Chephren Lake, July 26 2015

Our hiking & camping trip beginning today was in the making for quite some time but our original destination was Glacier National Park in Montana with campground reservations made at St Mary.  A wildfire broke out in East Glacier on the 21st which I became aware of when I got home from work later that day.  I was anxiously paying attention to updates and soon came to realize we better change our plan.  Being masters at "saving the day", this would be a real test as we now had to "save the week"!  By Wednesday night our plan was laid.  

On July 26, we hit the highway west aiming for the Icefield Parkway and the Waterfowl Campground.  We arrived by 11:00am and scored a beautiful site that I called "The Palace".  Lucky site #13 was spacious, pretty and right by the Waterfowl Lake.  We set up camp and by mid afternoon were in need of a leg stretch so hiked from our site up to Chephren Lake.

The trail followed the river and crossed the bridge.

It was somewhat overcast but that only enhanced the shade of the Lake. 

It was an easy hike to here, but not pretty at all along the trail.  

It was rocky, rooty and muddy.  

The bugs were bad here so we decided not to stick around long.  

a work of art

We returned to our site, settled in with treats and beverages and got our fire going.  When dinner time rolled around, we went for big and delicious.  Afterwards, I took a stroll by Waterfowl Lake to catch the setting sun activity before calling it a night. 

We chatted about how fortunate we were to score our perfect campsite, how beautiful this place was, there were no bugs, we were sheltered and it was peaceful and quiet.   Our conversation also included putting final plans in place for our first big hike of this vacation. 

North Molar Pass Molar the Magnificent

All week I watched with anticipation hoping the weather forecast would flip-flop and become conducive for a spectacular spectacle off in the wilderness along The Icefield Parkway.  That flip-flop occurred Friday evening making way for something special and sensational on Saturday.  A few friends were on board for a large day of exploring all the way to North Molar Pass.  We got an early start and beat the traffic.  There were no worries about having to beat the traffic on the trail because there is never ever traffic on this terrain, only a few other folks who are game to go to this gem.      

our first view as we exited the forest after about 7 kms of hiking

our first view of the wildflowers

they were aged to perfection

We took our time to mosey in molar meadow.  The 360 degree views were outstanding.  I would have to say with his being my third time here, today was top notch, it was the best of the best, better than all the rest.  Witnessing a view like this that encompasses everything to make a perfect package, I felt privileged and thankful.  I fell back behind my friends to have a private moment behind my sunglasses.   This view just hit me that way! 

further along the meadow

my meadow shot

heading towards the ascent to North Molar Pass

I was slow going up the final climb to The Pass.  

I kept stopping to admire the view behind me.  

It was also hot here too.  

at North Molar Pass

Being the last of my friends to arrive, I noticed they picked an ideal spot to dine.  I descended to where they were and joined them in admiring what was right before our eyes.  I declared that with these superb conditions, lunch would be an hour.  Not only was there dining and admiring to take care off, there was other business too.

With such a beautiful sunny warm day, then having an untouched, as white as can be, snow slope we let the child within come out and we indulged  All were game for the climb to the top and then taking the easy way down.  This is my version of what that looked like!  

it was cold & refreshing

and oh so much fun

The hour passed and it was time to move on.  For a short distance, we returned the way we came, then veered off trail to explore rocky ledges,  the creek, more wildflowers, some boulder hopping and more magnificent views from different vantage points.

following the creek and looking back to where we were

the creek

We made our way up onto a ridge that lined the meadow.  You can see Mosquito Lake far below me.  In the past I wanted to venture up to this point but it did not materialize until today when all were quick to agree with adding more elevation gain on to our day.

The paintbrush were in abundance on the slope where we began our descent back down to the main trial.  Shortly thereafter, we were back into the trees for the final push over the last seven kilometers.  

I took one last look back before putting our heads down and going to work.

Guide book writers rate this area of Banff National Park as "premier" and I am 100% in total agreement with that assessment.  I dubbed this area "Molar the Magnificent" and to believe it is only a short distance from my front door.  Everything about today exceeded my expectations. The fact that each of my friends were on the same page as me all day, was the big beautiful bow on top of this pretty perfect package.  Thank you for that!

Healy Ramparts Simpson wildflowers and so much more

I do hope you are able to stay with my story, 

get through all the wildflowers then 

come along with me for the,  

"and so much more"!  

The 27 kilometer planned route for today was to hike up the Healy Creek Trail, reach Healy Pass, ascend to The Monarch Ramparts, sail along it, descend to Eohippus Lake, continue to Simpson Pass then intersect the Healy Creek Trail again and aim for the end from there.  The Parks People said the wildflower season is two weeks ahead of schedule and that prime time is right now.  That being said, we went right now!  After all, the whole purpose for today's journey was all about the wildflowers.  Unexpectedly, this outing turned into an adventure with "so much more".

the beginning of the wildflower performance

Once the performance began, we settled in to enjoy it thoroughly.  The pace was that of a snails.  There was no other way to observe it.  We gave it our full undivided attention which it was deserving of.  Those Parks People were precise with their prediction.  

loads of red & fuchsia paintbrush

The views of wildflowers were 360 degrees.  

As we neared Healy Pass, the view of The Monarch Ramparts was visible for the entire stretch of it.  I wanted to be amongst it all today so sandwiched myself between the wildflowers and The Ramparts.    The colorful array was a sight to be seen.

approaching Healy Pass

Healy Pass

We found a spot off on the rocks at Healy Pass to enjoy the view and to have a quick lunch.  

The smoky haze from the north obstructed our view.  

We made our way up onto The Monarch Ramparts and began to sail.  It was calm, hot, humid and it was an amazing place to set foot.  We took time for summit shots and this is mine with the British Columbia mountains of the Kootenay area behind me.  

sailing along towards The  Monarch

Mid sail, we checked out the clouds in the surrounding distance.  It appeared to be fine for us, no rain, nothing dark near by.  Then, just like that, it came.  A bolt of lighting flashed right before our eyes and not even a second later a deafening crash of thunder rattled us.  Then a few seconds later after dropping our poles and dashing down slope, we found shelter.  We were amongst small, sparse trees, with our feet firmly planted and a good amount of space between each of us.   We stayed put for quite some time. When we felt it safe to do so, we ascended back up to the top and retrieved our poles.  Note to self:  that's two for two for lightning strikes on hikes with one of my friends! Hhhmmm!!!

We were now on the somber side, moving quickly with a purpose and that was to get off The Monarch Ramparts.  We reached Eohippus Lake and sat near the trees for our second lunch, in case we needed to make another mad dash to safety.  On the way down the flower performance started again.  A few quick photos was all I was in the mood for.       

The plan was for a 30 minute dining break but the bugs were plentiful and pesty.  We sat very quietly and fueled up.  A few of us meandered a bit, taking a shot or two.  We were oblivious to our surroundings other than having our eyes on the sky.  

After capturing one last photo, I suggested we pack up and get a move on.  

Still with our eyes on the sky and hearing thunder so very far away, we were ready to move.  

Out of the corner of my eye and it seemed like out of the corner of each of our eyes, we spotted brown movement 70 meters away.  That brown movement turned out being three grizzly bears coming our way.  It was a family, mom and her two big yearlings.   We became vocal as we hoovered and watched their movement before making our move. Mom eyed us once then twice then a third before gathering her young ones and making a mad dash away.  There would be no mad dashing by us in a situation like this.  We gave them space and time and then went on our way which happened to be in the same direction.  We hooted & hollered and remained as a tight knit unit.

The interest in photo taking fell by the wayside.  We just wanted to make our way quickly.  We reached Simpson Pass where we left British Columbia.....

...and arrived back home to Alberta, it was good to be home again.

Our day wasn't over yet, we still had about 7 kilometers of distance to deal with.  Our guard remained in place the balance of the way.   After nine hours of hiking we arrived back at the Sunshine Ski Hill Parking Lot.  Some were sore and some were tired but we were all safe.  We were presented with more than we had hoped for on this day.  But, when you are experienced and go prepared, play smartly and safely, you can look on the bright side of everything and turned those intense and scary times into moments to remember and even find bits of humor.  Glad I got to share this day with you! 

Mount Lipsett Sweet Saturday Summit

During autumn of last year, a couple of friends were game to join me on a hike up to the summit of Mount Lipsett but we were turned away at the trail head due to a grizzly bear closure.   This destination remained on my to-do list for when the time was right, and today was D-Day.  I had a few more friends on board this time, we were to be strength in numbers if need be.  We went for the early bird start.  What seems to be trending lately is hot & humid right from the start and today was on trend.  

The first few kilometers were thick forest lined, boggy in patches, yet what made up for that were the humongous amounts of paintbrush flowers.  We were teased time and time again with hints of beauty between the trees and I had enough of that teasing and was thankful when it was over.  At this point the wide open sights start.

oogling the outlier

what's not to love

We followed the trail along the grassy slope. 

We were afforded a view of the magnificent Mist Mountain.

Just before reaching the summit's rocky ruggedness, the wildflower show began. 

We gingerly worked our way along the ridge-like summit to the far end where we had a view of Highway 40 down below and we could see Highwood Ridge & Grizzly Ridge off to the left.  I picked my spot, safely settled into it then secured my summit shot.

We owned the summit so spread out and found ideal relaxing spots to dine.  I nestled in between boulders, lounged back and enjoyed this view as I savoured my greek salad, salmon sandwich, gouda cheese and sliced apple.  The clouds did a little dance while I dined and I appreciated that.

passing time after lunch by enjoying everything the summit offered up

We extended our day by heading out to the far end of the outlier.  I knew the wildflowers would be wonderful but they far exceeded my expectations.  The rock shades and formations just made scenes like this golden opportunities.

pretty purple

After exploring the main summit and then the outlier we next headed off to another high outcropping that even sported a summit cairn.  This spot was deserving of some time so we opted to settle down and put our feet up.  

When we descended that last high point, we aimed for the forest to complete the last few kilometres.   I knew the lighting would be better to capture the paintbrush so took care of that business. Now it was just a matter of retracing our steps back to the trail head.

I always have hopes for how an event will turn out and today the outcome reached a higher level well beyond what I hoped for.  I feel very fortunate when that happens and I owe big kudos to my friends because they are the icing on the cake.