2018.8.3-13 Canadian Rockies, part 4/6, Yoho

8/6, Monday. Around 5pm, I checked into Whiskey Jack wilderness hostel at the trailhead to Yoho Lake, while Vinit was packing up his backpack for 2 nights at Yoho Lake. It started to rain, and then poured. Not for long, but enough so Vinit abandoned his camping permit, and also settled into the hostel. This is, maybe my favorite hostel, just for its location. Great setting: view of Takakkaw Falls, and distant mountains to the north right from the porch. Hot shower (water volume is very small, turns to trickle when someone washes dishes in the kitchen)! Electric outlet. No cell service here. 3 dorm room, each with 4 bunk beds (triple layered, so unable to sit up), a bathroom. No common toilet. So waiting for toilet is a problem.

8/7, Tuesday. Vinit headed off to Iceline Trail (as planned) at 7am. I took his car, drove to Lake O'Hara parking lot(s). Yes, I managed to buy 1 bus ticket, only 1, about a week ago, as a plan B, on the day I received an email about possible closure of the entire Rockwall trail). Lots of cars. I arrived at the bus stop with my day pack 20 min before the 8:30 bus, as instructed. Checked in (I brought a copy of my confirmation email). I took a photo of this map, which I can buy at Le Relais (the terminus) for $5 cash only. I also have printed a trail map from https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/bc/yoho/activ/randonnee-hike/ohara/~/media/CE3FC64ECB6940C090EB3D3CB53103E4.ashx. A Chinese family of 4 had been waiting there for any last minute cancellation. But everyone with reservation showed up. So they started walking before our buses started rolling. A ranger got on the bus giving a short speech, and answered questions. 2 buses. One bus was for campers. My bus had only 5 campers. The road is a bit rocky. Saw about 15 walkers and 2 runners on the road. All treed, not a fun trail to walk for 11Km. The driver handed out a green plastic token for the return trip (2:30, 4:30, 6:30pm). I sat in the first row with another Chinese family of 3 from Boston. No trekking poles, tennis shoes. ~9am, the bus dropped us off at Le Relais (Day Lodge), a couple of minutes walk from the lake. I headed to the lake as soon as I got off the bus. Lake O'Hara is true to its reputable, beautiful in the middle of towering mountains, made especially pleasant thanks to the lack of crowd. However, if you don't hike up, you miss a lot.

At 9:08, my first trail junction. I headed up Wiwaxy Gap for my version of Alpine Circuit (highlighted in pink on the previous map. trail description of the area). Pretty steep going up. The higher you are, the further you can see. Lake O'Hara lay beneath for I to admire every time I need to catch my breath. Half way up, one of the runners I saw from the bus passed me! He was gracious, stopped for quite a few minutes to point me the various routes, which he had run through many times before. At 10:28, I reached the gap. I sat there for 20 minutes, took off my boots and socks, and snacked. View of both side of the gap is gorgeous.

Now I was fully rested, continued the trail (via Huber Ledges Alpine Route), loosing elevation slowly first before dropping down to Oesa Lake. Before the lake, I my second trail junction: to Abbot Pass, you scramble up. That trail isn't on my map. But boot track is obvious. Saw 3 girls resting by the sign. They just returned from Abbot Pass.

At Lake Oesa, I saw the most people today. There is a trail coming to the lake directly from O'Hara. The lake is lovely, a typical glacier blue. Green grass and yellow flowers adorn the shore. I sat here again, with my boots off, for ~15 minutes. The young couple in the photo (yellow and blue) are Dutch. I'd see them again and again today. The trail then goes slowly down to a number of smaller lakes, all quite pretty, ringed with grassy shore and flowers. They don't have the glacier color.

Once past this trail junction, less people. 12:30pm. I headed up again to Opabin Plateau, via Yukness Ledge. Met a family of 4 going the opposite direction, overtook one couple.

At Hungabee Lake, I headed up to Opabin Lake. Met only one guy coming up from East Opabin Trail. Opabin is glacier blue. Very pretty. When the 2 Dutch arrived 10 minutes later, I put back on my socks and boots, headed down West Opabin Trail, instead of looping the lake. ~12:45pm. Once back at Hungabee Lake, saw a few more people. Hungabee and Moor Lakes are pretty, but they are of regular forest green. Quite some flowers here. There's a small tarn that has a glacier blue. The setting is all lovely.

At 14:20, I headed left to All Souls Alpine Route. I didn't meet anyone all the way to All Soles' Prospect. View is outstanding. Real 360°. Can clearly see the zigzag up to Wiwaxy Gap. I sat by the big cairn all alone for maybe 10 minutes. A young couple came up from Schaffer Lake. I learned that Lake McArthur is worth the detour. ~15:30, When the 2 Dutch arrived, I headed down to Schaffer Lake. It's very steep, but the trail is clearly laid, and safe enough. In 30 minutes, I was down at trail junction with Big Larch trail.

Schaffer Lake is pleasant, but not worthwhile destination. I went up towards McArthur Pass. Met 3 people coming down from some peak. They told me that the lake is about 45 minutes, and the faster trail is to my left (the high route). So I corrected my trajectory. I went up on some short flowering slope, met 4 ladies, who told me that the lake is 1 hour away. I continued until 4:30, and turned around only about 1/4 in, without getting anywhere worthy of my effort. I may be able to get to the lake, if all the trail signs could include distances.

~5pm, I walked by Elizabeth Parker Huts. The two wooden cabins sit on a flat grassy meadow. Quite lovely. You have to book this last autumn.

I had more time to spare until the bus. So went to Mary Lake, and took a dip. Cold. I only managed to sit in the lake on some big slippery rock. Refreshing.

Walking back to the bus stop along the lake shore of Lake O'Hara. Lake O'Hara Lodge sits on water. Very pretty setting. You need to call them to reserve. Always totally booked out all summer, whenever I called.

6:30pm bus was ~half full, only one bus. A group of 4 without token waiting to board the bus. So if you are unable to obtain a bus ticket, can always hike in early, and pay $10 to the driver on the last bus out. I heard that the 4:30 bus is often full.

On the drive back, I stopped at the Upper Spiral Tunnel viewpoint at the beginning of the Yoho Valley road. The French couple from the hostel were there, and a number of others. A train was passing by, and you could see the ~180 degree turn of the train. Then a brief stop at the confluence of Kicking Horse River and Yoho River. Kicking Horse is clear, and Yoho is silty. There's a short but steep path to go down for a better look.

Back at Whiskey Jack, Vinit was buried in the map adding up miles. He did Iceline trail all the way to Little Yoho Cabin, and some side trails, broke all his hiking records, added 2 blisters on his toes.

After dinner, I walked to Takakkaw Falls. ~10-15 flat minutes. Need a rain jacket to get closer. A plaque says "Takakkaw" = magnificent in Cree. 254m drop. It's fed by Daly Glacier, 350m from the brink, which in turn, is fed by Waputik Icefield. I left my phone charging in the kitchen, so no photos.

Nice sunset from the hostel.

My phone registered 39657 steps (before the walk to Takakkaw Falls).

8/8, Wednesday. I went to Takakkaw Falls for sunrise. Not any better than from the hostel's porch. The valley is too narrow, nothing but the highest tip of the mountains is lit. The walk is pleasant, and I wore my rain jacket. Yes, there was a pair of red chairs, with its own big platform! I did scramble up the rock debris to sit on a big flat one looking down the river. Sat there for maybe 20 minutes.

Drove to Emerald Lake. The large parking lot was half full. Already quite a crowd. A short line formed in front of canoe rental, which wasn't open yet. A bit hazy. Very pretty. Didn't walk here. Only used the restroom.

~9am, headed towards Banff. Temperature rising.

2018.8.3-13 Canadian Rockies, part 3/6, Moraine Lake to Lake Louise

8/6, Monday, perfect weather. Up at 5am! Filled up water, but didn't even have breakfast before heading out. Arrived after a string of cars to Moraine Lake parking lot. Parked in the 4th last spot at 5:50am. It's a big parking lot. By 6pm, cars were filling up along the road. I spent some time packing in preparation for a long hike today: traverse from Lake Moraine to Lake Louise via Larch Valley - Sentinel Pass - Paradise Valley - Saddleback (trails in the area).

With my day pack and bear spray (the only hike I carried a bear spray during this trip, since I expected to be alone for many hours), I climbed over the Rockpile Trail looking for Vinit and his tripod. Surprisingly, I found him, among many tripods. Sunrise is behind all the viewers, but the mountains are coated a nice glow just when sun rises. Everyone waited.

7am, I took a photo of the trail map at the poster by the parking lot. Vinit had to take it easy today for his knee. I asked him to pick me up at Lake Louise at 4pm. My silver umbrella will be easy to spot.

The trail goes up steadily (zigzag, not steep) until the larches. Moraine Lake is blocked by trees as you go up, a pity. At 7:45, reached the junction to Eifel Lake / Wenkchemna Pass. Continue right to Larch Valley / Minnestimma Lakes / Sentinel Pass. In less than 10 minutes, you'll break out the trees. Larch here and there. Views grow bigger with each step. There's even a couple of benches under larch trees. I really like this plateau/meadow before the push to Sentinel Pass. No more larch trees here. No flowers. More than one tarns, with perfect reflection of the Ten Peaks, when calm. Well maintained and marked trail. I had to put on my thin fleece and rain jacket, due to the breeze. At this hour, half of the meadow was still in the shade. I wish I could camp here (probably not allowed).

The trail going up to Sentinel Pass is clear and well trodden. Zigzag over the barren hillside. Narrow, but safe enough. Already people were coming down. I reached Sentinel Pass at 9am. A fine glimpse of Paradise Valley beyond. Many people here, few huddled in rock walls. I was the only one crazy enough to scramble down the north side of the pass. It is the only sketchy part of today's route. Very steep at first, just piles of mostly loose rocks. See the red line on the photo to the right. Trail no longer defined until ~1/3 way down. A cairn here and there. Going up here would be a better choice (hiking in opposite direction). I was able to take a dump in the open with excellent view of the Paradise Valley without worrying about being seen.

At 10:22, I hit Paradise Valley trail. I should have asked for 1 more hour and loop to Horseshoe Meadow and Giant Steps. Turning right towards Paradise Creek TH is more wooded. Yes, larches too. More flowers. I actually got confused by succession of signs, and wasted ~20 minutes. On the way down along Paradise Valley, I started to see a handful of hikers, but not nearly as many as south of Sentinel Pass. Lake Annette is quite pretty, has an enticing blue color. However, the trail access doesn't offer a good photo angle. Need to cross-country to its' north end. I saw some guys with horses there. Next to Lake Annette is this sign, and 15 minutes later towards Lake Louise direction, I saw this 2nd sign. The numbers don't make sense. Then I missed a trail sign (the left turn wasn't obvious), almost hiked out to Paradise Creek. My GPS map had it wrong for Saddle Back trail. Even after I realized that I was on the wrong trail, I still walked back and forth looking for the turn off. This wasted about 30 minutes, and some unnecessary anxiety. Paradise Creek itself is quite nice. A number of well-constructed bridges route you over and back over the creek. I walked over this bridge about 5 times :(

Finally, at 1:20pm, I'm on the right trail going up to Saddle Back. Somewhat steep. Quite some flowers along the trail. However, I was tired, and no longer enjoyed my hike. Met a group of 5 in identical T-shirts, who told me that I was not allowed to hike alone (4 minimum), and the fine is $5000. There's no way I would turn around. Once above the trees, the views were pretty good, but cannnot compare with the first half of the hike. When I reached the saddle, saw this bear notice. Ok, why not put one down the valley? From then on, I started meeting folks coming up from Lake Louise. No meadowy plateau here. I didn't have time nor interest to go up Saddle Mt or Fairview Mt.

~3pm, headed down towards Lake Louise. Can see the town, hwy-1, later the chateau, but not the lake itself. At exactly 4pm, I was sitting by the promenade among a million tourists. My silver umbrella is the only thing unique.

Back in town of Lake Louise, visited the visitor center. Got my refund of Rockwall Trail, inquired about trails in Yoho Valley. The lady there was super nice and patient.

My phone registered 48416 steps today.

2018.8.3-13 Canadian Rockies, part 2/6, Icefield Parkway

8/5, Sunday. Perfect weather. Icefield Parkway, 93, hugs Athabasca River: icy, glacier silt, braided. Here's a list of day hikes along Icefield Parkway.

First stop: the touristy Athabasca Falls. Paved short walk to the viewing platforms of the falls on both ends of the chute
2nd stop: Sunwapta Falls. A short walk downhill to see the waterfall. Not paved.
Both are not worth your time. The scenery of the highway is much better, especially near Columbia Icefield.

First hike of today: Wilcox Pass (8Km RT 335m). The trailhead parking was full. Continue on the road, you'll arrive at Wilcox Campground. We parked along the road. The trail starts in the woods, but soon (less than an hour), you break out on to alpine meadows. I have to sit in one of these typical park chairs. Continue on, fairly easy grade, you'll reach the main trail junction mark (~2.5 mile in). However, Columbia Icefield disappears behind small bumps on this plateau. Turn left 1.3Km to the furthest west bump. Had lunch here, soaking the front seat view of Athabasca Glacier. It's immense. On the way back, I continued north on Wilcox Pass trail for about 20-30 minutes. It's flat. Cross a couple of tiny streams. A few small tarns. They probably will all dry up by end of August. Very few people. I was hoping to see Bighorn sheep, but saw none. Quite some flowers left. I was told the peak boom was 2 weeks ago. I enjoyed the walk. Ideally you can walk one way and reach the north trailhead on Icefield Parkway (Tangled Falls 14Km total?).

2nd hike of the day: Parker Ridge (5.4Km RT, 250m). A huge parking lot only a few miles south of Wilcox Pass. The sign at the TH says 2.4Km. So short that Vinit agreed to do this 2nd hike. Once we reach the ridge, there're trails going all 4 directions. This is just the start of exploration. Already jaw-dropping splendor. I took the right trail going up. At the very top, I saw 2 rock circles (are you allowed to camp here?). People sit inside to avoid some of the wind. I continued the trail right, but still cannot see the full view of the next glacier. After returning to the top, I hiked down left closer to Saskatchewan Glacier, and the green valley it has carved, light blue lake and braided creek. Another short hike with amazing view. Vinit had trouble with his knee coming down. I gave him one of my knee braces. Still we were very slow.

After a stop at Waterfowl Lake, we went to Peyto Lake for sunset. It was still early, so we cooked and ate dinner. Quite some yellow columbine here. Around 8pm, we parked in the upper parking lot, and walked to the viewing deck to wait for the sun to set.

Checked into HI Lake Louise Alpine Center ~11pm. Male dorm and female dorm are in different buildings. Each has a kitchen in the basement. All needs a card key to enter. Wifi is slow (even at midnight). The night clerk suggested sunrise at Moraine Lake, because the parking lot is filled up early. Once full, the road will be blocked. We would need to arrive by 6am to ensure a parking spot. I later found out that there's a bus going to Moraine Lake for $25/RT ($15/oneway, every 1.5 hours). But the earliest is at 9am, last return at 6pm. Not possible for sunrise or sunset. There's also a bus going to Lake Louise too.

My phone registered 40515 steps today.

2018.8.3-13 Canadian Rockies, part 1/6, Jasper

8/2, Thursday. Vinit picked me up a bit before 4pm. Plenty traffic getting out of Portland, mainly due to accidents. More traffic in Centralia, and a little in Everett. Bought a case of beer for $20 at the duty free around 10pm. Border crossing was about 20 minutes. Got to my sister's at 10:30pm.

8/3, Friday. Depart ~9:15, was in the pre-holiday traffic. The next Monday is BC day (Heritage Day in Alberta), which I didn't know. Other than gas (CAD3.35/L@Kamploop) and toilet stops, we only did a 10 minutes walk to see Rearguard Falls. Wide short drop of Fraser River. Water is light glacier blue. Did picture stops at Mt. Robson visitor center and Moose Lake boat launch. I had to snap a photo of this outhouse. Hwy16 is scenic, along the river. Arrived at HI Jasper at 7:30 (Alberta is 1 hour ahead of Pacific time). I didn't like it here. Too far from the town (2 miles?). No view. The dorm is just one giant room. Kitchen is well stocked, fairly clean, no shoes inside. 2 picnic tables outside. Slow wifi. Room is too warm with all the people (full house). Not many mosquitoes. No shoes inside except for slippers.

8/4, Saturday. Overcast. Up at 6am. Depart ~7am. Saw an elk on the road out to Jasper. After a photo stop at Medicine Lake, parked at a giant parking lot end of the road by Maligne Lake.

First hike of this trip, Bald Hills (6-8 miles depending on how far you go), starts out on a logging road. Some paintbrushes (both scarlet and cream colored). View of Maligne Lake is excellent. Once climbed up the first hill, continue on, you were only 2/3 the trail left. The view is expansive, 360°, on the rolling ridge, leads to more snowy peaks. Too cloudy. The lake color was not ideal. After the hike, I walked to the lake to take this photo. There were a lot of people here. Some brought inflatable boats to float in the lake. One guy was smoking in his boat!

Stopped in Jasper town center for gas and some fruits. Busy. Gas CAD3.32/L. The grocery story (Robinsons AG Foods) is well stocked, quite busy, even has a sushi stand. The train track is busy, blocking Hazel Ave access to town frequently. Make sure you do NOT take Hazel Ave.

Drove to HI Mt. Edith Carvell for the night, hoping to do a sunset hike there. The reservation email stated that the road was closed due to construction. Expect delay. I was given a code to open the gate.
The hostel sits just above Carvell Lake (5 minutes walk to the bridge and water, but cannot be seen from the hostel). The parking lot has view of Mt Carvell's north face. Check-in (starting at 5pm) is very slow. Ernie, the care taker, takes everyone's credit card down, checks his ID, hands out sheet, gave a lecture of the rules, and then a tour of the property. 2 sleeping cabins (8 bunk beds each, a fire place, a table, locked between 10am-5pm, when Ernie is not here). The cooking cabin (drinking water trucked in from Jasper, waste water collected under the sink in buckets), 1 outhouse with 2 stalls, 1 building to store drinking water remain open when Ernie is not here. He has his own cabin with his 2 friendly kids. No shoes in any cabin. No screen door, has screen windows.

Carried Jetboil to the bridge for dinner, but were deterred by mosquitoes.

After eating in the kitchen, I headed out to the trailhead, walking on paved road alone, about 2Km each way. Forgot to bring my bear spray. The road is blocked by a gate just beyond the Tonquin Valley TH parking, ~50m after the hostel. I had the whole place to myself. No workers this Saturday evening, and trails were closed. The tarn beneath Mt Carvell is beautiful, half filled by the ice block that dropped 6 years ago, which brought the destruction of part of the trail and the big parking lot. The Path of the Glacier loop (~1 mile) is short and semi paved. I didn't wait for sunset here. Not looking forward to walk the 2Km road alone in the dark.

Sun was setting, and casting a bright glow on Mt. Edith Carvell, when I was approaching the hostel. Good lighting. There were 2 ladies waiting for the sunset on the bridge. No one at the Tonquin Valley lookout.

My phone registered 44890 steps for today.

The next morning, I visited the same lookout (5 minutes walk) before leaving ~7am.

Hwy 93A was closed just south of Wabasso Campground. No sign of the road closure when you turn on to 93A.