Diamond T -- June 14, 2009

It was a long winter, even for the Rockies. Ice that usually broke up and melted in April was still lingering in some areas as late as mid-June. But one of the benefits of the late spring was the lush green growth that appeared almost out of nowhere. Where only the week before there were signs of nothing but slush and mud, spring quickly bursted through...

Diamond T -- December 29, 2007

With only a few hours to spare D and I decided to do a quick Diamond T hike (trail details). We strapped on our Yak-Traks and expected to see a lot of the trail looking like this:



But the crazy thing was, the higher we got, the trail started to look a lot more like this:



There has been snow in the forecast since then, but I can't remember the last time Elbow Valley was so brown in January!

Diamond T -- November 8, 2007

Diamond T less that three weeks ago. Can you believe how green it looks?

Diamond T wildflowers - June 24, 2007

It was a lazy Sunday and D and I hadn't been on the trail for a couple of weekends, so we thought we'd try an old favorite in Diamond T (trail details here). Diamond T is short and sweet, and has frankly been done to death here, so on this hike I focused mostly on the wildflowers growing everywhere. It had been raining frequently that June, and this was just before a lengthy heat wave hit southern Alberta.

Enjoy.





(Take a look at the same short in the winter)

Cardio Hill isn't much easier in the summer. You don't slip as much, that's about it.

Diamond T Redux

Diamond T - See Diamond T for Trail Particulars

If it seems like we're repeating ourselves... well, we kinda are. Highway 66 is closed at Elbow Falls until May 15. I suppose we could park and hike in -- and it just might come to that -- but for now we'll stick to the ever changing conditions of these two hikes.

Can't wait to try something new.

I honestly thought it was going to be warmer today. I'd heard 13 C. I dunno, it didn't feel that way. It was really brown on the drive in, but once you hit the trail, it looked a lot more like this footbridge. It looks frozen, but the snow was really all just thick slush. Not exactly the easiest to walk through, but N. and I slogged through it.

When we do the same hike 2 or 3 weeks in a row, I tend to see the same things over and over, but N. catches stuff. This time it was these trees (I think I was fixated on Cardio Hill off in the distance). All the trees in this area leaned toward the path. These trees are leaning eastward... I thought it was the wind, but behind us there are trees leaning southward. I'm not sure what causes this. I'd like to think we would have noticed it before...

Cardio Hill weas brutal. It was that slush. It was so thick I could barely get my footing. What a challenge.

N. was feeling under the weather, so we turned around and went back the way we came. It was nice to get another view. I'd never noticed before how brown the north facing side of this hike was. I took a shot purely to compare with the summer. I think this was the only part of the hike not covered in snow. This shot is taken from the spot in the trail where the trail veers eastward after traveling west for some time.

Hopefully D. and I will hike a little tomorrow....

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.

Diamond T - March 10, 2007

Elbow Valley - Diamond T - The particulars: Trailhead is located at the west end of the Station Flats parking area (off Highway 66, just West of the Allen Bill Pond area). Loop is about 3.7 km total. Trailhead elevation is about 1400m, high point is about 1525m. Loop takes between 1-1.5 hours depending on conditions.

The day after the Johnston's Canyon hike where the idea for this blog was born (more photos from that later), N. and I stuck to nearby Elbow Valley and a quick little loop called Diamond T. It's a nice quick hike with lots to look at, and a couple of well placed hills I call the "Cardio Hills".

After all the ice surrounding Johnston's Canyon, it was a nice change to get back to the foothills where the snow wasn't as... shall we say intense. It had been unseasonably warm, and we hoped the trails were going to clear of ice. We were lucky.

Diamond T is a nice little stroll for the first 40 minutes or so. At the start of the hike, there is a fork, take the right fork for the best hike. The trail travels through the forest, through a gate, and then encounters some gentle slopes. After the first bridge, there is a sharp uphill, then another fork. Take the left fork -- look for the bright orange diamond-shaped signs, they often have the trail name printed right on them. The right fork is the Tom Snow Trail -- one-way back to Bragg Creek! After the fork, the trail leads through a bit of a clearing along a hill. Down below is the edge of the forest, immediately above is a meadow. In the summer, lots of colourful wildflowers grow here. This is where the above photo was taken. This is where the sun is usually the strongest.

Eventually the trail will start to double-back with a sharp turn from West to South-East. It will look like there's another fork here, but there is not. Stick to the level trail.

Soon after you will come around the corner and encounter the Cardio Hills (my name for it). This is the first of them, and not the biggest. It's a great challenge to get your heart rate going. In fact, if your heart is really going, you might want to take a break at the top, since the rest of the trail to the lookout is a fairly steady incline. The lookout? Well, it's not the best, but there's a bench (something N. really likes!) and a certain amount of satisfaction at having made it. When you get near the top, keep an eye out for the sign pointing to the lookout -- it's easy to continue along the loop and walk right by it.

The lookout to the West. Kinda meh really.



It's all downhill from there. Still lots to see, and the decline is fairly steep and rocky. This is where the direction of the loop makes sense -- I'd rather go downhill on this part than uphill. Your mileage may vary.

The hike is definitely worth it for getting some fresh air, getting your heart pumping and a nice hike the family can do. There's not a ton of wildlife, but it was pretty early in the season. Plenty of tracks in the snow though.