Category: canada

Overnight rain made the tent seem warm and snug, although I definitely need to work on my 34 weeks pregnant tent-sleeping system. A thicker Thermarest would have been a good start, and it was really hard to manage without the standard side-body pillow – piles of clothes had an annoying tendency to not stay where they were put. I didn’t even bother trying to sleep inside a sleeping bag (that had been tricky enough a couple of months ago), and rather just used my comfy stretchy liner with a sleeping bag unzipped on top.

 

Through the endless Golden Valley

 

A bowl of porridge and some more snacking later, and we were hiking along Golden Valley, away from the campground. Golden Valley seemed to last forever though, with constant uphills that just turned and went downhill again. Although, at around the point when I was thinking that maybe we were just trapped in the valley forever, we came across a swampy lake, WITH A MOOSE IN IT! The moose thrashed about and thundered off into the undergrowth ahead of us, but we never caught another glimpse of it. Still, my first local moose sighting.

 

Valley of the Rocks

 

Not too long afterwards, we climbed out of the valley and into the Valley of the Rocks. There were rocks. It’s a dry and barren place, and can feel quite exposed with the ridge on the left feeling like it should harbour people waiting to ambush you. The rocks feel like they should have hoards of small furry creatures living in them too, but we saw hardly any – one chipmunk, perhaps a tree squirrel.

 

Porcupine

 

We did however, see a porcupine. It galloped up into a tree when it saw us walking past, so we could wander over to have a closer look (gratefully avoiding finding out personally just how far a porcupine can throw its spines).

 

Path flowers

 

Eight and a half kilometres of mostly flat walking later, and we arrived at Og Lake for lunch. Here the terrain opened up, we could see Mount Assiniboine again, and the ground squirrels returned!

 

Views of Assiniboine again as we get close to Lake Og

 

After a lunch at Og Lake (spent watching ground squirrels) we walked on through the Og Meadows. By Og Creek. The reappearance of the ground squirrels made everything more entertaining, and the trail here was easier walking again – a lot less up and down and roots and rocks.

 

The Slog of Og

 

A short walk later (and a short being rained on, and standing on top of a rock because we could) and we were entering the trees, and the network of trails that surround Mount Assiniboine Lodge. Tantalisingly close to Lake Magog now, we kept coming across trail junctions with helpful signs telling us we were now 500 metres closer than we had been 500 metres ago. They were preferable to the ones that told us we were no closer, despite having walking 500 metres.

My feet began to protest, my legs threatened to fall off, but we finally made it to the Lake Magog campground – where we found all of the campsites were miles away up an enormous hill (on going down the hill the next morning, we found they were strangely close).

 

Camp at the Lake Magog campground – none of the tent sites had good views of the lake

 

After a brief collapse and lathering with mosquito repellent (there were hoards of them!) we wandered down to the shore of the lake. Well, Brendan wandered down, I had to spend some time convincing my legs that they could still carry the weight of me, and then Alex and I headed down after him.

 

Assiniboine (stolen from Alex) (I was kicking myself for just taking my 50mm lens instead of my wide angle – yes it weighs much less, but I could only photograph this view a fragment at a time)

 

We sat by the lakeside, throwing rocks at it and eyeing off the totally improbably looking approach to Hind Hut, that sits under Mount Assiniboine (up those cliffs below its right shoulder).

 

Beached whale?

 

Dinner in the fancy cooking shelter followed (for both us and the swarms of mosquitoes that live there) before a couple of games of Monopoly cards and then escape into the tent to read.

Days total hiking distance: 16km

 

Map of Day Two (click to embiggen)

 

A lazy early morning start and a lift up to Sunshine Village was followed by some pack organising, some last-minute cherry eating, and a start up the hill out of the Village at about 7.45am. Past the scenic construction work, and the beginnings of the new Strawberry Lift, and we were into the meadows.

 

Alex and Brendan setting out across the meadows, Quartz Ridge in the background (scene of Winter skiing adventures)

 

The ground squirrels obviously sleep in as well, and were only just beginning to hop out of their burrows and scoot around. We dropped our packs and wandered over to Rock Isle Lake – blue sky and not a breath of wind, and too early for the bus to be running and bringing other hikers up here, the lake was calm, still and peaceful.

 

Rock Isle Lake

 

It was easy walking across the meadows, a smooth flat path, and beautiful views, and lots of ground squirrels running around to provide distraction. There were absolutely hundreds of them, standing up on their hind legs, and squeaking, and poinging through the undergrowth, diving into holes and then peering out suspiciously. Even a few chasing each other round in circles.

 

Across the meadows

 

For a long time all we could see when we looked back was the ski resort infrastructure sprawled out all over the mountains, but eventually it faded into the mountains, and you could barely pick out the lift towers from the meadow land they were standing on.

 

Looking back towards Sunshine

 

A few drifts of snow still lay around, and we had a few to walk over before we reached Citadel Pass – but there were none of the waist-deep drifts that the Banff Parks site had warned of, and the trail was easily passable. We ran into a couple of people who’d been warned off doing the hike – apparently the trail was still snow-bound. We laughed, and thanked the Parks office for keeping the trail quiet for us (and then wondered if it was the same Banff Parks guy who’d warned our friend off doing this hike last Summer, and warned us against doing the Egypt Lake ski tour a couple of months beforehand).

 

Citadel Lake

 

We reached Citadel Pass for lunch – it seems to mark the end of the Sunshine Meadows, and quite a few hikers who’d caught the first shuttle bus up were beginning to turn up. With only 4km to our campground, we had a long lunch and lazed about in the sun and watched the day hikers come and go (and a few keen lightly-loaded overnight hikers who were making the full 30km to Assiniboine Lodge, where they’d get to sleep in a bed and have food cooked for them).

 

Crossing out of Banff National Park into Assiniboine Provincial Park (and BC) at Citadel Pass

 

Out and away from Citadel Pass, we started going downhill, gradually at first, and then the land around us changed entirely as we dropped into a valley and started following switchbacks through lush overgrown forest – still speckled with tiny flowers though, like the alpine meadows, although the ground squirrels disappeared (to be replaced with an occasional tree squirrel or chipmunk).

 

There were lots of pretty little wildflowers out, although wildflower season has barely begun

 

I was glad for the occasional shade of the trees, as the sky had stayed mostly clear, and the sun was doing its best to bake us – with the assistance of the complete lack of wind. The trail was dusty as we kept switch-backing down and down and down.

 

Looking down into Golden Valley, where our campsite for the night lay

 

Finally things flattened out, and a few hundred metres later we arrived at Porcupine Campground, guarded by three ground squirrels standing sentinel on the cooking tables. As some have said, it’s a little like camping in a hole, and lacks the scenic lakeside views you get at some of the other campgrounds along this trail. But it’s quite a charming little hole.

 

The cooking area at Porcupine Campground, with the four bear-proof food storage lockers (Alex fits in them)

 

Of course after a clear sky all day, some clouds had gathered to rain on us just as we went to set up tents. Some Englishmen turned up shortly afterwards though, so I’m assuming they brought the rain with them. Apart from them and the ground squirrels though, we had the place to ourselves, and spent a peaceful night eating quite a lot, and lazing, and reading, before retiring early to the tents.

 

Filtering water from a nice clear little fast-flowing stream at Porcupine Campground (and then using the UV pen to zap remaining nasties – I was dubious, a glowing stick with a timer that counts down from 90 would be very easy to make a profit on)

 

Days total hiking distance: 14km

 

Map of Day One (click to embiggen)

 

The meadows out behind Sunshine Village ski resort, full of wild flowers later on in the season. Currently not many flowers, but plenty of ground squirrels.

 

Rock Isle Lake

 

 

HOW TO RECOGNISE DIFFERENT TREES FROM QUITE A LONG WAY AWAY
NO. 1
THE LARCH

(The larches are beginning to regrow their spiky things that aren’t leaves)

 

 

Rock Isle, Laryx and Grizzly Lakes from the Standish Lookout (as the weather starts to close in)

 

 

Finishing the loop around the meadows towards Wawa, as we get snowed on. Plenty of snow drifts on the ground to walk through as well. You’d hardly think it was Summer.

 

A casual stroll from lake to lake, out on Highway 93 (south of Castle Junction). It was a warm day, but there were still a few piles of snow around as we got higher up, and Arnica Lake itself still had ice on it.

 

The pond between Vista and Arnica Lakes

 

 

Arnica Lake

 

 

Swarming back out to Highway 93 from Arnica Lake (that’s Castle Mountain in the distance on the left)

 

 

Resting on the boardwalk

 

 

Vista Lake

 

After a week of being miserably sick, I got over-excited and decided to head up Ha Ling again after work. The trail is nice and clear now, but I’m finding it harder and harder to get enough oxygen when I’m heading uphill (all of a sudden my stomach has expanded up to the bottom of my ribcage, and my lungs have their work cut out for them providing enough air for two of us – 31.5 weeks along, so around seven months down, two to go).

 

Canmore from the summit

 

So it wasn’t record-breaking, but still a nice hike. Fifteen other people on the trail, and one cheeky squirrel that ran to the end of his tree to get a better look at me.

 

In the wind on the summit, in my jacket which will only barely zip up now (with some struggling)