Canadian Rockies

Janel and I are in the car riding back from our vacation to the Canadian Rockies. After visiting my parents on Vancouver Island (separate post), we headed over to Yoho, Banff, and a bit of Jasper. We did a bit of backpacking, camping, hotelling, and lots of hiking (~61 miles). And a LOT of driving. ~2150 miles in total.

I am breaking things up here into a couple of posts. This is part 1. The other posts will trickle out over the next week or so. This post is a day-by-day run-through of what we did.

Getting on with the day-by-day ...

7/27 (Mon) - Drive from Vancouver Island to Revelstoke

We got up early on Monday morning and headed out after having breakfast with my parents. We saw some Killer (I think?) Whales on the ferry ride between Victoria and Vancouver.

7/28 (Tue) - Final Drive, Getting Ready

Tuesday AM we drove the final 3 or 4 hours over to Banff, where we checked into the hotel, got ready for our backpacking trip, and relaxed with a book and the hot tub. We also took a little walk around Banff, which was not particularly exciting (unless you like looking at tourists).

7/29 (Wed) - Backpacking - Sunshine to Egypt Lake

Wednesday we started our backpacking trip. We took a shuttle up to the Sunshine area near Banff. This is a big ski area during the winter, and you can take a shuttle bus up in the summer.

From Sunshine, we hiked across Simpson and Healy passes to Egypt Lake, where we set up base camp.

We saw a moose at a lake near Simpson Pass. I was able to put my tele lens to good use :).

Moose near Simpson Pass 1/100s at f/5.6, ISO 100, 250mm From Canadian Rockies

The wildflowers were the best I have ever seen -- particularly over Healy Pass.

Wildflowers at Healy Pass 1/50s at f/11, ISO 100, 28mm From Canadian Rockies

Healy pass itself also had some good views, but the photos came out better on our hike out, so I won't post any here.

After arriving at the Egypt Lake camp, we setup our tent and quickly hid inside from a large population of mosquitos and flies. They were very annoying and we put our head nets to good use.

7/30 (Thu) - Day Hiking from Base Camp at Egypt Lake

We took a series of day hikes from our backpacking base camp. Doing 2 night backpacking trips with a base camp seems to be a good recipe for Janel.

First we headed up to Egypt Lake (the camp is not at the lake itself). This lake was boring and I won't bother with a photo.

We then headed up to Whistling Pass. Here is a photo that was taken of us looking North towards Shadow Lake by an older couple that we made friends with.

Ian and Janel at Whistling Pass 1/60s at f/11, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

After having lunch at Whistling Pass, we headed down to Scarab and Mummy Lakes. It was quite easy to get to Scarab Lake, but we had to do a bit of bouldering to get up to Mummy. These lakes were okay. Here is an action shot of Janel coming back.

Janel and a Rock Field 1/40s at f/11, ISO 100, 23mm From Canadian Rockies

We got back to camp a bit early, and had to hide from the bugs in the tent. It was a good chance for a nap and some reading. We had to have dinner that night while walking in circles to avoid the bugs. However, we luckily ate early, as a storm came in and we were getting into our tent right when it started. We had some technical difficulties and a leak at first, but I was able to get the rain fly adjusted during a lull.

7/31 (Fri) - Hiking Out - Egypt Lake back to Sunshine

We had planned on hiking out down the Healy River rather than over Simpson Pass, but decided at the last minute to go out the way we came in to reduce the stress on Janel's knee (which has a hard time going down). Going down the river tends to be the more popular route, but this is largely because it is free (unlike the shuttle).

As I mentioned, the views from Healy Pass were better on our way out. Here is one looking north.

Healy Pass looking North 1/50s at f/11, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

And south ...

Healy Pass looking South 1/50s at f/11, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

After heading over Healy Pass, we picked up the pace in an attempt to get back to Sunshine in time for the 2:30pm shuttle down. The 4km after Simpson Pass were quite a pain. However, we had some nice views as we got closer to Sunshine. Here is one looking North.

View North at Lookout near Sunshine 1/40s at f/11, ISO 100, 21mm From Canadian Rockies

After the hike we headed back to Banff, checked into the hotel, and relaxed the rest of the day. I took some photos at Vermillion Lakes (near Banff) that night, but they did not come out particularly well.

8/1 (Sat) - Helen Lake

We had planned on taking it easy on Saturday, but the weather report called for rain on Sunday so we decided to get another hike in on Saturday. We headed north from Banff to do the Helen Lake hike.

Helen Lake is a moderately popular hike, so we set out early. We climbed through some decent meadows (nothing compared to what we saw at Healy Pass) and got to the lake which was lame. There were a lot of marmots along the trail which was kinda fun. From there, we climbed up a ridge (on the way to Dolomite Pass) and the views really opened up. About 85% of the people doing the hike seemed to be stopping at the lake (yuck), about 10% were scrambling up to the summit of Cirque Mountain (which would have been really cool, but hard and scary). Only ourselves and one other group seemed interested in the ridge.

Looking East from the Ridge.

Ridge above Helen Lake looking East 1/60s at f/11, ISO 100, 20mm From Canadian Rockies

And looking South East...

Ridge above Helen Lake looking South East 1/80s at f/11, ISO 100, 25mm From Canadian Rockies

On the way down I got some decent wildflower shots (see the wildflower section).

8/2 (Sun) - Day of Rest and Chores

Since we did not get to do our chores on Saturday, we did them on Sunday. Before that, we got up really early and headed to Johnston Canyon. This is one of the most popular hikes in the park -- it is short and has some nice waterfalls. We drove by it on the way home on Saturday and it was complete maihem.

On the way there, Janel spotted two boy Moose on the side of the Bow Valley Parkway. They were hiding in some brush, so we did not get great photos (but it was cool to see their big horns).

We got to Johnston Canyon at around 7:00am, and only saw one other person on the trail (on the way out).

Here is a photo of lower falls.

Lower Falls at Johnston Canyon 5s at f/20, ISO 100, 24mm From Canadian Rockies

Upper falls was okay, but not quite as nice.

We then headed back to Banff, where we did laundry, grocery shopping, and relaxed.

That night we drove up to Moraine Lake to have dinner and take some photos. I was a bit concerned with the upcoming weather report for the week, and wanted to make sure we got to see the lake in good weather.

Moraine Lake at Sunset 1/50s at f/4.5, ISO 100, 20mm From Canadian Rockies

8/3 (Mon) - Lake Oesa (Lake O'hara)

On Monday we caught the 8:30 shuttle to Lake O'Hara where we camped for two nights. Lake O'hara is a part of Yoho that has some pretty substantial access limitations. I made reservations 3 months in advance, and had to play the "call, busy signal, hang up, repeat" game for about an hour to get through. It turned out to be very much worth the effort :).

We got to the small campground (about 20 sites), setup camp, and then headed out to climb up to Lake Oesa (passing Lake O'Hara along the way).

Lake O'Hara from Lake Oesa Trail 1/50s at f/11, ISO 100, 20mm From Canadian Rockies

The sun was not great for photos at Lake Oesa, but it was still a great spot.

Lake Oesa 1/100s at f/11, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

Here is a photo near a bridge at the outlet stream from Lake O'Hara.

Wildflowers at Lake O'Hara Bridge 1/8s at f/11, ISO 100, 29mm From Canadian Rockies

After we got back, the clouds came back but the rain held off until we went to bed. We had some small thunderstorms that night, but the car camping tent held up well.

8/4 (Tue) - Opabin Lake and Opabin Prospect (Lake O'Hara)

The rain let up during the day on Tuesday, and we were able to hike up to Opabin Prospect and Opabin Lake. It was quite foggy, so we did not get the great vistas we had on Monday on the way up to Oesa, but it was still a good hike. The hanging valley before Opabin Lake was colorful in the fog.

Here is a photo looking down and Mary's Lake and Lake O'Hara. The color differences are amazing.

Mary's Lake and Lake O'Hara from Opabin Propsect 1/6s at f/11, ISO 400, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

I got some great flower photos on the way down. The clouds provided great light.

After the hike, we relaxed for the afternoon. We ate in one of the shelters at the campsite, and made friends with a young couple from Calgary. Earlier in the trip I was watching some Canadian Football, and saw that it was possible to score 1 point. We learned from them that a touchback in Canadian Football earned the other team 1 point :). Crazy Canadians.

That night we had another storm, but nothing our tent and rain fly could not handle.

8/5 (Wed) - Takakkaw Falls and Rest

On Wednesday we packed up camp at Lake O'Hara (during a lull in the rain), caught the shuttle, and headed out. On the way to Lake Louise, we stopped by Takakkaw Falls (in Yoho). It was big, but not particularly photogenic (even in the clouds). After the falls, we headed to Lake Louise where we setup our camp, took care of some chores (like a nice hot shower), and relaxed.

8/6 (Thu) - Wilcox Pass

We got up Thursday morning and drove up to Wilcox Pass, which is at the southern end of Jasper (the park north of Banff). This was a long long drive, but was well worth it. We had great views along the road, and things got even better on the hike.

Wilcox Pass is across the road (and up a ridge) from the Columbia Icefields Centre (a major tourist destination). It is at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier, with views of the Dome and Saskatchewan Glaciers as well. The hike is a (relatively) easy 5 miler, which rises up from the road to provide great views across the valley down on the 3 glaciers. It was probably the hike with the biggest bang for your buck that we took (a good thing for our sore feet).

Athabasca and Dome Glaciers 1/40s at f/14, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

Ian and Janel with Saskatchewan and Athebasca Glaciers 1/40s at f/14, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

It is also common to see Mountain Goats on this pass. On the way back we got lucky and saw a few Rams (males).

Mountain Goat at Wilcox Pass 1/250s at f/7.1, ISO 100, 250mm From Canadian Rockies

On the way home, we also did a quick-stop at Bow Lake.

Bow Lake and Crowfoot Glacier 1/30s at f/14, ISO 100, 25mm From Canadian Rockies

That night I took some photos at Sunset of Lake Louise. They did not turn out particularly well. Janel stayed at the camp. I should have stayed with her :). We had our one and only campfire of the trip this night.

8/7 (Fri) - Lake Louise and the Plain of Six Glaciers

We got up early on Friday, packed up camp, and headed up to Lake Louise to do the Plane of Six Glaciers hike. This is another really popular hike, so we beat the crowds by heading out around 8:00am.

I got some good photos of Lake Louise looking towards the glaciers (better than the night before).

Lake Louise 1/25s at f/11, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

On the way up, we stopped at a Tea House and had some ... you guessed it ... tea! While there, I got to see an avalanche on the mountain. Janel sadly missed it :(. This place was pretty nostalgic, as I remember having lunch there with my parents on our trip back in the day.

Here is a photo from the end of the hike looking up at Victoria Glacier.

Victoria Glacier 1/60s at f/13, ISO 100, 18mm From Canadian Rockies

This was a cool spot, as it was basically the other side of the mountains from Lake Oesa. If you look really really hard above (ok ... maybe not) you can see a small hut called "Abbot Hut" on top of the glacier on the left. You can climb up to it from Lake Oesa by ascending a scree slope for ~2km. It is all non-technical, but does require a helmet. If I ever went back, I think I would try to go there. Coming up from the Lake Louise side (or coming down) is quite technical. In fact, the top of the glacier just below the hut is called "Death Trap".

Here I zoomed in on the hut so you can see it a bit better. I was too lazy to bust out my tele lens here, so please excuse the blur.

Abbot Hut 1/40s at f/14, ISO 100, 55mm From Canadian Rockies

Here is a photo of Janel.

Janel and Unnamed Glacier 1/60s at f/10, ISO 100, 32mm From Canadian Rockies

On the way up, we really only ran into one or two other groups of hikers. On the way back, it was the ant hill that we expected -- tourist after tourist who were dressed incorrectly, in bad shape, and suffering. :)

That afternoon we checked into the hotel, got the car packed for the ride home, and relaxed.

8/8 (Sat) - Drive Home
Today is Saturday, and we are heading home. I took over 900 photos on the trip, and am trying to get down to ~100-150 keepers. I am also writing this blog entry, as well as one for Vancouver Island. All this is keeping me pretty busy while Janel is driving. We also got stopped at the US border. I expected to get let in really quickly as a citizen, but I don't think they liked our jam packed car nor my passport (full of foreign stamps), and they decided to search the car and all our stuff.

We left at 7am MST. It looks like we are going to be home in Hillsboro by ~9pm PST, for a total of 15 hours. This includes the border delay (of ~45 minutes) and a stop at Full Sail in Hood River for dinner (~1hr). We ate lunch in the car and only stopped for gas and driver changes. We did not speed much at all. We took the scenic route from Sandpoint, Idaho to Spokane (down highway 2). It probably added about 30 minutes, and probably was not worth it.