CR2011: Canmore, Grotto Canyon, and Barrier Lake Fire Lookout

In late August we took our annual trip to the Canadian Rockies. This entry will cover our hikes in the Canmore area, ones we had not walked before.

It was an auspicious beginning at the Calgary Airport. Hertz gave us the ideal car for this trip, something we had not received in eight prior visits to Calgary and three rental agencies.  The Ford Taurus had a trunk large enough to hold all our luggage, but was not a huge grandfather's land yacht, and best of all, it was not an SUV, which is a battle we've had to fight before. When you are taking a day hike while traveling from lodge A to lodge B, you do not want your luggage exposed to view in the back of an SUV!

We took a long route to Canmore, heading south from Calgary and passing through the small town of Black Diamond to stop at Marv's Classic Soda Shop. Joan and I both had a chocolate malt, and the young man behind the counter chatted with Joan about a trip to Italy he had taken. Then he charged us $5 for the two malts, which listed for $6 each!

We came up towards Canmore through Highwood Pass, which at 7238' is the highest point in Canada on paved highway. South of the pass we passed two young grizzly bears moseying north on the shoulder of the road. These were the first grizzlies we had ever seen in person during our Canadian trips. We had been following the bear situation before our departure, and we knew that it was an active wildlife year. The previous summer was an exceptionally good berry season, so the bear moms had a bumper crop of cubs over the winter. Now, this year, the foraging was not so good, causing the bears and other wildlife to roam widely in search of food.

As before, we stayed at the Canadian Artisans Bed and Breakfast. The guest parking there is flanked by pine trees and the house, as you can see in this photo. Squirrels loved to drop sap-soaked pine cones onto the car from these arboreal perches.

Our Taurus had a rear view camera whose image was displayed in a tiny square on the rear view mirror, and a proximity warning that beeped faster and faster the closer the back of the car came to an obstacle. By the time I parked it as seen above, with the help of Joan's hand signals, the warning was screaming loud enough to make me wince.

Before hiking, we stopped in town to buy bear spray. Good to have in any case, bear spray had also been required to hike some of the Barrier Lake trails, part of our second hike, at different times in the summer. No bear spray, and you got a ticket. Sometimes that trail had been closed entirely because too many hikers and bikers were ignoring the precautions. Fortunately for us, that trail opened before we arrived.

But our first hike was the Grotto Creek Trail in Grotto Canyon. This section remains a fuzzy, low-resolution image on Google Earth, or I'd show it to you. After passing behind a magnesium oxide processing plant, the trail begins to rise and then turns northerly into a gorge. At this point the trail breaks up; it has become just an intermittent alternative to walking the creek bed when the creek is high, and the primary route is up the creek. This is a popular rock climbing location, and it's easy to spot metal hoops hammered into the rock faces. After a while, you arrive at a 'T'.

The right hand of the 'T' is brief, steep, and polished by the boots of many hikers, ending in a waterfall.

Those stone ledges look like an inviting path to the waterfall, but they're treacherous. I took a picture of the waterfall, but  the photo was tilted because of my precarious perch on the stones, and I needed the computer to set it right.

We continued up the canyon, to the left.

Shortly there was a broader spot where the remains of a fire ring or two could be seen, and the creek turned north again. The walls of the canyon sank lower and further apart as we climbed. After lunch we decided to start back, and passed again a huge hoodoo-like formation, made of more easily eroded soft aggregates, but with a cave entrance partway up.

A family had climbed up to the cave entrance, and discovered that going up was easier than going back down. Getting the kids down took some coaching and coaxing.

The Grotto Canyon was an interesting warmup, with plenty of stony footing.

The next day, a Saturday, we hiked to the Barrier Lake Fire Lookout. Having arrived as early as we could to claim a parking spot, there was a chill morning breeze, and we were glad for our jackets, even on August 27th. We hustled quickly across the earthen dam to stay warm, and then the wide Prairie View Trail began to climb. At the first intersection, where the Stoney Trail, paralleling the lake, crossed ours, we were greeted by an ashen-faced mountain biker. He asked, "Which way are you going?" He had just seen a mountain lion, a kilometer back on his trail. Two young mountain lions, a brother and sister, had been killed earlier in the summer due to their lack of fear of humans. Fortunately we were headed straight ahead.

The first leg of the hike winds up and up the side of the ridge, almost broad enough to be a road, with frequent switchbacks. Several mountain bike riders passed us; this leg is part of a popular loop for them. Eventually you reach the ridge line, and a grassy area provides the first viewpoint.

From here you can look up along the ridge line to the Prairie View Viewpoint. The last climb up to the viewpoint is much narrower and rockier, not hospitable to a casual mountain biker.

On reaching the Prairie View Viewpoint we were not alone. Groups of people were savoring the bright sunshine, the warming day, and the view to the east.

The trail we had just come up is visible on the lower ridge, and just beyond several small lakes the Trans-Canada highway winds towards Calgary. Behind us, the top of the ridge beckoned.

I neglected to take a photo of the large reflector that is part of this viewpoint. It was used to bounce radio signals around corners and mountains, and might still be active. However, in researching links for this post, I ran across the blog Hiking with Barry, which has a good picture of the structure in his post on this very hike. Barry did a great job with his photos.

It wasn't clear at first how to proceed towards the Fire Lookout, but we had just to continue west on the rocky promontory until the way starts to climb up the ridge again. This walk was turning into a good training exercise for our lungs, which are accustomed to an altitude of 1,000 feet. The fire lookout is at about 6,600 feet, and 2,000 feet above the lake.

The Barrier Lake Fire Lookout is one of the remaining actively staffed lookouts during fire season. Signs request that you do not peer into the house, interfere with equipment, or otherwise disturb the warden.

However, while we were nearby the warden came out to inspect some of his instruments, and Joan and I (especially Joan) had a good conversation with him. Below the house, other hikers were picnicking on the helicopter pad. There are also picnic tables in the shade just below the summit.

As usual, I was focusing on the panorama. It's a good view up there, of course -- it's a fire lookout. To the west, the town of Exshaw and a large quarrying operation are visible down in the valley of the Bow River. There is a trail and mountain bike route through the wooded valley down to the Trans-Canada highway.

Here's a closeup of Exshaw and the quarry. There is also a long Canadian Pacific train; this is the major transportation route between the west coast and the rest of Canada.

Looking to the northeast isn't bad either.

Then we returned the way we had come, completing an excellent hike. Tomorrow, we would move on to Pocaterra Cirque and Mt. Engadine Lodge.