Hiking Canada 2023: The First Days

Day 1

July 13th, 2023, was supposed begin our trip to the Canadian Rockies. Joan and I awoke at "oh dark hundred" to drive to the airport. We boarded our plane, and it pulled away from the gate. And stopped. The pilot announced, "There's a ground hold because of the weather in Chicago." We waited. Then, we had to go back to the gate to fuel up for an alternate route. Then our flight was canceled. It was chaos at the airport -- United said they had transferred our seats to a Delta flight, but Delta said that although they could see it, United hadn't released it yet. Joan got that answer, and I got that answer. (Rumor was that Delta had frozen any transfers from United.) Eventually, it all fell apart, and we had to go home and fly out the next day.

 

Day 2

On July 14th our seats from Chicago to Calgary were in row 38, with our backs to the lavatories. Fortunately, Enterprise had held our rental car reservations (24 hours) even though you cannot contact an Enterprise desk directly; you can only call a central support number. God, were we exhausted when we checked into our hotel (had to pay for the first night even though we hadn't been there). After a good dinner at Sauvage, we fell fast asleep.

 

Day 3

The next day, we needed a warmup hike. We picked up snacks at Uprising for our trail lunch and drove out to the McGillivray Creek and Canyon trailhead, a modest and unmarked parking area off the Trans-Canada Highway. It's in the upper right of this photo.

A few yards up the path lay the intersection with the Trans-Canada Trail, our target. Our goal was to follow the Trans-Canada west,

as far as the interchange at the map's lower left, and then return. Note: the trail is open to bicycles, and sometimes has "technical features" to challenge mountain bikers -- ramps, jumps, and such.

At the parking area, I took snapshots of our hiking companions, Aurora the piggie,

and Tex the hippo.

Though never far from the highway, the first stretch was pleasantly isolated and green. Blooming plants were happy,

and it had obviously been a spring blessed with rain.

It was damp enough that I slipped on a wooden board serving as a bridge over wet country; no harm was done. Sometimes the trail offered a wooden stairway to climb a steep rock formation, but Joan and I had to take them cautiously and strategically; sometimes there were cracked or rotting boards to avoid.

 

Butterflies were out.

Bees and beetles.

Black and white on green. Needs better camouflage.

Swainson's thrushes were heard but not seen.

 

As we continued west, Joan and I encounted beaver dams! Then, the trail drifted closer to the highway. As you can see on the lower left of the map, the Kananaskis Gun & Archery Club was close, and we encountered warning signs. Nothing was posted for today, thank goodness!

However, the trail disappeared into a high grass meadow cleared around high power line towers. We scouted around a bit, but had no luck finding a trail. This terrain between us and the road held little attraction, and we began our hike back, stopping for a snack along the way. Joan and I continued east for a while, even passing by the connector to our parking area to explore the Trans-Canada in the other direction just a little bit. Then it was time to return to our hotel to clean up and head out for dinner at Crazyweed.

Day 4

Today, July 15th, was a transfer day with a hike to Sherbrooke Lake. First, we hosted Val and Bob for breakfast and a catch-up chin-wag at our hotel; Joan and I had stayed at their B&B (now closed) for many years. We lingered and had a jolly time. After saying goodbye, it was time to head west along the Trans-Canada Highway, with delays due to road construction, to the parking area for Sherbrooke.

It was a smoky morning -- doesn't Canada have a lot of wildfires? -- with clouds hinting at future rain. From the car park, this was the view of Wapta Lake.

The initial part of the trail climbs up, bearing west with occasional switchbacks. At one point, you can continue towards Sherbrooke or head right for a steeper climb up to Paget Lookout. Lots of people were on our route today.

Here's a panoramic sweep taken near the foot of the lake.

Zooming in towards (but not reaching) the head of Sherbrooke.

Joan and I continued along the trail, looking for a good sit spot. The clouds continued to gather, and we decided it was time to return. Despite nearby thunder, we had only light rain; Joan and I donned our rain gear at the Paget Lookout intersection. Then we drove down to Field and the Cathedral Mountain Lodge for our lodging and dinner. We felt like our trip had finally begun. Tomorrow -- Lake O'Hara!

Back To Canada: Sherbrooke Lake

The next day, July 14th, was a transition day, but Joan and I spent the first half checking out a few things in Canmore before departing. We returned to Uprising for coffee and pastry, then walked past the old RCMP building and the knock-your-eyes-out peonies there. Continuing south and east, we walked through the Spring Creek development along the boardwalk, and then crossed the bridge for a quick inspection of the ongoing development anchored by the Malcolm Hotel. It's astonishing how much money seems to be pouring into this town!

 

Our next step was the Thursday market (farm goods, art, and more). It had been in downtown Canmore for a long time, but with the conversion of that area to either no autos, or paid parking, the market is now held at the civic/event center, called Elevation Place. Here's a map with the high points of our walk highlighted in red. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

We purchased some fruit and pastries at the market for our travel lunch, and then returned to Val & Bob's place to bid them farewell and load our luggage in the car.

 

The goal of our afternoon hike was Sherbrooke Lake, which we had last visited in 2016. Since then, a barrier had been built to prevent eastbound traffic on the Trans-Canada from attempting to cross westbound traffic to reach the parking area.

Further, a sturdy, gated chain-link fence stretched around the back of the parking area, deterring wildlife from a death-defying crossing of the Trans-Canada. Here we consumed our goodies from Canmore, and then set out, an uphill climb. After the initial rise, the routes to Sherbrooke Lake and Paget Lookout diverge. We'd visited Paget Lookout in 2012, but were in the mood for a less strenuous walk today. Lots of other people were on these trails, a sharp comparison to our Centennial Ridge hike the day before.

The final approach to Sherbrooke was muddy in spots, due to the late spring melt, but manageable. Here's a look back as we approached the lake.

Several other groups had reached the waters first and taken the best viewing spots. Joan and I continued up the trail, which parallels the lake. It took a while to find a decent spot for a sit.

I haven't used the Deep Dream Generator for a while ...

The mountains on the far side still had some snow cornices.

The trail, in a less maintained condition, hikes on to Niles Meadows. For us it was time to turn around.

 

It being a late spring, there were still flowers to identify. Here's a western meadow rue, which is a dioecious species, where male and female flowers are found on separate plants. This is a male.

It was a short but steep drive down Kicking Horse Pass to our overnight stay, at Cathedral Mountain Lodge. The next day we'll drive back up the pass to begin our visit to Lake O'Hara.

CR2016: Sherbrooke Lake

Today began with a long, luscious breakfast at Canadian Artisans shared with the newlyweds Lindsay and Andrew, from Queens. After a late getaway Joan and I drove past Banff, Lake Louise, and the Lake O'Hara parking area to the Sherbrooke Lake/Paget Lookout parking, just after the Great Divide Lodge.

We had taken both hikes before, Sherbrooke before I started blogging, possibly in 2007, and Paget Lookout in 2012. It was time to check out the lake again, albeit with an 11:30 start.

The trail began as a gentle-to-moderate but steady climb through the woods. (The Paget Lookout spur is steep.)

There were flowers everywhere, including blooming butterwort, bog orchid, twisted wintergreen, and more. We soon encountered a fellow from California (originally Philadelphia) headed towards us, and stopped expecting to exchange a few trail pleasantries. However he didn't want to stop talking. When other hikers needed to pass we took the opportunity to break away.

The weather was unsettled with hide-and-seek sunshine and drizzle. After the Paget Lookout trail split off we made a mild descent to the lake level.

I soon spotted this fellow, likely a Western Toad. (Note the long dorsal stripe.) It must be hard being an amphibian up north, with such a short summer season.

The trail along the east bank of the lake is rocky and rooty and doesn't offer a plethora of good lunch spots. Looking back we saw clouds gathering above Kicking Horse Pass and the Trans-Canada.

We reached the top of the lake, went a bit further, and then turned around. At one point Joan spotted 5 mountain goats on the slopes above the west shore.

Late in the hike we encountered a family of spruce grouse. Here's mama.

She had three youngsters, two in this photo.

We spent the night at the bottom of Kicking Horse Pass, at Cathedral Mountain Lodge. This is an angled view of the main office and restaurant.

The lodge is a mere fifteen minutes or so from the Lake O'Hara parking area, our goal for tomorrow, and where our rental car will get five nights' rest.