Cal-Cheak Ice Climbing

We arrived in Whistler after 15 hours of bad road conditions, semi trucks in the ditch and slow traffic. Kyle and I were exhausted and opted to take a rest day at my parents house and do some Christmas prep. We had a week and a half ahead of us to ski and spend time with my family and it was nice to have a bit of downtime. By about noon, Kyle was already bored of sitting around and started doing some reading about ice climbing in the area. We had brought all our ice gear in hopes that Shannon Falls would be frozen after all the cold weather that the coast had been getting. Unfortunately it was not in climbing shape. What Kyle did find however, was a flow close to the house that had been successfully climbed in the last few days.

Angela was eager to try ice climbing and was very excited to come along. After driving all of 10 minutes from home to the Cal-Cheak turn-off (7 mins south of Function Junction), we stopped at Whistler Bungee to ask if they knew where the ice was. We could see a route down in the canyon but it looked difficult to access and the staff at the Bungee place seemed skeptical that it was climbable. They also seemed to think that we were a bit nuts to be going ice climbing in the first place. We drove back along the Cal-Cheak road to where we had seen a car parked on our way in. When we arrived, the owners of the vehicle were getting a boost and were able to tell us how to access the climbing. There was a trail entering the forest beside a flat-deck trailer and a mini van that were parked off the side of the road (very buried in snow). The trail made its way up into steeper terrain on the opposite side of the road as the river. We followed the trail for less than 10 minutes before we came across ice. This was the shortest approach ever!

Kyle starts up the Cal-Cheak flow

Stupid Deep at Tunnel Creek

The thermometer in the truck read -26 C as David, Tyler, Kyle and I left Calgary, heading for Tunnel Creek Hut in Fernie. The boys had arrived from San Francisco late the night before and we had very few hours of sleep before hitting the road. We stopped at the grocery store to let them pick up lunch food then met Kyle Duran to all head up to the hut. The temperature wasn't any warmer as we left the trailhead. It had been cold and clear in Calgary for weeks but there was snow in the forecast. We followed a track up the logging road, moving quickly to stay warm.

Starting up the road to Tunnel Creek

Shades of Beauty (WI 4)

As it was recently pointed out, the blog has been pretty quiet recently. I know I have not been out in the mountains nearly enough recently, but sometimes other aspects of life have to come first. The good thing is that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and a whole bunch of sweet adventures heading our way soon!

Paul starts up Pitch 1 (Phil Photo)

Back of the Lake

Climbing at the Back of the Lake crags at Lake Louise is an interesting experience. 

First of all, the approach is brutal, its a 20 minute flat trail along the edge of Lake Louise, which is breathtakingly beautiful and it only becomes more picturesque as you climb higher.  

Really rough approach in the morning

Larch Valley/Sentinel Pass and Mt. Temple Attempt

14 km

1228 m elevation

Beautiful view of Valley of the Ten Peaks and 3/4 couloir 

Although Saturday came bright and sunny, it was cold and the rocks were very wet from the night before. We made a last minute decision to try and scramble up Mt. Temple. Little did we know that the rain on our trailer the night had been heavy snowfall in the alpine above. We arrived at Moraine Lake far too late (9:30) and had to park almost 1.5 km down the road from the parking lot. It is a very popular place at this time of year as the larch trees change colour. There was a bear advisory in place so we had to hike in groups of 4. We joined up with two unsuspecting hikers who we dragged up the Larch Valley Trail much quicker than either of them had been anticipating. Good news for them, they had more time to enjoy the views and less time spent walking up switchbacks in the trees!

Valley of the Ten Peaks in all its glory

The Larch Valley was teaming with tourists and Kyle and I were on a mission. We didn't stop long much to our hiker partners dismay. Somehow we managed to convince them that hiking to Sentinel Pass would be a good idea too. By that point, nobody was paying any heed to the bear advisory anyways so we parted ways with our exhausted companions and continued up towards Mt. Temple.

Snow on the ground in the Larch Valley

We should have known when we hit snow low in the larch valley that we were going to be in for a challenge, but we pushed on nonetheless. Hikers kept asking us why we had ice axes and crampons, pondering if we knew something that they didn't. "Nope," we responded, pointing to Mt. Temple, "we are going up there," and then they would look at us like we were insane.

Our first good look at our route up Temple. Much snowier than we were expecting. Red arrow shows our turn-around spot at the 2nd grey band

From Sentinel Pass, we were surprised and relieved to see that there was already a boot-pack up the scrambling route and we could see another party up high on the mountain. We followed their tracks up, but were soon passing the other scramblers as they turned back, stating "the snow was really deep up high." We wanted to have a look for ourselves so kept going. Eventually we had passed all 7 of the other scramblers and had to start breaking our own trail. This occurred just above the first grey band (below the red arrow on the photo above). Typically the scrambling route goes up the rocks to the right of the gully marked by the arrow. Because of the snowy conditions, scrambling up the rocks was out of the question so we attempted the gully. It turns out that the others were correct and the snow just got deeper and deeper. It was a full on tunneling mission up the steep slope and eventually we had had enough of snow walrusing and turned back. We had spent almost an hour in the gully and had barely made it 100 m.

Deep snow forced us to turn back

It was a quick descent back to Sentinal Pass and without our objective figuratively looming over us anymore, we were able to take some breaks and enjoy the views.

Another brave scrambler (in jeans) approaches to try his luck on Temple. He actually ended up making it higher than we did.

Slip-sliding my way down Mt. Temple

Views of Pinnacle Mountain (foreground), Eiffel Peak (behind Pinnacle) and the tarn below

Great view of 3/4 couloir, it looks ready to ski!

We stopped for lunch down in the valley, then joined up with some new hikers for the descent to Moraine Lake. Despite turning around, we still had a pretty big day and I was thankful for a warm trailer and cold beer to return too. It looks like the summer scrambling season is coming to a close and we will be strapping on skis sooner rather than later. I can't wait!

Kyle in the snow

Larch Valley!

Beautiful fall colours

Lake Louise Teahouse Challenge

16 km

400 m elevation

It was a cold, wet morning when Kyle and I left the warm cozy trailer at the Lake Louise Campground. Our climbing plans shot, we made our way to one of the most photographed lakes in Canada with a plan to visit the two teahouses in the area, Lake Agnes Teahouse and Plain of the Six Glaciers Teahouse. It is possible to hike to both teahouses in a 14.6 km circuit with new views around every corner. 

We started with the Lake Agnes Teahouse. This is a popular destination for visitors to Lake Louise because it is only 3.6 km from the Chateau Lake Louise, although it is a bit of a grind up 400 m of switchbacks and stairs. We managed to snag a table and enjoyed a hot pot of tea with tea biscuits at our first stop on our teahouse challenge. 

Fairview Mountain towers above Lake Louise with a dusting of new snow

Waterton Hikes: Carthew-Alderson Trail

Distance: 20 km one way

Elevation Gain: 650 m

The Carthew-Alderson Trail is best done starting at Cameron Lake. Since this trailhead parking lot is currently under construction and the road is closed to public vehicles, there are free shuttles being offered to take hikers up to the trailhead. You need to reserve a spot on the shuttle, preferably a few days in advance if the weather looks good. Taking the shuttle was really nice because we didn't have to go retrieve our car at the end of the day as the hike finishes right in the town of Waterton.

We showed up early so we wouldn't miss our 8 am shuttle, and were actually early enough that we got on the 7:30! There were 9 other hikers on the bus, 6 of which were doing the same hike as us. When we got dropped off at the trailhead, Alan and I were first on the trail. Within a few hundred metres we came across a small lake with a large moose wading around. We must have spent 20 minutes watching him dunk his head and eat the weeds. It was fascinating to watch this huge animal, especially when he would shake the water from his antlers.

Mr. Moose eating his breakfast

Waterton Hikes: Bertha Lake

Distance: 11 km return (+4km around lake)

Elevation Gain: 460 m

Sunday morning was grey, drizzly and cold. Alan and I went for breakfast in town then decided to be productive and do something. We chose the Bertha Lake trail because it was less committing (we left the camper at noon) and because we knew we would be missing out on any vistas the other hikes promised due to low cloud cover. The trail was wet and muddy initially, but had better drainage higher up. There was a nice lookout over Waterton Lake early in the hike, but the majority of the walk was switchbacks in the trees. The best part was the bridge at Bertha Falls.

Bertha Falls near the start of the hike

Waterton Hikes: Crypt Lake

Distance: 19 km return

Elevation Gain: 700m

For Labour Day weekend, Alan had booked Northover Ridge and we were all set to go backpacking in Kananaskis. Unfortunately as the weekend approached, the weather forecast grew more and more dismal. Chilly temperatures with sleet and snow did not sound very appealing, and we made a last minute decision to cancel the trip. This was the second Labour Day weekend in 2 years that Alan has had to pull the plug on for Northover Ridge. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Instead, we drove to Waterton National Park in Southern Alberta where the forecast was marginally better and we would have the luxury of staying in Alan's camper. This was my first trip to Waterton and I wanted to tick off some of the classic hikes. The one I had heard the most about was Crypt Lake.

To access the Crypt Lake trail, you need to cross Waterton Lake. There is a company that provides boat rides across for $24 per person, and leaves the town of Waterton at 9 and 10 am, with return trips at 4 and 5:30. Unfortunately, this means that there are waves of hikers leaving the trailhead all at the same time and your day is limited by the return boat. Unaware of these facts and solely because we are cheap, we had borrowed an inflatable kayak from a friend with the intention of paddling across the lake under our own power.

Geared up for our crossing of Waterton Lake

Climbing the Chief: Calculus Crack to Squamish Butt Face (Butt Lite)

The alarm buzzed and I pretended not to hear it. "Lets get a move on" Kyle urged. We were trying to beat the Saturday rush to the bottom of Calculus Crack (5.8, 7 pitches) and I was really glad we had pulled the plug on the little campground party that had been happening outside our trailer the night before at 10:30, evicting the boulder pad sitting beer drinkers into the night to find another campsite to occupy while swapping stories, meeting climbing partners and planning adventures for the days ahead. The Chief Campground is a temporary home for climbers from all over the world who have descended on Squamish with one thing on their minds, climbing the amazing granite and world-class cracks. Some are only there briefly, others manage to avoid the park wardens and stay well beyond the maximum 14 day limit, which occasionally means having to pack up and leave for a day or two before returning for a new 14 day stretch. Everyone dreams of showers and seems to talk about them incessantly, but nobody seems to have time (or money) to spare on this highly praised commodity. The days blur, scraped up hands turn to callous and the tick list never seems to get any shorter despite climbing something new every day.

My interpretation of our route up the Chief - do not use for beta! Calculus Crack - Broomstick Crack - Squamish Buttress - Butt Lite

Europa! 5.8 A0

Europa - 5.8 A0, Trad 

7 pitches, 260 metres

Topo for Europa from the VOC Wiki

The Birth Canal - A Squamish Rite of Passage

Upon my arrival in Squamish, Tyler took us into the boulders for a night-time wander. It was fun checking out the area in the dark, but the purpose of the mission was to show us the Birth Canal, a tiny squeeze between two boulders that is apparently a Squamish rite of passage. One of Tylers friends showed us how it was done and slithered through with what seemed to be no effort at all. Angela went next. It took her a few more minutes but she wiggled her way through in no time.

Angela making it look easy

Mt Abbott Hike - Rogers Pass

Mt Abbott via Abbott Ridge Trail

Distance: 14 km round trip

Elevation: 1200m

Trailhead: Illecillewaet Campground

Summit of Mt. Abbott. Looking back down the ridge towards the trail

When I started looking up hikes in Roger's Pass, Abbott Ridge was by far the most highly recommended because of its spectacular vistas. I met Patrick and Rebecca in Revelstoke for the weekend and wanted to show them the beauty of the pass, and to convince them that they need to come back and visit me more often! Abbott Ridge was the obvious choice. The hike starts at the day use area of the Illecillewaet Campground, along with a number of other hikes. The trailhead has a great map with trail descriptions that was much more useful than the hiking guide pamphlet I had picked up at the visitor centre the day before. There was a bear warning for the area, but Abbott Ridge was the only hiking trail that didn't require traveling in groups of 4. I had the bear spray close at hand anyway. For people wanting to hike the other trails, a check point was available where you could wait and join up with other groups to ensure everyone was in a big enough group. 

Baynes Lake Relaxation

Jenn invited us to her parent's little slice of heaven on Baynes Lake for a weekend in mid July. Our climbing plans had fallen through due to the forecast and it was a rare treat to get away for some R&R. Upon arrival, Kyle and I went for a swim and Kyle promptly lost his wedding ring in the lake. What a disaster! We tried to look for it with headlamps but there was no way we were finding it in the dark. The next morning, Kyle was out on a paddleboard hunting for it without success. He was going to require some additional tools to help him in his hunt. 

Beautiful Baynes Lake as seen from the cabin porch

Revelstoke Long Weekend

When I think of Revelstoke, I usually think of skiing, but as I found out last August Long Weekend, there are plenty of summer activities also! For our second annual Revelstoke Long Weekend, we met up with David, KD and Tristan for a few days of biking and climbing. This was my first time riding in Revi and the trails were all time. We spent Saturday morning and Monday afternoon shuttling Boulder Mountain, and did a really long shuttle up Sale Mountain to ride the legendary Martha's Creek Trail on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to the unstable weather, we did a lot more biking than we had anticipated, because after all, who really wants to climb in the rain? The theme of the weekend was getting caught in thunderstorms and trying to squeeze activities in between monsoons.

Stoked to drop in at the top of Martha's Creek - Kyle Duran Photo

Bugaboo Redemption

Sunday morning at Applebee Dome

Two trips to the Bugs in one summer? Most excellent! Kyle was returning to the Bugaboos to climb with his friend Woody who works at the Bugaboo CMH Lodge and I wasn't going to let that happen without me. I even offered to drive and hike in on my own after class Saturday night if they wanted to go earlier than me, but it ended up working out for Kyle and I to leave Calgary at 4 and meet Woody up at camp. Woody had the luxury of a few extra days off and took that opportunity to check out Cobalt Lake before we arrived.

Rejected at Takakkaw Falls

I had a weekday off so we took the trailer out to Field, BC to camp and climb Takakkaw Falls, a 5.7 11 pitch mixed route up the side of the Takakkaw Falls. The forecast looked great and we went to bed early so we could have a good start in the morning. It poured rain overnight and we awoke to grey skies. So much for the awesome forecast, it had morphed into "chance of showers" all day. What the heck?! We decided to just stick to the plan and go for it, maybe the rain would miss us.

No trailers are allowed up the road to the falls because of 3 steep switchbacks, so we parked the trailer at the campground and drove up the road to the viewpoint and start of the hiking trails. There are lots of popular hikes in the area, including the Ice Line trail which I would really like to return and do at some point. This was my first time ever seeing Takakkaw Falls and they are pretty impressive, and one of the tallest waterfalls in Canada at 384 metres high with a 254 metre freefall!

Instructions on how to get up the road in big vehicles (reverse up the 2nd switchback!)

Sister Hang-Out

Angela came to visit! We had all these great plans to do lots of climbing, and take her on her first alpine route, but "Monsoon June/July" kept us a bit closer to home. We took advantage of the poor forecast to head to the Calgary Stampede and watch the rodeo, then Angela showed us all up at Nashville North with her 2-stepping dance moves.

Angela making friends with Harry the Horse at the Rodeo

Bugamoon - Marriage and Mountains

Are you ready for a long one?? Last month was unbelievable. A mere 7 months after Kyle's proposal in Smith Rock, we were on our way to Fernie to tie the knot. We had people from all over the world come to celebrate with us and it was so amazing to see friends and family from all different parts of our lives in one place together. It was a full weekend of fun and although the weather wasn't the most cooperative, I can't think of a better way to start my life with Kyle than in the forest getting rained on. A huge shout out to Miranda Weston Photography for capturing the day so well and being such a great sport!

Tying the knot, for real!

Canmore Triple Crown

Within a month of moving to Calgary, I had already heard about the Canmore Triple Crown, but it took 3 years of living here to finally do it. If you haven't heard of the Triple Crown, it requires the completion of 3 popular hikes around Canmore in a day (Ha Ling, East End of Rundle aka EEOR and Lady MacDonald). It sounded achievable but grueling and despite tossing the idea around many brainstorm sessions, there was always something more appealing on the table and thus it never budged from its place low on ever growing list of weekend activities. A bad weather forecast was shutting us down from our original weekend trip and I threw out the idea of going for the Triple Crown, since you can scramble in any weather. To my surprise, it was met with enthusiasm so we got an early night on Friday in anticipation of a big day of hiking.

Views of misty mountains from Lady Mac

The Weekend Where We Lost All Our Stuff - The Fold Mt Kidd and The North Ridge of Wasootch Tower

Gripped Magazine recently published a list of 4 moderate alpine climbs off of Kananaskis Highway. Included in that list was Joy, a great climb we did a few years ago. Based on that, and the raving reviews on the route description, we decided that the Fold on Mt Kidd (11 pitches, 5.8 trad) would be a great day out. We got off to a slow start after having to register for our campsite and relocate the trailer at the crack of 9 when the campers centre opened. Our next obstacle was the fact that the Galeta Trailhead Parking was closed for the spring. We checked the map and saw that were weren't going to be on any closed trails during our approach, but we still had to park on the highway as the gate was closed. It was a long, steep approach but followed a well worn trail and the route itself was very obvious even from the highway. Unfortunately it just wasn's our day. Maybe Gripped hyped the climb up too much or maybe we just didn't do the route properly, but I found this route to be much more of an adventure than I was hoping for! 

Looking up at Mt Kidd and the Fold

Plutonian Shore 5.9 Raven Crag

The alarm buzzed at 7 am on a sunny Sunday morning. Kyle rolled over and hit dismiss and we fell back to sleep. No alpine start for us today! We finally left Calgary at 10:30 am, heading for Banff to climb Plutonian Shore, a 5.9 sport multi-pitch route. After sitting in traffic on Highway 1, only a few kilometers west of the Cochrane turn-off, we bailed on that and turned around, heading for the 1A. We were not the only ones who had that idea and it took us forever to get through Cochrane. As a result, we finally made it to Canmore around 12:30. To add to the faff of the day we stopped to drop some shoes off to be resoled and picked up a coffee. Finally, we made it to Banff and parked at the Cave and Basin parking lot to head for Raven Crag.

The approach was very straight-forward. We followed the paved road to the bottom of the hill, then took the dirt trail up to the left (identified by a sign indicating area closures). About 300 metres up the trail, there was a small cairn marking a narrow trail heading up to the left. Once we were on the trail, it was easy to follow the cairns up to the crag. At the fork, we took the lower left trail which traversed under the cliffs. The descent trail joined back up with the approach trail at that same fork. The start of the climb was at the end of the traverse trail and was obvious thanks to the well bolted route.

Kyle leads the second pitch

Black Rock Mountain - Hiking in the Ghost

Distance: 10 km round trip

Elevation Gain: 900m

Difficulty: moderate hike/easy scramble

-some scree and loose rock on the steeper bits above the treeline and near the summit

For Mother's Day, Kyle wanted to plan an adventure. We took his family into the Ghost to show them a different part of the Rockies and to hike Black Rock Mountain. It was warm and sunny when we left Calgary and had been unseasonable warm all week. The adventure began before we reached the turn off to the Ghost when we saw a fox along the side of the road. The day was off to a good start already. There were plenty of people camping out above the big hill, but as we descended into the river valley, it wasn't as busy as we were expecting. We drove north for a few km, following the riverbed to a small orange diamond marker with a 37 on it. There were about 8 cars already there so we knew we were at the trailhead, and where everybody was! It was an uneventful drive, with no water to cross at all. We walked across the dry river bed to the northern shore where a steep trail rose up onto the bank. Half of the old trail sign was there marking the way, as the start of the trail had been washed away by the flood. Once we were on the bank however, the trail was wide and well traveled. We had no problems finding our way.

Lots of sunshine on Phantom Crag

Rundlehorn

We have been having a beautiful April! With a forecast of 20 degrees, Jen and I decided to warm up our climbing for the season on the Rundlehorn, an easy 5.5 multi-pitch that claims to be 11 pitches, but really is only about 5 if you skip stations and use your whole rope. We parked at the falls because the golf course road was closed for construction. This added a few minutes of walking, but the approach was still really quick and we were at the bottom of the route before we knew it.

Nice morning view of the Banff Springs Hotel

Northwest Territories

For the first time since I was probably about 9, I traveled to a new region of Canada! Despite living in Canada my whole life and living in 3 different provinces, I have only visited 5 provinces and had never been to any Territories. This March, I was able to tick one off the list thanks to a rural elective through school. But wait, I am getting ahead of myself! First I spent 2 weeks in northern Alberta, in a town called High Level. High Level is over 1000 km from Calgary (mostly north) and the entire drive was dead flat. I had been warned to watch for animals along the highway and there were signs everywhere warning drivers of deer and moose, but the only animal I saw was Khyber, my travel companion hedgehog. There wasn't much worth stopping to check out, but it was pretty cool to be driving through places that I had only ever heard of in high school geography like Peace River. The most exciting part was the intersection where the highway split into the Alaska Highway to the west and the Mackenzie Highway to the north, a pretty cool landmark in my mind and a place to return to for future adventures.

Heading due north on the Mackenzie Highway

Rogers Pass - Puff Daddy

For the second time in two months, we got the privilege of skiing with David and Tyler, and this time Tristan came along too! After a slow drive out to Revelstoke through a snowstorm, we spent the night in the Revelstoke Mountain parking lot. The other guys had skied the resort on Friday and had talked us into driving past Rogers Pass and joining them for another resort day on Saturday. It was well worth the extra kilometers and we had a fantastic time at Revelstoke before heading up to the pass for the night. We spent the night in the trailer (David and Tyler slept in their Subaru) and woke up to a brilliant sunny day. I am pretty sure everyone I know was checking in at the visitor centre, and it turned into a very social morning before we got on the trail.

Sunny skies and fresh snow in Roger's Pass

Ghoster Coaster

I have been wanting to climb with Brett for a long time, so when he suggested Ghoster Coaster, I was double stoked! I have wanted to try that route for a while. We invited a few extra people to join us, knowing quite well that it would make the day a bit more of a faff. In a surprising turn of events, we slept through our alarm and were awakened by a phone call from Charlie wondering where we were. As we scrambled to get out the door, the friends we had invited went ahead without us, and Alan had to meet everyone without us there. Despite oversleeping and my headache from a bit too much wine the night before, we arrived at the climb to find Charlie and Alan working on the first pitch of ice. 

One of the lower pitches on the route

Huckleberry Hut

Christmas Day: Kyle and I spent the day alternating between family Christmas celebrations and frantically attempting to pack for our trip to the Bonningtons.

The mess that eventually turned into a (relatively) neatly packed truck

Fernie - Resort Pow

I don't normally post about resort days, but the two days we had in Fernie before Christmas were spectacular! The hill was empty, there was fresh snow every night and the sun came out. Merry Christmas indeed! There isn't much more to say other than I forgot how amazing the Volkl One's are in the resort. They were perfect for all the tight trees we found but still performed great in the chutes and deep open powder in the bowls. I am in love!

Welcome to Fernie - I haven't taken the Volkl One's out in a while!

First ride up White Pass for the year

Laps of Cedar Bowl

Barely tracked, just waiting for us!

Chairlift selfie

Kyle finds a stash of pow after lunch

Lots of alders in the landing

All smiles back at the truck - the Volkl One's were awesome!!