Walls of Stone Part 2 – Little Elbow

The City of Calgary is built at the confluence of two rivers – the Bow and the Elbow. Most non- Calgarians are more familiar with the Bow River, which follows the TransCanada Highway west and stretches back into the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains, through world famous Banff National Park. The Elbow is the lesser known of the two, but as a kid we used to go on drives with my parents out to Elbow Falls and the Moose Mountain ice caves. As teens we would have rowdy, random camping trips on the May Long Weekend along the nearby Elbow Valley. I remember camping below the ice caves and watching a long torch light procession of kids climbing up the mountainside to the caves. This was all before the establishment of Kananaskis Country. Calgary has grown a great deal and there are many more facilities and regulations in the Elbow valley these days.

Elbow Headwaters Group in Center of image - bracketed by the Elbow(on the left) and Little Elbow(on the right)   Google Earth

 

 

 

Southwest of the outlier of Moose Mountain, the Little Elbow meets the Elbow River. The confluence of these two rivers is at the eastern foot of the spectacular “Elbow Headwaters Group”. Visible from Calgary, these mountains include Banded and Outlaw Peaks, Mount Cornwall and the striking pyramid and bowl of Mount Glasgow. The Big Elbow trail follows the Elbow River around the south of this massive collection of limestone peaks. We were following the Little Elbow River around the north of Mount Glasgow.

There was nothing difficult about this preliminary hike into the mountains. We traveled westward along the old road, which has long been closed to vehicles. Many people day hike from the Little Elbow campground up onto nearby Nihahi Ridge. We were quickly past the turn off to Nihahi Creek - a dry rocky valley which branches north and far back into the Fisher Range. The outflow from an ancient extinct glacier has carved an interesting canyon through the limestone headwall not far from the trailhead and is worth a visit.

The only real question mark was the crossing of the Little Elbow about halfway to camp. It was an icy, but easy crossing on that July 11^th day. The bridge had been washed away in the catastrophe of the 2013 floods, which did so much damage downstream that year. We removed our boots and put on our sandals to make the crossing. While we were preparing ourselves, a mild rain shower began. It had been a very dry, hot summer up to that point. A smoky haze due to forest fires in British Columbia and Northern Saskatchewan hung over Alberta for weeks. I had prepared myself for a possibly sweltering backpack trip by walking to the bottom of the Red Deer River valley and climbing back out again several times a week on the hot days of June and July. Both Don and I had braced ourselves for the heat, but now after only an hour or two it was cooling and beginning to rain.

We talked to a mountain biker who knew the trail quite well at the crossing. We found it amusing to count the many different machetes and buck knives the well-bearded individual was carrying. He became “knife-man” whenever we talk about our journeys. 

Mounts Romulus and Remus

As we made our way west, I could see my first close-up views of the limestone cliffs of Mounts Romulus and Remus. It was exciting to see the eastern face of the familiar and magnificent Opal Range looming above the West Fork. I had never before seen the backside of Mount Blane and “The Blade” – its west face is well-known to those familiar with King Creek Canyon and Ridge off of Alberta’s Highway 40.

The backcountry campground at Mount Romulus was officially closed (due to flood damage), but we found there were actually quite a few camping pads available. The bear-proof food bins were still intact. Clouds were billowing east over the Opals toward us, as we set up camp. I shot some time-lapse footage of Don raising his lightweight “MSR Hubba-Hubba” two man tent. We strung up my silicone tarp above the picnic table. That turned out to be a good thing as rain began to pour down almost immediately. This was a complete surprise. The temperatures were in the 80’s when we set out and it had cooled considerably. 

It rained that night and well into the next morning. What we didn’t know was that this was a turning point in the weather pattern. Almost the entire trip took place in cool, wet conditions. There was at least some rain almost every day after that. Many of the nights were extremely cool, especially at high altitudes. This took away from the pleasure of our journeys, but one should always be prepared for any eventuality when traveling the mountains. That said, we were already enjoying ourselves.

We both appreciated the beauty of this quiet front-range valley. I was delighted to be back in the Rockies!

Walls of Stone – Across the Rocky Mountains - Part 1

"One journey ends where another begins."

Prologue

It has taken some time to finally sit down and begin writing about my backpack trip across one of the great mountain ranges of the world – the Canadian Rockies. It always takes a while to get my head around something so momentous. I return home from my adventures and a numbness sets in. Most of my normal life is spent trying to block out all of the distractions around me and concentrate on the task at hand. I then find it challenging to transition to a mode where I want to take everything in. When we bare ourselves to the terrible beauty of nature, it can be overwhelming. The world is immense and we are insignificant in comparison.

Part 1- The Story So Far

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”

 John Muir

This was the second great journey of my life. The first one was over ten years ago, when I traveled solo along the length of Alberta’s Red Deer River. One journey ends where another begins. The last trip concluded with a back injury, so I decided that my backpacking career was at an end. That is what later got me interested in ultralight-weight backpacking, which inspired me to give it one last try. 

At the end point of my Red Deer River journey - looking down on the forks from the "Bull's Forehead"

I began to pore over maps and spend hours staring at “Google Earth” and I found what I thought might be a way to traverse the entire Rocky Mountains, from east to west. The goal was to stay in the backcountry as much as possible, with a minimum of road walking. My route followed established trails. Not much was undiscovered country – I had just put it all together into one long backpack trip. I shared my ideas with experienced hiker, kayaker, skier and mountain guide Don Wales and he agreed that my plans seemed reasonable. Later he decided to come along.

One of my daily walks - frozen Hummock Lake in the background.

The first substantial thing that I did was in the winter and spring of 2014. I lost 30 pounds. I don’t have any secrets to share about how I managed that – I just ate less food and weighed myself every day. It was a necessary first step. I did as many day hikes as possible that summer and fall in Kananaskis Country and Waterton Lakes National Park. Once daylight savings time arrived in the spring of 2015, I began to walk daily. I am lucky to live in the countryside and I ambled around the pretty knob and kettle parkland that is my home, with its hills and hummocky terrain. 

 

 By July all my bookings were made, my gear was bought and I packed my backpack. I was aiming for it to be around 30 pounds and I weighed myself with the pack on and came to a strange realization. The scales read 215 pounds, which seemed like a familiar number. I quickly realized that this was my former size (sans backpack) when I first began my endeavors. I took the pack off and looked at it. Thirty pounds! Seeing it in front of me really brought home how much that really is and how far I had already come. I was in the best shape that I had been in for a dozen years – maybe longer. I hoped that it would be enough.

On July Tenth 2015, Don, my wife Bev and I drove to Boulton Campground, in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. We set up our base camp. The next day Bev drove Don and I to Little Elbow Campground, at the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains. There was no time for ceremony. We bent the rules (something we would have to do again later) and drove through the campground to the Little Elbow trailhead. We hurriedly disembarked from the truck and said our goodbyes. It was a strange, surreal feeling. After years of planning and preparation, there we were! The mountains were ahead of us, with all their promise of beauty, adventure, hard work and danger.

We began to walk…

 

Walls of Stone - Ötzi and Me: Mountain Travelers

Ötzi
copyright unknown

In 1991 one of the most fascinating archeological discoveries of our time was made in the Ötztal  Alps on the border of Austria and Italy. The frozen, mummified body of a man had washed out of a glacier high in the mountains. It was discovered by hikers, recovered and investigated by scientists and determined to be over 5000 years old! I followed the investigations through the excellent PBS television program NOVA. If you haven't seen these episodes, I can't recommend them highly enough. It is a fascinating story.

Me

I couldn't help remembering  Ötzi as I make preparations for my traverse of our Rocky Mountains this summer. We often think of stone or bronze age people as "primitive", but he was kitted out with all the latest gear of his time. Of all the things we have learned about this mountain man, this is the most interesting revelation as far as I am concerned. Though I am hoping not to be found frozen in ice 5000 years hence, I begin to see how similar we really are...

Traveling the mountains might have been more of a necessity to him, but it probably was his passion too. He was well equipped to roam the high mountains, just as I will need to be. The "Iceman" was obviously a man of means and his equipment was top-of-the-line for its day.



By Bullenwächter (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
 or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

His copper axe is a prime example of surprisingly advanced technology. If you excuse the pun it would have been "cutting edge" in its day and very useful. I'm not an expert, but I believe its discovery has changed many archeologist's ideas of  what technology was available in Europe at the time. I will not be taking an axe. There are lightweight ones available that would be suitable for backpacking, but (unlike Ötzi) I live in a time where people need to be concerned about our environmental footprint. We will not be making fires because they will not be necessary. We are taking efficient light-weight stoves for cooking.He carried a knife in a sheath that is very much like the hunting knives we use today. Ours are usually made with a stainless steel blade, where his was made of flint. I was considering taking a hunting knife, but instead I have opted for the more practical Swiss-Army style.



angelfire.com

His backpack was made of hazel-wood, larch and goat skin and looks like it would have been quite useful. My super-lightweight Osprey Exos 58 is made mostly of rip-stop nylon and aluminum. It's strength and function is due mostly to how it has been engineered. It is the lightest backpack of its size that I could find.



angelfire.com

His clothing was very advanced and functional for its day - made skillfully out of woven grasses and leather. Pants had not yet been invented. I will have pants! Most of my clothing will be made of water resistant and waterproofed lightweight polymers. He wore a hat made of brown bear fur (an animal that has been extinct in Europe for four thousand years). I am planning on taking a ball cap and a broad-brimmed hat to keep the sun off my head. His shoes were made of leather. My Keens contain some leather with various plastic materials.

angelfire.com

Ötzi was probably armed. A quiver containing a dozen arrows was found near his body. I do have a modern compound bow, but I will not be taking it. I will however be armed with pepper spray, as a last resort in the case of bear attack. I hope it will never come to that!

angelfire.com

He also had a birch bark container that some say was used to carry glowing embers for fire making. I will be carrying such modern high tech items as matches and a few "Bick Click" lighters - items that we take for granted, but I'm sure they would seriously impress the Iceman.

I dream of meeting Ötzi on the mountain-top of my imagination. We stop to chat and have a bite to eat. We compare our various gear and share some of our experiences, then we part ways. I descend my beloved Canadian Rocky Mountains and he wanders across his high Alps and into the mists of time. Our lives are separated by the rise and fall of many empires, yet we share a past-time that remains virtually untouched by the march of time. We are backpackers - mountain travelers, timeless and unchanged.

Walls of Stone - Of Latitude and Altitude...

From an article I wrote in 2012 for the Red Deer River Naturalist newsletter.

At the Grand Canyon, 8500 feet above sea level is a tourist walk.

As a long-time hiker of our Canadian Rockies, I couldn't help but recognize the importance of altitude in the creation of the different mountain eco-zones. I also understood(at least in theory) the correlation between altitude and latitude. Climbing up a mountain is very similar to traveling North toward the Arctic circle. The two trips that my wife and I took this past summer really brought this idea home to me and allowed me to actually experience some of the things that I have heard and read.

In mid-July we pulled our trailer West to Alberta's Kananaskis Country for our customary two weeks of camping and hiking. It had been a few years since we had a chance to be in the Rocky mountains during the peak flower season and I was savoring the experience.



The kind of signs one might see in the Montane Zone

The one thing that almost all of our hikes share is a gain of altitude and ascendant eco-zones. Low zone on the totem-pole in the Canadian Rockies is the Montane zone. This is the one that most casual visitors to Banff are familiar with. There are lots of trees -typically pine and spruce. There are also plenty of larger animals and people, with their roads, railroads, towns, resorts and campgrounds.

 As you hike up and out of the valley bottoms you notice that the kinnikinnick which carpets the understory is replaced by feather mosses and the trees are more typically Engleman Spruce, subalpine fir, white-barked pine and perhaps Lyall's larch. Also there are fewer trees and more meadows. As you gain altitude there become even less trees and the ones that you do see tend to be smaller. They often occur in groups of stunted trees huddled together known as "Krummholz".

Three Lakes Valley - entering the subalpine/alpine zone.

As you climb even higher you may enter into the alpine zone. Meadows in this zone contain no trees. Plants and flowers tend to be small and very low to the ground. Subalpine and alpine areas may contain less familiar creatures such as the pika and hoary marmot. The Clark's nutcracker replaces the gray or Canada jay of the montane forest. I always feel privileged to visit the alpine zone, but I know it is (by necessity) for a short period. The month of year and the time of day leave small windows, where I can comfortably spend time in the alpine. Whenever I am there, I make the most of it. I endeavor to take in all the sights, sounds and scents before I trudge back down the mountain.

One of the hikes we did this year(for the first time ever) was a trip up Plateau Mountain, located in the southern most part of K- Country. Unique in the Rockies, this mountain is indeed a high plateau, and its flat summit contains a large alpine area. In one area of the summit, we observed rocks arranged in polygon patterns on ground. I have never been to the arctic, but I have seen in films and books  where this same phenomena occurs as a result of the action of permafrost just under the surface of the tundra.

In Kananaskis country, tree-line is about 2300 metres or around 7500 feet above sea level. Above this altitude is the alpine zone. As one makes their way further north the tree-line becomes lower and of course it is higher the more you head south... I realized this fact, but it wasn't until a trip South to the North rim of the Grand Canyon that I ever really experienced it for myself.

In the Canadian Rockies, 8500 feet above sea level certainly isn't a tourist walk.

It was part of our first summer trip of 2012 to the beautiful Southwest United States. We were staying in the town of Kanab in Southwest Utah and one day (in late May) we drove further south into Arizona through what is typical of the desert - sand  and sandstone interspersed with pinion pine and Utah juniper. Imagine the cartoon loop through which Wile E. Coyote chases Roadrunner - this might give you the idea of the terrain, if you've never been. As the road began to climb, I noticed a sign "6500 feet above sea level". There were more trees. We began to see a forest of Ponderosa pine such as you might see in the Rocky mountain trench of Southeastern British Columbia. I saw one more sign; "7200 feet". That really got me thinking. "If I was in Alberta..."

Our first visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was extremely enjoyable and in the late afternoon we attended a lecture on the geology of the canyon. The speaker began by asking if any of the people there had been to Glacier National Park in Montana and most of the crowd put up their hands. Then she told us that we were all sitting atop the Colorado Plateau at an altitude of 8500 feet above sea level - higher than almost every mountain summit in Glacier. We were a thousand feet above Alberta's tree-line and yet we had a spruce forest all around us. From bottom to top, the Grand Canyon also has layered ecosystems of its own. Sonoran to Hudsonian, they are representative of those from Mexico to Canada.

A visitor from the east once told me (after a brief visit) that he personally didn't like the mountains. I was incredulous and replied that if you don't like the mountains where you are, just walk up a few hundred feet and look around at a whole different environment and if you don't like that continue on up... The ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains are the nature of Canada in microcosm; foothills and parkland, montane  and boreal , subalpine and hemi arctic, alpine and arctic - the correlation may not be exact, but it is a close enough model for this layman. Perhaps one day I will visit the Arctic and gain a better understanding of an aspect of the natural world that has fascinated me throughout my life.

Walls of Stone - Return to the Highwood

As I tucked myself in for the night, I could hear the sound of drums resonating from across the river. I smiled.  We were camped in Eden Valley, west of Longview Alberta and our neighbors were members of the Bearspaw Nakoda Sioux First Nation. I have always loved this valley surrounding the Upper Highwood River and it was my last night of four spent back at this gateway to the Rocky Mountains. It had been a good few days.

Mount Armstrong

We were there to hike and Wednesday we wandered up Highway 40, which is closed and gated for the winter at Highwood House. It was nice to be able to walk up the paved road past amazing views of the Highwood River and Mount Armstrong. The rocky great divide summits of Mounts Muir and McPhail (known as the Pyramid) were visible above the grassy open slopes of the Strawberry Hills. We made a return trip to Strawberry Equestrian Campground under Azure skies. It was cool as it usually is in the Highwood, even under the uninterrupted glare of the sun. The day's outing was an unusual type of hike, but a good warm-up with a backpack at mountain altitudes. I found myself thinking of the possibilities of making a lengthy backpack up the Highway that is closed until June 15 and the many possible side trips that radiate from the roadway. It would be nice to have the valley to oneself.

 

The second day began with an abortive walk down Cataract Creek from the campground. We decided to cut that lackluster thrash short and instead venture up Fir Creek in the Bull Creek Hills. That turned out to be an excellent choice. It had probably been over twenty five years since I had ventured up Fir Creek and I had honestly forgotten what a pretty hike it was. The display of early season wildflowers was the most amazing one that I have ever seen at an altitude lower than subalpine. We counted over twenty varieties of  flowering plants. The compressed growing season means that one can see early spring flowers, such as prairie crocus (anemone) on a hillside next to the first few red paintbrush. We spent hours hiking and stopping to identify flowers.

Day 3 was definitely the most spectacular of the bunch, as we returned to the Bull Creek Hills and headed north up Pack Trail Coulee to the aptly named Grass Pass. From the pass, I looked south down the u-shaped glacially carved valley to the river 450 metres below. Across the river another valley mirrors Pack Trail Coulee - Zephyr Creek valley cuts south between the Bear Creek Hills and Mount Burke. Looking out of the mouth of either valley provides excellent views of the opposite one. We have spent many days over the years wandering both valleys in spring, summer and fall. I must caution those that might be tempted to cross the Highwood in the spring. The river may be higher in the afternoon and evening than when you initially forded its ice cold waters in the early morning light. There's nothing more galling and potentially dangerous than being stranded for a cold night within sight of your waiting vehicle.

Looking down Pack Trail Coulee toward Highwood River and Zephyr Creek valley.

I have used the trail to Grass Pass and beyond as an early season conditioning hike over the years, because it is usually snow-free due to the Chinook Winds that rip through the Highwood Gap. The Chinooks are a major component in the shaping of the stark environment of this unique section of the eastern slopes. The strangely beautiful and twisted limber pine that dot the summits of the hills are evidence of the power of these warm westerly winds. The most celebrated of these ancient trees is the "Boundary Pine", a particularly old and gnarled specimen, which features in Raymond Patterson's bestselling book "The Buffalo Head". It was once the southern boundary of the old ranch that reached well into the Bull Creek Hills in older days. We climbed up from the pass and walked along Fir Creek Point (peering down on the previous day's setting) until we found the famous tree and I took some time to shoot video from various angles. I plan on using the footage for a segment in an upcoming film.



Looking toward Grass pass from the Boundary Pine.
Holy Cross Mountain and Mount Head in the background.

As I drifted off to sleep that final spring night in the Highwood, I felt an elation that has eluded me for some years. There are so many magnificent places in the Rocky Mountains that (after a time) one can't help becoming jaded. Life itself can tire a person and make them more cynical about the world. Depression is like wearing blinders that shield us from the beauty all around us. After a few days in the Rockies under azure blue skies, surrounded by wildflowers, trees, meadows and those lovely hills and mountains, the old thoughts and dreams began to return. Once again I can look at these mountains and valleys and see the possibilities. Excitement is building knowing that very soon I will be returning to these mountainous heights to begin the journey of a lifetime.

Walls of Stone - Preparations in the Parkland

Time can be such a funny thing. In many ways, it feels like my hike across the Rockies can't come fast enough. In other ways, I have been afraid that I won't have enough time to prepare. There are less than three months to go now, and April has been a time of near-constant preparation.

Expert skier; Don Wales in a classic pose

The first news this spring was good news. Somebody that I have known for quite a few years decided that he would be able to join me on my trek. Don Wales is the current president of the Red Deer River Naturalists and is a very experienced hiker, skier and kayaker. In recent years he has been mounting kayaking expeditions to various parts of the Arctic. So far he has completed trips to Labrador, Baffin Island, Greenland and Iceland. I can't help being slightly intimidated by the breadth of his experience. Neither one of us have ever set out on a journey like the one we will be attempting this summer, so it will be the "undiscovered country" for us both. Having two of us to share the load and duties will mean that my list of "items to bring" may be shortened, but some additional planning will be necessary.

Don on one of his many kayaking adventures

A fellow can't just walk across the mountains these days. Backcountry passes and reserved campsites are mandatory and must be booked within a maximum of 90 days in advance. I have had to keep one eye on the calendar this month. The bookings in Alberta's Kananaskis Country can be made on two different websites - one for front country and one for back country camping. The National Park back country sites must be booked by phone. As of yesterday everything is booked - including Kootenay Park Lodge (which I reserved in January). That means that the dreaded bureaucratic part of my preparations is over.

One of the great things about living in the country where I reside is that there are a lot of wild, hilly places where I can walk. The knob and kettle parkland of Central Alberta (east of Red Deer) is reminiscent of the foothills west of Calgary. Woods of balsam poplar and aspen remind me of some of the early season hikes that my wife and I would do to warm up for the season's mountain adventures. Death Valley in the Sheep River region and the Bull Creek Hills in the Highwood were two of our favorites in days gone by.

Now it is just a five minute drive to what I have come to call my "Three Lakes Trail" in the woods and hills that are visible to the south of my house. I have resolved to walk these trails at least five days a week. Part of the inspiration for my new regimen was taken from a video made by Tegan Powell; the daughter of an old friend.  "One Month in Nature" is a challenge to get out in nature for an hour every day for a month. I have found it is good for my mental as well as physical well being and it has been an interesting way to "walk into spring". From the near silence of winter to the increasingly busy landscape and soundscape of spring, I have noticed the subtle changes in nature every day. I can't help but appreciate the sights and sounds of geese, swans and red tailed hawks overhead,  the ruffed grouse drumming in the trees and the wood and boreal chorus frogs croaking away in the many ponds - all building toward the crescendo of spring.

The walking seems to be working. There are good days and bad days, but my legs are definitely developing some muscle and are noticeably tighter. The plans are to throw in some more difficult climbs now to build up my calves. The hill from the bottom of the Red Deer River valley at Dry Island Buffalo Jump will do nicely.  Right now I just need to keep moving, but that won't ultimately be enough. Nothing can compare to actually hiking the mountains.

Reaching the summit of Three Lakes Trail
Hummock Lake in the background