Sunday, September 18, 2005
South Beach, San Juan Islands
Mom, Susan, Sara and I did a short little jaunt out to South Beach at the American Camp National Historic Park on San Juan Island. We were hoping to see some tidepool life as we arrived right at low-tide, but we were disappointed. It was a nice hike (with a little more scrambling involved than I should have let my 68 year old mother do!), although Susan and Mom laughed at my chafing issues towards the end of the hike. Sigh.
Distance: 2 miles?
Vertical Gain: 100 feet?
Weather: Sunny, 60s
Dog Rating: I hate you guys (stuck in kennel)
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Saturday, September 17, 2005
Lime Kiln State Park, San Juan Island
While not really a hike (we did walk to the viewpoint and light house), this visit is more than worthy of a blog entry. On our drive to the park we saw many cars stopped on the side of the road and a number of whale-watching boats a good distance off-shore. At the park we pulled out my trusty binoculars and could see many orcas in the distance. Then all of a sudden they made a beeline for the viewpoint, passing within a 100 yards of shore. There were at least 15 whales, which were close enough to hear them breath when they surfaced. They swam to the north along shore and seemed to frolic for a while north of the park. During this time we hiked towards the lighthouse and saw that they were returning, even closer to shore this time! At one point, there was a line of 8 or 10 whales swimming right next to each other! Of course, I left my camera in the car, but fortunately my sister had hers. Spectacular!
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Mount Finlayson, San Juan Island
Mom, Susan, Sara and I spent a wonderful weekend at the MarVista Cabins on False Bay of San Juan Island. On Saturday we "ascended" Mount Finlayson, a 290' monster of a mountain. The hike was quite nice, as the first part was through windswept prairie with views of Puget Sound and Vancouver Island. After reaching the summit (without oxygen!), we descended into the forest on the protected north side of the ridge. Mom and Susan trekked over to Third Lagoon (apparently beautiful) while Sara and I visited Jakle Lagoon (muddy yucky swamp!). All in all, it was a very nice walk (about 2 hours), followed by an excellent chile relleno at a burrito joint near the airport.
Distance: 2-3 miles
Vertical Gain: 290'
Weather: Sunny, 60s
Dog Rating: I hate you guys (stuck in the kennel)
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Sunday, September 04, 2005
Emerald Lake and the Vice Presidents, Yoho National Park
As our Canadian Rockies trip wound down, we decided to check out Yoho National Park, which is just west of Banff National Park. For our next trip to this part of the world, we plan to a) schedule a ride on the bus to Lake O'Hara (the only way to get there) and hike around there and b) sign up for a hike to the Burgess Shale quarries visible from Emerald Lake. Our first stop 100 yards into the hike was to eat lunch and look at the barely visible quarries way up high on the ridge. Apparently Charles Wolcott found some fossils in float and it took him a few years to find the Shale in outcrop, and looking at the location of the quarries I could see why. Anyway, back to the hike. We first traversed around one side of Emerald Lake (past the sign saying that a black bear was hanging out in the area) and headed up to the Vice Presidents. Sara and I had many loud discussions on the way up, mostly about old Simpsons episodes, as we had no desire to encounter a bear. The trail ends in an amphitheater of sorts with a hanging glacier, streams, and rocks all around. Yet another nice hike (although not as nice as most of the other hikes we took in Banff) in the Canadian Rockies, and no bears!
Length:
Vertical Gain:
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 50s
Dog Rating: I hate you guys (stuck at kennel)
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Friday, September 02, 2005
Parker's Ridge, Banff National Park
Sara and I decided that we needed to head up the Icefields Parkway and the weather forecast made it sound like today was the day. Wrong, but it all worked out nicely in the long run. Parker's Ridge is a relatively short hike that leads to a view of the Saskatchewan Glacier, one of the many arms of the Columbia Icefield. As we arrived the rain was pouring down and a rather bedraggled group of Geography students from the University of Calgary were preparing for a field project. Glad I was a tourist and could do whatever I wanted to do, which was hike in the rain up a steep hill. We made short work of the climb and enjoyed the views down to the glacier and the misty views of the meadows of Parker's Ridge. However, it was raining quite hard, and we had dreams of an afternoon hike to Wilcox Pass dancing in our heads (actually it was dreams of a warm dry car and a nice cup of hot chocolate at the Icefield Visitor Centre).
Length: 3 miles
Vertical Gain: 700'
Weather: Rain!
Dog Rating: I hate you guys (stuck at kennel).
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Wilcox Pass, Jasper National Park
My co-favorite hike of the year (See Nualolo hike in Kauai). We waited for several hours at the Icefields Visitor Centre and it seemed hopeless that we could dry out and that the clouds and rain would lift enough to make this hike worthwhile. After a lunch of soup, PB & J, and hot chocolate though there seemed to be a momentary break in the weather and we decided to go for it. Rain seemed to threaten the entire hike, and we kept joking about the patches of blue sky being sucker holes, but we were enjoying a blessed afternoon. The hike gets down to business quickly through forest, but quickly enters meadowlands. We stopped to watch some bighorn sheep just across the valley and continued up. By the time we reached the pass we had beautiful views of the Athabasca Glacier and the surrounding mountains. The passing clouds and changing light made the views even more interesting. Alas, it was windy at the pass (the pass area is actually a quite large flat area which we didn't fully explore) so we snapped a few photos and headed back down. This time the sheep were on our side of the valley, and towards the end of the meadows there were two sheep about 20' off of the trail to our left. To the right was a cliff, which made me quite nervous since I'm not nearly as nimble on cliffs as the sheep! However these guys were calmer and more disinterested in me than a playboy model would be.
Length: 5 miles
Vertical Gain: 1,100'
Weather: We were in a sucker hole the entire time
Dog Rating: I doubly hate you guys (stuck at the kennel and I eat baby sheep every day!)
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Thursday, September 01, 2005
Moraine Lake, Banff National Park
Moraine Lake is a worthy companion to Lake Louise. Dammed by a deposit of disputed origin (landslide, glacial moraine, or a mixture of the two?), Moraine Lake is a little more wild and just as spectacular as Lake Louise. Most of the backcountry around Moraine Lake was restricted because of Grizzly Bear activity, but we just hiked along the lake. Highlights included a cool talus deposit, an emaciated deer, and a thundering crash of ice from a calving hanging glacier!
When we returned several days later we were sitting on the moraine/landslide deposit enjoying the view when a 50ish couple ambled by and the man started taking pictures of the woman. Talk about a whipped man! Every shot (of the woman with the lake in the background) ended with an instruction as to why the man had taken that shot wrong and that he needed to take another. First it was shadows from the sun, then it was whether she was smiling or not, then it was whether he had zoomed correctly, then she admonished him for wasting film and taking too many pictures. Nary a word from the man. All the while Sara and I were trying not to laugh while enjoying one of the most beautiful mountain scenes in the world!
Distance:
Vertical Gain: 0'
Weather: Fine
Dog Rating: I hate you guys (stuck at the kennel, and I would have defended you from all those grizzlies)
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Peyto Lake, Banff National Park
Because it's only 1/4 mile from the parking lot, this wasn't really a hike and had a lot of bang for the effort. This is the location of one of Sara's beautiful black and white photos that we have framed (her father also has a copy of the photo). As you can see in the photo above, this is a very photogenic spot (and you can't see the hordes of people that I had to shoot over)!
Distance: .25 mile
Vertical Gain: 100'
Weather: Overcast
Dog Rating: I hate you guys (stuck at the kennel)
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