TANGLE
I
didn’t really plan to hike on Tuesday. I
figured I’d be sore and tired from climbing Mount Athabasca and that I’d need a
rest day. I was sore that morning, but
it felt like the kind of soreness that would go away with some easy
walking.
We
loitered around the campground that morning.
New neighbors moved into the site next to us, and I began to feel
alarmed. That site changed hands every
day, and each time the tent got bigger.
This one took up the entire tent pad.
It looked like it had been stolen from Barnum and Bailey.
Christy’s
knee was pretty swollen. We weren’t
surprised, considering what she’d put it through the previous day. She didn’t want it to ruin the rest of the
trip, so she decided to drive in to the hospital in Banff and have it
drained. She called ahead from a pay
phone, and they told her just to come to the ER.
Christy
didn’t see any reason for me to come with her, since the procedure is very routine. So, I
decided to go hiking. One of my favorite
easy hikes from our previous trip to the Canadian Rockies had been to Wilcox
Pass. Wilcox Pass was directly behind
us, above the campground. Although my
goal for this trip was to do entirely new hikes, this one was too convenient to
pass up. Plus, on our previous visit, we
had hiked to the pass directly from the Icefields
Parkway before returning the same way.
This time I had a different plan.
A less-traveled trail starts at the waterfall on Tangle Creek and
follows the stream to Wilcox Pass. I
would have Christy drop me off at the falls and hike through the pass and back
down to the road. That trailhead is only
about a mile from our campground. I
would just walk back down the road to return to camp.
The
waterfall on Tangle Creek was a fraction of the raging torrent I’d witnessed on
the first day of my trip. Mostly dry
weather had reduced the creek to a modest flow.
The light was bad, too, so I didn’t even bother with photos. I found the trail on the south side of the
creek, and followed it up a graded slope above the highway. There were some nice views of the Icefields area from here.
Unfortunately it was a very hazy day.
Some of that haze may have been due to smoke from forest fires in
British Columbia.
Switchbacks
brought me back towards the creek upstream from the falls. From there I hiked upstream, following the
route of the road that preceded the Icefields
Parkway. It has some historical
significance, and I even passed the remains of a log cabin at one point. Most of the hiking was easy, though the final
climb on steep switchbacks was a bit grueling on tired legs. I stopped for lunch near the top of the
climb, once I cleared tree line. From
there I had a nice view back down the valley, towards an impressive array of
peaks in the distance.
After
lunch I resumed the hike, climbing towards the pass. Wilcox Pass is actually a long wet meadow. When I reached the north end of it I was
feeling pretty good. The hike I’d
planned is pretty short, and I knew Christy wouldn’t be back any time soon. I decided to add a little exploration to the
hike.
The
map shows Wilcox Lake off to the east of Wilcox Pass. I decided to check it out. I left the trail and headed cross country, passing
through meadows and rocky areas.
Although the terrain was fairly flat and open, this required some
navigational skill. The lake is in a
cirque below Nigel Peak. Direct access
to it from the west is blocked by a steep ridge. I needed to skirt around the north end of the
ridge to access the cirque and the lake.
This
hiking was fun! Each time I crested a
minor ridge I reoriented myself to the terrain ahead. The actual hiking was pretty easy though, and
I made pretty good time. Eventually I
left the meadows behind, and found myself in a sea of rock. I skirted the ridge just like I planned, and
eventually reached a rock outcrop above the lake. It was a lovely view, and well worth the
extra effort. I’d seen 3 groups of
hikers on the trail earlier, but had this area all to myself.
I
retreated by the same route, at least until I got around the north end of the
ridge. Then I headed southwest, directly
towards the pass. After a steep descent,
I found myself back in the meadow. The
view ahead of Mount Athabasca and the glaciers was inspiring despite the
haze. I strolled along, working my way
around small streams and alpine tarns.
Bighorn Sheep are frequently seen at the pass, but there weren’t any
around on this afternoon. I continued
through the pass, following a ridge high above the highway. As I hiked I had trouble taking my eyes off of
Mount Athabasca, where I’d been a day earlier.
I
eventually dropped below tree line, and a steady descent on a heavily-traveled
trail brought me to the Icefields Parkway at the
entrance to the Wilcox Campground. The
walk back along the road was tedious due to heavy traffic, but at least it was
quick. I returned to camp and lounged in
the hammock. Christy arrived 30 minutes
later. Her trip to the ER in Banff had
been a success. She was taken care of
almost immediately, and the knee was drained successfully. She had to pay for the procedure up front,
but that was not a big deal, since insurance always covers part of the
cost. Of course the insurance company
denied our claim for no apparent reason, but what do you expect from a bunch of
thieves? At least we didn’t find that
out until several months later.
That
evening we enjoyed a campfire with our steaks and the bottle of wine. The wine was a bit of a challenge because
we’d failed to bring a corkscrew. I
solved that problem by assessing our neighbors.
After a couple of minutes I decided that the folks across the road from
us were our best bet. This judgment was
based mainly on their car, and the fact that their tent wasn’t stolen from the
Cirque de Soleil. We borrowed their
corkscrew, and we continued our celebration of a great vacation.
After
dinner, a brilliant moon rose above Mount Athabasca. I attempted a few photos before heading to
bed. I didn’t fall asleep in the hammock
this time, and it was a good thing. A
huge thunderstorm rolled through around 4am, but we were warm and dry in our
tent.
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