A Bow, Two Bulls, and a Bear (8.14.09)

(Saturday, August 15, 2009) It was raining yesterday morning (Friday) as we put on our yellow rain jackets and headed out in search of the Banff Visitors’ Centre. Thinking it was in the museum, we walked several blocks down the normally-crowded Banff Avenue. The rain and the previous night’s parties kept the 9:00 a.m. streets refreshingly deserted; not to mention that 90% of the stores weren’t open yet. Neither was the museum, and it didn’t matter because the visitors’ centre isn’t there, anyway. We finally found it next to the Presbyterian Church in the building with INFORMATION written clearly across it and a sign saying the same displayed proximately in front, about three blocks from our hotel (and about 20 blocks into our walk!). Our delightful chat with Mary yielded a couple of trail maps, some great ideas for hikes on nice days, and the recommendation to go to the overly-crowded Johnston Canyon, a great hike on a rainy day. We did that two years ago (see below), so we decided to take our chances with the weather and return to Bow Lake.

This is one of the Johnston Canyon pages out of my unfinished photo book from our trip to the Rockies in 2007 (August 6, to be precise). You can see from the first two shots (upper left) why we really don’t need to return. Beautiful waterfalls, but too many people for us!

We headed out on our 90-minute journey up the Icefields parkway with memories and hopes of Bow Lake from the previous day’s drive from Jasper to Banff (the Bow Glacier and Bow Glacier Falls in the background):

And this is what it looked like yesterday (Friday):

No mountain tops; heck, no glacier top; no reflection, lots of low clouds, and even some rain.

Great day for a hike! So we donned our rain gear over our cold-weather gear, and headed out to Bow Glacier Falls!

Again, a comparison… This is what the lake looked like Thursday on our way to Banff…

And this is what it looked like Friday as we walked around the lake en route to the falls…

Hey! Where did the mountains go??

So, we ventured on…

We came upon a gorgeous gorge where we decided it was time to lose the rain gear (for the time being)…

This was my view up the gorge.

We climbed a mini version of the Grouse Grind… There is a 310’ elevation gain on this trail, and I think it all happened here! It may not look like much in this picture (I was glad to pause to pose for the picture!), but you should see what it looked like around the corner!

We (OK, “I”) looked down into the gorge before we climbed some more…

This is a natural bridge, crossing the gorge, and part of the trail to the climbers’ overnight hut on the glacier. It’s a giant bolder lodged into the top of the gorge. I decided right then and there that I am not a mountaineer, but a day hiker with mountaineering tendencies. The thought of climbing up and over that rock, with the river rushing through the gorge down below, scared the living daylights out of me!

Then we rounded another corner, and there was the falls! But it didn’t look like it was getting any bigger. For a 3-mile (one-way) hike, we still had a ways to go. (Notice we’re now close enough that the glacier is obscured by the cliff.)

We finally reached the base of the falls! And I did what any self-respecting day hiker with mountaineering tendencies would do…

I dropped my pack, put on my yellow rain jacket (for the spray – there was none), and headed for the rocks! “I want to go farther,” I said to Rich. “Of course you do,” he answered.

And this is what I saw…  

Looking back, I could see Bow Lake! Notice the mountains are starting to come out, with a fresh dusting of snow, too.

And this was Rich’s view from his vantage point on the rock pile at the base of the falls…

He could see the lake, too!

Despite the rain falling, yet once again, as we were leaving the falls, the sun eventually came out…

I think there is even some blue sky in this picture!

This is where the river meets the lake at the delta.

The close-up is tweaked in Picasa, using the “I’m Feeling Lucky” function (which I use to tweak most of my pictures). The “Lucky” function doesn’t do well with water, but it highlights the dramatic and very cool colour difference.

We even enjoyed some sunny mountain vistas on our return!

Beautiful!

Now, I titled this blog “A Bow, Two Bulls, and a Bear,” but so far, I’ve only talked about the Bow (Lake and Falls). Time for the bulls and a bear.

We drove home via the Bow Valley Parkway, the old road with no wildlife fences. I’m still looking for my moose! Didn’t see one, but did come across two bull elk grazing in a field…

And this little guy ran across the road in front of us. I love it when we’re the first to see wildlife!

I’m sorry the bear shots are a little blurry. He was moving very fast, and when he stopped, he was more interested in digging for bugs than in posing for pictures. But you get the idea.

It’s now Sunday, the 16th. Yes, it’s taken me two days to write this, and we had a lovely day yesterday, hiking up Tunnel Mountain and then down Stewart Canyon at Lake Minnewanka. We didn’t see any rain until the evening! Happy day! But alas, this morning is drizzly, but there are some mountains out…

I’ll post this when I can, depending on when we get back to our internet lounge (bar) at the main hotel again…

One of the views of Banff from Saturday’s Tunnel Mountain hike.