Southern Alberta Flood - Trail Update June 27, 2013

Unless you've been living under a rock (or perhaps outside of Canada), you'll know that the worst flooding in the recorded history of the region occurred on June 20-22, 2013. As a result, the mountains, recreational areas, roads, and rivers are a mess. Bridges are gone, campgrounds are flooded and trails are washed out.

In the grand scheme of things, personal property and major road repairs must take first priority. Getting cities, towns and hamlets safe and habitable again is key to rebuilding. Knowing this, it could take some time before attention is turned to the rehabilitation of our recreational areas.

So where can we go while we rebuild? With so many different regions, it can be tough to keep track of what's open to the public. Here's a quick reference for this moment in time:

Banff National Park updated their trail report on June 26, 2013.

In summary, Sulphur Mountain and Tunnel Mountain are pretty much your only in town options, with Bow River/Hoodoo listed as Fair/Poor. All other trails, such as Fenland, Goat Creek, etc, are closed.

Lake Minnewanka Loop Drive is closed.

The popular Johnston Canyon and Castle Lookout trails are closed, while other trails further up the highway are open but muddy.

Lake Louise and area escaped the worst of the flooding, but are still wet. In fact many trails still list snow as your greatest obstacle. Remember that during the heat wave next week.

In Kanananskis, one of the hardest hit areas, there are even less options. Road closures, bridge washouts, and mudslides are extensive. It might be helpful to look at the closed areas first.

Canmore Nordic Centre is open for use! (as of June 27). Some trails wet and muddy with natural hazards. Highway 742 (Spray Lakes) is closed at the Grassi Lakes turnoff.

Bow Valley Provincial Park (as of 2:15, June 27) (too many to list, click link for details -- news is cautiously optimistic)

Spray Valley Provincial Park is closed due to access and flooding.

Cataract Creek is closed due to access and flooding.

Elbow Valley - The highway is closed at either the Bragg Creek turnoff or MacLean Creek depending on which web site you visit. The bridge right before Allen Bill Pond was washed out, so MacLean Creek is the furthest you can go. This impacts the Elbow Falls rec area, as well as the Beaver Flats campground. Paddy's Flats Group use and River Cove Groups use are also closed. Little Elbow is closed. MacLean Creek campground is open, with limited services, no power, water, or sewage disposal. The store will be open, but on generator.

Peter Lougheed Park is completely closed. Click the link for the affected areas.

Sheep River. Bluerock is closed, Sandy McNabb is open.

Lower Kananaskis River. Many of the day use areas shut down. The slalom course was destroyed and washed out in the flood, creating a very messy situation in the area.

I did not see a trail report for Highwood area, but the footage online shows the damage to be quite extensive in the region.

I'll do my best to update as more information becomes available. Make sure to also follow on Twitter (@hiphiker).

Grassi Lake -- October 18, 2009

Grassi Lakes in fall. One last hike before the snow took hold in the Rockies.



Nature photographers will tell you the best days for shooting photos are the overcast days. The gray tones will bring out the colours of your natural subjects so much more. The pools at Grassi Lakes show how true this tip really is:













Looking back toward the town of Canmore, with the clouds hanging low over the valley, yet the peaks visible for kilometers.....

Ha Ling Peak - June 22, 2008

Canmore - Ha Ling Peak. Trail Details: From Canmore, head west on the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail (Highway 742), past the Nordic Centre. Turn right into the Goat Creek Day Use parking lot. Trail begins across the highway.


When I first started hiking the thought of making it to the actual summit of a mountain in the Canadian Rockies seemed inconceivable. I had visions of climbing gear and ropes and hanging precariously from a sheer rock face with a valley far far below.

Truth be known, there are a quite a few trails in my part of the world that summit formidable mountains. They are far from easy, they usually involve hours of steep inclines, trekking poles and even some scrambling, but they're out there, and the average person can do them.

If I remember this summer's hiking for anything, it will be for the fact N, D and I hiked some of the highest trails in the region and summited a number of mountains I would have thought impossible.

Ha Ling Peak is an achievement for so many reasons. For starters, the hike begins at the base of the mountain, not after driving up half the mountain via a logging/forestry road (such as Moose Mountain). Second, it's such a visible mountain, towering over the town of Canmore along the Trans-Canada highway.

The mountain measures at 2407m/7897ft, which isn't that impressive by mountaineering/climbing standards, but the short trail (just under 3 km) means you're climbing over 700m in 3 km.

Ha Ling also has one of the more storied histories of the region. During Canmore's coal-mining days in the 1880s, a Chinese cook named Ha Ling won a bet after proving he could summit the mountain and return to camp in under 12 hours. The mountain was named Chinaman's Peak in his honour, though this wasn't made official until about a hundred years later. In 1997, due to the sensitivities of the name, the name was changed to Ha Ling Peak, but not without opposition from those who believed the historical name should stand. Personally, I like that the name reflects the actual person it's named for...

Amazingly, I went through my photos and I don't have a single shot of Ha Ling from a distance. Until then, rmbooks.com has some nice photos (plus a write up on the naming controversy) at Peaks of the Canadian Rockies.

Clearly, N and I had no idea what we were getting into.

As we loaded up in the parking lot, we spotted 3 mountain goats making their way down a fairly steep rock face on the other side of the highway. It was magnificent to watch them navigate down the rock, taking a path no human could hope to descend. As a hiker, I learned a lot just by watching these 3 beasts. They stood back and let their cohorts fully navigate the tricky areas before starting down, and they kept a certain distance from each other in case of falls. These guys look pretty mangy - it was June and they were still shedding their winter coats. ;-) (click the photo for a better view)



I guess the nice thing about steep trails is that you get instant payback. Ours came in the form of this Spray Valley vista:




Don't be fooled - the cloudy day was a blessing. No way could we have done that climb in direct sunlight.

I didn't take as many photos as I usually might. With the trail climbing up the west slope of the mountain, the view didn't vary that much. Also, Ha Ling Peak is an extremely popular trail, and despite our early start, there was seldom a time when there wasn't another group nearby. Every time we stopped, we'd need to step aside to let another 10-15 people by.

But the big thing was the wind. Once we got above the treeline, the wind was unbelievable. Anything not firmly attached had to be tied down, and walking along the scree meant enormous concentration to not lose balance. N and I complained so much about the wind that weeks later when my husband asked about the hike, he thought it was called "Howling Peak".

So photos weren't forefront on my mind.... until we got to this view at the top. That's Canmore down there, with Grotto Mountain in the background:



Looking south with the Goat Range in the distance and the edge of Rundle Mountain on the right side of the photo. If you look at the lower right corner, that's the type of terrain we were hiking for the windy part of the hike (and at that angle!). Just beyond the Goat Range is Sulphur Mountain, part of which is located in Banff:



Looking south from Ha Ling. This is the other half of Goat Range, with (I believe) the Sundance Range in the distance behind it:




The other memorable thing from this windy, steep hike? Hiking up took us about 2 hours. Hiking back down took us just as long. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat...

Grassi Lakes -- May 11, 2008

I was hoping for more practice with the camera I was testing, and Grassi Lakes seemed like a good choice. When you hike it in just the right light, the natural colours of the lakes are stunning.

Grassi Lakes is just outside of Canmore (close to the Nordic Centre), and right on the border to Banff National Park, so yeah, we were expecting to snow (thanks to the incredibly late thaw this season -- or have I whined about that enough?).

However, because the temps were consistently above freezing, the snow wasn't frozen, just incredibly slushy. I didn't think we'd been able to take the path that leads alongside falling water (too frozen), or the stone staircases (too slippy), but N suggested we give it a try and it was no problem at all.

Of course, there was still plenty of snow. I don't think anyone will be using this bench for a while:



The payoff, as always, was great. I got to try the camera out on a number of different things, including those amazing lake colours. These photos don't even begin to do the area justice. A short hike, but just what we were looking for.

Culling Coyotes in Canmore, updated

I posted about the 3 children nipped by coyotes in Canmore a few weeks ago. At the time I commented that it was unusual for coyotes to attack kids, especially one as old as 13.

Well a couple of articles from local Canmore papers shed a lot more light in the situation. From the Rocky Mountain Outlook:

Wittner said the coyotes were not attacking the children, instead, the animals were likely begging for food.

"It was probably a 'please feed me', trying to encourage this person to drop some food. It's so atypical for a coyote to approach a person in the first place. So if they are doing it, it's a learned behaviour," she said.

The normally shy and secretive coyote learns that behaviour from people who are actively or inadvertently feeding them. Wittner said she knows of at least one person in Canmore who is feeding coyotes and she believes there are likely more doing the same.

From the Canmore Leader:

Wittner said residents are also more likely to see coyotes if they’re out walking their dog, more incentive to keep dogs on-leash.

“Coyotes are attracted to dogs, and see them as an intruder. That’s why they’ll come and check them out. They’ll leave people alone, but you’re more likely to see one if you have your dog.”

All of this makes a lot more sense than coyotes outright attacking humans. It's clear the kids were scared (as they should be) and parents have a right to keep their children safe. However instead of hunting down coyotes and killing them or creating barriers in the coyotes natural environment, maybe humans need to look at how their behavior is attracting the coyotes in the first place.

It blows me away that people are actually feeding coyotes. As the article points out, dealing with coyotes is similar to dealing with bears. If you knew someone who was purposely feeding bears, or elk, or wolves or even foxes, wouldn't you be irate? Then why would it be any different with coyotes?

Culling Coyotes in Canmore

Lately I've been paying more attention to the animal tracks I see in the snow. It likely has a lot to do with spotting cougar tracks on a recent hike (more on that in a future post), but it's been some valuable education. When spring comes around and there are tracks running every which way on the muddy trail, I like knowing what I'm looking at.

After learning the difference between canine and feline prints, I started to let my guard down when I could tell the tracks were likely from a four-legged hiking companion. In the unlikely event the tracks belonged to something a little less domestic such as a coyote or wolf, I still wasn't that concerned. We don't hike with our pets (the cats would really not go for it), and I couldn't imagine a coyote or wolf attacking humans.

Wrong.

The weekend before last one or more coyotes attacked a total of three children in Canmore, one in her front yard, two more at a city-sponsored "Skate with Santa" event. One girl was 13 years old -- this is far from a small child you would expect to be the target of a coyote.

Two coyotes have been killed by Fish and Wildlife officers. The coyotes will be tested for rabies and other diseases, though there's no way to know if these are the same coyotes that attacked the kids.

None of the kids were seriously hurt -- they were bitten, but the skin was not broken -- yet this should serve as a warning to all hikers. If a coyote will attack a human in a town setting like Canmore, that's good enough reason to pay attention to coyotes you might encounter on the trail -- especially around Canmore.

Warnings

It's the time of year when warnings are everywhere, so I thought I'd pass a couple along:

The Kananaskis Country website has posted a cougar warning for the Canmore/Bow Valley Provincial Park area, particularly the Peaks of Grassi and Quarry Lake areas.

It's also not a bad idea to check out the avalanche warnings before heading out on any trail.

Finally, the Banff National Park website has some excellent warnings about hiking, skiing or boarding in the backcountry this time of year.

Grassi Lake - August 26, 2007

Time for an old favorite: Grassi Lake (get all the details here). N had never done this hike and it seemed like a good morning for a drive to Canmore. The weather that had blown in for the Tunnel mountain hike the day before had stuck around, and it was a cloudy overcast day when we reached the Grassi Lake trailhead.

Here was our view of Canmore from one of the earliest viewpoints of the hike:



Compare that to the same view point back in June:



By the time we got to the recreation area around Grassi Lake, we were practically in the clouds ourselves:




However this might have been the only time in the history of hiking that we'd have the entire lake to ourselves. The mistiness and dampening effect of the clouds just made the colours seem brighter and the area seem more isolated. Not something you're going to feel in the height of summer when half of Canmore is there:



We headed down the old forestry road after spending some time looking around the lake. It's a nicer walk down and you miss some of the crowds heading up. It forms a loop and it can be a pain going back the way you came up, especially with the narrow paths and stairs. We passed by this old cabin. It's clearly been in this state for years, but with the rain throughout the night and morning, the logs gave off a woodsy smell that made it seem very fresh:



A little further down the trail, N and I had quite a surprise. I'd long believed there was little to no chance of seeing wildlife on this trail, other than the odd scavenger squirrel, mostly due to the high traffic on the trail. But this lovely misty morning, a pair of deer grazed right along the trail:



The other deer was skittish and ran away, but this one seemed relaxed and kept on eating as we took photos and went on our way.

I've done this hike so often, I never expected to have such a unique experience on the trail that day. A little bit of rain made all the difference!

Grassi Lake - June 10

Camore - Grassi Lakes Trail. Trail details: Take Trans-Canada Highway to Canmore, AB. Drive through town past the Canmore Nordic Centre (Highway 742, also known as Spray Lakes Rd.). Look for a turnoff just before the winter gates on Spray Lakes road, this turnoff leads downhill and to the trailhead..

There's not much I can say about Grassi Lakes that hasn't been said. The hike is beautiful and should be done at least once per season. It's a short loop with about 1.5 km of steep uphill, and some parts of the trail are not for those with unsure footing or fear of heights (a hiker recently died after falling from the trail), but the views of Canmore and the lakes themselves are beyond description. Back in May (which was really too early to hike the trail) even my crappy camera photo was able to take a great desktop photo. That's how photogenic this hike is.

D and I decided to take this hike as part of a day trip to the area. We weren't looking for anything super strenuous -- just a quick hike with a little bit of kick to it. We got exactly what we wanted.

Canmore was under a high water alert for the first time that spring, but surprisingly, we didn't see much evidence of high water, with the exception of a couple of ponds right off the main roads of Canmore.

From the trailhead, the path is along a closed off forestry road before coming to this fork. The best option is definitely the "difficult" path, despite what your inner hiker might say. This side of the loop provides the best views on the way up and the most challenging walk. The easier path is confined to the forestry road and is an excellent way to descend from the lakes -- nice and relaxed.

Naturally it didn't take long for one of the locals to come out. I'd be hard pressed to think of a time we didn't see a red squirrel on this hike.... they practically own the trail. Due to popularity of the trail and it's location, that's about all you're going to see though. That's fine, there's plenty of other things to look at. There is plenty of history to this area and to this hike in particular (named after Lawrence Grassi - and mine worker who became a renowned trail guide and trail builder in the early 50s. This trail is almost the exact path he followed on his initial hike to the lakes).

It doesn't take long before the trail leads alongside the mountain. There are a number of creeks and waterfalls that cross the path here -- none are enough to do more than dampen the bottom of your shoes and can be crossed easily. Make sure to keep your head up though, because the views from here are already incredible:



Not bad for less than 30 minutes into the hike.

The next notable stop in the path is shortly after the small streams and waterfalls, and long before you see it, you should be able to hear it.

.

This is about as close as you'll get to the falls, which is probably a good thing, since even this shot is from a bit of a cliff-like point on the trail.

From here the trail takes a sharp turn upwards.




I wasn't kidding. And this is no camera trick, the stairs really are that steep. I'm never one for railings on trails, but it's absolutely needed in this case. The trail just before here is equally steep and requires some careful footing.

But it's worth it....



Once you get to this bridge, you're almost there and the hardest part is over -- really the hardest part isn't that bad. This is Grassi Creek, and this was probably the first sign D and I had of why Canmore was under a water alert. The right side of the bridge was very pond-like and calm, and actually looked quite high, but as it poured underneath the bridge and over to the left side it turned into crazy wild creek! Check it out:



Check out the bird on the rock! He was having a blast! Another time where the photo does not do the scene justice...

From here it is only a quick stroll to Grass Lakes.




The path leads along the right side of the first lake and then splits. You can either continue along to wind along the second lake (which is only meters from the first), and to the rock face, or continue around the first lake and then back down the forestry trails. There are plenty of areas to kick back and take a break, but don't expect a lot of quiet, as this might be the most popular trail in Canmore.

If you go in summer, you're almost certain to see rock climbers on the rock face beside the second lake. This is where the trail officially comes to an end:



...but the more adventurous and sure-footed can scramble up a small scree slope just beyond the end of trail marker. There are petrographs at the top, though they are tough to find, and there are usually many more climbers at the top.

D and I didn't climb this time, but I did a few years before and it's a fun climb. Do it for the climb though, because there isn't much of a payoff.

D and I doubled back and headed back down the forestry road, which is a pleasant and sunny downhill walk. One reason I like taking this walk back is because there are usually a number of people coming up the other side of the loop and with such a narrow path (and staircase) it becomes inconvenient. There's also a little more in the way of wildflowers on the forestry road.



If you're planning on hiking this trail during the summer (and due to the narrow path and ice on the trail long into the spring, there really is no choice but to wait until June), I cannot stress enough to get there early. When D and I returned to the trailhead, there wasn't an inch of parking space left in the small trailhead area, and it wasn't even 11 am.

Crazy Easter Weekend!

Diamond T - see Diamond T for Trail Particulars.
Johnston's Canyon Interpretive Trail - Trail Particulars - Trailhead is off Highway 1A (accessed from turn off from the Trans-Canada, just a few kilometers West of the Westernmost Banff exit. Look for the Johnston's Canyon parking lot. Lower Falls is less than 1 km from trailhead, Upper Falls is about 2.5 km from trailhead. An unmaintained trail from the Upper Falls continues to the Inkpots (about 3 km)

The week before the long weekend sucked. And that's all I'm going to say about that. I needed this hike, I needed my mountain therapy this weekend, and on Easter Sunday I got plenty of it.

N. and I started out on a quick (very quick) Diamond T hike. Neither of us had worked out much this week, so we were feeling slow and tired. Excellent time to visit the Cardio Hills!


The snow had finally stopped by this point. It had actually been snowing so much that when we set out on Diamond T, there were fresh cross-country skiing tracks. Ok, despite the fog and snow of previous week's hikes, there hadn't been enough actually collecting on the ground for cross-country skiing... but now enough had fallen in the foothills that the skiers were out again. I'm happy and all for the skiers, but it's April already!

Back at Bragg Creek, I said good bye to N., and headed out to Banff. Friends from Winnipeg (L&D) were in town for the long weekend and we'd arranged to meet for Mexican food in Banff (yes, Winnipeg to Banff is a long way to travel for good Mexican food, but I concur with my friends -- it was worth it).

Besides, I'm a sucker for the drive to Banff National Park. There's something about driving into the Rockies that will never get old. I've lived here all my life and the longer I'm here, the more I love the mountains. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have this amazing part of the world on my doorstep. I pulled over in Canmore to take this incredibly generic photo.

It was actually warmer in Banff than the Calgary on Sunday. Even though I got my usual early 8 am start with N., by the time we'd hiked and I'd driven the rest of the way to Banff, so had most of Southern Alberta. Holy crap! All my usual secret parking places were gone. I wound up driving to the Cave and Basin parking lot and taking the foot path into town. It's only about a 15 minute walk and on a day like Sunday where it's a beautiful 15 C outside -- how can you not?

I got some great shots on this pleasant walk into town. This is one of my favorites. This was almost as soon as I got into the trees by the Cave and Basin. You wouldn't even know you were within a 2 minute drive of the complete nuthouse that was Banff that weekend.


The snow was melting so quickly there were several "lagoons" within the trees. The path itself was ok, but if you wandered off the path away from the road by more than 10 feet or so, you ran the risk of stepping into swampland, or encountering a pseudo-creek. I thought the shadowy lagoons looked the most interesting.

Post-Mexican food L&D decided to head to Johnston's Canyon. Knowing I had a 15 minute walk ahead I took my time, looking for photos. As picturesque as Banff is though, I've seen it all before. Once I got to my car, I figured I'd head out to Johnston's Canyon, see if I could catch them. I got there just as they'd finished the hike to the Lower Falls and had decided to start the trek home. I thought I'd quickly hike out to the Lower Falls myself, compare it to the ice hike D. and I did a month ago here.

The sun was fading fast, but needless to say, some of the differences are striking:














Notice how much cleaner the water was in March. The further I went into the canyon, the less the difference between the shots. The last shot is the Lower Falls -- hard to believe there's still water flowing under all that.