Tag: yoho national park

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canada general moosling snow trip reports

Easter at Elizabeth Parker hut

This was a trip that came about in a more unusual way than most. I met Tanya through Instagram, where she posts as @mountainmomyyc. And we started chatting, in an online kind of way, and she said “Hey, we should go on an adventure together some time” – and I agreed. So when one of the families had to drop out of the Elizabeth Parker hut trip she had planned for Easter, I was among the families she shouted out the invitation to. And as we’d just had a fantastic fun trip up there, we jumped at the chance.

And so, in one of those moments where the internet shines and demonstrates that it’s not just a cesspit of the awfulness of humanity, we set off for a trip to a hut with a bunch of other families we’d never met before. And hoped none of them were axe murderers (spoilers: they weren’t).

At the trailhead we parked next to Andrea and David and their three kids – introducing ourselves and starting the process of getting to know folks.

As we skied up the 11 kilometres to the hut we skied with different people, and chatted, and got to know each other, and I ended up losing my own family entirely and skied along having interesting conversations with other peoples kids.

One of the interesting things was the variety of towing mechanisms everyone was using. We were just working with an old inner tube with a couple of slings attached, based on the system I’d used a few times up at Jackrabbits. But there was one very nice carabiner/bungee/rope/tow bar setup that I think we’ll try and copy for next time.

One family was just hiking in with a sled, and towards the end of the trip quite a few of the kids had switched from skis to snowshoes or boots. It’s a long uphill slog when you’re only five years old.

And then we settled into the huts. There were nine adults, eight kids (aged five to nine), and another two people who’d booked into the hut before Tanya had been able to book it out entirely. We were a little worried they’d be horrified, but they were lovely, and played Settlers of Catan with the kids (and one of them played guitar! and the other was Australian! Lovely I tell you!)

The benefit of having older kids along, is that they can sit and read to the other kids. And so the bunks were covered first with wrestling kids, then with kids playing lego and reading to each other, and then it was time for dinner.

Bedtime went about as smoothly as could be expected with all that excitement, but I managed to sleep fairly well that night, and didn’t have to get out of my sleeping bag until 7.30am, so I shall declare it a success.

After breakfast and some inside play, we decided to play near the hut for the first part of the morning. Which meant it was snow maze time!

Alex and I started digging out the snow maze we’d created last time we were up here, and soon recruited lots of helpers, and expanded the maze even further. David began digging out a quinzee in the middle of the maze, and it turned into an amazing nest of amazingness.

The kids had a ball running about, climbing up and down and jumping from wall to wall.

But then it was time to leave the maze, and go for a wander out towards Mary Lake. There was a delightful mix of snowshoes and skis, and we all wandered along together.

Including the unicorn, who had great difficulty keeping on track for some reason.

After skiing out halfway across the lake, we turned about and had lunch/snacks on the lake shore. Well, nearly the lake shore. I was wandering around at one point and punched straight through into slush. I don’t recommend that, although it definitely woke me up.

Meanwhile the unicorn got smaller, more fluorescent and significantly more dejected.

From there we wandered around to Lake O’Hara proper. Some of the crew headed back to the hut, some kept going to the far side of the lake to check out the waterfall, and some of us just opted to laze about in the sun.

You can see below which of those three camps we fell into.

The kids built a kicker to ski off, and dug a hole; the dads napped in the sun; the mums chatted, and were there to witness brave and fearless launches off the not very big or structurally sound kicker.

The afternoon brought the completion of the quinzee, and more snow maze time. And then tobogganing – which I have so many photos of that it’s going to get its own post.

Cupcakes were baked, and the kids got to decorate them, Easter style. And thanks to an eyeliner pencil that someone had thoughtfully (?) left behind in the hut, a lot of the kids developed rabbit whiskers.

And so the day started to draw to a close, and we retreated to the hut for dinner. Meanwhile the Easter Bunnies laid plans about an Easter Egg hunt.

The kids were exhausted, and so were supposed to fall asleep easily. However, mine was so overexcited that I had to crawl into my sleeping bag next to him in an attempt to get him to lie down and actually fall asleep. I assume it must have been successful, because the next thing I remember is waking up close to a midnight to a hut that was dark and quiet.

The next morning was Easter Sunday, and the Easter Bunny had been! He had conveniently left eggs around in groups of eight, so each of the kids could find one at each location – in and out of the huts, in the trees, in the snow maze, and all about.

The kids retreated to the bunks to assess their stashes. Some opened everything, eating the ones they liked as they went, and then handing all the ones they didn’t like back to their parents (that would be Finn). Others opened everything and then categorised their spoils according to size, type and colour. Needless to say, there was much excitement.

But then it was time to start packing up, and a few of our party left and started the journey back down to the trailhead.

Those of us who were left…. went tobogganing again!

Our luge track had set up firm and icy overnight, and we decided that a half-way launch point was probably the best option if we wanted to escape the weekend without major injuries. There were many more laps, but then it was time to go…

A toboggan train was dragged back to the huts, final checks were made, and the crew set off along the long road home.

The initial twisty turny section proved as interesting as ever, but we made it through unscathed and grouped together to begin the assault on the epic ‘downhill’ back to the cars.

With the warm weather, the trail had set fast… maybe tooo fast. We were flying down the hills, and some of us were terrified on occasions. We regrouped and re-jellybeaned at every kilometre marker, then stopped for lunch at the half-way picnic table. There we ran into a huge crew from Banff who were skiing in to the hut – our kids intermingled, and there was snowy mayhem in the sun, and the whisky jacks swarmed around us with delight.

Then the final stretch – with less downhill, and small legs getting tired, this took a little longer. But we made it! (Thanks to a combination of food-based bribery, conversation and songs)

Two of the coolest five year olds around, posing with victory at the bottom of the trail… then we packed up our cars, said our goodbyes, and drove home. New friends, fun weekend, more family trips must happen soon!

Note – Tanya’s write up of the trip can be found here.

Distance: 11.5km one way
Elevation gain: About 470m on the way in
Time to ski in: 6 hours in (we’ve done this in less time previously, and I took longer than my menfolk)
Time to ski out: 3.5 hours

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bikes canada general hiking trip reports

Lake O’Hara – I think this might be paradise

A gloriously cunning plan came together at the last minute, after our original weekend plans were scuppered. I sat refreshing the Lake O’Hara website until I saw that someone had cancelled and there was a free night of camping for either Friday or Saturday night. I missed the first Saturday, and then a Friday spot, but was successful in snagging the next Friday spot that someone had cancelled – presumably because they didn’t fancy the rain-filled forecast.

Due to the afore-mentioned rain, we didn’t bother booking the early bus up. Instead we opted for the 3.30pm bus, and while the menfolk sat at home putting the final touches on packing (by which I mean, assuming I’d done a good enough job, and sitting around playing computer games) I set off from home on my road bike.

It wasn’t raining at all! Well, not at first. It was mostly uphill, and a bit headwindy, but it often seems to be in that direction. I’d allowed four hours, which is about what it took. Four hours and 95km later, I was slightly soggy but pulling into the Lake O’Hara trailhead parking lot, pretty sure that I had beaten the menfolk in their fancy car.

I stashed the bike in the trees, did a few laps of the parking lot to confirm they hadn’t somehow snuck by me, then sat and ate the rest of my food while I waited for them to arrive. Which they did. With some nice dry clothes for me, and thankfully with at least 10 minutes to spare before it was time to jump on the bus. I did a quick carpark change into dry hiking/running clothes, draped my stinky bike clothes artfully about our car interior to dry, then we leapt onto the bus.

The buses that run up and down the Lake O’Hara access road are big old school bus type things. Loud and roaring, they do the job without much grace, but a certain amount of jolliness.

At camp, we nabbed a site, got the tent set up and semi-assembled, then went prowling about. The boy wanted to find friends, while we wanted to go for a walk to the lake.

We managed to convince him to walk first, then he spent the rest of the evening in seventh heaven as a hoard of other small children descended on the camping area.

His new best friend was a fellow 4 year old, a Czech-Columbian girl named Kati. She was just as boisterous as him, and they had great fun running about in the rain and the mud.

We huddled in the tiny shelters to cook dinner. Our fellow campers were all lovely and friendly, and despite the cramped quarters it was a much more enjoyable experience than our recent Assiniboine stay. The rain showers passed, and we emerged to sit around the fire pit in the social area – chatting, and stepping in to prevent the children from getting too Lord of the Flies when necessary.

After a lazy sort of morning in the tent, we eventually got up and found that the morning was gorgeous and clear, and congratulated ourselves on winning the weather forecast lottery.

After a delicious and fulfilling breakfast of a Clif Bar, I set off to run the alpine loop while the menfolk went for a hike. I shot straight up to Wiwaxy Gap, trying to make up a little time after a late start.

Then it was over to Lake Oesa, which I’d never seen before, and it was at about this point I began to realise just how beautiful this area was. We’d been up to Lake O’Hara before, but never much higher, and higher is really where it’s at.

From Lake Oesa, a trail through the scree lured me around to the Yukness Ledges Alpine Route.

I was surprised how much of the alpine routes were runnable. Although I spent a lot of time distracted by the scenery, and not running at all. And I couldn’t bring myself to put my camera away, which made running a little more awkward anyway.

Then it was down to Hungabee Lakes, and through a little nest of lakes that had drawn herds of photographers to them like bees to some particular bright coloured and pollen laden flowers. It wasn’t just photogenic, it felt like a dream. It was the sort of place that made me just want to stop and lie down and gaze at the world in wonder.

And yet, I kept running. Up along All Souls’ Alpine Route, and a quick stop at All Soul’s Prospect.

Then down, down down, and as fast as I could go back to camp. There I tagged off Alex who took off on his own run.

The boy had already been out for a hike, so we sat and lunched, and he played with Kati. There was chatting, and relaxing in the sun, and then more food and lazing.

Alex made it back in time for us to catch the 4.30pm bus, so we jumped on it. Although it was running about 10 minutes late, I managed to retrive my road bike and be ready to start pedalling at around 5.20pm.

I had some lights for the bike. I wasn’t sure how good they would be, but as long as I didn’t dawdle too much, I figured I shouldn’t have to do too much riding in the dark. The up-side of riding uphill most of the way there though, was that it really was downhill nearly all the way home. And not raining! And reasonably warm! And basically a perfect calm, clear September evening. It was hero riding weather, and I enjoyed every pedal stroke.

I even made the 95km home without having to turn my lights on!

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canada general moosling snow trip reports

Emerald Lake ski trails

The original plan was to ski up to Lake O’Hara. But there was TOO MUCH SNOW! And so we kept driving to Emerald Lake, where there was still a lot of snow, and it was snowing, but at least it all seemed a bit more manageable, and we had never been there before, in summer or winter.

At first we headed out into the trees, along the Connector Trail.

It was pretty, but uninspiring skiing, and we turned around when we reached the part of the trail with avalanche danger.

Then after a snack we scooted out onto the lake, with the Moosling on his skis too. That lasted just a couple of hundred metres, then he started falling into the snow and complaining about being stuck, so we threw him into the Chariot, where he screamed and complained the rest of the way around the lake, which rather put a damper on the enjoyment levels for all concerned.

And so after our loop of the lake, as it had finally stopped skiing, we drove back home again. A nice little exploration.

Categories
canada general hiking trail running

Running the Iceline

The cunning plan for the day was to go and run the Iceline Trail in Yoho National Park. The added difficulty was having to take it in turns, so we didn’t have to tie the Moosling to a tree with nothing more than a bottle of water, a toasted cheese sandwich, and a can of bear spray to defend himself.

Alex got to run first, heading off at 8.40am from the Takkakaw Falls carpark. He headed straight up onto the Iceline from there. Meanwhile, back at the river we wandered about, threw stones, and checked out the relief map of the area. The Moosling drove stones around on the roads of the map, crashing them down to the ground from the map edge: “Oh no crash! Oh no fall, oh crash!”

11.10am and Alex was back, having taken the shorter loop option; running down past Celeste Lake and back to the car in 17.5km. So then it was my turn.

It had gotten a little warmer and a little busier on the trail by then, so I was overtaking group after group as I marched up the switchbacks then ran along the ever wonderful Iceline trail. The forecast threatened afternoon showers, but so far the clouds didn’t look too threatening, and it was only getting warmer.

I dropped down onto the trail past Celeste Lake too, running past wildflowers, and considerably less people.

But then it was up the switchbacks of doom on the Whaleback Trail. They’re fairly relentless, the sun was baking, flies were hovering about me, sweat was dripping, and there wasn’t another soul on the trail.

But then, joy! The summit! The views! And a slight breeze! It was all worthwhile.

Getting down the back of the whale wasn’t very fast going either, with lots of rocky, rooty trail with overhanging branches. Remnants of the winter snowpack were lingering on Twin Falls Creek though, and the creek itself roared along in a scenically aqua fashion.

I was a little outraged to discover there was yet more uphill ahead, as I had to skirt around before I could descend to the base of Twin Falls.

Then it was back along the Marpole Lake trail – which turned out to be full of scree and talus, and also pretty slow going. A few peeping creatures though, so it wasn’t entirely without merit. From then on I was running back along familiar territory, past Laughing Falls and then along the valley bottom, a section of trail that actually was less painful than I remember it being when we had to coax along a tired toddler at the end of the day.

Finally back at the car and ready for a nice soak in the freezing cold river.

Distance: 25.2km
Elevation gain: 1391m
Time: 3.5 hours

Categories
canada general hiking trail running trip reports

Sort of running the Rockwall in the rain

Thanks to the generosity of visiting family, Alex and I had a day to throw ourselves at any crazy adventure we fancied, without the company of a toddler. Of course, the weather forecast threatened rain. We laughed in the face of the weather forecast, and decided to go and hike/run the Rockwall trail anyway.

We’d never been on any of the Rockwall trails before, so were excited despite the rather ominous looking weather. The Autumn colours were gorgeous, and the views better than expected as we set off through burnt-out forest and crossed avalanche paths, having left our car behind at the Floe Lake trailhead.

I think we’d been on the trail for an hour or so when it started to spit. We decided that if it started bucketing down we could turn back, but otherwise we’d at least like to make it to Floe Lake – it was quite warm after all.

There weren’t many others on the trail, and those we came across were mostly heading down.

After a lot of up, we finally hit the open meadows, where the wildflowers were still blooming away.

And then, Floe Lake! Gorgeous, with glaciers, and wildflowers, alpine lake, and wonderful camping. It looked to be a perfect spot – well, perhaps with a little less rain.

We didn’t linger too long over lunch at Floe Lake – mostly because of the damp.

As we headed up towards Numa Pass we were surprised by the larches everywhere, and the relative lack of scree. And then we were surprised by the hail.

Numa Pass was the highest point on the trail though (at around 2335m), so after crossing there we thought we should probably be safe from snow (and lightning).

Not to say the rest of the trail wasn’t lovely, but the scenery around Floe Lake and Numa Pass was definitely significantly more amazing than anything we passed later on.

The rest of the trail is now a blur of wet undergrowth, creeks, rain and bridges. The rain got us from above, and then again as we pushed through the undergrowth – it’s a very planty sort of trail.

The damage done to the trail by avalanches and flooding over this year is amazing. We went out via Numa Creek, but the Tumbling Creek connector trail is still closed, as it will require too much work to get it re-opened this year. After travelling along the Numa Creek trail I can imagine why.

As we got closer to the highway, the rain got heavier, and by the time we finally emerged in the parking lot at Numa Falls, we were both saturated – although perversely still enjoying it. Within 100 metres of heading out along the highway we got a lift though, and thankfully didn’t have to run the 8km back to our car (parked at the Floe Lake trailhead) in the pouring rain. That would have been rather difficult to enjoy.

I’d love to go back again to cover the trail in the not-rain some time.

Route: Rockwall Trail from Floe Creek – Floe Lake – Numa Pass – Numa Creek
Distance: 27.5km
Elevation gain: 1400m
Highest Point: Numa Pass, ~2335m