Saturday, May 05, 2007
A New Season
Today was totally impulsive, but good. I've been restless for the past couple of days, and finally this morning decided to get the heck out of town. Where to go?
Well, I'd heard Barrier Lake was decent, not too strenuous, and I thought it would be relatively flat, since the trail skirted the lake. Well, yeah, if you stick to the trail that skirts the lake. But according to the signs along the path, that part of the trail is for bikes and horses.
I walked across the dam, nearly freezing in the biting wind that was blowing across the lake. It wasn't really that cold, but the wind was really blowing, and it was a relief to get across the dam an into the trees.
Every trail junction had a sign, with a map of the trails in the area, and a rivet marking the location of the sign. Very handy. I decided to head south along the lake on the bike trail, to see what there was to see. Three boats on the far side of the lake, inflatables maybe, each holding about six people, heading toward the dam. That probably explains why the parking lot was full.
At the point where the lake narrows was another sign. I would have missed the path but for the sign, as it wasn't much more than a clear path through the forest (and what more does a trail need to be?) This was the start of the Jewel Pass Trail.
Steady climbing all the way. For awhile if followed high up the side of a valley, at the bottom of which water rushed through the rocks toward the lake. There was one curious point where that sound completely disappeared. I think I had just stepped over and down a small ridge. The rocks were still at the bottom of the valley, some ten or fifteen metres below, but no sound at all. A couple of hundred metres later, it was back. Quite odd.
After awhile, the path started to disappear under snow. Hard and crusty, and probably a foot or two thick at times, it easily supported me. I crossed a small bridge that was just showing through on one side. There was another place where I'm sure there was a bridge under there. If not, I'm glad the snow supported me, because it was probably a two metre deep snow bank.
Parts of the path were steep, with a couple of switch-backs in places. Most of the time it was a steady upward climb, with snow getting more plentiful. It wasn't really deep, but what was on the path was melting a lot in places, and I managed to break through once into ankle deep ice water. Chilly! But mostly I could edge along the side of the path to get past most of the puddles and slush.
Suddenly, I came across another sign, with its rivet indicating I'd reached the junction of the Jewel Pass Trail and the Prairie View Trail. To continue left would have lead me down the east side of Heart Mountain and the TransCanada. I went right to continue the loop back to Barrier Lake.
There was more snow at this level, about 1600 metres. It's interesting that the GPS was fine through the forest on the Jewel Pass Trail, but as soon as I started this new trail, it lost its signal. I stopped a couple of times in clearings to see if it would find itself, and it did. But it lost the satellites almost as soon as I started moving through the forest again.
From here on the path wasn't bad at all as far as being wet and muddy. That's mostly because it was under snow. There had been some traffic though, so it was easy to stay on it. Many footprints, though I wasn't too sure of the vintage. Sometimes they looked fresh, sometimes they seemed several days old.
Anyway, more climbing. I was becoming concerned that I wasn't on the right path, as I was well past the halfway point and still climbing. And the snow was becoming a little heavier, although still not an issue. But I began to wonder if I would reach a point where I would have to turn around and retrace my steps. At that point it would have made for a four and a half to five hour hike, and I only really wanted three hours.
Finally, at just over two hours, and about 1800 metres, I reached the end of the forest. And the ground for that matter. What a view! The trees went right to the edge of the cliff face, so I was right on top of it almost before I noticed it.
Now where the heck did the path go? To the right, the forest got thicker and crowded the edge of the cliff. And the cliff seemed pretty much a shear drop. To the left, the trees ended but it was bare rock sloping up to the edge. and going upward, too. I went that way a little, and was able to see a couple of well worn paths in the rock. I skirted a couple of really deep crevasses in the rock and climbed down to one of the paths.
It rose steadily to a high point on the ridge, where I notice two women standing. OK, so I was at the right place. They had come up the other way, basically taking the same loop I was taking, but in the other direction. Elevation 1896 metres (about 6200 feet).
After taking in the view for awhile, I started off. There was what looked like a huge billboard right on the ridge. It was at least three metres on a side, and made of metal, probably aluminum. I would guess its a reflector for radio transmission, but who knows? Just past that, the path turned into a scramble. It was wet and muddy and slippery, and there weren't many handholds. But I took my time and after about thirty metres vertical it turned into a steep switchback.
At the point where it turned to cross a ridge, I met another couple making their way up. They said it was pretty muddy for some distance. I found it muddy and wet, and often full of slushy snow. But I was mostly out of the wind, and in the sun. It was fairly steep so I lost altitude quickly.
Once I got onto drier trail, I passed a half dozen other couples on their way up. Hopefully they had some extra layers in those packs. It was chilly in spots and some of them looked woefully underdressed.
Down a long switch back, then out of the trees, across the dam and back at the parking lot.
Starting elevation: 1378 m (4520 feet.
Highest elevation: 1896 m (6220 feet).
Elevation gain: 518 m (1699 feet).
Distance: 13.92 km (8.65 mi).
Time: 3:22.
Well, I'd heard Barrier Lake was decent, not too strenuous, and I thought it would be relatively flat, since the trail skirted the lake. Well, yeah, if you stick to the trail that skirts the lake. But according to the signs along the path, that part of the trail is for bikes and horses.
I walked across the dam, nearly freezing in the biting wind that was blowing across the lake. It wasn't really that cold, but the wind was really blowing, and it was a relief to get across the dam an into the trees.
Every trail junction had a sign, with a map of the trails in the area, and a rivet marking the location of the sign. Very handy. I decided to head south along the lake on the bike trail, to see what there was to see. Three boats on the far side of the lake, inflatables maybe, each holding about six people, heading toward the dam. That probably explains why the parking lot was full.
At the point where the lake narrows was another sign. I would have missed the path but for the sign, as it wasn't much more than a clear path through the forest (and what more does a trail need to be?) This was the start of the Jewel Pass Trail.
Steady climbing all the way. For awhile if followed high up the side of a valley, at the bottom of which water rushed through the rocks toward the lake. There was one curious point where that sound completely disappeared. I think I had just stepped over and down a small ridge. The rocks were still at the bottom of the valley, some ten or fifteen metres below, but no sound at all. A couple of hundred metres later, it was back. Quite odd.
After awhile, the path started to disappear under snow. Hard and crusty, and probably a foot or two thick at times, it easily supported me. I crossed a small bridge that was just showing through on one side. There was another place where I'm sure there was a bridge under there. If not, I'm glad the snow supported me, because it was probably a two metre deep snow bank.
Parts of the path were steep, with a couple of switch-backs in places. Most of the time it was a steady upward climb, with snow getting more plentiful. It wasn't really deep, but what was on the path was melting a lot in places, and I managed to break through once into ankle deep ice water. Chilly! But mostly I could edge along the side of the path to get past most of the puddles and slush.
Suddenly, I came across another sign, with its rivet indicating I'd reached the junction of the Jewel Pass Trail and the Prairie View Trail. To continue left would have lead me down the east side of Heart Mountain and the TransCanada. I went right to continue the loop back to Barrier Lake.
There was more snow at this level, about 1600 metres. It's interesting that the GPS was fine through the forest on the Jewel Pass Trail, but as soon as I started this new trail, it lost its signal. I stopped a couple of times in clearings to see if it would find itself, and it did. But it lost the satellites almost as soon as I started moving through the forest again.
From here on the path wasn't bad at all as far as being wet and muddy. That's mostly because it was under snow. There had been some traffic though, so it was easy to stay on it. Many footprints, though I wasn't too sure of the vintage. Sometimes they looked fresh, sometimes they seemed several days old.
Anyway, more climbing. I was becoming concerned that I wasn't on the right path, as I was well past the halfway point and still climbing. And the snow was becoming a little heavier, although still not an issue. But I began to wonder if I would reach a point where I would have to turn around and retrace my steps. At that point it would have made for a four and a half to five hour hike, and I only really wanted three hours.
Finally, at just over two hours, and about 1800 metres, I reached the end of the forest. And the ground for that matter. What a view! The trees went right to the edge of the cliff face, so I was right on top of it almost before I noticed it.
Now where the heck did the path go? To the right, the forest got thicker and crowded the edge of the cliff. And the cliff seemed pretty much a shear drop. To the left, the trees ended but it was bare rock sloping up to the edge. and going upward, too. I went that way a little, and was able to see a couple of well worn paths in the rock. I skirted a couple of really deep crevasses in the rock and climbed down to one of the paths.
It rose steadily to a high point on the ridge, where I notice two women standing. OK, so I was at the right place. They had come up the other way, basically taking the same loop I was taking, but in the other direction. Elevation 1896 metres (about 6200 feet).
After taking in the view for awhile, I started off. There was what looked like a huge billboard right on the ridge. It was at least three metres on a side, and made of metal, probably aluminum. I would guess its a reflector for radio transmission, but who knows? Just past that, the path turned into a scramble. It was wet and muddy and slippery, and there weren't many handholds. But I took my time and after about thirty metres vertical it turned into a steep switchback.
At the point where it turned to cross a ridge, I met another couple making their way up. They said it was pretty muddy for some distance. I found it muddy and wet, and often full of slushy snow. But I was mostly out of the wind, and in the sun. It was fairly steep so I lost altitude quickly.
Once I got onto drier trail, I passed a half dozen other couples on their way up. Hopefully they had some extra layers in those packs. It was chilly in spots and some of them looked woefully underdressed.
Down a long switch back, then out of the trees, across the dam and back at the parking lot.
Starting elevation: 1378 m (4520 feet.
Highest elevation: 1896 m (6220 feet).
Elevation gain: 518 m (1699 feet).
Distance: 13.92 km (8.65 mi).
Time: 3:22.
# posted by Kelly @ 6:10 p.m. 
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