Saturday, June 23, 2007
Yamnuska
This was a sweet one. It was lovely day for hiking. Daisy is an experienced hiker, and has done this one more than once. So not only did I have a hiking companion, she knew where we were going.
We set off through the trees, and rapidly came on the steep path through the forest on the east shoulder. Zig zagging up the slope, we met several groups. It's a busy place. There are several places to enjoy the view, too, as the trees aren't enclosing.
On the top of the shoulder, we got our first view of the CMC valley. And a seeming dead end. I think there's a way around the north side, but it didn't look too inviting. However, a couple just ahead of us were working their way up a crevasse, so we followed. And found ourselves on top of the ridge.
The problem with this hike was sensory overload. I found myself so high, with so much incredible scenery, and even the physical experience of the climb, that it's all a blur now, sitting here trying to write about it.
I know we climbed to the edge, and carefully looked over the edge. A thousand feet straight down to the top of the scree slope below.
Well, not straight down. As flat as the face of this beast looks from the highway, it has a fair amount of topology. But I couldn't bring myself to slide close enough to see that, if it was even possible.
From here we picked our way through scree, and along paths that seemed to be everywhere. Near the edge were anchor bolts for those that would climb that face. Later in the climb, someone would mention there are over a hundred routes up the face.
We soon got past the first bit of a peak, and I found myself looking past it to the east, almost in the exact place where the photo on Gem Trek's Canmore and Kananaskis Village map was taken. If you've seen that photo, you can appreciate how shear the face can be.
More traversing and climbing, again a blur of sensation. And fun! Just to clamber up the steep rock and pick our way to the top was fun. Occasionally, I noticed the burn in my calves, but mostly I was drinking in the experience.
I think we came to the edge a couple of more times, and peeked over the edge. At one place we came on a woman sitting by the trail. She said it was not far to the cable, and then the final climb to the peak.
Cable?
There's a point where there's a bit of a ledge, maybe enough to hook your toes on, and possibly there are finger holds, too. Below the ledge is a drop of about ten metres, and then an incredibly steep slope of broken rock that descends another three or four hundred metres into the CMC Valley.
It's impossible to cross the thirty metres or so to more clamber-able terrain, but someone has bolted a cable along the face to hang on to. It's intimidating, but it really wasn't bad at all. The ledge, while narrow, has lots of room for feet, and with the cable to cling too, I was past it quite quickly. The cable also helps in the descent of those ten metres to where the trail continues.
Now here is where we missed something. Daisy and I climbed down the steep slope where we could see the path go, and eventually it rounded a rock and started to climb back up. The people behind us, though, found a path that went straight across. Oh, well, we were up for the seventy or so metre down-&-up. We even ended up ahead of them when when we got back up.
We got to an ascending ridge and rested for a bit of a snack, and then climbed it to the peak. About a dozen people were snacking and sunning and generally hanging out. And on their cell phones! Heck, I even made a call.
After a rest, Daisy charged ahead of me down the slope, which was fine gravel. The path went straight down, but then split, with a gentler path to the left. We went left. We were soon out of the fine gravel and struggling over coarser stuff, with small outcrops to climb around. Meanwhile others coming down behind us went skipping down the steep straight path. Bummer.
We made our way back over to the straight path, and finally got to the west shoulder. Steep and slippery, gravelly in some places, almost fine dust on bare rock in others. Which was really treacherous. Well, not really, but it was tricky.
Keeping up to Daisy was a challenge. She must have stronger knees than I, and is probably more flexible, too. She seemed to be bounding down the slope at times. I wasn't too far behind, mostly, and she did stop occasionally to let me believe I was catching up.
Eventually we began to traverse the scree at the bottom of the cliff face. Lots of relatively fine gravel, but the path was quite easy to cross. Knowing about climbing and even having some experience with technical climbing, Daisy would pause every once in awhile to scan the rock face above us for climbers. How she would spot them I don't know, but they were obvious once she pointed them out.
About 700 metres across, we decided to follow those ahead of us straight down the scree. This started out pretty tricky. I kind of stepped sideways down, with the gravel sliding down with me, and me trying to keep from sinking into the sliding gravel. Meanwhile, Daisy was bouncing down the slope, actually laughing out loud at times, before she got so far ahead of me as to be out of earshot.
Eventually, I got into the rhythm of it, and headed straight down. You get a bit of a bounce to it, and step fast enough so you don't sink into the sliding gravel too much, digging in you heel at every step. I mean a real bounce, kind of a floating bobbing feeling. It got to be really fun. And I was finally gaining on Daisy.
Well, she'd stopped at the trees at the bottom to wait. Once I caught up, we continued along the bottom of the scree. And suddenly, around a corner was a waterfall. Water coming down from who knows where over a series of limestone shelves.
From here we were back into the forest, descending the east shoulder again. Passing more hikers heading upward. And finally coming to the parking lot.
This was a wonderful, fun and exciting hike. Hiking with Daisy only enhanced the fun and excitement, what with her experience and heck, just the joy she radiated up there.
Now if only I could get the damn camera to work.
Yamnuska
Starting elevation: 1343 m (4406 feet).
Highest elevation: 2241 m (7352 feet).
Lowest elevation: 1343 m (4406feet).
Elevation gain: 898 m (2946 feet).
Distance: 10.2 km (6.3 mi).
Time: 4:25.
We set off through the trees, and rapidly came on the steep path through the forest on the east shoulder. Zig zagging up the slope, we met several groups. It's a busy place. There are several places to enjoy the view, too, as the trees aren't enclosing.
On the top of the shoulder, we got our first view of the CMC valley. And a seeming dead end. I think there's a way around the north side, but it didn't look too inviting. However, a couple just ahead of us were working their way up a crevasse, so we followed. And found ourselves on top of the ridge.
The problem with this hike was sensory overload. I found myself so high, with so much incredible scenery, and even the physical experience of the climb, that it's all a blur now, sitting here trying to write about it.
I know we climbed to the edge, and carefully looked over the edge. A thousand feet straight down to the top of the scree slope below.
Well, not straight down. As flat as the face of this beast looks from the highway, it has a fair amount of topology. But I couldn't bring myself to slide close enough to see that, if it was even possible.
From here we picked our way through scree, and along paths that seemed to be everywhere. Near the edge were anchor bolts for those that would climb that face. Later in the climb, someone would mention there are over a hundred routes up the face.
We soon got past the first bit of a peak, and I found myself looking past it to the east, almost in the exact place where the photo on Gem Trek's Canmore and Kananaskis Village map was taken. If you've seen that photo, you can appreciate how shear the face can be.
More traversing and climbing, again a blur of sensation. And fun! Just to clamber up the steep rock and pick our way to the top was fun. Occasionally, I noticed the burn in my calves, but mostly I was drinking in the experience.
I think we came to the edge a couple of more times, and peeked over the edge. At one place we came on a woman sitting by the trail. She said it was not far to the cable, and then the final climb to the peak.
Cable?
There's a point where there's a bit of a ledge, maybe enough to hook your toes on, and possibly there are finger holds, too. Below the ledge is a drop of about ten metres, and then an incredibly steep slope of broken rock that descends another three or four hundred metres into the CMC Valley.
It's impossible to cross the thirty metres or so to more clamber-able terrain, but someone has bolted a cable along the face to hang on to. It's intimidating, but it really wasn't bad at all. The ledge, while narrow, has lots of room for feet, and with the cable to cling too, I was past it quite quickly. The cable also helps in the descent of those ten metres to where the trail continues.
Now here is where we missed something. Daisy and I climbed down the steep slope where we could see the path go, and eventually it rounded a rock and started to climb back up. The people behind us, though, found a path that went straight across. Oh, well, we were up for the seventy or so metre down-&-up. We even ended up ahead of them when when we got back up.
We got to an ascending ridge and rested for a bit of a snack, and then climbed it to the peak. About a dozen people were snacking and sunning and generally hanging out. And on their cell phones! Heck, I even made a call.
After a rest, Daisy charged ahead of me down the slope, which was fine gravel. The path went straight down, but then split, with a gentler path to the left. We went left. We were soon out of the fine gravel and struggling over coarser stuff, with small outcrops to climb around. Meanwhile others coming down behind us went skipping down the steep straight path. Bummer.
We made our way back over to the straight path, and finally got to the west shoulder. Steep and slippery, gravelly in some places, almost fine dust on bare rock in others. Which was really treacherous. Well, not really, but it was tricky.
Keeping up to Daisy was a challenge. She must have stronger knees than I, and is probably more flexible, too. She seemed to be bounding down the slope at times. I wasn't too far behind, mostly, and she did stop occasionally to let me believe I was catching up.
Eventually we began to traverse the scree at the bottom of the cliff face. Lots of relatively fine gravel, but the path was quite easy to cross. Knowing about climbing and even having some experience with technical climbing, Daisy would pause every once in awhile to scan the rock face above us for climbers. How she would spot them I don't know, but they were obvious once she pointed them out.
About 700 metres across, we decided to follow those ahead of us straight down the scree. This started out pretty tricky. I kind of stepped sideways down, with the gravel sliding down with me, and me trying to keep from sinking into the sliding gravel. Meanwhile, Daisy was bouncing down the slope, actually laughing out loud at times, before she got so far ahead of me as to be out of earshot.
Eventually, I got into the rhythm of it, and headed straight down. You get a bit of a bounce to it, and step fast enough so you don't sink into the sliding gravel too much, digging in you heel at every step. I mean a real bounce, kind of a floating bobbing feeling. It got to be really fun. And I was finally gaining on Daisy.
Well, she'd stopped at the trees at the bottom to wait. Once I caught up, we continued along the bottom of the scree. And suddenly, around a corner was a waterfall. Water coming down from who knows where over a series of limestone shelves.
From here we were back into the forest, descending the east shoulder again. Passing more hikers heading upward. And finally coming to the parking lot.
This was a wonderful, fun and exciting hike. Hiking with Daisy only enhanced the fun and excitement, what with her experience and heck, just the joy she radiated up there.
Now if only I could get the damn camera to work.
Yamnuska
Starting elevation: 1343 m (4406 feet).
Highest elevation: 2241 m (7352 feet).
Lowest elevation: 1343 m (4406feet).
Elevation gain: 898 m (2946 feet).
Distance: 10.2 km (6.3 mi).
Time: 4:25.
# posted by Kelly @ 5:56 p.m. 
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