Bow Valley Provincial Park Trails January 27, 2020

It's seven years later now and Happy Hiker and I orchestrated a do again day of a day we did back then!  This time around we knew we would be in for a much, much warmer experience and we hoped for no animal encounters during this outing.   We are much wiser now and would know what to do if we did have one.  We arrived to this view from the parking lot near Middle Lake in Bow Valley Provincial Park.  It was pretty right from the get-go.  

Middle Lake was a sheer sheet of ice!

We meandered off and on trails finding sections that were snow-free.

At times though we could not avoid the snow and spiked our way through it.  It was quite a photographers' dream today which made it a slow go.  It seemed like every minute or so it was time to "remember to breathe".  Even the little things were so beautiful they looked larger than life, just like these three trees that were three feet tall.

It was time to carry on to Many Springs Lake.

Thankfully a parks truck had been here in days prior creating a packed track for us.  

Many Springs Lake with open water.  

At the edge of the Lake we could see the springs bubbling.

view from the bridge leading to the Bow River

We arrived at the Day Use area which is only accessible on foot at this time of year.  

The river ran but it did not runneth over like it did near the town of Cochrane.  We were able to get down to the shore to admire the ice formations.  This sheet of ice was thick and was hanging over the edge of the bank.  It appeared to be suspended in air.  I was able to get under the very edge of it to capture this perspective of it pointing to Mount Yamnuska.

This is looking up towards the sky from underneath the edge of the ice.

I see things!  

Here I see an angel soaring in front of the rock. 

Her face is downward and her shoulder length hair is blowing behind her.  

Do you see what I see?

ice chunk imitating a mountain peak

(if you can believe it, I have been told I do not have an imagination)

At times I became one with the ice.  That was the case as I tried to capture all the bubbles in the ice.  Laying down and positioning my camera, this was the best I could do.  There were tonnes of bubbles that were blended together and not as defined as I have seen elsewhere.

What an incredible view we had with the sun shining on the ice and the blue sky reflecting in it.

Once again I became one with the ice.  

This is a close up view of one of the cracks in the ice.  

You can see many cracks in the above photo.

Time was passing and it was time for us to move on to the campground to settle for snacks at a picnic table in the sun.  This is the route we followed to the campsites.  We liked the view we had that showed us others had been here on days gone by.

We enjoyed dining in the warmth from the sunshine so lingered a little long savouring it.  

We still had places to be and sights to see.  

Next was a stop at the amphitheatre.  

From here we made our way along the moraine and then back to the car.  Time was on our side and we decided to check out the Flowing Water trail which was on the opposite side of the 1a. It was a very short drive there and we were back out hiking in a matter of a few minutes.  As it turned out this portion of the trail was covered in deep snow with no obvious trail whatsoever.  Instead of attacking that, we spiked through the camping area.

view of the Kananaskis River

which was a massive ice field

looking down at the Kananaskis River from the trail

We decided not to do the entire loop because it was getting late in the afternoon and it would take for ever to beat a path through the deep snow.  We returned through the campground along the same route we went in on.  By now the sun was low.

We worked our way back out to the entrance where all the parks buildings are and which are closed for the season.  I am assuming these bikes are here to hibernate for the winter.  From here we had a few more minutes on dry pavement back to where we started.

The only thing left to accomplish was a visit to Tim's for a tea latte and biscuit with even more chatting and chuckles.  After today's hike, we now have new memories to carry forward from this area.  Even though, we will never forget that wolf encounter seven years ago out here.  So what do you say Happy Hiker...let's mark January 2027 in our calenders to hit these trails again!   Yet, in the mean time I look forward to more Happy Hiker Making Waves adventures!  Thank You for today!