Trekking with Nicola (and the dogs)

 We took the wrong turn at a four way stop and had driven about a half-hour up the road to the Lake of the Hanging Glacier when I stopped to talk to a dude in a 4x4 pickup wearing camo gear probably hunting. He said he'd lived in the area all his life and this wasn't the way Welsh Lakes. We were on Horsethief Creek Road and we needed to go back to kilometre 13 and take Forster Landing Road at the gravel pit. Which we did. But, we lost about an hour of hiking time that would have allowed us to get to Middle Welsh Lake, about 15 minutes from Lower Welsh Lake.  Stats - Length - 11.24 km, Elevation gain - 646 metres, Time - 6 hours       Trail   - We parked at the turnoff to the 1.5 kilometre road that leads to the trailhead. We were told that without a high clearance, 4x4, driving this road would be inadvisable. The road was steep but without potholes so I think our car could have made it. But, better safe than sorry.  The first portion of the h...

 Like the Twin Falls hike previously noted in my blog, the Lake O'Hara walk reminded me of the same hike I took with my family when I was fourteen (I'm guessing), my brother eleven and my sister seven.  Stats: Length - 25 km., Elevation gain - approximately 475 metres, Trail time - 5.5 hours Trail - A shuttle bus takes hotel guests and hikers chosen from a lottery from June 24 to October 2nd this year. Our hike took place on the 9th, not that it mattered because we hadn't entered our names in the lottery.  At the centre of the valley lies Cataract Creek which rumbles below small sections of the road. A couple of signs greeted us at the beginning of the trail. One, that bikes are not allowed on the road. (Go figure.) Two, dogs are permitted but must be kept on leash. Within the first couple of kilmotres, we crossed paths with no people. Neither did we spy signs of bear, ie, scat (poo). So, we figured, what the hell, and let them off their leashes.  We established a ri...

 This began as a trip down memory lane as it was one of the more ambitious hikes I took with my family back before my parents bought our cabin. We stopped for tea at the hut located just below Twin Falls. The downhill trot bruised my mother's toes to such an extent that she bought hiking boots in Banff the day after our hike.  Stats: Length - 19.7 km., Elevation gain - 889 metres, Time on trail - Almost 7 hours  Trail - Several side trails lead off the main one to Twin Falls. Unfortunately, water no longer flowed down Angel Steps Waterfall, the first diversion. The second diversion, Point Lace Falls provided more positive results with water falling lace like down the moss-covered fractured rock face. The third, Duchesnay Lake, proved another disappointment having almost completely dried up. Laughing Falls still laughed and provided a similar image to that of Takakkaw Falls we'd visited before starting up the Twin Falls and Yoho Valley Trail.  The trail offers a coupl...

 Since last year, I've become co-captain for maintaining this trail. That's the official title. The unofficial, is dude who goes along with the guy who knows what he's doing and does what he's told.  Stats:  Length - 16.7 km., Elevation gain - 794 metres, Time - 6 hours  Trail  We started out early and were first up the road to the trailhead which gave us the privilege to chase a lone black bear off the road. We were also first in the parking lot excluding whoever had camped at the lake overnight. (That would have been chilly.) The larches were in their full, fall glory unlike last year when we'd camped at the lake and they were only just beginning to turn to the luminescent gold we were enjoying on this October day.  Instead of stopping at the lake, eating lunch. and turning around, we climbed up to the ridge overlooking the lake where we could see the valley on the other side with a great view down the valley we'd walked. I wanted to climb to the top and ...

 We started for the trailhead at 7:45 a.m. for this one and didn't arrive until 10:15. For most of the distance, we drove along Horsethief forestry road, a good gravel road that passes by cattle ranches with cows grazing in the field and the sun just emerging from behind peaks brushing the fields with a golden glow. Bushes and poplar trees matched that glow making for a glorious morning drive.  Stats: 14.5 km., Elevation gain - 943 m  Trail: This out and back trail followed Horsethief Creek until Hell Roaring Creek, which it follows up to the Lake of the Hanging Glacier. Except for a couple of detours to cross the creeks, the trail winds steadily upward until it flattens at a larch covered meadow leading to our destination. Despite the altitude, the sun warmed our bodies, and the orange glow of the larches warmed our spirits. Then, the trail emerges over a small rise and a silt grey-blue lake framed by glacier clad mountains appears a mere hundred metres in the distance. ...