Hiking at Devil's Tower National Monument

Day 8 - Hiking around Devil's Tower National Monument in WY. We hiked around the base and did a lovely walk down the Joyner Trail which went out on a ridgeline with views of DT, and then across some bottom land and cirled back with a great walk through the praire. We are staying at Devils Tower KOA, which has a pool to relax at in the sunny afternoon.

 
 

Chapter Two - New Adventures

It has been a while since I have tapped away at the keys but it is time to start chronicling new adventures. This morning I sit at the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch, NH. Yesterday (March 17 - ST. Patrick's Day) we hiked up the A-Z trail and the Lend-A-Hand Trail and up to the summit of Mt. Tom, a 4000 footer. One of the goals in this settling out period post our large trip last summer is to finish off the the 4000 footers and become members of the 4000 Foot Society. More on that to come, but we have about 20 more each to do.

This AM we woke to a gray socked in day with pretty good snow showers in teh Notch. Our plan is to head out to Mt. Jackson (another 4000 footer we have yet to climb) from the Highland Center, about a 5 hour round trip hike. The snow "showers" have lasted about 90 minutes now and while ther ewas small patches of blue earlier, it is pretty gray and snowy right now. Yesterday was like this but more blue sky and sun, and any snow/rain showers were  short duration. The decision has been made to go out and give it a try, but we may walk for a while and bag it in favor of a trip to Jackson and Intervale.

Rocky Mountain National Park - The Last Hike, Adding a Comma and the Revenge of the Fishes

We are finishing up two days in Rocky Mountain National Park. There is some big Scottish Festival in Estes Park this weekend and it starts today so we thought we would check out the pipers and the drummers before its Hammer time in Colorado Springs where I will gratefully entrust my gullet to the skilled hands of Jodi Hammerstrom for the weekend.

Yesterday we figured out the shuttle system to get up into the heavily travelled Bear Lake area. It was a short hike up along a string of lakes but it started at 9475 feet which we knew would be taxing even after living at 8000 feet in Yellowstone for a week. It was taxing but it seemed to me that as the day progress the heavy breathing eased up. The last lake was Emerald Lake and to get there we added 605 feet. So, the total elevation at the lake was 10,080! Five figures and a comma! Good to be in five figures once again and a wonderful way to end the mountain hiking portion of our trip.

Now on the way down I noticed a couple of folks carrying rods and casting out in the lakes. This is a heavily used trail and it is "smoothed" out and constructed in many parts. Along Dream Lake, The trail runs right up next to the edge of the lake along much of its shore. As we hiked out in the afternoon, I looked over at the water at the head of the lake. FISH! Rising to the surface and visible in the shallow water.

They were green cutthroat trout a sub-speices found in these lakes, all about 6-8 inches.  We stopped to watch. They were right there, swimming in a foot of water, rising to all kinds of crap, sticking their lips above the water and gulping or spitting it out. They were mocking me! They were saying , "You fool! Once again an alpine lake, and you have no license or a fly rod! I spit dead caddis pupa in your general direction!"

And I am not kidding, they were right next to shore. If the well groomed trail was a sidewalk, they were in the gutter. I could have taken off my hat and scooped them up (except it was my sacred Mets cap and it was not going into the water). They lazily swam in the shoreline eddies, chased each other off, swam back in, tasted a few more surface items, swam back out. Even as we moved down the shore to new access points, new fish doing the same. I could see them clear as a bell. Green on top, yellow leopard spotted hind quarters, rising, ever rising. It was as if they were saying, "We are Dream Lake fish but the only way you will catch us is in your dreams!"


It was a fine hike and a nice way to end the mountain portion of the trip.

Emerald Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, 10,080 feet.

Yellowstone Part 5 - You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd!

To get one last hike hike in in Yellowstone we took the advice of a couple of neighbors who were on full touring bikes and spent a couple of days camped next to us. They had gone up to the Pelican Valley trail expressly to see grizzly and were successful seeing one with cubs across the meadow. We decided to go for it!

The Pelican Valley is an offshoot of the Lamar Valley. The trail does not gain much elevation until you are a good ways out so we thought it would be a good out and back.

The Pelican Valley is prime grizzly habitat. It is only open after August 15 and you can only hike there from 9AM to 7 PM when it is open. It is also an area where groups of 4 or more are recommended making noise as they travel. We learned all this at the trail head info kiosk, as our neighbors had not mentioned the above.

The parking lot was full of cars, some with horse trailers. We were two but had seen a group of four head out just as we were pulling in. We had bear spray. We went back and forth, forth and back, and finally decided to pack up and go out.

We went through a the trees that separated the parking area from the grassland of the valley floor. It was a big, expansive meadow about three miles from side to side and at least a half mile to the next tree line.

As we stepped out, we noticed a herd of bison on our left about 200 yards away. As we watched it was clear that they were grazing slowly, but moving from our left to our right. Their path would take them grazing over the trail we would be on.

Dilemma. If we went down the trail it would put us on the far side of the herd with them blocking our way back to the parking lot and safety of our car. We could keep moving to reach some safety by going all the way across and getting to the trees on the far side, but faithful readers will know that we described the power and speed of buffalo we saw in the Hayden Valley a couple of posts ago. We decided that we should just kind of watch for a while and take some pictures.

Bison herds don't move together as much as they mosey here and there. The also don't move in a straight line. As the moved closer we became aware of some of them moving through the trees that bordered the parking lot. We stepped back, all eyes peeled. More of them moving into the trees and now threatening to cut off our escape route to the car. Couple steps back to compensate. More bison moving closer. We stood near the car. Closer. We opened the doors. Closer. Crap! We threw off the backpacks, shoved them in the back and and dove into the car. The parking area became full of bison, all around the car.

They did finally move on but for about 10 minutes we were in the middle of the herd. We got to see one young fella nursing on his mom. Now I don't want to upset the Wyoming Chapter of the Bison La Leche League, and I have nothing against nursing in public or nursing until the child is ready, but this guy was a teenager, and he had horns! No way should he been digging around in there with that apparatus. Momma bison should have cu the cord a while ago!

So here we sit. Bears somewhere out in front of us, bison off to the right but still in the area. If we walked out into the meadow and they decided to wander back, the bear spray could get a couple but just might tick off a couple more. We decided to abandon the hike, take a few more pictures and hike a shorter trail just down the road. Our last hike in Yellowstone. Here are some pictures:

Wayward Johnsons, Springs That Are Hot, and Two Dollar Goats: Updated w/ New Pictures!

Well, Katie and Nate left yesterday and arrive home safe. We are now back in the land of Wifi at Lake Louise Hostel for one more day/night and then it is off to Kootenai National Park, and then sadly we leave Canada. Time to catch up on some posts.

As Marsha said in a past entry, we took the Jasper Skytram up Whistlers Mountain, and then hiked up the ridgeline into the alpine. It was breathtaking in both senses of the word in that it provided spectacular views, and at 7750 feet it was a chore. For me it was 50 yards, stop, let the breathing and heart rate come down, and then 50 more yards. We did the trail with about a hundred of our newest and closest friends.

However, the views are spectacular. To the east you can see the Colin and Maligne (home of the Skyline Trail) Ranges. To the south was the beautiful Mt . Edith Cavell. To the north and west mountain ranges layered on top of each other and peaking out between the clouds was Mt. Robson at just under 4000M (13,000 feet). Below us was the town of Jasper with its rail lines running east and west.

Best of all especially for Katie and Nate, as they got to the top of the ridge a herd of 15 mountain goats appeared. They hung out for quite some time doing there thing. The youngsters had been snookered in the large mountain mammal department so it was great for them. It also triggered a tidal wave of animal sightings later in the day. They saw elk on the way to and again on the way back from Miette Hot Springs. In the parking lot at the hot springs they got to see Rocky Mountain Sheep. Of course it was worth mentioning that the Skytram cost about $30 US making he cost of goat sighting $2.00 per goat.

Next on the trip was lunch. Now the Wayward Johnsons had found on Trip Advisor the number one rated restaurant in Jasper was The Deli on Patricia St. We had pretty much covered Patricia Street the night before but if the Internet tells you it is number one, ya' gots to go. Except we could not find it. Up and down Patricia Street we traveled. No, luck. When we finally went into the Visitor's Center to get directions, they said it was right next to the Pharmacy (which Nate had checked out the night before as part of his investigations of all things Canadian drug related.) Now in his defense, the Deli was tucked inside a mini mall of shops off the main street. When we got to the Deli, there was a note on the door explaining that the owner had decided that she wanted to take advantage of the great Jasper weather, and decided to close for the day.

No worries, next on the Wayward Johnson's Trip Advisor top ten was the nearby Evil Dave's, just down the block. whoops, closed until dinner at 5PM, which was not much use if you are hungry at 1 PM.

We were saved from hunger by looking for visual clues like the OPEN sign in the Greek restaurant just across the street. They gave us a great meal that was huge in portions and cheap in price. And best of all free wifi with great band width.

We ended the day with a trip to Jasper's Miette Hot Springs which is a 45 minute drive out of town (and back) but it did offer sheep and elk along the trip.

The Wayward Johnsons  redeemed themselves by choosing a great bistro for dinner!

 

Jasper Skytram

Today's epic adventure with the Johnsons took us up Whistlers Mountain on the Jasper Skytram and a 1.2 km hike got us to the top of the mountain with amazing views at 7800 feet - off to the Hot Springs this afternoon!!! Traveling with Katie and Nate is so rough:)

The Takakkaw Falls Mets Fan

When we pulled into the Takakkaw Falls parking lot to begin our Stanley Mitchell Hut trip I noticed that the car next to us had a Mets hat sitting on the dashboard on the drivers side. Way out in the middle of British Columbia, a fellow traveller. ANd it was not just any Mets hat. It was the classic blue with orange lettering. Dutifully I took out my classic cap out it on and waited and hoped as we sorted and packed.

In a few minutes a couple of guys came out of the Takakkaw Falls Campground. The Mets fan was from California. We bonded instantly. I had been able to jump on the Internet and knew about some player movement at the end of the trading deadline, and wa aware that the Mets had backslid into first place. He filled in a few more details.

They ended up hiking the Iceline up to Stanley Mitchell and then out the Little Yoho Trail. Essentially doing the loop we contemplated counter clockwise in one day, while we planned on going clockwise in two days of hiking. So, we were there at the hut as they turned for home.

I seriously doubt that the Stanley Mitchell Hut has ever heard cries of , "Let's Go Mets!"as we said good bye to each other.

Four Days, Ten Glaciers and Two Wayward Johnsons: Part 3 - Reflections

When we got up to the top of the moraine overlooking the small blue green lake that caught the discharge from the glacier off of the Secretary- Treasurer I could turn in a circle and count ten glaciers. We had just been through a short rain shower and the others wanted to go on to the next ridge. I chose to stay behind. I sat behind a boulder on the shoulder of the moraine and let my eyes wander from peak to peak.

For a long time I had looked at maps about the Yoho Valley and here it was. There were many questions in my mind about this part of the trip. My knees, my back, my heart, my age, my lack of physical fitness, my diabetes and the time between the last time I shouldered a backpack weighed on my mind. All of those fell away. I was able to get enough hiking in so the the trail was hard but fair. The trail was not as tough as it could have been and my body responded well to the challenge. In some ways it feels better than it has for months.

What a gift I had been given. Four days of beautiful clear weather. Up way high in the alpine. Sharing the hikes with my wife my daughter and son-in-law. I have had the joy of stepping out onto mountain vistas a few times in my life. There is always awe and magic there. It touches me deep down in some chord in my soul and waits there until the next time it can be plucked. Annie Dilliard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek has a line that in paraphrase says, "it was like my whole life I had been a bell and had not known it until that moment when I was lifted and struck".

I also realize that at my age, and physical condition this may never happen to me again. The exuberant ones just think I am a slow old hiker. Half of it is the knowledge that I must take the time to savor this. Each step of these high hikes I had to treasure and burn into my heart. I had to suck the marrow from the broken spine of the Rockies on the chance that I might never be here again.

It is a physical, touchable joy that is hard to explain. It shrouds me in awe, it brings physical calmness and an inner peace like few things outside this world. I was glad to sit cloaked in awe for the hour it took the others to grab one more ridge. I just sat and listened to the wind and my breathing, surrendering to the grandeur before me. If the Lord had decided to take me then and there, it would have been alright with me. I was glad I could hear Marsha coming back so I could wipe a tear, and that she and I stayed for a bit while the young ones hiked down. My plunge steps were cushioned by joy as we went back down to the hut. I really don't remember the hike out the next day except that it was slow and deliberate and I had a smile on my face. Some people get stuck someplace and walk out saying, "Well, that is an hour of my life I will never get back". For me that hour is one that will always stay with me.

Don't the days grow shorter as the hours go by,
You never get to stop and open your eyes,
Spirits open to a thrust of grace,
Never a breathe you can afford to waste...

Four Days, Ten Glaciers and Two Wayward Johnsons: Part 1

This is a tale of exuberant youth, and wisdom that comes with age. If you have been reading our previous posts, you might agree with me that everytime I write it sounds like we are gushing over everything we have seen. Each post we seem to find something more fantastic, see something more extraordinary, something more amazing. Some of you have been very kind to post comments about all the cool things we have experienced and seen.

We started this blog to help us remember all the details of what we had seen and done. As we get older when we look back the things get jumbled. Did that happen when we were here with Janice Shannon and her crew or was that with Rick and Doug?

I can tell you sincerely that for all the wonderful things we have seen and done so far, the last four days have surpassed them. If I become addled with age and cannot think straight to recall the bike rides or the times in Glacier, or Waterton and I need someone read me the old blog and tell me, "Look Steve, you wrote in 2015 that you saw a bear near the Prince of Wales hotel",  I will have the memory of these last four days burned deep into my brain. Other than my wedding day, the days spent creating and birthing my children, the 1969 and 1986 Mets World Series wins, and that day in Gampel when the UCONN Women beat Tennessee for the first time,  these have been the best four days in my life.

We left the luxury digs of the HI/ACC hostel at Lake Louise on Tuesday morning. We had spent late Monday afternoon into the evening organizing our packs, sorting and dividing up four days of food all to be ready for an early start up the Yoho Valley Road to the parking lot at  the base of Takakkaw Falls. The road is twisty with two hairy hairpin turns, but the thundering cascade of the 300 meter falls was worth the white knuckles. The falls is the outflow of a lake fed by the Daley Glacier. it is actually a two stage falls with the first cascade hitting something up there and sending it out in a 254 meter free fall to the base. Its roar made it difficult to talk to each other in the parking lot as we gathered our things. We met a couple of interesting fellows as we left. They will be the subject of another post.

I also experienced my first taste of the exuberance of youth. We were headed to ACC Stanley Mitchell Hut in the Little Yoho Valley. The trail junctions we were headed to were described by Patton and Robinson as tricky. So, with a tear in my eye, I took my Swiss Army knife and carefully sliced out the 5 or 6 pages of the "bible" to take with us up to the hut. Katie looked over my shoulder and said, "Oh yeah, I took pictures of those pages with my phone." Kids these days.

Trail at the end of the parking is the terminus of many routes that take you into the delights of the Yoho Valley.  At the beginning you follow the access road to the Takakkaw Falls campground which is self service and first come first serve. It was going to be one of our options for a place to camp on our day out, but by happenstance Marsha had checked with hostel  and found that there was a family room available on that day, so we skipped the campout and grabbed the room. We did check out he campground for future reference. It is a .2 km walk in and there is a cart where you can lug your stuff down the road to a tent site. Water from the gray glacier fed Yoho River, to be filtered or boiled and pit toilets. It has a kitchen shelter. We learned later that for a winter trip when the access road from Trans Canada 1 is closed, folks ski the 13 km up the road and camp in the kitchen shelter and then head out to other destinations up valley. The walk in without snow was not bad.

Beyond the campground, the trail follows along a roadbed on the broad flat alluvial plain of the river for a while, then turns up and scabs the side of a hill steeply. It gets your heart going.

The trail does flatten out  after a while, and leads down to the Laugh Falls Campground, where of course the outflow of Laughing Falls which takes the flow of the Little Yoho River and delivered it to the Yoho. Laughing Falls is tent sites scattered around the all alluvial debris of this part of the Yoho River. No kitchen shelter, water from the river but a very nice, new pit toilet. It was a pretty busy place with many tent sites filled.

Out trip now took us up the hill that formed Laughing Falls on the Little Yoho Valley Trail.  Just a heavy stepping one foot after the other, turn at the switchback, move up again, turn at the switchback and move up again. It was a chore and a half, but after the initial surge it tapered off a bit so that your heart was no longer pounding in your ears, just merely pounding out of your chest. It was long and tedious but in the end not overwhelming. Katie had her FitBit tracking her walking and the trip up was worth 182 flights of stairs.

Stanley Mitchell Hut sits on the edge of a meadow hard by terminal moraines formed off the flanks of several 3000 meter peaks, that ring the Little Yoho Valley. The hut and the meadow are broad and green, but once you leave the valley floor you are up into alpine tundra of scree and rock. There is an camping area just up valley if you do not have a spot at the hut.

You can see right away that it is an alpinist hut build in the ACC tradition of placing huts in places that support technical ascents of peaks. From the warm secure hut you can strike out and summit several peaks that ring the valley.

The hut itself is very nice. Complete kitchen with gas stoves, pots and pans and all the kitchen utensils you need. Water is pulled from the stream outside and boiled. The creek also serves as a refrigerator. There is a small bunkroom that fits eight, and an attic loft up a ladder that sleeps another 16 or so. The common area has tables and benches and a woodstove. It is a fine place to stay, well used and signs that tell you how everything works. Whatever group is there quickly figures out the routines of hut life and works cooperatively to share chores and kitchen time.

We settled in with our hutmates. The first night there were a couple of families, a guided group that was learning technical mountaineering, and other groups that were using the hut as a base. 

The second morning we chose to head up the meadow to climb up to Kiwetinok Pass,  a col that would offer views back across to the two high peaks, The President and the Vice President, and views down valley to the peaks to the east. A perfect cloudless day with cool temps and a little breeze. 

The exuberants lead off, charging up the valley, with the old folks bringing up the rear. Thier strong legs led them to the bottom of the scree and the streams that flowed down from the glaciers. They had heart, they had courage, they did not have a map. The old folks did. After a few minutes watching their path from far below it was pretty clear that the Wayward Johnsons had gone up the wrong drainage. Too much thundering water, too much wind to call them back, to exuberant to look back over their shoulders to see the old folks far below waving and pointing at the valley now far to our right leading to the visible and obvious pass that was now getting further and further away.  We were headed pretty straight toward the glacier that hung off the President on the route the peak baggers took to use the glacier as the route to the summit. We were not inclined by temperament nor by equipment and experience to make a summit attempt, but we pressed on up the moraines, the exuberant Wayward Johnsons hopping over rocks, bounding over streams, climbing up the sides of cascading water, the old folks far below, muttering under their breath and carefully placing one foot after the other. 

In the end as always, folly rewards youth, and serendipity often leads to its own reward. As the intend pass stayed to the west, the height of the moraine at the outflow of the glacier was reached. first by the exubernt legs, sometime later by the old ones. It was glorious. The flanks of the President offered views down valley, and to the peaks and associated glaciers of the Waputuk Icefield to the east. Clear as a bell, not a cloud in the sky, warm but not too warm and a cooling breeze.  The mountains seeming so close that you could reach out and touch them, yet so far away. The Wayward Johnstons were forgiven. 

We marveled at the glacier and wondered at the tortured geology. The mountain had a lot of sedimentary shale that had been lifted. In one area, a huge bulb of underlying granite had pushed up under the shale, bending it into a horseshoe but not breaking it. 

Too soon it was time to descend, but which way down? We did some scrambling down the scree slopes, picking and choosing the least steep and least scary routes. Tricky and nerve racking. 

I am being called to a lovely breakfast so I will finish this post and pick up the tale in Part 2. We have decisions to make today. It has been thundering and lightning in Lake Louise all night. We are scheduled to move 3 hours north into Jasper for tent camping the next three nights, however, they have room for us here at the hostel. Time to rouse the Wayward Johnsons for this no brainer.

Moraine Lake Revisited

 With the lessons learned from yesterday we got up early (well, early for the flatlanders) and went directly to Moraine Lake. We opted for rental canoes. It was truly beautiful. The milky blue of the lake water set against the Valley of the Ten Peaks on a day that was warm and windless was amazing.

I reminded Kate that the last time we were here it was cold and windy and the best we could do was climb the rock pile moraine at the foot of the lake. Renting a canoe on a glacial lake of white caps was out of the question with two little kids. Glad we had such a perfect day,

We were back at the hostel mid-afternoon and geared up for the main event, our trip into the backcountry of Yoho National Park to Stanley Mitchell Hut. It is a 6 mile hike, at least 3 of it uphill. Full pack, w/ 4 days of food. We did score a room at the hostel when we come out (Can you shout, sow-na!!!). No bars and no wifi for a few days.

 
 
 

Lake Louise No! Lake Sherbrooke Yes!

One of the many reasons to dislike the Lake Louise area is the crowds. The awesome beauty of this lake with its iconic hotel sitting at the end if often mocked and marred by hordes of tourists on a nice sunny summer day. So to be sure, we did not give the old gal her best chance by visiting midday on a Sunday in August. Just a zoo of traffic and people. We took a quick look and split.

The alternate plan was to hike up along the (slightly) less popular, nearby Moraine Lake. As we drove around to it, the road was closed. The parking lot was so full that they stopped traffic for a while. We went back down to the visitor's center. The helpful ranger suggested a hike just over the Kicking Horse pass in Yoho to Lake Sherbrooke. Nice hike, not a lot of work. A chance for Katie and Nate to stretch their legs in the alpine air. Very picturesque lake.

Couple of pictures - Lake Louise, then Nate on the side of the trail at Lake Sherbrooke.

Catching Up #3 - Elk in the Bushes / Lake Louise

Time to get back to posting from the here and now. We are enjoying breakfast at the the HI/ACC Lake Louise Hostel. In truth it is more like a hotel, but with hostel amenities. It has a restaurant, lounge area, showers and a sauna! The rooms are very nice and it has been easy to charge up the electronics. Wifi is well, funky is the most generous term.

We are in the common kitchen having breakfast. Katie and Nate arrived Saturday late afternoon. We did the quick tour of downtown Banff and had dinner in Tommy's Pub. Then it was off to Johnston Canyon Campground.

Marsha and I spent the day in and out of Banff waiting for the kiddos. We (Marsha)  managed to get laundry done, we did get in a bike ride, a canoe ride, and pick up a ticket for overtime parking. The tourist map they handed down at the infor center said that the lot we chose was had 12 hour parking. The sign on the pole said 3 hour limit like all the rest of the lots ($50 fine).

We did the bike ride out Vermillion Lakes Drive on a bike path. A you head out past the lakes and the wetlands created by them the vistas opened up back towards town. Very nice. I learned that I was as dumb as a bear as at one point we had to go through an animal control gate that kept animals off the highway. I could not figure it out until some other riders came from the other direction and quickly lifted the latch.

On the way out we passed the Banff Canoe Club where they rent kayaks and canoes. On the way back we got a text that Katie & Nate were being delayed at the rental car counter. So, we did an hour rental on a double kayak. We cruised First Vermillion Lake which was the the typical blue/green of a glacial fed lake. On the way back there was a small creek that entered the lake near the boat dock. We went up the creek  a few hundred meters. As we rounded a corner there was an elk browsing in the low brush. Big rack as all elk do but was cool to see how it lowered its head and stripped the leaves off the branches by ripping up. We were able to paddle by quietly up stream, and then float by quietly in the slow current. It was very cool.

I am being told that breakfast is now over, and we have to get our rears in gear. Much more to wtrte about from yesterday's hike to Lake Sherbrook, and the visit to Lake Louise. Moving pictures off of various devices and getting them up to a cloud space where I can get them into the blog still is a pain because of the wifi issues.

Looks like a canoe ride on Moraine Lake this morning and packing for Stanley Mitchell Hut (or a round in the sauna if I get my way) today.

Catching Up #2 - Kananaskis: Fire Tower Lookout Pictures

Picture from Fire Tower Lookout in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park:

 

 

Fire Tower Lookout Hike

Tuesday took us on a 6 mile round trip to a fire tower lookout above the Kananaskis Lakes. (Marsha). This picture goes along with the Fire Lookout post below. We used the pano feature on an iPhone but it does not even come close to doing the view justice.

Wall Lake Revisited

A few more details on the Wall Lake hike. This is a must do while in Waterton. Easy enough for grade school kids. We saw babies in backpacks, a jogging stroller, and mountain bikes. It is enough so that you can say that you have hiked, but with minor elevation changes it is a big bang for the effort. When you hike out you have a choice of bearing off to Forum lake that is shorter, or doing 1km more hiking with less up and down. We choose the longer, flatter hike.

We did not realize that we would be leaving Alberta and going into British Columbia, but as the trail climbed into Akimina Pass, we did.  A cool surprise.

The lake itself is phenominal. A emerald green gem. It is impossible to describe the breathtaking expanse of sheer wall that gives the lake its name. You round the corner and there it is a wall of rock over 1000 feet high. Snow fields still at the end in August, and clear, then blue, then deep emerald green water.

We did do the wade out and dunk routine. Cold but not too bad. Our last days in Waterton were all 90F with a dry wind blowing. So a quick dip was refreshing.

Give Marsha all the credit for spotting the goats, all three. Closer than the last set we saw, it was fun to sit and dry our clothes and watch. For fish, it was similar to Goat Lake. Lots and lots of 3-5 inch trout near the shore rolling lazily up to the surface. You could stand there knee deep and watch them. Alas, no rod, no National Park license (and if I had it, I was 1km in BC and would need a BC license).

It was a spectacular hike.

 

The Wall Lake Hike - A Tale to Remember

Dear Cassie and Charlie,

I saw Cassie’s picture with her birthday press on nails. They reminded me of the claws of a grizzly bear. It inspired me to write this story for you. Have your Mom or Dad read it to you.

The Wall Lake Hike - A Tale to Remember

Dedicated to Sondra Grizzlyfingers and Sir Charles of Evans

This is the story of how I narrowly escaped a tragic situation by luck and my wits. It is a tall tale. A tale tale is where the author might not exactly be telling the truth. There might be things in the story that are a little bit made up to make the story better, or more exciting. Sometimes the storyteller is trying to teach a lesson and a little bit fibbing might help make the point. In a tall tale, the listener has to decide for himself which parts are true and which parts are not so true. So at the end, you have to decide what parts of the story are true and what parts are a tale tale...

This story happened on a trip to the Canadian Rockies. You know that Canada is the country just north of the United States.  In the western part of Canada, just like in the western United States there are big tall mountains called the Rockies. They are so beautiful that large parts of the mountains have been set aside as parks, to be preserved and protected so that people can come to visit them and enjoy them forever.  The Canadian Rockies are mostly in two of provinces, Alberta and British Columbia. Canadian provinces are kind of like states in the United States. These two provinces sit side-by-side like Vermont and New Hampshire do in the USA.

When Aunt Marsha and I were visiting Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, we went on a hike. It was a great hike to a high mountain lake called Wall Lake. Isn’t that a funny name, Wall Lake? Who would name a lake that? If you could name a lake what would you call it?

Anyway, it turns out that it was the perfect name. We hiked up the trail and up the trail, and then up the trail some more.  It was hot. We were sweaty. We drank water from our water bottles. We hiked up into Akimina Pass. At the top of the pass there was a sign that said “Welcome to British Columbia”. We had hiked so far that we left Alberta and hiked clear into British Columbia!

We still had more to hike, so we went on. Finally, we turned a corner and there it was, a towering wall of rock 1000 feet high. You looked at the bottom and you let your eyes go up and up until you neck hurt! You looked up until there was no more wall left, just a big open sky. And at the bottom of that wall, was a beautiful lake.

Around the edges, the water was perfectly clear. So clear that you could see all the way to the bottom. We put on our sandals a waded in a few feet. As you gazed out the water turned blue, and then further out it became a beautiful emerald green. It stretched out to bottom of the rock wall. At the far end of lake there were patches of snow and this was the middle of the summer! If stood at the top of the 1000 foot wall you could toss a rock and it would land in the lake. Wall Lake, the perfect name!

As we looked out at the lake we could see ducks. They were diving ducks, the kind that go underwater and actually swim to catch fish for food. There was a group, a Mom duck and three little ones swimming along. Every once in a while they would disappear under water and after a bit they would pop up to the surface. WIth such clear water, I thought, it would be pretty easy for them to catch fish.

Then I looked down at my feet, and sure enough, you could see fish gliding along the shoreline. Every so often a fish would come up near the surface and grab a bug or an insect to eat and dive back down. I realized that those fish were pretty tricky. If they came near the surface it was only for a moment and when they would dive back down, they tucked themselves down in the rocks or near a log where they could hide. Those ducks were going to have to work hard to catch these fish.

So, here we were, two hot and sweaty hikers, up to our knees in a beautiful mountain lake. What do you think happened next? What would you do if you were hot and sweaty and next to a lake? That’s right, were went in.

It was SOOOOO, COOOOOLD! All we could do was to wade out as far as we dared and dunk our heads under. The shock of the cold water took your breath away. We came running out of there very quickly.

We decided to sit on the sunny shore to dry off and warm up. Aunt Marsha laid back on her backpack and gazed up at the wall. See grabbed the binoculars and started pointing and yelling. One no two, no THREE mountain goats high up on the wall. Three small white dots, but through the binoculars it was clear that they were goats. They were all white and had shaggy fur. What a treat! It is pretty rare you get to see mountain goats. We got to watch them jump from rock to rock and munch on the small patches of grass that grew high up on the wall.

After a while it was time to go back down the trail. We said goodbye and thank you to Wall Lake for sharing all its beauty and wildlife. It was then we go into trouble.

The parks are the home to bears. When you hike, you need to make noise to let any bears know you are coming. Some people use small bells that jingle when you walk Some people clap their hands to let a bear know they are coming. We like to sing songs or do bear calls.

A bear call is just a shout out every few minutes, like - Yo! Bear! It can be anything but you want it has to have lots of vowels  Vowels are those letters (a,e,i,o,u) that say their name when you read them. Their sound tends to travel farther, So the “Yo” in our Yo! Bear! call is good, because the “o” sound will travel far. But we thought we could make it better by adding more vowels at the end like - “e”. We made our bear call, “Yo, Bear-eeee!” Can you try that? Just call it out ,Yo! Bear-eee!

It does get boring sometimes so you can change it up a bit. How about  -Yo! Blueberry!

or Yo! Strawberry! Or Yo! Huckleberry! Maybe you could flip it - Hucklebereee! Yooogurt! What would your bear call be? Remember it has to have lots of vowel sounds.

Of, course, if you get bored with bear calls you could always sing. Here is a favorite trail song:

I love to go a-wandering,

Along the mountain track,

And as I go, I love to sing,

My knapsack on my back.

(chorus) 

Val-deri,Val-dera, Val-deri, Val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha Val-deri,Val-dera. My knapsack on my back.

I’ll bet your Mom knows the tune and she can teach you this great hiking song. Sometimes you you get bored singing the same tune and you can change the words. Try singing these:

I’d love to send
My good friend Cass,

All the way to France,

When she’s there,

She could buy

Some brand new underpants!

Valderi, Valdera …

Our problem on the way back was that we forgot to keep doing our bear calls or to sing bear songs. What can I say?  It wa a long trail back, we were tired and hot again. We just wanted to get finished.

As came back up to  Akimina Pass, Aunt Marsha was ahead by a little bit so there was a gap between me and her. In the space between us, out stepped a British Columbia Grizzly Bear! We froze. What should we do? I suddenly realized that our last bites of trail snacks and our garbage from lunch was in Aunt Marsha’s backpack! I yelled to her to drop her pack and run up the trail and she did.

The bear walked over to the pack, ripped it open with its giant claws. He gobbled down our last granola bar and our cheddar cheese goldfish crackers! He then looked up, smacked his lips, looked down the trail and saw me. He started walking toward me. What should I do?

Now I’ve never told you this, but when I was a lad, I became very good at a sport called barrel jumping. It is a crazy sport that combines skating and jumping. On a frozen pond you make a pile of barrels. You skate as hard and as fast as you can toward the barrels and then jump. If you jump over one, you and a second barrel and try again.  You keep adding and adding barrels. It is a contest so whoever can jump over the most barrels wins. Here is a picture of me from my jumping days.

Now like I said, back in the day, I was very good at barrel jumping. I even tried out for the International Championships! I was not good enough for the USA team, but because of my Polish heritage, I could try to qualify for the Polish International Barrel Jumping Team. Alas, I came in fourth, and they only took the top three to the championship that year.

Now back to bear. As he turned and came down the trail at me, I realized I could use my barrel jumping experience. Instead of running away, I ran right at him. Then I JUMPED. He reared back on his hind legs. He and the air as I went up and over. I was almost high enough and far enough, jumping and kicking my legs. His claws flashed, but he only nicked me, giving me scratches  on my calf. I hit the ground beyond the bear, rolled twice flipped up to my feet and started running.

I took a quick look over my shoulder and the bear was coming. I ran harder and dashed through Akinima Pass. I looked back again. Something weird  was happening. The bear was standing at the top of the pass, stopped dead in his tracks. I was stunned, why would the bear stop?

Then it hit me. This was a British Columbia Grizzly bear! When I  jumped and ran through the pass I had crossed into the province of Alberta. As a British Columbia Grizzly Bear, he couldn’t travel into Alberta! I was safe on my side of the border (except for the scratches on my leg) and there was nothing he could do about it. The British Columbia Grizzly  turned away and gave one last swat at Aunt Marsha’s backpack and went back down into the woods. 

As for us, we waited until we thought it was safe, grabbed got the backpack and finished our hike. We leaearn our lesson to never forget to do our bear call or sing our silly songs. All the way back down the trail from Akimina Pass we sang as loud as we could:

I’d love to send
My good friend Cass,

All the way to France,

When she’s there,

She could buy

Some brand new underpants!

Valderi, Valdera …