The Alternate Trip -- Brazeau Lake

Harvey Lake didn't work out. After the Yoho, Wolf incident, we awoke the next morning with myself sick but more importantly, Dieter with a bad shoulder. Dieter had broken his clavicle years prior, but it had never healed properly. The weight of his pack aggravated his shoulder and would have made Harvey Lake nearly impossible for him. (I now realize how much food he was carrying... too much of course)

Anyhow, we decided tohead into the Brazeau region, on Thursday instead for upto 8 days. Here's how it went down.

Thursday October 12, 2006 -- From Icefield Parkway to Four Points Campground -- 14 km

We started early with beautiful weather. We hit the trail at 10:30 am, making lots of noise along the way due the the large amount of bear activity in the area. We made our way to Nigel Pass by 1 pm at 2250m. We stopped for a while and took in the view. This was the nicest weather I have ever experienced in Nigel Pass.
While working our way down Nigel Pass to the Brazeau River we met with Terry Winkler, Park Warden, making the last patrol of the season through the South Boundary. Terry said that the weather forecast was calling for either beautiful sunny days, or -25'C weather... big difference!
We continued on to Boulder Creek campground where Dieter informed me that his shoulder has causing him a lot of problems. This was the first time during this trip that he mentioned that he may not be able to go all the way to Brazeau Lake.
We reached Four Point Campground at 4:00 pm. We found ample wood and set up a comfortable camp. It is getting dark very early these days so we decided to turn in at 9:15 pm with no real plans for the next day, except to meet Shawna at Four Points Warden Cabin for the next evening around 5 pm.
Thursday night was awful cold. I find that it usually takes me a night or two to remember how to keep myself warm during these sub zero nights. Needless to say I slept about half of the night.

Friday October 20, 2006 -- Day Hike -- Maximum elevation 2300m.

We took our time getting up and ready for the day. Once we were mobile we went over to the Warden Cabin to find the grave of John McGivillary, the mysterious hiker who died in that very cabin of starvation in 1953. We set off NW towards Jonas Pass. We traveled less than 5 km before striking W to three little tarns and an expansive view of both the Brazeau River Valley and Jonas Pass. This was a very enjoyable outing with wonderful weather. Some days it is just nice to wander with no plans, no expectations, but a want to explore... these are the days that are the most rewarding.
We made it back to our camp by 3:30pm to find a note in the dirt telling us that Shawna had already made to the Cabin. We packed up our stuff and headed over.
That evening we enjoyed the warmth on the unusually large wood stove (for such a small cabin). It was a tight fit for three people and three dogs. We spent most of the evening reading over the notes on John, who apparently haunts the cabin, and what would drive such a person to act in such an irrational manor. If anyone is interested in knowing more about this, please email me and I'll give you the whole story. That night I also decided to leave Dieter with Shawna and head in alone to Brazeau Lake the next day (with Yoho of course). My reason was based on the fact that Dieter's shoulder was still very sore and Shawna had told us that the weather was supposed to take a swing for the worst... that meaning, we'd be best to cut the trip short.

Saturday October 21, 2006 -- Solo to Brazeau Lake, 18.5 km -- Elevation difference -- not much

We awoke to an ominous sky.. the high cirrus clouds combined with lenticular clouds and falling barometric pressure means bad weather on the way. We had a wonderful breakfast of Dieter's pancakes and I was ready to leave by 11:00 am. I hoped to get to the Lake by 5 pm. I lightened my load, taking only two days worth of food as I planned to return no later than Monday... but if the weather turned overnight, I would return the next day.
During the first hour I made very good time and the trail was frozen, unfortunately that began to change and the mud thawed and made for travel that was irritating my right knee. I moved very quickly wanting to get to the lake as early as possible inorder to fish. I made it to the Brazeau River camp at 2:45 pm with only 2 km left to go. This was a tough last two km after completing 16.5 at such a fast speed... proof that moving slower will allow you to travel further throughout the day. I didn't reach the Lake until 3:30 pm and was exhausted.
I set up camp, gathered wood, and went fishing by 4:30 pm. I followed the east shore to a small bay aprox 500m from the mouth of the lake which usually feeds the Brazeau river (this time it was bone dry. It seems the water travels underground to the river as you can hear the roar of the river from the Brazeau Lake Camp, but are unable to see it). Fishing started out slow, only one fish for ten casts. I switched to the blue fox (blue/rainbow colour) that my father-in-law gave to me for Christmas. I couldn't keep the fish off of it! I caught so many fish that I had to stop using it as they swallowed this lure so deep that it was hard to keep these fish alive and return them to the lake after extricating the lure. I decided that i had a rare chance to try out my tackle in a spot where I knew there were fish, so I kept fishing. Finally at 5:30 pm and 15 fish later I decided to keep a 1 lb rainbow, perfect for Yoho and I (I let the big ones go, for now).
After returning to camp I settled in for the night. We cooked up the fish and shared it between us (Yoho and I). I was quite lonely as I knew there was no one within 18.5 km from where I was. To pass the time I read the camp log, finding my entry from the year before. I saw that we were the last party to visit Brazeau Lake for 2005 and that I would be the last one to visit, yet again, for 2006. The log wasn't very very extensive and interestingly enough, most parties found themselves to be alone at the campground although the visitor office told them the campground was full. I turned in at 9 pm and slept straight through to 5 am to hear the soft pitter patter of rain on my tent fly... the weather had turned.

Sunday October 22, 2006 -- Brazeau Lake to Four Point Cabin -- 18.5 km

There was no reason to stay, but lots of reasons to leave. I thought it to be unfair for Dieter to have to witness the rain turn to snow and watch the trail become all the more difficult as time went on. I didn't want to subject him (or myself) to deep snow through Nigel Pass. I was in turmoil thinking about leaving but early on I made the decision to leave (which was the right thing to do)... besides I found myself missing Tracey.
The one thing Dieter asked was that I bring him back a fish so I went fishing for a little while in the morning bagging a 2.5-3 lb rainbow in the same area that I was fishing earlier. It took me an hour to catch this one fish and worried for a while that I would have nothing to bring to Dieter and would not be able to prove to him that I caught anything. I carried the fish to camp and made a rock pool to hold it and keep it fresh, although I didn't expect it to survive the .5 km walk back. After packing up camp and eating breakfast I went down to clean my catch. To my surprise the trout was still alive and trying to hide from me. When I pulled it out of the lake I dropped it and it nearly flopped back in out of my pool!!! So very quickly I cut off it's head, and cleaned it. I spiced it and wrapped it in foil and placed it in two ziplock bags... no need to attract any friends along the trail.
I was off by a little past noon and wanted to get back by 5 pm. Once again I moved at a great speed and made it back by 4:30 pm even after a long stop to photograph the Brazeau Canyon.
Dieter was happy to have me back. I noticed some wolf tracks leading on the trail towards him, and the wolves had paid him and Nunavut a visit. After our mishap with Yoho earlier we were very leery of wolves around our dogs.
That evening we had a roaring fire, and enjoyed the fish I caught and brought to Dieter. That night we slept well through the sound of falling snow.

Monday October 23, 2006 -- Four Pont Camp to Nigel Pass Trailhead -- 14 km

We took our time preparing breakfast and packing up and were on our way by 11:00 am. It snowed the entire way out which made us glad about our decision to leave early. It was bitter cold on Nigel Pass and we took very few breaks on the way out. We reached the vehicle by 3:30 pm which was much quicker that the way in. We decided that the terrain was much easier on the way out than on the way in.

Harvey Lake?? We will complete it next summer... and we're already planning it too!