Sunshine (and Quartz Ridge) in the Summer

Many years ago, I was up at Sunshine in the summer. We took advantage of our midweek sneak to head up on the bus this week, then hike around the meadows. The Village is a hive of construction activity, as well as lift maintenance. Here's the new wing of the Inn which will be open at Christmas.



While we were there to hike, it's hard not to be curious about the runs we ski, like those on Divide.



So we headed out towards Citadel Pass and Quartz Hill intent on getting up Quartz Ridge. The meadow is an easy, easy walk, until you get to a 150 m hillclimb to overlook Howard Douglas Lake, Citadel Pass proper, and the valley towards Mt. Assiniboine.



But our objective was Quartz Ridge. To put the ridge in perspective, here's a shot taken May 5th 2009 from an earlier winter post of the twin snow covered summits and long ridge leading up from Sunshine.



It was actually pretty straight forwards to get up to the high rockband on the upper cliff of the farthest (left) summit, seen in this shot from back near Rock Isle Lake.



However, looking from below, we didn't like the scramble route to the top, so skipped it. The views of Simpson River Valley, other glacier and Mt. Assiniboine were fine from where we were.





We ran into two Aussies on a "bush walk" up there, and lead them back down the ridge to Laryx Lake.



In truth, this route was a mistake; I should have stayed higher on the ridge and targeted Rock Isle Lake, so there was a bunch of tough bush bashing in a bear rich environment, where we saw one very big bear dig on our way through.



Once down at the lakes, we found all the tourists on the trails. There's a reason for this; the lakes are undeniably pretty.



Aside from the bear dig, it was an OK wildlife day. We didn't see the bear that was at Lake Howard Douglas. There were about 1,000 or more Columbian Ground Squirrels, all of whom were too cheeky for their own good. There were marmots guarding Quartz Ridge. And there were 4 big Bighorn rams being lazy up on the flats under Quartz Ridge.





In short, this was a pretty nice loop and day, though in future, the easiest route to gain the ridge is to turn right immediately after descending the stairs below Rock Isle Lake, and start up the ridge from there.

Burstall & South Burstall Passes

Burstall Pass is one of the most popular trails in Kananaskis, and I can see why. We biked up the first 3 km (on the "boring fire road"), which gave us the chance to savour more time in the high alpine. The trail itself is cool; you get great views of the Robertson Glacier, and you have to rock hop about 1 km of glacial outwash plain. Note: the numerous creeks have more water in them in the afternoon than in the morning.




The valley stretches back to views of Mt. Birdwood, Pig's Tail, Commonwealth Peak, and across Hwy 742 to Mt. Chester & Gusty Peak.



The meadows at the top are fabulous, though devoid of wildlife other than Columbian ground squirrels, and the odd bear den (we saw two).



We found the pass itself REALLY disappointing, so climbed the ridge directly in front of the pass, wondering at the folks who will try Mike Potter's ridgewalk up Snow Peak and the extension of the ridge we were on. Both looked devilishly tough. But the views from the ridgetop we were on were fab, including Leman Lake and the Spray River valley, and Mount Assiniboine.





Having time, we continued up to South Burstall Pass for spectacular views of Mt. Sir Douglas and the two glaciers that flank her north side.





You also get great views of the southern extension of the Spray Valley through the Palliser Pass.



As mentioned, there wasn't much wildlife up there. But we did run across a youg porcupine, who was shy but cute.

Goat Creek & Sundance Canyon Bike Ride

We had a great time on our vacation in July with Emma, Jobreé & Ryan, and Helen and David. I mean, how can you not have fun with such fabulous people?

However, it wasn't the vacation we had planned. We had planned to hike a bit, go out for dinner, lounge, and chill. So we're trying it again this week.

It didn't start the way we planned; we spent the first weekend in Calgary "working". I got to cook some brisket & pulled pork for my company BBQ (almost 18 lbs of each) which turned out great, and I had to go into the office on Sunday to work on a problem well we have. So Monday was our first day here, and we did very little. All I managed to accomplish was to get our bike chains cleaned & lubricated (thanks Dan! It worked great!). We went for dinner at Quarry on Main Street in Canmore, and that was very nice (the lamb shanks are to die for, the chicken less so).

Today we rode the 20 km downhill mountain bike run from Canmore to Banff townsite on the Goat Creek trail. While I appreciate mountain biking a bit, you really don't get much time to see the scenery or interact with flowers. The three places we stopped & got off the bike were nice; the crossing of Goat Creek itself...




...the crossing of the Spray River...



And where we picnicked on the banks of the river, looking down towards the Sulphur Mountain Gondola.




We had thought that the 19.3 km ride from Canmore to the Banff Springs wasn't going to take long; we were right, finishing it in just under 2 hrs. So we had planned to ride over to the Cave & Basin and ride the Sundance Canyon, too. This was a waste. Sundance Canyon is a boring little paved bike path that is next to a very well used horse trail full of used horse food. At the end it has a relentless slow climb to the start of the canyon where you really need to hike to see anything. We didn't do the hike; after 28 km of riding, we didn't feel like it, so Sundance wasn't worth it.

The only really interesting part of our day was seeing folks climbing Mt. Rundle. We saw at least 3 parties, and got a good perspective on the upper part of the route. It enters this photo from the right side in the trees right above the cliff band, crosses the angled gully in the middle, climbs straight up the forested knoll second from the left, then arcs up the ridge to the top.



I have climbed Cascade. One day I might climb Rundle.

Canmore Ospreys

Managed to get up to Quarry Lake to see the Osprey nest on Monday. Found Mom hanging out, Dad flying around, and the chick -- hardly a chick any more -- stretching his wings while mom watched.

I Love Thunderstorms

We went out for a wander around the neighborhood after dinner on Sunday and caught a huge thunderstorm that was beating the heck out of Scott Lake Hill and Bragg Creek. The combination of the dusk/setting sunlight and the bright white cloud made for some very cool photo opportunities, both of the whole storm...







...and details of the cloud itself.

Rain Delay to Paget Lookout

The plan for today was to bike up Redearth Creek to Shadow Lake. But it poured rain last night for an hour, and some idiot (me) didn't cover the bike saddles in plastic. So this AM, the seats were soaked, and this necessitated a last minute switch. Instead we headed to Paget Lookout and Sherbrooke Lake in Yoho.

This hike is yet another one which matches the quintessential definition of the phrase "relentless uphill". The climb to the lookout is 520 m in 3.5 km, or 150 m per km. But consider that 365 m of this happens in the last 1.9 km (nearly 200 m/km) and the grade becomes apparent. Frustrating is that the first hour is disenchanted forest with no views. When you finally do break out, though, the views are pretty good, even on a hazy day like today. You get cool views of the braided streams at Field...



And when you get to the lookout, there are killer views up and down the Kicking Horse Pass.





The haze got in the way of what would have been a kick-butt view of Lake Louise Ski Area.

There were very friendly golden mantled ground squirrels up there, and while they did not beg for food, they did pose nicely.



One of the appeals of this hike was the possibility of ascending Paget Peak. Info I had on this from the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide and The Copelands (of "Where the Locals Hike" fame) was that it was a straightforward grunt for about an hour an additional 400 m above the lookout. We spoke with one fellow who had just come down, and he reported the trail in awful shape, with really loose scree. We opted not to go.

Instead, we decided to visit the shoreline of Sherbrook Lake, which was partially visible from the hike.



The lake is big and the colour is cool, but the flies suck, so we did not linger.



All in all, this hike is nice but more work than advertised. It's also very, very popular. There were at least 30 people there or working their way up there, including almost a dozen tourists from England.

Rummel Lake & 3 Moose

Okay, so in the last decade I've seen maybe 4 moose. A few hikes ago, we saw two in one field. Saturday, we saw 3 different ones spread out over 10 miles along Hwy 742. Go figure.

So I was bound & determined not to let Japanese tourists ruin my attempts to get to Rummel Lake, and today we succeeded. This hike is a lot like Chester Lake, but much less crowded. The opening few km up through cutblocks is steeper and more overgrown than Chester, but offers some views up the Spray Lakes Valley.



The trail arrives at Rummel Creek, which is far better than Chester, which is nowhere near the creek. The path braids; we took a suicide route along a cliff edge above the falls -- worrisome, but the photo opportunities were good.



Then you get to the lake itself, which is just as nice as Chester.



But just like Chester, there's more beyond the lake, and it's not worth going if all you do is stop at the lake. Beyond Chester is the Three Lakes Valley; beyond Rummel is, well, more lakes, tarns and alpine. The alpine becomes lots of talus very fast.





The high alpine is infested with Columbian Ground Squirrels.



Unlike Chester, at the end is one heck of a view, down the valley towards Lost Lake and the Galatea Lakes trail, making the trail like West Wind Pass on steroids.




So while I like Chester, I've decided there's just too many tourists on the trail, and will head to Rummel from now on.