where the town's residents used to live), and the trail itself has its origins as an old coal mining trail. It's not tough to imagine miners tromping up the trail on their way to the mountain's under belly. There are certainly historical signs throughout the trail, right from the picturesque start:



It doesn't take long to stumble upon an old stone structure, abandoned and (sadly) full of graffiti (why do people do this??):





The trail itself at times is coal slack:



In late May, the snow lingers:



Not far up, the trail takes a number of forks and turns. Most wind up at a giant heap of coal slack that provides a vantage point to look out into the valley below:



(Beautiful panaroma - please click for full image)

Nice shot of Lake Minnewanka, the largest lake in the area, created by man-made dams. An interesting tidbit about the lake: when the 1941 dam was built, it submerged the previous dam, a mountain resort village and more, making this a very popular area for scuba enthusiasts. I can't look at it without thinking of the town beneath:



Throughout the trail, there are constant reminders that the mountain beneath you has been hollowed out thanks to years of mining, and straying too far off trail is not recommended:





Fresh bear tracks slightly further up trail kept us from continuing the hike, but the lake was looking pretty gorgeous that day, so it wasn't too much of a hardship to hike back toward the lake shore...

Sundance Canyon -- January 10, 2009

Another beautiful hike to Sundance Canyon, this time deep in winter. Unbelievably, here in Banff the snow at the trail head wasn't deep enough to support cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, but it was just enough for a pleasant winter hike.





Closer to the canyon itself, these low bushes with the leaves still attached made for a contrast with the rest of the forest floor:



The snow was a little deeper at the canyon mouth, nice for the cross-country skiers who made the trek. I liked the look of this single track to the lonely, snow-covered picnic table...



So perfect you'd almost think the snow was photoshopped! It's strange that the only place I see any reference to miles is on old Park signs (which look so much nicer than the metal ones).



Mouth of the canyon... you can see the water swamped up around the trees on the right side of the photo, then promptly froze around the trunks...



A look up the canyon to the viewpoint/bridge..



A couple of trees had small ice crystal frozen to them, they were scattered all over the trees like nature's little decorations. This close-up didn't turn out like I'd hoped, but it's still cool to look at:



A little colour in the forest beyond the usual green and white!

Sundance Canyon -- Oct 05, 2008

Trail Directions: From Banff city centre, take Banff Avenue south across the bridge and turn right onto Cave Avenue. Park in the Cave and Basin lot. Trail head is near the back of the Cave and Basin building, along the paved path from the parking lot.

Nat and I don't hike around the Banff townsite area very often. There's no real reason for this, maybe convenience, maybe that the truly challenging hikes are usually down some secondary highway, or maybe it's that fighting the weekend traffic of Banff isn't much like "getting back to nature".

Sundance Canyon had been on the radar for some time, but it wasn't until this overcast October Sunday that it seemed like the right time to go. We knew from the trailhead we'd made the right call:



History geek alert: The trail actually begins right beside the Cave and Basin site, which is the historical site of the discovery of Banff Hot Springs, which of course led to the creation of Canada's National Park system in the 1880s. The is one of the older bathhouses, long out of service:



They say it's the overcast days that give you the best colours in photos. No arguments here. The water really was that colour:



While there's certainly not the famous New England type fall foliage in the Alberta Rockies, the sight of the yellow scattered among the evergreens is striking.



There's only a brief window the trees at such an altitude turn bright yellow. Even more amazing to see it under that layer of white snow.



Rockies in the fall:





The entrance to Sundance Canyon:





Some colour on the canyon walls:



Our ultimate destination. The trail leads straight up the side of the canyon, but it's not as much of a climb as it looks, especially when the trail is cool and dry...



Part of the falls from the bridge:





Looking back toward the valley from the bridge:



From a viewpoint further up the trail, with the yellow leaves scattered throughout the valley.



Fall colours are so brief in the Rockies, while winter seems to linger for months on end, so we were glad to be able to spend a fall day in the mountains, knowing winter was around the corner.

Sulphur Mountain -- July 20, 2008

Sulphur Mountain -- Banff. Trail details: Take Banff Ave through town to Mountain Ave. Park in the Hot Springs parking lot, trailhead is NW part of parking lot.

If you've been to Banff, Alberta -- heck, if you've seen a photo of Banff, Alberta -- you've probably seen a photo of Sulphur Mountain. While not as photogenic as my personal favorite, Mount Rundle, Sulphur Mountain is where all the action is -- the Banff Springs Hotel, the Hot Springs, the Sulphur Mountain Gondola. The Cave and Basin is located on the west side of the mountain -- a historic spot for the National Park system of Canada.

Dave and I had to hike it. What better way to spend a 6 year wedding anniversary?

Sulphur Mountain intimidated us for a long time. It is a long way up from the parking lot, and when thousands of people a year will fork over about $16 a pop to take the gondola up instead of hiking, it makes you wonder if they know something we don't.

One thing I didn't know was that the old ski lift machinery still stands on the mountain. As we encountered what I thought was a fire break, we instead saw relics from a bygone era...(look for the wires among the tree... can you imagine riding a chairlift up this narrow channel?)





Only a few steps later, we hiked under the gondola lift. The trail is largely switchbacks up the east side of the mountain, and crosses under the gondola run many times:



I call this my tourism shot... the gondola backed by Mt. Rundle:



Looking down the Mount Rundle range. Sulphur is a steady climb of switchbacks, but an excellent one for views:



Sulphur is also a very popular hike, so the odds are the only wildlife you're going to see are the little guys who are used to being fed.... like this critter:




The trail has plenty of wildflowers as well. First up the Yellow Columbine (aquilegia flavescens). A little blurrier than I would like, but still a nice shot:



We also saw lots of what appears to be a Dwarf Mountain Groundsel (senecio fremontii):



About halfway up the mountain, the gondola starts to hover awfully close to the trail:



Neat little illusion where it looks like the gondola is coming right at you as you hike by:



One switchback went around the north side of the mountain, and we got a beautiful view of the town of Banff, with a very tiny looking Cascade Mountain in the background:



The top platform of Sulphur Mountain is where the trail ends, as well as where the gondola lift terminates. There's an observation deck complete with gift shop and restaurant. As you can imagine, it's quite busy during the summer. It's a bit of a shock going from mountain hike to tourist crowds in the space of a minute, and it diminishes the payoff just a little.



But the view can't be beat. That "bump" beside the river, in the middle-left of the shot... that's Tunnel Mountain... a short but decent hike in its own right:



The top of Sulphur Mountain used to be a ridgewalk, but the area is extremely sensitive and the trail was destroying the unique vegetation. This boardwalk was built to connect the two peaks of the mountain (the old lookout still stands at the other peak):



Looking back at the Visitor's Centre from the lookout. Mount Rundle in the background:



Again, in the midst of the most popular tourist spot in Alberta, yet there's nothing but pristine wilderness everywhere you look:



It's a beautiful area, and maybe too well loved. Much of Sulphur Mountain Trail suffers from overuse due to its popularity. Also, because so much of the trail is simply switchbacks up the mountain, many people take "shortcuts" which only lead to more trail degradation and erosion. There are signs throughout the trail asking hikers to please not cause more damage, but throughout the hike we saw numerous people cutting through the trail and "shortcutting".

This is what the terrain starts to look like when its eroding:



Despite the crowds, and the popularity and sometimes dismaying disregard for the area.... it's a beautiful hike, and should be done at least once. Especially since the Hot Springs reside right at the trail head!