ROCKY ADVENTURES; FAREWELL FRIEND

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My latest visitors from Toronto spent hardly any time in Calgary. For we went from the airport straight into the Rockies. The plan: camp at various parks and make our way towards Jasper, where one of my visitors would then catch a bus to Edmonton for a wedding. I was quite excited about this trip, my first time camping in the Rockies, so much of my free time in July was spent helping to plan the itinerary, booking the permits and visiting my good friends at Mountain Co-op.

Our first stop, a picnic lunch at Johnson Lake, feasting on Viet subs and fruit salad. We then took the scenic drive along the Bow Valley Parkway towards Lake Louise, our first overnight stop. After making camp, we headed to the infamous Chateau Lake Louise, to gawk at the over-gawked view from the hotel across the lake. This was our starting point. 7km later, we reached the tea house which looked back at the Chateau, now just a tiny doll house, far off in the distance. Along the way, we admired the various rock formations, the different flowers, an odd looking snowpile and the brave rock climbers. Not wanting to stop at the tea house, we continued on to the furthest point on this route, where one can basically reach out and touch the glacier. We sat beneath a rock face where glacial runoff was coming down like a gentle shower. Deceptively hidden beneath layers of loose rock laid a monster glacier, its only signs being the surface claw-like cracks formed when it moved. As we finished off our remaining Viet subs, a thunderous clap sounded next to us; we looked up in time to see a plume of snow coming down the rock face about 100 meters away - AN AVALANCHE!!! After hiking it back, we washed up and made ourselves as presentable as possible, for we had reservations at the Fairview Dining Room inside the Chateau. Not your usual campground fare, but a very enjoyable treat (thanks to B) at the end of an amazing hike!

The next morning, we broke camp early and headed over to Moraine Lake. The hue of blue of this lake is unreal, tempting you to dip yourself in this shallow body of water. Yet, this was all glacial water, so cold that there was no life in it. We found a big, flat rock nearby and set up our stove to have a lakeside breakfast. This was fun, despite spending a lot of our time chasing away 2 very chubby chipmunks who were interested in joining us for breakfast. We left just in time, as a number of tour buses started arriving. We traveled northward on the Icefields Parkway, escorted by the fascinating mountain peaks. About 2 hours later, we arrived at Wilcox Creek campground. This campground was slightly different and more minimal than Lake Louise. This site employed a self check in system and had very little in the way of comfort facilities. We made camp, then headed down to the trailhead of the Wilcox Creek Pass, our next hike. We learned that all hikes in the Rockies ALWAYS start with a huge uphill climb. After the brutal initial ascent, the view opened up to reveal snowcapped towering peaks. The silly tourists riding the ice buses part way up the icefields now looked like ants and we were just blown away by the view. We had meat sticks as a snack. The trail continued upwards for what seemed like forever until, finally, it leveled off and now we were in the pass itself, a wide pathway between two mountains. Odd looking snowpiles didn't surprise us anymore. In fact, there was one point, while seeking some refuge from the sun, we decided to rest on a glacier. I dug out a divot in one of these inclined ice walls, creating a make shift seat for me to sit on (I didn't care that my shorts were getting wet while I rested, in fact, it was very refreshing). So, there is some glacier in the Rockies that now has my bum print on it! At one point, B looked over to the left and noticed something moving. It was off in the distance and we all could see that it was a young deer or goat, maneuvering quite gracefully on steeply inclined rocky terrain. Then, it started making its way down, at a pretty quick clip. I had read somewhere that rams can be aggressive. So, I quickly whip out my bear spray, ready to click off the safety. Well, this beautiful creature could've cared less about us and crossed our path less than 20 feet away. As it galloped off to the other side of the mountain, I put away the spray, feeling a little sheepish. As we continued hiking, we started getting hungry and worn by the sun. There was no shelter anywhere. Then, as if an answer to some unspoken wish, we stumble upon this flowing creek, which sprung from beneath some rocks and disappeared back into the ground just ahead of us. It was a glacial runoff and because the water was moving at such a fast rate, it was perfect for drawing from; the cold water was so refreshing! There also happened to be a nice flat rock nearby, perfect for setting up the stove. We had an amazing freeze dried lunch by this creek. We made our way back to camp, looping back the same way we came and being treated to a mostly downhill descent for the remainder of this 15km trek. Dinner that night was a nice summer salad and curry beef over rice. And wine! We had good discussions as we waited for an "inky black" star studded night sky, hoping that we'd catch some northern lights. Alas, our heavy eyelids were not in agreement and the sky was still a little light when we called it quits.

After breakfast, we broke camp and made our way towards Jasper. The next stop would be the final excursion for B but was also one of the treats on our itinerary. The Miette Hot springs are nestled in the mountains, on top of a geothermal source. Because it's a little off the beaten path, it's not as frequented as much by tourists, unlike the other hot springs found in Banff. It was just what we needed, after two days of sweat and grime. We lazed in this warm pool, staring at the mountains that surrounded us on all four sides. After a nice shower, we headed into the town of Jasper for a quick lunch and then parted ways with B. C and I retraced our steps back towards Banff. We arrived at our next destination some 2 hours later: Mosquito Creek. Having already trekked over 30km in the past 2 days, our feet weren't exactly in the best shape to start another 15km route to get to our campsite at Upper Fish Lake, especially now that we are carrying more gear for this overnight trip. But, C and I are always up for the challenge, memories of our first trek into Frontenac together still pretty fresh in our minds. The initial part of the hike was amazing: a fast, rushing rapid showed us the way into the interior. What's amazing about hiking in the Rockies is the different terrain that one goes through. Thick Aspen forests during the initial ascent. Then, the trees thin out as you approach the tree line, opening up to subalpine meadows. The meadows we wandered across were stunning - as far as the eye could see purple and yellow meadow flowers. Apparently, bears love to hang out in these parts, feasting on this all-you-can-eat buffet. We never saw any. We then exited the meadows towards a large body of water, where we were greeted by a marmot, a creature that reminded me of a beaver, but slightly heftier. We continued climbing upwards until there was no vegetation left, heading for one of the highest points in the Rockies that is accessible by a hiking trail. When we got there, after scrambling on some pretty loose shale, we started a steep descent, dropping 100 meters in a literal instant. It was getting dark now, as the sun was hiding behind the tall mountains. Still, we thought there would be enough ambient light to get to the campsite. Of course, in my enthusiasm to get to camp quicker, I got us lost as the trail we were following suddenly ended at a creek. We wandered around a bit, walking through thick brush, trying to avoid gopher holes until we met up with the braided trail again. By this time, it was dark and we had to whip out our headlamps. Finally, we made it to camp in total darkness. After wandering around for a bit and determining that there were no tent pads, we decided to pitch the tent on a flat area of grass just beside a picnic table. This camp site had a really cool food storage system: a tall pole with a built in clip and pulley contraption! Foregoing dinner, we decided to just turn in. Before doing so, I had my second incident where I pulled out the bear spray. As we were walking towards the food pole, we saw these 2 shiny beads floating in midair, about 15 feet away. Although not quickly, it was approaching us. As we flooded the area with our headlamps, we see this deer just meandering through the campsite, looking for shrubs.

About an hour after we went to sleep, we hear this rustling outside the tent. In my sleepy daze, I think that it's the deer, grazing nearby. The sound gets closer, so C opens up the vestibule and sticks his head out for a look. He mentions something about chipmunks and goes back to sleep after putting our packs on top of the picnic table. Perhaps there were scraps of food near the table that attracted these (nocturnal, really?) critters. About 1/2 an hour later, the sound is back. This time, it's louder and sounds like gnawing right outside the tent! I pop open the vestibule, stick my head out and look right into the eyes of a porcupine! It was chewing on the backpacks. I was still half asleep, so I wasn't really sure why it was doing this. It took about 2 minutes before I realized that this creature might actually be doing damage to our gear! I found a pebble nearby (since my assaulting it with LED light and verbal shooing didn't seem to work) and 'skipped' it towards this creature (I didn't have the heart to hit it directly). That got it's attention. It quickly turned its back to me, quills fully erected into the air. I don't know why, but at that moment, my brain was cotton candy. I didn't remember if porcupines can launch their quills or if it was just a passive defensive mechanism. So, I quickly grabbed as much of the vestibule flap as I could and shielded my face! Well, nothing happened, except this creature sauntered off and since it wasn't able to give me the finger, it displayed to me the only other part of its body to tell me off. After it was gone, I quickly hopped out of the tent and inspected the damage. It had chewed on C's backpack straps. Thankfully, the main strap was not chewed entirely through, but the damage was pretty extensive. I also saw that it had chewed on the foam hand grips on C's trekking poles. I looked at my own pack and nothing. We determined, in a discussion later that day, that the salt in C's sweat was more appetizing to that porc! I went back to the food pole with our packs and hung them up with our food bag. I was awake now and it was about 4:30. The sky was still inky black, but, just over one of the nearby mountains, there was a hint of the sun coming up. So, I sat on the picnic table, armed with a trekking pole, guarding our tent, half expecting the porc to come back with reinforcements. It didn't, so I was able to admire the view. But, with the sun rising, the mosquitoes started coming out. So, I crawled back to sleep, praying that the porc would not come back and start eating our tent.

I'm sad to say that horseflies ended our trip short. We had an amazing hike back, especially when we reached the "notch" with its breath-taking view of the whole area. But the flies just kept with us the entire time. Deet doesn't work on them and their bites really have bite. Both C and I were sunburned from the previous days, our feet were sore and blistered, and I was breaking out in a heat rash. So, we decided to just hike to the car and head back to Calgary. Along the way, we "snuck" into the Lake Louise campgrounds to use the shower facilities. Once back in Cow-town, I learned that one of the best cures for what the Chinese call "yeet hay" (when the body has been in contact with extreme heat, such as long term exposure to the sun or when eating deep fried food) is beer! So, over a delicious sushi meal on 4th St., C and I Kampai'd with sake and remedied ourselves with Sapporo! No doubt, our bodies thanked us for being able to sleep on soft beds that night. We went to church the following morning, and after a hearty dim sum lunch, I dropped C off at the airport.

I never did get a chance to use my new water filtration system. It's pretty cool: it uses UV light to kill waterbourne nasties like protozoa, bacteria and viruses. It's even got a built in LED lantern! But what really impresses me is the company that designed it, Meridian Designs. They're into all sorts of things, ranging from avionics to medical centrifuges to kitchen composters. Their stuff is well built and practical. For example, the bottle came in a simple cardboard shipping box and the instructions are printed right on the bottle, so there's no need for a wasteful printed manual. More importantly, they're working on a low cost solar powered version that can be used in developing countries where clean water problems kill over 2 million people a year.

So, after more than 3 years as a faithful companion, I received a call last week from a Mastercard CSR. She told me that an unusual transaction took place, where someone charged $400 on my credit card in a Walmart in Florida. She asked me to destroy this one right away, as they were going to send me a new one. Good bye, dear friend.