Bow Glacier Falls & Jasper June 22, 2020

It's time to travel!  No need to buy a plane ticket nor to book a rental vehicle!  Just book a cabin, load the car and drive off!  Jasper here I come!  Being a five hour drive from home with check-in at 4:00pm, I hit the highway early to get a hike in mid way along the way.  

I hiked to Bow Glacier Falls from Bow Lake, a hike I had not done before.  Why not?  I don't know!  It was incredibly beautiful the entire way in and back out.  I owned the place until the return portion just before descending the staircase.  

The entire stretch of the Icefield Parkway was pretty today.  The drive was easy with very little traffic. I made it to Jasper, checked into my cabin and now I don't know how I will ever leave it!  The birds are singing constantly, I hear the Athabasca River running which is just across the street, and The Whistlers are looking all mountainy!  

Yes, time to travel!  I am in my own province, only a five hour drive from home, yet I feel like I am worlds away!  

Sulphur Mountain June 15, 2020

The National Parks have been calling my name!  These are the days to answer that call while they are  on the quiet side.  I entered into Banff National Park with intentions to hike up Sulphur Mountain and then visit the townsite afterwards.  Notice the warnings at the trailhead, go prepared so not to be a burden on the gondola facilities which these days are strictly for the customers who purchase a ticket to ride.  

I had the switchbacks up to myself and arrived at the deck before the gondola starting running for the day.  I saw no one as I circumnavigated the deck.  It felt erie in a way yet I was liking it!  This is the only deck open to hikers and it is the deck that leads off to the boardwalk to the Cosmic Ray Station up on Sanson Peak which you see at the top middle.  I headed off to that.

view west from the top of Cosmic Ray Road

looking back at the boardwalk, the gondola station and the true Sulphur Mountain summit

It felt erie being the only soul here and the clouds dancing about looked erie.  I thoroughly enjoyed every second, but I also thought about the local tourism industry.  What a bitter sweet situation!  I wonder what the coming weeks and the summer will be like here!

snack spot on those famous red chairs

I made my way back to the gondola station still seeing no one along the way.  It was now shortly after the gondola started running and the employees were manning the doorways that enter to inside which is only accessible to those that paid the price to take the ride up.  We exchanged chats and I then went on my way descending back down the switchbacks.  The gondolas passed over head and each one that passed was empty.  Maybe things picked up as the day went on.

I went on, with my day.  This photo shows Banff Avenue, the main street that runs through downtown Banff.  You can see in the middle top, a little brown bump, that is what I just hiked up to.  Banff Avenue is pedestrian only for now as are a couple of side streets.  This was the view as I strolled along.

looking towards Cascade Mountain

side street with outdoor patios and cafes

a sweet looking Sweet Shoppe

the Bow River is swelling

Like I mentioned earlier, being here was bitter sweet today!  

I wish Banff and all of Banff National Park to be well!  

Finding Ways to Fill a Few Hours

When I looked out my upstairs window on Saturday morning I saw a beautiful sky developing.  I decided to get going out the door then down across the road to enjoy a couple of hours of early morning city peace in the park.  The sun just came up and created great colors.  No one else had arrived yet, they know not what they are missing at Nose Creek!   

The Birth Forest is lovely & lush and so full. 

I strolled through it before heading down hill to meander along the creekside.  

The birds were awake and the wildflowers plentiful.  The sights of the forest and ground cover growths, the sounds of the birds, the aroma of the flowers all pair nicely with a cup of coffee to waken the senses. As time passes others begin to arrive.  I am beginning to recognize those that frequent the trails here on a regular basis like me and it's nice to share our sightings.  As the days and weeks progress, the wildflower show will become quite a performance and I look forward to that.  

I painted two big rocks for a friend to put in the gardens in her area.  These bring me joy to paint and take me to a place in my mind that I cannot help but smile.  I am learning lots about color pencil sketching. I followed tutorials on shading, night light, waterfalls and reflections.   My waterfalls need loads of work so will keep those to myself for now. As I look at these four photos, I see a trend taking place, of get-aways, to places!  When the time feels right, I will head there.....   

.....for now I am thankful for what I have out my front & back door!

Eagle Hill June 11, 2020

It's Thursday!  The time has come to catch up with some of my Thursday friends! Eagle Hill was our destination which is a new hike for me.  I had heard not so good things about this but as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!  I may need to return really soon to re-do this one on my own when there is time to get lost in taking photos of the wildflowers.  I have never seen so many shooting stars and yes they were a blaze of glory! There were thousands of them along with other varieties of wildflowers.

It was a green ground day, it was a blue sky day, it was a talk talk talk day, it was a happy day!

the view very early into our hike

 There are a few options to take, we kept going straight into the forest.

For the majority of the time the trail was dry but there were a few sections of mud which were easy to get around.  The open slopes were covered in wildflowers.  It was quite a sight to see.  The crocuses were beautiful, still in their prime which seems late.  A few paintbrushes were sprouting their blooms. 

shooting stars

 As we approached the final push section, the views became awesome. 

The summit area was splattered in larkspur. 

 larkspur

 my summit shot

 view towards the west from the summit and also where we choose to sit to dine

 two friends identifying the snow capped peaks

After a lovely and lengthy lunch it was time to get on with our day.  

This is my last photo of the day before leaving the summit.    

A funny thing happened on the way back.  We met three horseback riders coming towards us.  The trail is very narrow, we confirmed with the first rider what should we do.  She advised the best thing to do would be for all of us to stop and stand on the same side of the trail and to keep talking calmly.  When the middle horse arrived in front of me, it stopped and starred and starred and starred.  That made me nervous.  I talked calmly and asked the lady why is he doing that.  Her reply was "He is trying to figure out what you are!"  I guess it did figure out what I was and I wonder "what that was" because after many seconds it then moved on!  For this out and back hike we completed approximately 15 kms and about 500 metres of elevation gain.

What an enjoyable time with these Thursday friends!

Thank-You for today!

Aylmer Lookout June 9, 2020

I was on cloud 9 with the thought of heading into Banff National Park today!  With some roads & trails open, with little or no snow in some low & high areas, with lots of daylight hours & sunshine, with it being a weekday, this was the day to venture back into this paradise-like place! Aylmer Lookout was to be the destination with a side visit down to the lake shore on the way back.  The day started with this view!   

 looking down Stewart Canyon while crossing the bridge

Lake Minniwanka actually looked turquoise even without my sunglasses on.  I always like this portion of the trail with the view of the mountains, the lake and that crazy tree.  Today the trail was dry and free of snow the entire way from the parking lot to the Lookout.

 view back after crossing the narrow foot bridge

 a swallowtail on the trail

We took a few minutes at the intersection to have some fuel and gear down before beginning the long ascent section to Aylmer Lookout.  Coming out of the forest and seeing the Lake means we are almost where we are aiming for.

 The 12 kilometre hike in and up is so worth it when afforded this view.  

 taking care of the most important business

 getting ready to settle down for lunch

It was wintry cold and wildly windy for our visit at the Lookout.  As the minutes passed on, it grew windier and colder.  We stayed for about 30 minutes which was enough time to accomplish all the summit necessities.  This is a view while dining.

 The only bit of snow we encountered the entire day.

Well, I purposely encountered it!

 another view of Lake Minniwanka 

Donned in every layer I brought and still feeling chilled it was time to get moving and warm up. We packed up and went on our way.  I looked back for one last shot of the Lookout lay of the land.

 The trail down from the top.

It seemed like no time at all and we were back at the intersection.  We carried on through the backcountry campground, which is still not open for staying the night, and made our way to the "beach".  There was a large log which was perfect to take a load off and settle for a snack and admire the scene.

 on the way back

On the way back, we did have one encounter which scared us and startled the deer too.  It was the biggest deer I ever did see that jumped about five feet in the air when it came out of the bushes and saw us on the trail.  It had a collar around the neck that slide up and down the entire length of its' neck when it jumped and there was a large tag on the ear.  For a few seconds it seemed it did not know what to do and we knew we needed to stay in place and calm down the situation.  It stared at us and moved a couple of feet closer to us then stopped.  I was shaking in my boots. We slowly began to move forward, talking calmly and then the deer moved off trail, watched us the entire time and we made our way past it.  Whew!  

It was such a treat to be in this area of Banff National Park when it is so very quiet.  There were a few people out and about who were probably like us, being very thankful to have this paradise-like place to visit.   Tacking on a visit to the lake shore, this amounted to a 24.4 kilometre hike with a cumulative amount of 984 metres in gain.