Charlie Stein's Photoblog

On Tuesday, we returned to Lake Louise, getting an early start, driving to the overflow parking lot and taking a shuttle bus to the lake. The sky was notably clearer today. It was a nice reprieve from the smoke, and nice to see blue skies. The mountain seen directly in the center is Mount Victoria, home to Victoria Glacier. On this day, we were hiking in that direction, to the Plain of Six Glaciers.

Lake Louise

The hike began by moving counterclockwise around the northwest side of the lake, at first on level ground.

Here we have reached the far end of Lake Louise, which is fed by run-off from the glaciers:

Lake Louise

We began gaining elevation. This was the wall to our right, i.e., northwest of the trail:

Wall Northwest of Trail

There were still some wildflowers to be seen. While the sky is overexposed in this photo, I like the contrast of the grass, flowers, trees, mountains, glaciers, and sky. The center of this photo features Mount Lefroy:

Wildflowers and Mount Lefroy

Here we have another view of Mt. Lefroy and to the right, Mt. Victoria, with Victoria Glacier. To the right of the photo is our trail, continuing on closer to the glaciers:

Mt. Lefroy and Mt. Victoria

Here is Batya on the trail, with Lake Louise barely visible on the right side of the photo:

Batya posing on the trail

This is a stitched panorama, showing Mt. Lefroy on the left, Mt. Victoria in the center, and Collier Peak on the right:

Mts. Lefroy and Victoria, Collier Peak

The seasonal snow was long gone by this time of year, but the glaciers were still there, providing a little water as the sun melted a tiny portion of them:

Snowmelt from Collier Peak

We were nearing the end of the trail. Here, a man hiking in front of us can be seen for scale:

Knife-Edge Trail

The same trail and the man can be seen at the far right in this stitched panorama, showing Mt. Lefroy at center, with Mt. Victoria (and Victoria Glacier) to the right:

Mts. Lefroy and Victoria

Lake Louise was again visible as we looked back from our starting point:

Looking back toward Lake Louise

The trail seemed to end at the bottom of a scree slope. There was no sign indicating it was the end of the trail, but a large number of people were sitting and standing there. The spot provided a nice view of Abbot Pass between Mount Lefroy and Mount Victoria:

Abbot Pass

Zooming in on the pass:

Abbot Pass

Zooming to 200mm, my telephoto lens captured the alpine hut at the top of Abbot Pass, constructed in 1922:

Hut on Abbot Pass

Another tourist was kind enough to photograph us below the pass:

Charlie and Batya below Abbot Pass

We began hiking back. Here is yet another view of Lake Louise in the distance:

Lake Louise

This Colombian ground squirrel was a small fellow, so I presume it was a youngster:

Young Colombian Ground Squirrel

There is also a teahouse on the trail of the Plain of Six Glaciers:

Batya at the Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse

It looks as though there was a landslide at one point in this location:

Slide

We reached the lake, and soon completed our last hike in Banff:

Lake Louise and Fairmont Chateau

The Plain of Six Glaciers hike is about 8.7 miles (14 km), with an elevation gain of about 1925′ (587 m). The hike did not seem especially strenuous to us.

The next day, we would check out of our hotel in Canmore, have one last hike in the area, and then drive back to Calgary for our flight home.

We spent Saturday (our Sabbath) in Canmore, enjoying a nice walk through downtown in the afternoon. When we had checked into our room on Monday afternoon, I noticed a black and white rabbit hopping around outside, and correctly inferred that it was a domestic rabbit, as wild rabbits are brown (other than the winter morph of the snowshoe hare).  On Saturday afternoon, I noticed additional rabbits hopping around town, and saw some establishments that had placed pans of water out for them. I later learned that the rabbits date from the 1980s, when someone released them. They are considered undesirable, out of fear that predators will enter Canmore to eat the rabbits, and possibly then endanger dogs or even people.

Canmore is allegedly trying to eradicate the rabbits, but their efforts haven’t accomplished much other than waste money, and there are many rabbit lovers who oppose the efforts.

On Sunday, we returned to Banff, driving again to Sunshine Village. This time, we weren’t contemplating taking the shuttle bus to the easy Garden Path Trail, but instead had set our sights on the moderate/difficult Healy Pass and Simpson Pass hike.

We began hiking southwest on the Healy Pass Trail:

Healy Pass Trail

The trail began passing through a wooded area:

Woods adjacent to Healy Pass Trail

We soon crossed over Sunshine Creek:

Sunshine Creek

Another view:

Sunshine Creek

There were a few colorful wildflowers, as can be seen in this (mostly-unfocused) photograph:

Wildflowers

The trail continued, running parallel with Healy Creek, though the water wasn’t always visible. After 5.9 km (3.7 miles), we came to the junction with the Lower Simpson Pass Trail, but we continued on the Healy Pass Trail. Over the next 1.8 km (1.1 mile), when we reached another junction, with the Simpson Pass Trail, the trees began to thin out, offering more expansive views.

We continued on the Healy Pass Trail, now hiking northwest. Here is a stitched panorama from the Healy Pass Trail:

Stitched panorama from Healy Pass Trail

Another stitched panorama

Stitched panorama from Healy Pass Trail

The Healy Lakes were visible, but the smoke from the British Columbia fires continued to plague us:

Healy Lakes

Batya on the Healy Pass Trail:

Batya on the Healy Pass Trail

We were not the faster hikers, and were always courteous to allow others to pass, whether they were going in the same direction as us, or in the opposite direction. As we reached the Healy Pass, we allowed one group of German men to pass us.

After about another mile, we finally reached a large boulder which presumably marked Healy Pass, but the German men who had passed us had planted themselves on the boulder. In fact, as we approached, they grabbed their backpacks and put them on the boulder next to themselves, blocking any possibility for us to sit down. We instead had to sit on the ground nearby, and to each lunch there.

View from Healy Pass

I said that I imagined that the boulder marked the location of the Healy Pass. I was surprised that there was no explicit signage to confirm this. There also seemed to be two trails continuing on from this point, whereas the National Geographic map that I had brought only showed one: the Healy Pass Trail continuing to Egypt Lake. Those continuing on were most likely going to be spending at least one night camping. We were only interested in a day hike, so we continued no further.

We retraced our steps southeast on the Healy Pass Trail, and when we reached the junction, we turned south onto the Simpson Trail. At Healy Creek, I spotted a few small fish in the water, which I think are cuthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii):

Cutthroat trout

The Simpson Pass Trail offered a number of nice meadows, many with streams or ponds, and with mountains in the background:

Meadow on Simpson Pass Trail

Another:

Meadow on Simpson Pass Trail

Wildflowers:

Wildflowers

Another meadow:

Meadow on Simpson Pass Trail

More scenery on the Simpson Pass Trail. This appeared to be a small lake, though it is not named on my map:

Lake off Simpson Pass Trail

This clearing looked like an inviting place to take a nap, but we had miles to go:

A clearing off the Simpson Pass Trail

The Simpson Pass Trail finally left the meadows and clearings behind, and for a while entered a more forested area:

Simpson Pass Trail

After 2.3 km (1.4 miles), we reached the Simpson Pass. Unlike the Healy Pass, the Simpson Pass did not offer a spectacular view, but it marked the boundary between Banff and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, as well as the boundary between Alberta and British Columbia:

Border between Banff (in Alberta) and Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park (in British Columbia)

Batya at the border between the provinces:

Batya at the border between Alberta and British Columbia

A chubby Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus) was welcoming visitors at the border:

Columbian ground squirrel

We then turned north onto the Lower Simpson Pass Trail:

Lower Simpson Pass Trail

View from Lower Simpson Pass Trail:

View from Lower Simpson Pass Trail

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja miniata):

Indian Paintbrush

After 1.3 km (0.8 miles), the Lower Simpson Pass Trail ended at the intersection with the Healy Pass Trail. Here Batya crosses a narrow footbridge at the junction:

Batya crossing bridge at junction of Healy Pass Trail and Lower Simpson Pass Trail

We then retraced our steps northeast for 5.9 km (3.7 miles) on the Healy Pass Trail, until we arrived back at Sunshine Village. The hike was 19 km (11.8 miles), said to have an elevation gain of about 959 m (3,100′). I’m not sure the elevation gain is accurate, as while it was a challenging hike, the distance was more challenging than the elevation change.

We made sure to wake up early on Friday, as we planned to hike at Lake Louise, and also needed to be back at our hotel in Canmore in time to prepare for the Sabbath, which began at 8:40 p.m.

We drove to the Overflow Lot south of Lake Louise, and waited in line for one of the free shuttle buses. These appeared to be ordinary yellow school buses. Perhaps the buses serve students through the school year, and serve tourists at the national parks during the summer months.  The employee assisting us with boarding the bus offered a couple of jokes:

“Question: What do you call a bear without teeth?”
“Answer: A gummy bear.”

“Question: How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?”
“Answer: Ten tickles.”

The bus dropped us off in a parking lot adjacent to Lake Louise, and we soon  enjoyed the view, or as much of it as could be enjoyed through the smoky haze that was courtesy of the fires in British Columbia:

Lake Louise

Hundreds of tourists were circulating along the promenade adjacent to the northeastern end of lake, but the numbers dropped off as we began our hike to Lake Agnes.

This slightly out-of-focus Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus) was running around the lawn adjacent to the hotel:

Columbian ground squirrel

We hiked southwest along the western side of Lake Louise, and the trail soon entered the woods:

Trail to Lake Agnes

The trail displayed some signs of erosion, and this dead tree looked as though it would soon be tumbling out of the eroded bank, hopefully not when anyone was walking past it.

Dead tree in eroded bank

A golden-mantled ground squirrel:

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

After 2.6 km (1.6 miles) we reached Mirror Lake, which seemed more of a pond than a lake. I noted that the signage gave the distances in mileage, indicating that the sign predated the 1980 metrification of Canada.

Sign with imperial measurements

Mirror Lake with Big Beehive:

Mirror Lake with Big Beehive

We continued on the trail to Lake Agnes, enjoying a side view of the Big Beehive:.

Big Beehive

Horses also used part of the trail, and we saw a group of them:

Horses on Lake Agnes trail

After another 0.8 km (0.5 miles) we reached Lake Agnes and the teahouse, where visitors can purchase meals and snacks:

Lake Agnes

A pair of golden-mantled ground squirrels:

Golden-mantled ground squirrels

We began climbing toward the Little Beehive, only about 0.8 km (0.5 miles) away, but gaining a bit of elevation.

We soon had a nice view of Mirror Lake and Lake Louise:

Mirror Lake and Lake Louise, from Little Beehive trail

Nearing the peak of the Little Beehive:

Nearing the peak of the Little Beehive

Batya attracted a friendly butterfly:

Batya attracted a butterfly

Here is a panoramic view from the top of the Little Beehive. Lake Louise is visible to the right, but the rest of the horizon only shows smoky skies, where there should be mountain ranges:

Panoramic view from Little Beehive

As we sat down to eat our lunch at the top of Little Beehive, a bird flew nearby. It was a gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis), the “camp robber,” my old nemesis who I had last seen in Rocky Mountain National Park, where it stole a piece of my sandwich.

Gray jay

We descended from Little Beehive back to Lake Agnes, and began hiking west along the lake’s northern side:

Trail on northern side of Lake Agnes

Terrain adjacent to Lake Agnes:

Terrain adjacent to Lake Agnes

We soon reached the southwestern end of Lake Agnes:

View along the length of Lake Agnes, from the southwestern end

The trail to the Big Beehive continued on the southern side of Lake Agnes, appearing as a narrow ribbon in the image below:

Trail to Big Beehive

The trail soon began to switchback, continually climbing the Big Beehive:

Switchback to Big Beehive

Another switchback:

Switchback to Big Beehive

I counted nine switchbacks, and they were a bit taxing, but we finally made it to the top of the Big Beehive, at 2270 m (7,448′). At the top, we followed a flat trail to a shelter constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1916. The shelter was very simple, and I wondered how often it had been rebuilt over the intervening century. Perhaps it was like George Washington’s axe,  that was still called by that name despite the handle and head each having been replaced a few times.

Shelter on top of Big Beehive

The shelter, and a ledge adjacent to it, provided a fine view of Lake Louise. Well, it should be a fine view, of a vivid turquoise lake, but . . .  again, the forest fires ruined it:

Lake Louise, from the top of the Big Beehive

Another view:

Lake Louise, from the top of the Big Beehive

We then retraced our steps down the switchbacks, around Lake Agnes, past Mirror Lake, and back to Lake Louise. This was about a 12.9 km (8 mile) hike, gaining 740 m (2,400′) in elevation. Considering our initial trepidation about long or steep hikes, after not having hiked in almost a year, we were doing well in Banff!

We boarded the shuttle bus around 5:00 p.m., with about a half hour to spare before the last bus. We were soon back at the Overflow Parking area and reunited with the rental car, and drove back to Canmore.

Wednesday was similar to the previous day in Banff, in that we got a late start, first intending one hike, and then switching to another. We drove to Lake Agnes, about a 45 minute drive north of Canmore, and arrived to find that all the local parking lots were full. We were then directed to an overflow parking lot located a few miles south on the highway. We waited in line for the free shuttle bus to Lake Agnes, until we heard that the last return bus would leave Lake Agnes at 5:30 p.m. As happened the previous day, I did not have confidence that we would be able to travel to Lake Agnes, hike, and return before 5:30.

Instead, we left and drove south to the Cascade Mountain area, where we found a nice nearly-empty parking lot waiting for us at the trailhead for the C-Level Cirque. “C-level” refers to coal mining operations conducted here from 1904-22. I will explain “cirque” later.

The trail began with a warning sign to be cautious around mine openings. However, the only mine openings we saw were encircled by chain link fences, so it was not as though hikers were at risk of accidentally falling into a mine while hiking on the trail.

Trailhead and Warning Sign

This tree appears to be covered with an epiphyte:

Tree with epiphyte

There were a number of dead trees along the trail:

Dead trees

Most of the mining holes were not even very visible. This was perhaps the most obvious one, and as noted above, a fence protects people from falling into it.

Mining hole

A more interesting part of the trail, showing soil, rocks, and trees:

Trail

The Cascade Mountain range came into view through the trees, and I saw there were still a few spots of snow:

Cascade Mountains

A close-up showing remnants of snow:

Close-up of Cascade Mountains, with snow

After hiking 3.9 km (2.4 miles) from the parking lot, we reached the “cirque,” a bowl-shaped depression created in the distant past by a glacier. This is shown in the following stitched-panorama. Please note the narrow light-colored ribbon on the right side of the image, which is a trail.

Cirque

We followed this narrow trail, though it was more challenging, as in places it was narrow and was tilted toward the left, as though it wanted to toss us off into the cirque. We had read that at the end there was a beautiful spot to relax and watch small animals, but we didn’t make it quite that far. We reached a point where the trail disappeared over a small hill, but the trail was steep at that point and also slippery with gravel. A few other hikers made it, some with hiking sticks and some without, but I decided that I wasn’t comfortable and we stopped at that point.

We began our return to the entrance of the cirque, stopping along the way to photograph a golden-mantled ground squirrel:

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

He seemed to enjoy posing for the camera:

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Another view.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

A final view:

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

I believe that I also saw a hoary marmot there in the cirque, but was not able to photograph it.

Continuing our return on the narrow path to the side of the cirque, we passed a young man who was continuing to the end. At the entrance, we stopped to speak with a lady who turned out to be his aunt. She was an avid and very fit hiker, but as it was their second hike of the day, she decided to stop at the entrance of the cirque and not to follow him on the narrow side path. We stayed there for about half an hour, listening to some of her adventures of hiking around the world, until he returned from his explorations.

We then began our return to the car.

In the mining area, there are one or two old buildings. While they are missing roofs, doors, and windows, the concrete walls are sturdy:

Mining building

Near the trail head, we spotted a pair of Speyeria zerene butterflies:

Speyeria zerene

We then returned to the car. This in-and-out hike was therefore 7.8 km (4.8 miles) and had an elevation gain of about 455 m (1,500′), according to the Town of Banff’s website. (Another source says the gain is 2,500′, obviously a big difference. I could not say which is more correct.).

We flew into Calgary on Sunday night, August 12, and spent the night there. We had rented a Mazda 3 from Budget in Calgary, and it was a comfortable car. The next day, Monday, August 13, we did some grocery shopping and drove to Canmore, checking into the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge.

Finally, on Tuesday, August 14, we drove to Banff National Park, only a few minutes north of Canmore. Neither of us had been hiking for the greater part of a year, and while I had been accumulating time and meters on our rowing machine, Batya suggested we start with an easy hike. I suggested the 5.7-mile Garden Path Trail, a relatively flat hike, which our Lonely Planet guide book said was accessible via shuttle bus from Sunshine Village. We drove to Sunshine Village, but then made two unpleasant discoveries that either were not mentioned in the guide book, or which I had overlooked. First, Sunshine Village is a ski resort that is private property grandfathered into Banff National Park. They sell lift tickets in the winter, and sell seats on a shuttle bus in the summer. Tickets seemed expensive, considering it was a 15-minute-ride to the top. Second, the buses only ran until around 5:00, and I had concerns that we would not be able to complete the hike in time to catch the return bus down the mountain.

My experience in U.S. National Parks is that the shuttle buses are usually free throughout the park, and don’t stop running at 5:00 p.m. during the middle of the summer. In Banff, sunset wasn’t until 9:04 p.m.! (We also learned that it was not only the private Sunshine Village shuttle that stopped service so early, but even the free shuttle buses operating elsewhere in the park.)

Happily, we had other options available, so we drove to Johnston Canyon, considered the most popular hike in Banff. The parking lot was full, but it was legal to park along the road leading to the parking lot, and we joined dozens of other cars there. The beginning part of the hike is considered easy, with little elevation change, running through Johnston Canyon and along the Johnston Creek.

Batya stands at the entrance to Johnston Canyon

We started hiking north, and the trail soon reached Johnston Creek, running to the right (east) of the trail. There were many tourists ascending and descending the trail.

Johnston Creek

This part of the trail was largely flat. Some of the trail was asphalt. In places, the trail was constructed of concrete panels that were cantilevered from the rock wall to the left of us. After 1.1 km (0.7 miles), we reached the Lower Falls.

Here, a bridge crossed the creek to an observation point where one could admire the Lower Falls. In addition, there was a short tunnel through which one could walk to a small viewing platform offering a closer look at the falls. The tunnel and viewing platform only had enough room for 2-4 people at a time, so there was a line of tourists waiting for their turn. We joined the queue and waited patiently. In this photo, you can see the falls at center, the bridge and waiting tourists at the bottom right, and the tunnel on the right side:

Lower Falls

Here is the close-up view of the falls from the viewing platform within the tunnel:

Lower Falls from Tunnel’s Viewing Platform

Leaving the Lower Falls, we crossed the bridge back to the west side of the creek, and continued hiking north. The trail was now packed earth. There was a bit more elevation change over the next 1.5 km (0.9 miles), but it still only totaled about 140 meters (400′) of gain. The crowd of tourists continued with us.

Johnston Creek

After an hour, we reached the Upper Falls, which have a drop of about 40 meters (130 feet). The first photo is from a viewing platform around the bottom of the falls:

Upper Falls

Another view of the Upper Falls, from a higher platform:

Upper Falls

A large percentage of the tourists turned back at this point, having reached the Upper Falls after 2.6 km (1.6 miles) of hiking. However, as Batya was doing well, we decided to continue on to the Ink Pots, even though the added distance and elevation would make this an easy/moderate hike instead of the easy hike she had originally requested.

We therefore continued on another 2.6 km, this time hiking through forest, and continually gaining about 200m (650′) of elevation. The trail was more rugged, though still very easy to follow:

Ink Pots Trail

This image, a fused High Dynamic Range composition, shows the Hillsdale Slide in the vicinity of Mt. Ishbel, which occurred in early post-glacial times:

Hillsdale Slide

This would be a good time to mention the forest fires. For the past few years, there have been forest fires in British Colombia during the summer months, and unfortunately this year was no exception. Banff is in Alberta, but borders British Colombia, and in fact the smoke created problems for a significant part of Canada. It seriously affected our visibility, and at times we could smell the smoke in the air.

Trees on the Ink Pots Trail:

Trees on the Ink Pots Trail

At 5.2 km (3.2 miles) into the hike, we reached the Ink Pots, five small mineral springs that vary in color.

Ink Pot

The Ink Pots themselves were underwhelming to me, especially after having seen similar pools (and some much larger ones) at Yellowstone.

Ink Pot

The scenery in general was nice, though as noted, the forest fires in the adjacent province cast a pall.

Ink Pot

I’m sure that the site would have been more impressive if the skies had been clear.

Ink Pot

I’ll end with a stitched panorama that provides some idea of the surrounding mountains, and I imagine that many more would have been visible if not for the smoke:

Panorama of Ink Pots and Meadow

We then retraced our steps on the Ink Pots trail and the Johnston Canyon trail, completing the 10.4 km (6.5 miles) hike, which had an elevation gain of about 340 meters (1,100 feet). [Guide books and Internet sites give widely varying distances and elevations for the hikes in Banff, and I cannot guarantee that my numbers are accurate.]