Saturday, June 10, 2006
Grassi Lakes
A new season and a fresh hike! But no pictures for this one. My camera is on the fritz and no one else had an operational camera either.
My friend Carla and I decided back in the dead of winter that we were going to organize a hike, and we picked June 10 as the day to do it. She chose Grassi Lakes, just above Canmore, and it was perfect. She broadcast an email inviting friends to join us, and in the end we were four: Carla, Peter-Mark, Erin and I.
Naturally, I started the trip by rushing out the door, driving around the block and back to said door, cuz I forgot something, then realizing I needed gas and having to stop for that, before finally picking up Erin to head out. Her excellent navigation of the back streets of north west Calgary got us out of the city quickly, and we were only twenty minutes late to the meeting place.
Two others were to join us, but the weather scared them off. The day did start pretty grey and threatening, but by the time we got to the trail head, just past the Canmore Nordic Centre, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining. Too bad for them.
We took the easier route, by way of what looked like an access road. It's a pretty popular hike, and several people were already ahead of us. There's not too much to see on the road, as it goes through the forest, but then we climbed up over a bit of a hump, and there was this tiny lake, less than a hundred metres across, with this incredible blue green water.
The water was crystal clear, and you could see all the way down to the bottom, maybe ten metres at the most. It was easy to pick out the odd fish darting among the sunken logs. We followed a built up path around the lake to a small bridge over a waterfall flowing into the lake, from another lake just a few metres farther up, again in the same blue green colour.
Past that, there was a trail that led upward through the canyon. There are steps built up with treated wood, and in several places there are caves in the rock wall. Some ledges in the caves are covered in something black and unpleasant looking - Carla suggested bat guano.
The rock wall is full of small holes and indentations, formed as rainwater disolves the limestone. That makes it a popular place for rock climbers, with plenty of hand and toe holds. In fact much of the sheer rock faces on both sides of the canyon are littered with metal anchors, rings and clips, for climbers to attach ropes to. And there were several climbers out already.
We continued the climb, past the climbers, onto a bit of scree, and then into a more level part of the canyon. There was lots of rockfall to clamber over, and more climbers. And then more of the maintained path, and more stairs. At the top of those was more gravel, and when we reached the top of that, we found ourselves beside the Spray Lakes Road and on the dam at the top. The view was pretty spectacular. And just down the road a little were three mountain goats grazing by the side of the road.
It's a pretty spectacular place to stand, with Canmore spread out below, the lake and Spray Lakes valley behind us, Ha Ling to the right, and Rundle to the left. Ha Ling was lit by the sun just right to make the rock look wet, just barely in the sunlight.
After soaking in the scene we headed back down. The descent was easy, with the stairs and the well worn path. But my knees were still a little sore by the time we got back to the lakes. By then there were more climbers on the rock faces, as well as hikers stopping to watch.
We decided to take the more challenging and shorter path down, back to the trail head. We found ourselves a bit more in the bush, but finding better view of the valley below. At one place where a waterfall cascaded below us, the path split, and it wasn't clear which way to go, so we chose to continue along a more level one instead of climbing down the one beside the waterfall. The path we chose became more and more overgrown, but eventually Peter-Mark lead us back to the old road. Next time we'll have to tackle that path from the other end and follow it up.
After an easy hike down, complete with passing cyclists and trail runners, we were back in the parking lot, and then it was back to downtown Canmore for beer and burgers.
My friend Carla and I decided back in the dead of winter that we were going to organize a hike, and we picked June 10 as the day to do it. She chose Grassi Lakes, just above Canmore, and it was perfect. She broadcast an email inviting friends to join us, and in the end we were four: Carla, Peter-Mark, Erin and I.
Naturally, I started the trip by rushing out the door, driving around the block and back to said door, cuz I forgot something, then realizing I needed gas and having to stop for that, before finally picking up Erin to head out. Her excellent navigation of the back streets of north west Calgary got us out of the city quickly, and we were only twenty minutes late to the meeting place.
Two others were to join us, but the weather scared them off. The day did start pretty grey and threatening, but by the time we got to the trail head, just past the Canmore Nordic Centre, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining. Too bad for them.
We took the easier route, by way of what looked like an access road. It's a pretty popular hike, and several people were already ahead of us. There's not too much to see on the road, as it goes through the forest, but then we climbed up over a bit of a hump, and there was this tiny lake, less than a hundred metres across, with this incredible blue green water.
The water was crystal clear, and you could see all the way down to the bottom, maybe ten metres at the most. It was easy to pick out the odd fish darting among the sunken logs. We followed a built up path around the lake to a small bridge over a waterfall flowing into the lake, from another lake just a few metres farther up, again in the same blue green colour.
Past that, there was a trail that led upward through the canyon. There are steps built up with treated wood, and in several places there are caves in the rock wall. Some ledges in the caves are covered in something black and unpleasant looking - Carla suggested bat guano.
The rock wall is full of small holes and indentations, formed as rainwater disolves the limestone. That makes it a popular place for rock climbers, with plenty of hand and toe holds. In fact much of the sheer rock faces on both sides of the canyon are littered with metal anchors, rings and clips, for climbers to attach ropes to. And there were several climbers out already.
We continued the climb, past the climbers, onto a bit of scree, and then into a more level part of the canyon. There was lots of rockfall to clamber over, and more climbers. And then more of the maintained path, and more stairs. At the top of those was more gravel, and when we reached the top of that, we found ourselves beside the Spray Lakes Road and on the dam at the top. The view was pretty spectacular. And just down the road a little were three mountain goats grazing by the side of the road.
It's a pretty spectacular place to stand, with Canmore spread out below, the lake and Spray Lakes valley behind us, Ha Ling to the right, and Rundle to the left. Ha Ling was lit by the sun just right to make the rock look wet, just barely in the sunlight.
After soaking in the scene we headed back down. The descent was easy, with the stairs and the well worn path. But my knees were still a little sore by the time we got back to the lakes. By then there were more climbers on the rock faces, as well as hikers stopping to watch.
We decided to take the more challenging and shorter path down, back to the trail head. We found ourselves a bit more in the bush, but finding better view of the valley below. At one place where a waterfall cascaded below us, the path split, and it wasn't clear which way to go, so we chose to continue along a more level one instead of climbing down the one beside the waterfall. The path we chose became more and more overgrown, but eventually Peter-Mark lead us back to the old road. Next time we'll have to tackle that path from the other end and follow it up.
After an easy hike down, complete with passing cyclists and trail runners, we were back in the parking lot, and then it was back to downtown Canmore for beer and burgers.
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