The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Day Hikes in the Canadian Rockies

As my month staying in Dead Man’s Flats (near Canmore and Banff, Alberta) comes to an end and the next stage of my adventure approaches, I find that I have only begun to scratch the surface of the outdoor opportunities this area offers.  Indeed, most of my hikes were within a 30-40 minutes’ drive of my condo; I never even visited several provincial and national parks that were within easy driving distance for a day trip.  It looks like I’ll have to return to do justice to the Canadian Rockies!

Johnston Creek, a very popular (and easy) day hike near Banff
Johnston Canyon Upper Falls
Bow Mt. and Bow Lake from the Helen Lake trail.  The Bow River rises above its eponymous lake.  The hike to Helen Lake is a popular one from the Icefields Parkway.
Lake Helen and Cirque Peak, Banff National Park.  I only climbed the 100 meters to the ridge shown, not the extra 400 meters needed to reach the summit.
The aptly named Dolomite Peak from the ridge above Lake Helen
Lake Helen from the ridge
Mt Lougheed from Wind Ridge.  The trailhead was only a few kilometers from my Dead Man’s Flat condo.
Canmore from Mt. Lawrence Grassi summit.  Mt Lawrence Grassi is 900 meters straight up from the Spray Lakes Road.  I was the only one of the mountain that day.
Goat Lake from Mt Lawrence Grassi summit
Wildflowers on the C-level Cirque trail near Lake Minnewanka
Lake Louise view towards the Plains of the Six Glaciers and Mt Victoria.  It seemed that most of the province was at Lake Louise that day.
Pink columbines along the Plain of the Six Glaciers trail
View of Victoria Glacier (much of which is covered with debris) from a lateral moraine
Mt Cory (left) and Mt Edith with Cory Pass as the low point between them
The crux of the Mt Edith climb is this 15 meter chimney, about hip width and fortunately not as steep as it looks.
Mt Cory and Cory Pass from Mt Edith summit
The impressive south face of Mt Loius (right) as seen from Mt Edith summit.  Definitely NOT a scrambler’s objective!
Mt Yamnuska scrambling route to the summit (at right).  Apart from a section with chains, the scrambling was straightforward.
Mt Yamnuska summit view of the descent route to the West.  Lots of “boot skiing” was enjoyed on this descent.
Heart Mt. from near Heart Creek trailhead, just down the road from Dead Man’s Flats
Lac des Arcs (sans cement plant) from Heart Mt. summit
Unnamed twin peaks from Grant MacEwen summit, the second peak of the Heart Mountain horseshoe traverse
A Mt Grant MacEwen Hoary Marmot. Or is it a small bear?
The route to Cascade Mt. summit.  At more than 1500 meters ascent, Cascade Mountain was the longest hike I did in the Canadian Rockies
Big Horn sheep on Cascade Mt. ridge
The Cascade Mt. summit traverse. Despite appearances, no snow was on the trail; with snow or ice it can be quite hazardous.
The Vagabond Hiker on top of Cascade Mt. (2998m)
Cascade summit view southeast to Lake Minnewanka.  The smoke was quite bad that afternoon in the Banff area.
Horse Thief Canyon, Drumheller, Alberta. Red Deer River is in the background.  Part of the Badlands, Drumheller is about one hour drive east of Calgary.
Maggie in Horse Thief Canyon, Drumheller, Alberta

My next post will feature some photos from day trips around Reykjavik, Iceland.  In the mean time,

Happy Trails,

The Vagabond Hiker

 

 

 

 

The Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada

Returning from a delightful – though too short – break in the UK (including a wonderful weekend in Paris), I was quickly reminded of the wet weather that has plagued western Canada this spring.  The 6½ hour drive from Vancouver Airport included periods of rain of biblical intensity.  Within minutes of settling into my cottage in Penticton, lightning struck nearby (no counting seconds between lightning and thunder – both seemed simultaneous!), knocking out the internet service.

In case you are not familiar with the Okanagan Valley, it is in south-central British Columbia and is considered the center of the province’s fruit orchards and, more recently, viniculture.  The Okanagan has a dry, sunny climate, and several lake-shore communities, including my favorite, Penticton.  With about 30,000 residents, Penticton supposedly is one of only two cities located between two lakes.  (I have no idea what the other one is and tend to doubt this claim in any event).  Apart from agriculture, the economy is retirement and recreation based, with outdoor summer activities such as fishing, kite boarding and wind surfing, hiking, biking, etc.

One obvious benefit to the cool, damp weather this spring, in what passes for the closest thing Canada has to a desert, is the profusion of wildflowers in bloom.  The landscape does have its attractions of course, from the blue lakes to the dramatic hills, to the snow-covered mountains in the distance, to the vineyards and orchards that dominate the valley.  But without a doubt the flowers this spring have stolen the show and feature in many of the photos in this blog post.  [Unlike some past slideshows from California and Utah, I have not attempted to identify the species of each flower, being content merely to give their common (generic) name].

Penticton and the South end of Lake Okanagan with much evidence of a recent fire
View looking south from Skaha Lake Park where I swam in the 14 deg. C water
Skaha Lake and the southern portion of Penticton from Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park.  The park is well known for its many fine climbing routes.
Lupines at Skaha Bluffs Park
Larkspur and granite at Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park
Shooting stars at Okanagan Mountain Park
A field of Lupine at Okanagan Mountain Park
A bouquet of Penstemon at Okanagan Mountain Park
Panorama from near Okanagan Mountain summit. Lake Okanagan is in the mid ground with Skaha Lake visible in the distance. Devastation from the 2003 fire was everywhere.
A turbulent, swollen creek at Okanagan Mountain Park
A mother grouse annoyed at me for disturbing her nestlings at the trailhead for Okanagan Mountain Park
Mt McLellan Corn(flower) field
Cornflower detail, Mt McLellan
Rock Rose (aka Bitterroot), Mt McLellan
Penticton Adventurers on the Mt McLellan hike
Scarlet Gilia on Mt Parker
View west from Mt Parker summit (1420m) to Sheeprock (l) and Mount Brent (r)
The Vagabond Hiker sweating on Mt Parker summit. Skaha Lake, 1000 meters lower, is just visible in the background.
Apex Mountain from near the summit of Mt Beaconsfield (2178m). Misleadingly, Apex Mountain Ski Resort is on Beaconsfield Mountain.
A zoom shot south to Cathedral Provincial Park from Mt Beaconsfield summit
The Vagabond Hiker chillin’ on Mt Beaconsfield summit (2178m)

My next post will likely be from the Canadian Rockies, where I have a condo for the month of July just outside of Canmore, Alberta.  The mountains will be a tad more impressive.

Happy trails,

The Vagabond Hiker

Thoughts on Ueli Steck and my upcoming climb of Pik Lenin

As I plan and train for my next alpine climb, I reflect on the recent sad passing of one of the mountaineering greats of this – or any – generation, Ueli Steck.  Known as the “Swiss Machine,” Ueli became famous to the public with his record-setting solo climbs of the Eiger Nordwand.  When he fell to his death on April 30th, Ueli was acclimatizing to climb Everest by the West Ridge, followed by traversing to summit Lhotse, something that has never been accomplished.  All solo and without oxygen, of course.  Ueli’s passion, dedication, fantastic physical condition, and technical excellence on different terrain put him head and shoulders above most other mountaineers.  But beyond his mountaineering accomplishments (recently he summited all 82 4,000 m Alpine peaks in one season, for example), he embodied the humility of how one should approach the mountains.

Although me going on a guided climb up Pik Lenin in the Pamir Mountains of Kyrgyzstan cannot be compared to any of Ueli’s elite mountaineering accomplishments, he recently said:

“There are many peaks in this world and everyone can find their own mountain – depending on what they are looking for. Eventually everyone will find their own Everest.”

Pik Lenin will be a first for me in more ways than one.  In the Pamir Mountains between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Pik Lenin is one of five 7,000 meter mountains in the former Soviet Union, the summitting of all of which completes the Snow Leopard Challenge.  Although not technical, it is a long, physically challenging alpine climb, with three or four camps established above base camp.  At 7,134 meters, it will be far higher than any mountains I have climbed in the Andes.  To successfully acclimatize will require more than two weeks on the mountain, a true expedition peak.  Bad weather at some point is inevitable.  So much so, in fact, that few have summitted the past two years.

That said, I am going with the British company Adventure Peaks (https://www.adventurepeaks.com), who in the past have had good team success reaching the summit, partly because of an option for an extra camp (at 6,400 meters) to help shorten the very long summit day.  This year they have added two more contingency days for weather, giving the team many as six days to reach the top.  I’ll be leaving for Osh on August 11, returning from Kyrgyzstan on or before September 5th.  I have updated my Calendar in this blog to reflect this trip.  (I also changed the width of the content, removing the side bar, to better allow viewing the photos).

Until then, my blog posts will diminish both in length and frequency as my focus will be on training.  While there are many reasons that I might not be able to reach the summit, I certainly don’t want lack of conditioning to be among them.  In the mean time, here’s a photo of me last September on the lower summit of Huayna Potosi (6,087m)  in Bolivia:

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow” – Ueli Steck, 1976-2017

Happy trails, wherever they may take you,

The Vagabond Hiker

Categories

Subscribe for Updates