Saturday, May 26, 2007
Doing Two
The plan was Chester Lake. The snow was four feet deep. So much for the plan.
But I did walk some of the trail. The trail is actually part of a complex of cross country ski trails. The trail I was on is the northernmost one, and it leads to a hiking trail to Chester Lake, and then on to Three Lakes Valley, which, according to the map, is a chain of three small lakes. Go figure.
The snow was packed quite well from skiers and snow-shoers, so I was able to walk quite far in. As long as I stayed on the snow-shoe tracks, I was fine. At one point, I tried to walk beside the trail in the bush. Much of the snow there was gone, but bush being what it is, was pretty much impassable.
At the northernmost point, the path turned sharply eastward, and that's where the hard pack stopped. I didn't break through, but the few metres I walked in that direction were distinctly less solid feeling than what I had been on up to that point.
So, at 1.4 km, I turned around and headed back, foiled by snow again.
So what to do? I could go home, or I could drive all the way up the Smith Dorrien/Spray Trail to Canmore. Well, how about another look at Black Prince Cirque?
I drove back to that parking area, and headed out. The snow that Jan and I encountered two weeks ago was largely gone. The old logging road was mostly bare, although snow banks in a couple of places made for a wet and squishy trail at times.
At the bench, the one that was under three feet of snow before, the logging road ended and the trail wound through the trees. The bench was completely exposed now. This part of the trail still had lots of snow, but often I could sidetrack it. When I couldn't, it was still solid enough if I was careful to walk on the highest part. This was like a ridge in the snowbank that followed the trail, and I think it was due to being packed by winter hikers.
I found bear tracks on one of these snowbanks. I had no idea how old they were. There were lots of dear tracks too, but no new elk tracks.
I soon found myself among the results of an ancient rock fall. Dark grey stuff, with a lot of it looking a little like foam. I assume that's because of its volcanic origins. And through a few more trees, I found Warspite Lake.
Not much of a lake. The water level was quite low, and much of the clearing was a jumbled field of this volcanic stuff. Several really large boulders, some supporting trees. Around the edges of the clearing was a grassy strip, that sloped up to the trees. It looked very much like a nearly dried up lake, and I guess that's what it was.
At a rough guess, there was room for another four metres of water in this basin. I scrambled across the middle of it, most of the water being to the south side of the clearing. Several streams emptied noisily into the clearing from all directions.
Bird life is everywhere up there. It's not noisy, though. There are long moments of total silence, but then something would start its song and fill the air. Whiskey Jacks were everywhere. There were some cranky squirrels that would start their wheezy barking over something every once in a while.
I found a place to sit, and was treated to another avalanche. The rock walls surrounding the clearing seemed very close, even though they were probably a kilometre or more away. Today there was only one small avalanche, but it made an impressive rumble as it came down. There's still a lot of snow on the higher reaches of Kananaskis, and this sight and sound will likely be common for the next month.
After an hour of prowling the lake and it's clearing, I turned to head back. I found my tracks had almost no definition, after being allowed to melt for the hour or so I was up there. That leads me to think that the bear tracks I had discovered on the way up were pretty fresh, as they were well defined. I couldn't even find them on the way down.
Half way down the logging road, I met three hikers on their way up. They were probably in a much better position to enjoy the hike than the Japanese tourists we met two weeks ago. At the parking lot, I dug out the field glasses and checked out the ridge to the south of Mount Black Prince. There are some serious overhangs along the ridge. If they collapse, they'll make for pretty spectacular avalanches.
From there it was homeward.
Chester Lake
Starting elevation: 1917 m (6289 feet).
Highest elevation: 2009 m (6591 feet).
Elevation gain: 92 m (302 feet).
Distance: 2.8 km (1.7 mi).
Time: 0:55.
Black Prince Cirque
Starting elevation: 1734 m (5689 feet).
Highest elevation: 1829 m (6001 feet).
Elevation gain: 95 m (312 feet).
Distance: 5.3 km (3.3 mi).
Time: 1:54.
But I did walk some of the trail. The trail is actually part of a complex of cross country ski trails. The trail I was on is the northernmost one, and it leads to a hiking trail to Chester Lake, and then on to Three Lakes Valley, which, according to the map, is a chain of three small lakes. Go figure.
The snow was packed quite well from skiers and snow-shoers, so I was able to walk quite far in. As long as I stayed on the snow-shoe tracks, I was fine. At one point, I tried to walk beside the trail in the bush. Much of the snow there was gone, but bush being what it is, was pretty much impassable.
At the northernmost point, the path turned sharply eastward, and that's where the hard pack stopped. I didn't break through, but the few metres I walked in that direction were distinctly less solid feeling than what I had been on up to that point.
So, at 1.4 km, I turned around and headed back, foiled by snow again.
So what to do? I could go home, or I could drive all the way up the Smith Dorrien/Spray Trail to Canmore. Well, how about another look at Black Prince Cirque?
I drove back to that parking area, and headed out. The snow that Jan and I encountered two weeks ago was largely gone. The old logging road was mostly bare, although snow banks in a couple of places made for a wet and squishy trail at times.
At the bench, the one that was under three feet of snow before, the logging road ended and the trail wound through the trees. The bench was completely exposed now. This part of the trail still had lots of snow, but often I could sidetrack it. When I couldn't, it was still solid enough if I was careful to walk on the highest part. This was like a ridge in the snowbank that followed the trail, and I think it was due to being packed by winter hikers.
I found bear tracks on one of these snowbanks. I had no idea how old they were. There were lots of dear tracks too, but no new elk tracks.
I soon found myself among the results of an ancient rock fall. Dark grey stuff, with a lot of it looking a little like foam. I assume that's because of its volcanic origins. And through a few more trees, I found Warspite Lake.
Not much of a lake. The water level was quite low, and much of the clearing was a jumbled field of this volcanic stuff. Several really large boulders, some supporting trees. Around the edges of the clearing was a grassy strip, that sloped up to the trees. It looked very much like a nearly dried up lake, and I guess that's what it was.
At a rough guess, there was room for another four metres of water in this basin. I scrambled across the middle of it, most of the water being to the south side of the clearing. Several streams emptied noisily into the clearing from all directions.
Bird life is everywhere up there. It's not noisy, though. There are long moments of total silence, but then something would start its song and fill the air. Whiskey Jacks were everywhere. There were some cranky squirrels that would start their wheezy barking over something every once in a while.
I found a place to sit, and was treated to another avalanche. The rock walls surrounding the clearing seemed very close, even though they were probably a kilometre or more away. Today there was only one small avalanche, but it made an impressive rumble as it came down. There's still a lot of snow on the higher reaches of Kananaskis, and this sight and sound will likely be common for the next month.
After an hour of prowling the lake and it's clearing, I turned to head back. I found my tracks had almost no definition, after being allowed to melt for the hour or so I was up there. That leads me to think that the bear tracks I had discovered on the way up were pretty fresh, as they were well defined. I couldn't even find them on the way down.
Half way down the logging road, I met three hikers on their way up. They were probably in a much better position to enjoy the hike than the Japanese tourists we met two weeks ago. At the parking lot, I dug out the field glasses and checked out the ridge to the south of Mount Black Prince. There are some serious overhangs along the ridge. If they collapse, they'll make for pretty spectacular avalanches.
From there it was homeward.
Chester Lake
Starting elevation: 1917 m (6289 feet).
Highest elevation: 2009 m (6591 feet).
Elevation gain: 92 m (302 feet).
Distance: 2.8 km (1.7 mi).
Time: 0:55.
Black Prince Cirque
Starting elevation: 1734 m (5689 feet).
Highest elevation: 1829 m (6001 feet).
Elevation gain: 95 m (312 feet).
Distance: 5.3 km (3.3 mi).
Time: 1:54.
# posted by Kelly @ 4:27 p.m. 
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