Big Horn Sheep

I photographed this guy when i was looking for my old wolf friend.

Wolf

I returned on the 23rd from a Backpack trip to Whirlpool Campground with Great Lakes Travel of the Netherlands. We had a great time despite the mosquitoes, and they loved everything... except my coffee... ooops.

We stumbled upon a dying wolf at the end of the trip. After dropping my guests off I tracked the wolf down, who had moved to a more secluded spot. I sat with it for an hour. It was an amazing yet somber experience that I'll never forget. It let me approach as close as I wanted and even wagged its tail when I first approached. This wolf is just plain old, and I think it really wanted the company. It's eyes had lost the golden glow, it was a sad old wolf. When I left, the wolf just laid there, only breathing. I doubt it lasted the night. I returned the next day but it was gone. I wonder if it is still alive.

Indian Ridge Manx Tarn

Greg Barnhouse was in town so he and Ryan Titchener joined Tracey and I on a recon trip to Indian Ridge and beyond. Rained a lot but a great trip... one of my favourites.

Last Week

Summit of Old Man Mountain

Last week I guided a couple from Kitchener up Old Man Mountain. This is one of my least favourite mountains to climb because it is extremely steep and relentless the entire 1300m up... and has been since I climbed it four years ago. Unfortunate for me, the people I was guiding were top athletes who were super competitive. Never before have I had clients rush ahead and wait for me to catch up. Even worse was that they asked to carry my pack for me... humiliating. When the got to the rocky sections they were completely lost, and I made a point of kicking their butts on the way down (I never do that sort of thing).

Geraldine Lakes -- Just Tracey, Me & Yoho July 12-14

Top Photo: Tracey with first lake in the background. Next: 50 m waterfall from second lake. Next: Tracey ascending the steep slope beside the 50m waterfall. Next: Reflection off the second lake. Next: Quick swim in the fourth glacial lake (our camp).

There are a lot of photos to post for this trip as it was a beautiful time. We were originally going to spend three nights there but decided to leave Thursday morning instead as Tracey got off work late Wednesday afternoon, and we had Arun visiting for a few days. It is a good thing that we did leave on Thursday as it took us a lot longer to get to our camping area than we expected.

The trail to second Geraldine Lake was in much better shape than the trail reports suggested. There was a lot of flooding (including the campground) but that is how we've always experienced this trail. The route back to the fourth lake was nasty. Bare;y a trail and flooded in many places. The river crossing was fast and upper shin deep... felt good though in the +30'C weather. Geraldine Valley should be known as the Valley of Glacial Lakes and Waterfalls. This is definitely one of my top three favourite destinations ever! We spent a lot of our time around the fourth lake and a whole day exploring Divergence Pass and an unnamed pas that leads down into the Whirlpool Valley. We swam in glacial lakes and cooled off in alpine tarns. The bugs we pretty horrid at times but it didn't spoil our time there. Check out the pictures... there's lot... but never enough to truly capture this place. Oh... if your interested in having me bring you here, it will take a lot of arm twisting as this is a special spot that we want to save for ourselves! more picture below!

Top Photo: Our morning neighbour... the Marmot. Next: Western Pasqueflower with Mount Fryatt in background. Next: Tracey and Yoho with waterfall far away. Next Tracey in Divergence pass looking SW. Next: Tracey looking into Whirlpool valley with Edith Cavell in Background.

more photos below

Top Photo: Geraldine Lakes from the pass. Next: Another waterfall. Next: Food is on! Next: Yoho and his miserable friends. Next: Our camp... nice eh?

one more photo below...

Tracey and I on our way home. No more photos below.

Skyline Trip

I recently guided a 3 day trip along the Skyline Trail. Participants included Clive and Nicola Backler of Glasglow Scotland and Jeanette Morrison of Edmonton. A great trip with great people... enjoy the pictures.

Ultra Maligne Lake -- July 4-5 2007

Top: Ultra Maligne with Llysifran Peak in background. Middle: Me standing on the edge of the 'balcony' overlooking the 'hall of the gods'. Bottom, Neil and his quick swim in Ultra-Malinge... doubt many have ever done that before.

Neil and I embarked on a journey to a place that many people have talked about, but few have ever seen... Ultra Maligne Lake. When we both worked at Maligne Lake, it was common knowledge that there was a lake high above Maligne Lake that had the deepest blue colour that would make even Maligne look drab in comparison. The only people who had been there was a long term resident, Floyd and the warden Mike Westbrook. Other people had tried to get there, but they were stopped by the technical nature of the trip. We planned this trip the night before we left.

Wednesday we departed Jasper at 14:30 and reached the lake by 15:15. We took out Neil's Jasper Canoe... the Sunwapta which had a questionable haul. Although the water tightness of the canoe was questionable, it did cut through the water unlike any canoe I've paddled before. We reached Spirit Island by 6pm and our pull-out 17.5 km down the lake at a day use area by 19:00. We stashed our canoe and set off up the creek leading from the Ultra-Maligne area. Progress was slow due to excessively heavy packs... climbing gear, tent, too much food, etc.

We had to climb a small rock feature (about 50 m) and then ascend a steep snow slope, climbing about 250m. All of this took time, and it wasn't until 23:00 that we reached the plateau and set up camp about 100m from Ultra Maligne Lake. We were quite surprised to find that Ultra Maligne was still mostly frozen. That evening we cooked up some food, drank some Johnny Walker Green label, and turned in by 01:30.

The sun was batting in the tent by 06:00. We got up, ate breakfast, and explored the area. Neil went for a swim in Ultra Maligne's 0.5'C water... but not for long. We descended down the snow slope at roughly 11:00 and were back to the canoe for roughly 14:00. Tired and really sun burned we paddled back to Home Bay, pushing the tour boats off line, and getting more and more burned along the way. We had a great tail wind most of the way and made it back for 17:00, and into town 18:30. Unloading our stuff was a real chore as we were a: exhausted, and b: the weather was so hot that it felt like our skin would peal off.

All the same, a very nice super trip in a super short amount of time.