Back to Canada, Centennial Trail

Joan and I began July 13th by revisiting the Uprising bakery in Canmore for breakfast, where we had a long chat with the greeter/order-taker/coffee-maker, Carolina, from the Czech Republic. Then we geared up for our "assault" on the Centennial Ridge Trail, starting at the northern end (many writeups start at the southern end.) Click on the image to enlarge.

Joan and I both knew we were not in shape to get as far as Mt. Allan; our goal was to get above the treeline for some inspiring views before we turned around. It would also be a great training hike, all uphill on the way out.

The view from the parking area. We will be hiking off the left side of this image; the high peak in the center of this image is Mount Lougheed. The weather was promising.

With the late spring, many flowers were still in bloom, including this blue columbine.

The initial segments of the trail had been damaged, or gave views of damage, from the floods of 2013.

Parts of the route are old horse trails, wider than a footpath.

With lots of greenery and no vistas for the first several miles, we did not dash along, but took time to inspect flowers and critters.

A bashful blue clematis ...

After the first mile the trail became incredibly steep, climbing the spine of the ridge. We paused frequently to get oxygen back into our muscles. And, at each curve in the path, one of us would yell out "Yo, bear!" to advertise the approach of humans.

 

More flood damage.

And a calypso orchid!

The birds were avoiding my camera, but we heard both the varied thrush and Swainson's thrush.

 

We kept climbing. Eventually, still in the woods, we could catch glimpses of Pilot's Knob to the east.

Stubbornly, the treeline kept refusing to appear. Clouds began to pile up to the west. We heard some rumbles -- perhaps they were passing jets? No, distant thunder. Still, we hadn't reached the treeline yet, and we pushed on.

 

It became clear that wet weather was moving in on our right, but not on our left. Would it hit us?

Joan and I started making agreements -- we'll go to the next switchback, the next corner, and re-evaluate. We must be close to the treeline. Finally we conceded defeat, and put on our rain gear just as showers hit us, binoculars and camera stowed away. We turned around and began our descent.

The rain let up for a while. We stopped at one of the few sites where there was a flat spot next to the trail, and saw that others had been there before us; a log was conveniently located for sitting, and charred embers marked a small campfire.

We were enjoying lunch in this cozy spot when we heard voices, the first in hours. Then two trail runners, skinny men in skimpy outfits, appeared, headed downhill. Then a third came along, and seeing us, started in our direction until he realized his mistake and turned around. Startled, we deduced that these guys must have started at the southern end, run up from Ribbon Creek to Mt. Allan, and been up above the treeline during the lightning and rain. (There had been unbroken spider webs across the trail on the way up, so they couldn't have started from the northern end before we did.) Yikes!

 

Down and down we continued, hard work on the knees and shins. Then, more thunder! The last third of the return was a walk in steady light to moderate rain all the way back to the car. As we drove back towards Canmore, the rain stopped, and then the pavement was suddenly dry. Back at Bob and Val's, they said it hadn't rained there at all. Mountain weather!

 

Joan and I cleaned up in time for dinner at Crazy Weed, where the limited staff was running at full speed to keep up. An early highlight was the labneh appetizer -- honey roasted eggplant, golden raisins, walnuts, dill, mint, zaatar & lemon, served with warm flatbread. We barely had room for the Thai chicken (Ben) or Chef's curry (Joan).

The next day would not be so strenuous.