Hiking – Page 10 – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Lake Louise and The Tea Houses

So this is going to be a quick entry for last Saturday’s hike :). Robbie’s cousin was in town and we were thinking about a good hike on which we could take her. The tea houses in Lake Louise are always a great option- scenic views; not too strenuous; forests, waterfalls, and glaciers; and snacks at the tea houses themselves (which we didn’t do). I’ve hiked them fairly recently (last August for the Banff Challenge), but it’s always a nice one to repeat. The plan: hike to the Lake Agnes Tea House to have lunch, then take the Highline Trail to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House, and then head back to the car. In the end, Nora loved it! At parts, I believe it reminded her of The Lord of the Rings. I can see why :). Our long day culminated with a sushi-gorging dinner. Best. Ever.

Ascending to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House

Stats:

Start: 12:30 pm
End: 5:40 pm (with two 20 minute breaks at each of the tea houses)
Distance: 15.6 km loop

An ‘Uninspiring’ Hike: Taylor Lake

A late night of soca was not going to stand in my way of getting to the mountains! I woke up pretty tired on Sunday but Jess and I had planned to hike. The floods have made it a bit difficult to hike in Kananaskis, so we decided we’d venture out to the Banff and Lake Louise areas. I’ve always wanted to explore these areas a bit more, and Sunday was the perfect opportunity to do so.

We stopped at the Banff Information Centre and asked for recommendations. From the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide book by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson, we chose Taylor Lake. Although it was described as “not particularly inspiring”, the view of the lake was sure to be gorgeous. So off we went, westbound on Highway 1, looking for the Taylor Creek Picnic Area turn-off near Castle Mountain and just before Lake Louise.

Once we were through the animal gates, it was a steady trek and incline to the lake. I can see why it would be described as uninspiring because there weren’t any mountain views along the way, but the wild flowers, forest, streams and bridges made for a nice and enjoyable hike. As with most glacial lakes nestled within an amphitheatre, the lake reveal was awesome, especially with Mount Bell towering in the background. We chatted with some people who were fishing in the area (who then graciously took our photo!), and then found a picnic table and stopped for lunch before heading back to the car. It was definitely a lovely afternoon :).

We made it! So pretty :) — We made it! So pretty 🙂

Stats:

Start time: 1:20 pm
End time: 5:40 pm
GPS time: 3:53 minutes trekking time; ~30 minutes lunch at the lake
Elevation gain: 585 m (1920 ft)
Distance: 12.6 km round trip

Yamnuska In Lieu

It seems I’m about to lose count of the number of times I’ve hiked and will hike Yamnuska.

On Sunday, Robbie, Adriane and I ventured out to Heart Mountain, but we discovered that Heart Creek Trail had been completely wiped out due to flooding and rock slides. It was quite the sight :S. We ran into a Parks Canada guy who explained that most of the Kananaskis landscape has now been changed. Bridges are destroyed; rock slides and floods have completely altered the trails; and many areas are now inaccessible. I think he said something like 400 mm of rain in a 24 hour period (or maybe a 48 hour period?) plus an additional 300 mm of melting snow. With that crazy amount of rain in such a short period of time, flooding seemed inevitable. It was very sad news to say the least, and it will be many years before the Kananaskis trail system will be back to ‘normal (… after such an event, is it even possible?).

He did recommend the east side of Yamnuska as a good place to go. We were itching to hike so of course we would venture off… and so would many other hikers. The lot was super busy, which made sense, seeing as it was one of the only trails in the area deemed safe for hikers. The sun was ridiculously hot that day and the mosquitoes were swarming like mad. Irregardless, it sure felt good to get out to the mountains! We didn’t reach the summit, but that’s okay- I think there will be many more opportunities this summer to conquer Yamnuska. Again.

Stats

Start time: 12:10 pm
End time: 4:50 pm

Ha Ling: It’s Time for More Hiking!

There’s a part of me that’s a bit disappointed with the amount of hiking I’ve done this year. I guess it’s because I always want to head out to the mountains and sometimes life events happen that prevent this. For example, vertigo… vacations… road trips… gatherings… or just plain laziness, like today. It’s not that I don’t enjoy those things, because I definitely do, but there’s a yearning for the mountains that never goes away.

This is why it was so awesome to head to Ha Ling with Robbie and Jess yesterday and conquer this short climb. The weather was sunny and cloudy but perfect for a hike. We had all been itching to test our legs on the mountain. Now that the summer has started with the completion of Ha Ling, we can look forward to a summer ahead of many more mountain summits. And so today I proclaim: there will be many more summits to come! And my goal this year is to avoid, as best as possible, repeats of hikes. Why? Because there are just so many amazing ones out there!

One important thing we realized? “It’s not worth it if you’re going to die.” I suppose this is common sense. If there’s an activity where certain death is the outcome, it’s probably not worth it. Taking smart risks, on the other hand… well, those usually turn into quite the adventures!

Stats (according to Runkeeper):

Distance: 6.32 km
Duration: 3:53:49, starting at 2:10 pm
Pace: 36:59 min/km
Elevation: 756 m

The Hoodoo Trail and Lake Minnewanka

After a fairly lazy April filled with lots of TV watching (Spartacus!- an amazing show…) and a relaxing trip home, I decided enough was enough. True, things have been a bit up in the air lately and the down time was much needed. But a month is all I can do. It’s time to kick it into gear. I’m slowly going to get into the swing of things again and keep myself busy, active and social. To start, I decided to take a day trip out to Banff yesterday for some fresh air and inspiration from the mountains. It definitely did some good.

This hotel continues to impress :) — This hotel continues to impress 🙂

I decided on the Hoodoo Trail, which starts at the Surprise Corner parking lot on Buffalo Street. After admiring the view of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, I made my way to the trailhead. I’ve done many hikes, and though this trail was beautiful, I wouldn’t place it at the top of my list of must-do hikes. But walking along the river, past Tunnel Mountain, and through some meadows and forest was very nice.

I didn’t realize you could drive right to the hoodoos, so it was a bit shocking to end the hike beside a road and parking lot :o|. Nevertheless, the hoodoos themselves were impressive. The Hoodoo Trail took about 2.5 hours (4.2 km each way) at a pretty leisurely pace. It wasn’t too strenuous, having only 60 metres of elevation gain, but it made for a refreshing excursion.

Then it was off to see Lake Minnewanka. After 4 years in Calgary, I finally went to the lake :). Similar to many lakes in the Rockies, the scenery is gorgeous. I intended to make my way to Steward Canyon, but alas, I had to jet back to the city. There’s always next time!