THERE ONCE WAS A GIRL FROM NANTUCKET
The French word of the day is “glaze”, which translates to “ice” in English. As in, “the showers at the Johnston Canyon Campground were as cold as glaze.”
Due to grizzly bear
activity, the Park Service requires all hikers in Paradise Valley and the
Valley of Ten Peaks to be in groups of 6 or more. It just so happens that those are two of the most scenic areas in
Banff. On Wednesday, I had signed up to
hike Paradise Valley on the message board outside of the Lake Louise Visitors
Center. I had suggested meeting at the
trailhead at 9:30, and left my cell #.
Unfortunately, by Friday morning I hadn’t received any calls. I was hoping that some folks would show up,
as my backup plan for the day, a hike up Fairview Mountain, would require
climbing more than 3000’. After
Thursday’s 18-mile hike in Yoho, I wasn’t sure I was up for that.
After breakfast, Christy
and I headed for Lake Louise. She would
not be joining me, as she planned another bike ride instead. We reached the Paradise Valley trailhead at
9:15 and found an empty parking lot. A
few minutes later, a car pulled up, and an athletic couple from Florida hopped
out. We chatted briefly, but they
didn’t want to wait around for 3 more people to show up. They took off on their own, apparently
unconcerned about grizzly bears, or patrolling park rangers.
A few minutes later,
another couple arrived, but they had only a couple of hours. That certainly wouldn’t be enough time to
hike 11 miles. They left, and I began
to seriously wonder if I could make it up Fairview Mountain. Finally another car showed up. This time it was a Spanish couple. They were eager to run a shuttle, and hike
from Moraine Lake, over Sentinel Pass, and out through Paradise Valley. At this point, I was willing to do anything
that wouldn’t require a 3000’ climb.
After a few more minutes,
a Swiss couple arrived. They had seen
my message on the signup sheet, and were interested in doing the loop. That left us with 5 people ready to hike
some version of Paradise Valley. We
needed one more. Christy began to
receive numerous appraising glances.
She was beginning to feel nervous, no doubt concerned that she might get
recruited.
By 10AM, no one else had
shown up. After much discussion, we
decided to drive down to Moraine Lake to try to recruit someone. Moraine Lake is much busier, so we thought
we’d have a better chance finding someone there. Since Moraine Lake is a fair distance from Paradise Valley, we
decided we might as well try to swing the shuttle hike. All five of us piled into one car, leaving
the other at the Paradise Valley Trailhead.
Christy headed back to Lake Louise to rent her bike, with plans to pick me
up that evening.
We reached Moraine Lake,
and wandered through the crowds spilling off the tour buses. Our mission in all of that chaos was to find
someone who looked ready for an all-day hike.
People wearing sandals, dress shoes, and high heels were immediately
dismissed. Finally we found one young
guy who looked like he was ready for anything.
It turned out he was part of a group of 4 Canadians wanting to hike to
Wenkchemna Pass, at the head of the Valley of Ten Peaks.
The Swiss couple and I
thought that sounded fine, but the Spanish couple didn’t want to do it. They had left their car back at Paradise
Valley, so we couldn’t just leave them.
The Spanish proposed a thru hike over Sentinel Pass to Paradise
Valley. The Swiss seconded the motion. Negotiations ensued. The American, who was feeling unusually
agreeable, didn’t care as long as he got to hike somewhere. The Canadians discussed their options. Messengers ran back and forth. The women went to the bathroom. Chinese was ordered for lunch. Finally, we had consensus. The hike over Sentinel Pass to Paradise
Valley was on. All that, and nobody got
bombed.
With our route decided,
everyone got acquainted and prepared to hike.
Our group consisted of:
Alex, Paul, and Katie,
from Nova Scotia
Heather, from Nantucket
Corrine and Patrick from
Switzerland
Rafaela and her husband,
from Spain
Later we picked up a girl
from Germany, but I can’t remember her name.
Ultimately, we ended up with:
3 Canadians
2 Americans
2 Swiss
2 Spaniards
1 German
And everyone got along
nicely. Maybe the real United Nations
should take a hike together.
I had originally planned
my Paradise Valley hike for Friday because it’s (relatively) flat and would
make a nice recovery after Thursday’s long hike. I was quickly reminded that I wasn’t doing that hike, as we climbed
above Moraine Lake. We stopped briefly
to speak with a ranger, who was checking to make sure everyone was in groups of
6 or more. Then the climb resumed. It wasn’t steep, but it was steady. We finally leveled out in a meadow, where we
had our first views of the spectacular peaks soaring over the valley. It was an overcast day, but the scenery was
still beautiful, despite less than optimal conditions.
I was having trouble
imagining why there was so much concern about grizzlies, considering the
crowds. There was a regular parade of
people heading up the trail through Larch Valley towards Sentinel Pass. We saw everything, from Asian tourists with
video cameras to mountain climbers with ice axes. We even saw one unusual group of 6. They consisted of 4 adults, and 2 infants. Well, the rules say you have to have 6
people, so I guess that counts!
We reached a fork, and
headed up through Larch Valley towards the pass. Incidentally, Larchs are unusual trees, in that they are
conifers, but their needles turn gold in the fall. Apparently it is quite a show.
We saw Larchs on several of our hikes in Banff, typically near treeline.
We cleared the trees, and
climbed up past several small ponds towards a notch between Eiffel Peak and
Mount Temple. The best scenery was
behind us, as every step improved our view of the ten peaks the valley was
named for. I stopped to look back
frequently during that final ascent.
We reached the pass at
1:00, which was just in time for a late lunch.
The vista here was fantastic.
The view behind us hadn’t changed much, but now we could see across
Paradise Valley to the glacier-clad peaks towering above Lake Louise. It wasn’t sunny, but it was warm enough that
the glaciers were calving. It was an
awesome experience watching the snow avalanche down the mountainside.
An icy wind was blowing
through the pass, so we didn’t linger long.
We added the German girl to our group, and headed down the far side of
the pass. This was the most difficult
part of the hike. There was no real
trail, only a steep, nasty boulder field.
We rock-hopped our way down, but progress was slow. Eventually we reached a snowfield, where the
walking was much easier. This was
short-lived though, and soon we were rock-hopping again. A second snowfield was followed by more boulders,
before we finally found a trail a short distance above treeline. From there, we had an even better view to
the peaks at the head of Paradise Valley.
We descended into the
woods, and joined the loop trail through the valley. We wandered through the woods, before reaching a rockslide that
provided great views in every direction.
We hiked on, descending to lovely Lake Annette, where we had a fine view
of Mount Temple towering overhead.
Building clouds looked threatening, so we didn’t hang around long.
We continued downhill to a
bridge over Paradise Creek. Just
beyond, we encountered a large animal just off the trail in the
undergrowth. Could it be a bear? It shuffled out into the trail, and we
discovered that it wasn’t a bear, it was a dinosaur. Ok, that’s a lie.
Actually, it was the world’s largest porcupine. This thing was as big as my dog! We gave it some space, and eventually it
moved away.
A few minutes later, we
crossed the creek on another bridge, where we received one final view of Mount
Temple and the valley. Beyond, we met
the junction with the other half of the loop.
That part of the valley will have to explored another time. A final bridge led back across the
creek. Soon we were tromping through
the woods, heading for the car. We
reached the parking area at 5:15, just as the first raindrops began to
fall. I called Christy to pick me up,
and several folks piled into one car to retrieve the other vehicles from
Moraine Lake.
It had been a great hike
that combined two of the premier dayhikes in Banff. I had met some interesting people from all over the globe. If the group size restriction hadn’t been in
place, I’m sure I would’ve hiked the Paradise Valley circuit solo. And I would’ve missed out on Larch Valley,
Sentinel Pass, and meeting some interesting people. It’s funny how things work out.
Continue reading about our adventures in Canada, as we take a rest day in Banff, but stretch our legs on a short walk to Silverton Falls.
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