Jenny's Mountain Adventures: Bow Hut - Remembrance Day Weekend

Four day weekend! We had to make the most of all our free time. Lots of ideas were thrown around but nothing seemed like it was going to be as amazing as we wanted it to be. A few days before the weekend, we saw a post on facebook about the skiing up at the Bow Hut. We immediately made reservations for the hut and started getting stoked! Saturday morning we got up bright and early to pick up Alex (and meet him for the first time).

Early morning light on the way to the Ice Fields Parkway

Gearing up for the hike into the hut

The hike up to the Bow hut is about 400m of elevation over 8km. We took the summer trail like Alex had the weekend before because there wasn't very much snow and the creek wasn't frozen yet. A few of us brought boots to hike in and strapped our boots to our skis, while Brendan and David decided to just hike in ski boots. It was a bit challenging for them going up some of the terrain, the stairs were very icy and some of the rocks were pretty slick, but we all made it up without any issues.

Some very icy stairs

There are some pretty cool parts to the trail on the way in, including a big boulder over the creek that we had to scramble up.

A bit of bouldering on the way in, not so easy for those in ski boots!

Some snow on the ground! It is starting to look like winter

It took us about 4 hours to get into the hut. As we gained elevation, the snow started to get a bit deeper but it was not enough to ski at any point during the hike. There were still lots of rocks around. Getting to the hut was a relief after a long morning of hiking. We settled into the hut, claiming beds in the spacious dorm room before heating up some lunch in the dining area which was nice and warm thanks to the wood stove.

Brendan and Alex going up the last push before the hut

The Bow Hut is awesome. It sleeps 30 people in a separate room than the lounge/dining area, allowing people who want to go stay up late do so without disturbing the other hut users. There are also 2 washrooms that are attached to the main building. No midnight dashes through the snow to use the outhouse! It also is fully stocked with stoves, propane, dishes and cookware, which meant that we were able to leave that stuff at home and bring up some really good food to make up for all that saved weight. The dining area is hooked up for propane lamps too, so it was nice and bright after the sun went down far too early.

Relaxing in the nice warm hut

Four of us ventured out onto the glacier after lunch for a few short laps. A bunch of the other people that were visiting the hut were already out there having a good time. The short run above the hut had been well skied, but we were still able to find some decent snow. It was much better than I was expecting for the second weekend of November! When we got back to the hut, a large guided group had arrived and taken over. It was a full hut on Saturday night. We had a great dinner (chicken fajitas) before heading off to bed. There was lots of snoring that night. 6:30 came way too early, but we dragged ourselves out of bed to make some bacon and eggs for breakfast (yum)! We had a big day ahead and were hoping to venture further up the glacier and hopefully bag some summits.

Taking a break on our way up the glacier

Unfortunately, the weather had moved in and we spent the day skiing in a terrible white out. We used Alex's memory of the area from the weekend before (with help from Brendan who had also been up in the area in the past) and the GPS to make our way up to Mt. Gordon, a 12 km round trip from the hut with 850 m of elevation gain.

Approaching the top of the boot pack in the whiteout

The ski seemed endless and there were no reference points to figure out how far we had gone or where we had to go next. The only good thing was that the terrain was fairly mellow and it wasn't too strenuous. We got to one steep spot that we had to boot pack up and gain a ridge and finally we were able to visualize the summit about 150 m above us.

Boot packing

We had a very short-lived stay at the top, just enough time to have a bit to eat and take a couple of pictures. The wind was howling and despite the temperature being only -7, we got pretty cold with the windchill. The ski off the top was very rocky and everyone ended up with a few nasty scratches. Below the summit we decended onto the glacier, skiing close together so we didn't lose each other in the whiteout and checking the GPS to make sure we were following the trail we had made on the way up. Our original plan for the day was to also summit Mt. Rhondda, but we were all very cold and the weather wasn't getting any better so we made our way slowly down towards the hut. I could feel the vertigo set in every time we stopped to regroup.

Not that you can tell but this is the summit! It was -7 but felt WAY colder with the windchill

We roped up for the last bit of the ski before the final slope before the hut. Skiing roped up is... interesting. Brendan went first down the slope after we untied and Kyle and I followed him. I wasn't convinced we were in the right place and felt like we had gone in a big circle and were heading for some other drainage. I think Kyle was also confused because the run that we were skiing seemed to go on forever. Suddenly the rock band above the hut came into view and I regained my bearings. The skiing down was fantastic because of all the new snow we had received and we whooped and hollered about our first pow turns of the season!

Getting some awesome turns on the way back to the hut

After a bite to eat at the hut, we went back out to do some more skiing on the lower slopes and managed to track the whole run out before the guided group returned!

Warming up and drying out

Sunday night was spent eating good food, drinking the last of the whiskey, playing cards and making new friends. We were tired from such an awesome day out in the mountains. We slept in until 7:30 on Monday, but went out for a few more laps before the hike out. Our weekend total was 10 runs down the glacier slope above the hut, some longer than others. Not bad for our first few days of ski touring this season. The sun finally appeared and we were able to get a better look at what was around. The terrain near the hut is spectacular and definitely worth a return visit.

The sun came out! St. Nicholas towers over us in the background as we work our way up the glacier

Powder farming with the hut far below (on the right)

Getting our shred on

We started hiking down after lunch. The temperature was dropping quickly, a cold front was moving in. There was a lot more snow on the trail and David was able to ski quite a ways down before putting his skis on his pack (but he wasn't too worried about scratching his skis).

It was much snowier on the hike out than it had been on the way in

The snow and the views made the walk out quite enjoyable and we were able to make it to the car in about 3 hours, mostly following the same route that we had taken in. Instead of crossing the boulder, we opted to cross a the creek higher up and take the Bow Falls trail down to the lake.

View down the valley on our descent

Frozen creeks!

By the time we got to the lake, it was REALLY cold! The lake wasn't frozen yet but we could see small crystals starting to form, so I don't think it will be too long before we will be able to ski across. When we got to the truck it was -18 and the tailgate was frozen shut. It took a bit of messing around to finally get it open and it was a relief to get in the warm truck for the drive home. Winter is here.