Back to Canada: Castle Mountain Lookout

My previous post described the automotive troubles Joan and I had during our drive to Storm Mountain Lodge. The chef and maintenance man, Gary, rechecked all the tire pressures the next morning, July 21st.

We drove forty minutes to the Enterprise office in Banff, a cubicle at the Caribou Lodge lobby. After a bit of a wait, the helpful folks there accepted our suspect black Malibu for the only car they could give us, another black Malibu. All the other vehicles were being driven to other Enterprise locations.

 

Joan and I had time for an afternoon hike, and chose the Castle Mountain Lookout as our goal. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

It sounds like a good half-day hike -- 4.5 miles round-trip, and 1827 ft. of altitude gain, and we'd hiked it before, but not for a long time. The day was hot, and the hike was tough. We often stopped to catch our breath. Joan and I reached a man with a large, elderly dog lying down in the shade; the heat forced them to turn back.

The route began as a dirt mountain road, but narrowed as it climbed. At one location, the 2013 floods had carved a channel that the trail dipped into and out of.

The path switched back and forth as it relentlessly climbed. It grew narrower as it went, and near the end, it sometimes reverted to skinny steps on a steep rock face. A couple of times, Joan and I debated whether to turn around, but we pushed on. It wasn't until the final flat stretch that I hauled my camera out.

Then we reached the site of the former fire lookout.

The final view was fabulous. The road and rail traffic headed east or west all funneled through the valley before us. The trains looked like strands of painted spaghetti as they followed the tracks.

Joan and I encountered several groups on our way back down, each wondering how much further they had to go. We encouraged them with words of praise for the view.

Back at Storm Mountain, we enjoyed our cleanup, and dinner, and then sacked out. For the next day, we had reservations for a guided hike on the Stanley Glacier route, a full-day affair.

CR2013: Lake Oesa, Field, Castle Mountain Lookout

The day had arrived when Joan and I would be leaving Lake O'Hara. However, we would be departing on the afternoon bus, so there was time to squeeze in one more hike. The morning was overcast,

another incentive to not stray far from Lake O'Hara. We chose Lake Oesa as our destination and set out. This was the view from the circuit trail as it passes near the mouth of Lake O'Hara.

The low clouds were no hindrance to lake navigation. This canoe has passed close by avalanche debris that accumulated in the lake.

As is often the case on unsettled days, weather came up the valley towards Lake O'Hara and the surrounding heights. So far Joan and I are staying ahead of it (this is looking back).

A cloud hangs around the Yukness Ledges as we climb past Yukness Lake.

The weather is still holding up as Joan climbs the stone steps built by Lawrence Grassi.

As we passed by Lefroy Lake we could see clouds and vapors filling the bowl of Lake Oesa, just beyond the bluff.

As we approached the top of the bluff our luck ran out, and it began to rain. We had rain covers for our daypacks, which Joan had modified with snaps. Rain covers are designed for backpacks where the body rises several inches above the point where the straps attach. The straps on our daypacks attach at the top of the pack, so there is nothing for the elastic of the rain cover to snug over. Hence the snaps.

Near the lake we managed to find a large boulder with an overhang on the lee side. At first the only parts getting wet were our boots, and we dug into lunch. As the rain continued a drip developed from the top of the boulder, but Joan and I still managed to work through lunch without much discomfort. After all, we had the incredible Lake O'Hara cookies to boost our energy levels and morale. Then we began the walk back down.

The rain was off and on, lighter and harder, as is often the way in these mountains. When we were well on the way down, about 2:oo PM, we encountered a very blasé hoary marmot.

He wasn't worried about us. Is this my better side? he seemed to ask.

Oh! Aren't I handsome?

By the time we reached Lake O'Hara the view was a mixture of cloud and sunny spotlights.

Then, sadly, it was time to leave. The lodge bus took us to the Lake O'Hara parking area, from which it was a short drive for us to Field and the Kicking Horse Lodge. Fortunately this time there were no fiascoes such as basement or double-booked rooms.

The next day Joan and I avoided the poky breakfast service at Kicking Horse and ate across the street at the Siding Café, in the original location of the Truffle Pigs Café. Not only did we get a hearty breakfast there, served on time, but we ordered sandwiches and chose cookies for today's lunch. There are some grocery and general-store offerings here in addition to meal service.

Before leaving Field we walked up to the Field cemetery, just outside of town. On our way we passed the beginning of the Mount Stephens trail, one of the guided hikes of the Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation. We'd like to take this hike, but it's offered only on weekends in July and August, and the specifics vary from year to year, so it's hard to fit into the jigsaw puzzle along with predetermined dates for Lake O'Hara.

Joan's left foot was still bothering her, but there was no bruising, so we assumed it was just a sprain. It didn't keep us from reaching the cemetery, and it was time well spent. The information on the graves tells a story of how hard life was here for the miners and early railroad workers. My only photo is of the railroad-themed gate.

We piled our gear into the rental car and headed back towards Alberta, climbing to the Kicking Horse Pass. Partway up, we stopped at the Spiral Tunnels. Click to enlarge this sign, which explains that the original railroad grade at Kicking Horse was so steep that trains frequently lost control and derailed. The problem was solved by creating two 270º tunnels, allowing the train to loop around itself at a comfortable grade.

We were lucky enough to catch a train doing just that. Here you can see the locomotive emerging from the upper end of a tunnel and about to pass other cars entering the lower end.

En route to our next destination, the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis, we planned to repeat a hike from 2004, to Castle Mountain Lookout. This hike is not long, about 3.7 km or 2.3 miles one way, but it climbs steadily for a gain of 530 m or about 1700 feet. The first section is broad, like an old logging road, but closer to the lookout it becomes a trail and crosses a few eroding gullies.

The weather was cloudy and misty by the time we arrived at the trailhead. We hiked briskly and were soon warmed up and sweaty, wearing rain jackets in a light drizzle and, it would seem, inspired by the locomotives at Kicking Horse Pass. Joan's foot felt best at this pace. I didn't take any photos until we arrived at the lookout, where only the foundations of the old fire lookout remained. There wasn't much to see,

 but it was a decent lunch spot.

Our weather karma is not good for this location. Here is what we saw during our 2004 visit. It was snowing, but you can see why a lookout was placed here.

The weather began to gradually clear as we hiked back down. This photo captures the look of the upper trail.

By the midpoint of the downhill hike the valley floor was becoming visible.

We arrived back at the car and continued on to the Delta Lodge, where we enjoyed a dinner at Grappa, the Italian restaurant there, which in our opinion was the best in Kananaskis Village; it's now replaced by Forte. For tomorrow Joan and I decided, given the state of her foot, that we would hike the gentler Terrace Trail between the lodge and the Galatea trailhead. We could turn around at any time, and there would be views down to the Kananaskis River.