CR2015: Mount Lorette Ponds and Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park

August 9th was our last day of Canadian outings for this year. (Tomorrow will be nothing more than getting on and off of airplanes.) Joan and I started with a visit to Mount Lorette Ponds, adjacent to Highway 40 on our way to the TransCanada Highway, just before the Wasootch Ridge turnoff.

The ponds were once a part of the river, but were cut off with the construction of Highway 40, and now are primarily spring fed. They are a pleasant place to wander, along the shore and crossing bridges.

Looking down the length of a pond.

Down at what I call the 'arrowhead' dock.

Common mergansers; the one on the right is an adult female.

A fierce-looking bald eagle, no doubt looking for a breakfast fish.

What have we here?

It's a Malaise trap!

After a pleasant level stroll around the ponds, Joan and I drove to the recently opened Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park, on the way to Calgary.

It was sunny and hot by now, and we put on extra sunscreen before setting out. It's been dry for a while.

The park office sits on top of a knoll with a sweeping view of the Bow River valley, and the mountains beyond.

Calgary is not far away.

This photo, taken later, shows the park office from below. We had a good chat with the warden there, early in our visit.

Glenbow is extensive, but also entwined with private lands and railroad rights-of-way (click on the photo to enlarge).

Joan and I have enough time to explore only a few of the trails in the central area.

Glenbow is a popular park, and there were plenty of other hikers around. Bicycles are permitted on some of the trails.

One pond, close to Bowland Juction, was especially attractive for its wildlife. We saw muskrats,

and flocks of cedar waxwings catching insects on the wing. This was new experience for Joan and me; we'd only seen waxwings mobbing trees and bushes for fruit before.

We spotted another bald eagle, at a distance that strained my camera.

We returned to the park office and went down the Glenbow Trail to take the Yodel Loop. Looking back at the office, we found it hidden in the trees.

Here's a view of an abandoned ranch house. It's seen many hard winters.

Some flowers were blooming along the loop, which I later discovered are considered noxious weeds in Alberta, and must be controlled. First up: Canada thistle.

Yellow toadflax, also called butter-and-eggs.

Eagles weren't the only aviators today. A parade of small planes was circling by the park to practice touch-and-go at a nearby airport.

The high point on the Yodel Loop offered a vista.

Informative signs about the ephemeral town of Glenbow were on hand.

A closer look at the erstwhile Glenbow town site.

This is what remains of the brickworks.

Joan and I returned to the pond for further inspection (and the photo of the cedar waxwing), and then stopped by the park office to leave some compliments, but it was closed.

Then it was time to drive back to Calgary, fill the gas tank of the rental car, and check in at the airport hotel. A very early flight the next day would, via Minneapolis, return us to Columbus. We were already thinking about next year's trip to the Canadian Rockies.

CR2015: Wasootch Ridge

For August 8th, Joan and I decided to climb Wasootch Ridge. This hike, a round trip of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) with an altitude gain of 1010 meters (3315'), is longer with more climbing than our hike yesterday of King Creek Ridge, but except for the first kilometer or so, not as steep.

There was a group of rock climbers having a briefing as we started up the trail. There are some popular cliff faces along Wasootch Creek for those who enjoy ropes and pitons.

Joan and I could soon see the rock and gravel fan of the creek, a result of the June 2013 floods.

Those stripes in the distance are the runs of the Nakiska Ski Resort. The brown skyline above them displays the Olympic Summit and then, to the far right, Mount Allan. We hiked most of the way to Mount Allan last year on the Centennial Ridge Trail.

From the parking area the trail heads straight up the west end of the ridge. After the initial rugged ascent, both in the woods and on slab faces,

there are a series of bumps, or small summits, as you continue up the ridgeline. Like a stegosaurus' back. Some altitude is lost after each bump, but each successive one carries you higher. This unevenness isn't always large enough to be reflected on a topographical map.

With a little altitude we could see north to Barrier Lake.

The flood gravels have filled the valley bottom.

Here Joan is climbing one of the first small summits. Usually they aren't as daunting as they appear. Yes, Joan's in the picture, climbing the second hump; click on the photo to enlarge.

Looking back to that summit.

After almost two more hours and a snack stop, much of the ridge is now snaking behind us.

There was one stretch along a narrow shelf with a dropoff that made us careful, attentive, and unwilling to stop. You can see how much higher we've come. It's sunny and hot today, and we're consuming a lot of fluids.

Others are coming up on the trail.

This cairn doesn't mark the end, but we're getting closer. A few more uphill stretches to go.

We pass a double-cairn summit, but it doesn't signify anything. Keep going!

Here is the final trail cairn. Joan is looking for a good lunch spot. 

Joan momentarily inspects the post-trail route. Most hikers declare this the turn-around point.

Gillean Daffern's description of the scrambling route to the final summit, far right, includes phrases such as "down to the col between the fin and the rocky top, where another percentage of hikers call it a day," and "descend right ... scramblers who follow the ridge crest at this point almost always come unglued at the notch." This image zooms in on the final tower. There's a hint of a trail at the bottom of the steep rock faces.

We have lunch and enjoy the view. In this panoramic shot, Porcupine Creek is visible on the north side of Wasootch Ridge.

We'll meet the group of four coming up behind us not long after we shove off from lunch.

This formation looks as if it's about to fall over, especially the boulders on the lower right.

There's a whole new floor to the Wasootch Creek valley, made up of rock. Just thinking of the force of water needed to move this much stone compels us to take another peek:

Our bird sightings on this hike included Clark's nutcrackers, white-winged crossbills, northern flickers, yellow-rumped warblers, and (audio only) golden-crowned kinglets. The photo I have to offer is of Clark's nutcrackers.

Going back is a slog compared to the adventure of heading up. And many of the steep sections have footing just as bad, if not worse, headed down.

Joan and I encountered more people coming up as the afternoon wore on, including some who had no idea how much further they had to go. Fortunately there are views to be had all along the way. Two young women were sitting at such a spot, snacking and chatting away. When we approached they asked if we could take their picture -- their iPhone timer wasn't up to the task at hand. There was a dead tree, gray and leafless, across the trail from their perch, and they wanted a photo of themselves up in the tree as if chased by a bear. They clambered up a body length or two, and the photo shoot went off without a hitch. However, I failed to take a photo of them clinging to the tree, smiling, with my own camera. This is my most-regretted photo neglect of the past several years!

We reached the bottom without mishap. The round trip took just under seven hours, including our snack and lunch stops. Not bad for a pair of flatlanders!

Tomorrow would be our last full day in Canada.

CR2015: King Creek Ridge

Today (August 7th) we decided to tackle King Creek Ridge, a "strenuous climb on trail to a fantastic viewpoint," as Gillean Daffern describes it. It gains 731 meters (2400') in 3.5 km (2.2 miles), and the high point is at 2423 meters (7950'). Perhaps, it being late in our visit, Joan and I would be in good enough shape to conquer it. With the relevant pages from Gillean's Kananaskis Trail Guide in hand, we set out.

This image is taken from the on-line version of the maps in her books, zoomed in to the King Creek Ridge.

The parking area is on the south side of King Creek, but the trail begins on the north side. The brief trot along Highway 40 gave us a view of the gravel and rock swept down King Creek in the June 2013 floods.

This photo looks back to the parking area from the north side.

The trail passed through woods, and bore left where an older, steeper initial trail segment joined in. After climbing gently to the north for a brief while,

the route began to switchback up the ridge with, to borrow again from Gillean, "steep little zigs with stones underfoot." Game trails crossed our path now and then, but the correct choice was always the uphill one. Also, water runoffs and "shortcuts" created by adventurous hikers caused us to pause several times, pondering which way to choose. And catch our breath. This photo is of one of the less scrabbly stretches. Although foot placement is important going up, it's more treacherous going down. Joan and I were glad for our trekking poles in both directions.

We reached the ridgeline, drenched in sweat, and turned north. The trail was still rising, but less abruptly, and began to pass through thicker and thinner sections of forest. The air up here must be very clean; there were gorgeous rafts of lichen.

A closeup of one bunch.

A stone arrow to avoid confusion.

This is about the time Joan and I decided that Ben needed a sit-down and a snack. The trail ahead looked dauntingly exposed, but it was no worse than many others we've countered in the Canadian Rockies, so I knew that my energy level was the problem, not the route.

The top of the ridge grew narrower and narrower as we proceeded.

There was one short section where there the best route was a narrow stone ledge. I didn't stop to get out my camera!

Then we reached the top. In this photo, I'm standing at the summit cairn while Joan has walked over to a promontory overlooking the valley.

Here's the panoramic view, to the west and up and down the Kananaskis Valley.

A closer look at the Kananaskis Lakes and Elk Pass, yesterday's hike.

A wide view to the north and east, with our trail in the lower right corner. The ongoing trail mid-left plummets down to King Creek, with a spur to a second top.

I went over to the viewpoint, overcoming a mild sense of discomfort. This picture looks back to Joan at the summit cairn.

I can see the parking area from here ... the small road heading left to the base of the ridge.

Here's the view to the south, with Highway 40 on the right and King Creek on the left. This "hidden valley" of King Creek is favored by deer and grizzly bears.

There's an abundance of folded geological strata in these mountains. This photo looks north.

After drinking in the views, it was time for us to gingerly head back down. The map at the beginning of this post shows a loop, but the loop drops precipitously off the ridge into the King Creek Valley, the trail occasionally disappears, and finishes with a slot canyon followed by multiple crossings of the creek. It's not recommended except for the bold. Joan and I backtracked instead. As usual, the steep downhill was much dicier than the steep uphill, especially with small loose stones underfoot.

At one point a group of mountain sheep dashed right to left in front of us along one of the game trails. They were too fast for me to whip out my camera and turn it on.

This photo shows a brief gentle bench before the plunge continued. Note the flag on the tree; it's useful especially if the ground is covered with snow.

Some of the flowers were still out, including these purple asters.

Twenty minutes later I started hearing an occasional odd noise. I stopped to look about, and just a few feet away from me, above the trail almost at eye level, was a very young blue grouse.

The peeping sound was the mother, largely hidden by the bushes, giving the baby reassurance and admonishing it to stay still.

I called softly to Joan, who was ahead of me. She gladly came uphill again to visit the grouse.

And then mountain sheep rumbled by, higher up. Was it the same group we saw earlier? I don't know.

Soon after we heard a gunshot. Was it some crazy American down in the campground? Then there was another shot. After a few moments there was an oscillating whistle, a fireworks sound. Joan and I guessed that we were hearing bear deterrence; a grizzly or perhaps a black bear had come too close to the Kananaskis Lakes campground or other human-occupied area. The wardens were driving it off.

We emerged at the trailhead without having taken a tumble. Who did we see in front of us, along Highway 40?

They trotted off to the north, but not before I captured this mother and child image.

Joan and I returned to the parking lot on the south side of the creek, pleased with our accomplishments, both climbing and descending, and our sightings today.

After a well-deserved dinner back at the Delta Kananaskis Lodge, we took a stroll on their perimeter trail. The evening light was superb.

We had done OK today. It gave us confidence to tackle Wasootch Ridge tomorrow, our last strenuous hike of this visit.