Circle Route Calgary to Revelstoke
With Treasure spots between Aug 7 - 17, 2014
Lac Des Arcs Campground AB
This trip turned out to be fabulous, sometimes just heading to our favorite spots in the world works. The weather this trip was great also, all was good....
Lac Des Arcs is a little provincial campground on the side of the Trans Canada highway across from the Heart Creek hike....
View from across the highway at beginning of Heart Creek Hike.
Trail beginning..
Ruth and I had hiked Heart Creek years ago for the first time..memory says around 2001..loved it..so on this trip we wanted to see the damage done by the floods of 2013. From news casts the damage was extensive...So lets see...
Bridges (logs) have all been replaced but as we see I think all they are going to do is clear paths and eliminate any dangers that may be there....I didn't remember the route, either it was to many yrs. ago or the route has completely rerouted!!!!!
I am going to go with the latter .;-)
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| There are moments in life, I don't think I need as many challenges! |
As you travel along parts of the old routh/path are visible but the channel carved by the water has buried a lot of trees half way up the trunk and carved a whole new route..
I find it so difficult to believe the force of the water was so violent to be able to move boulders this size down the canyon. At one time after the flood I stopped at the entrance to Heart Creek, it was completely blocked with boulders of this size scattered all over parking lot....
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| Sometimes you just have to choose not to take the bridges! |
You know the saying, When the fireweed is at the tip, summer is almost over.....!
Next stop Tunnel Mtn. Campground....only Heather confused the reservations and there is also a Tunnel Mtn. Campground in Lake Louise.....so after a brief stop off we went down the road to Lake Louise....
Campground was more or less a parking lot, you camp right on road with a side lot with picnic table space....But very clean, great hot showers.
Oliver's spot, couldn't miss a thing....
Lake Louise, before leaving that morning.
Revelstoke, Martha Creek Campground
Mount Revelstoke National Park
Meadows Parkway
Ruth and I had made the trip here back in mid July 2012. At that time there was still quite a bit of snow, and we had to walk up the access road over top of large melting snowbanks. Water was running off side of mountain at that time..Only early spring flowers were out and most just peeking through the snow...
This time the flowers were a little past their prime, they were of course lots of them but we are thinking probably end of July, first week of August would be prime. That of course depending on snow pack and weather....We shall just have to try again!!!!!
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| Western Anemone |
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| Indian Paintbrush |
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Heather At Heather Lake Mr. Revelstoke National Park Summit |
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| Isn't this just the perfect lake to be called Heather? |
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| Ruth was there also! |
Imagine this view in the fog....spooky!
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| Ruth and her Reflections, she always finds them. |
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| WHITE MOUNTAIN RHODODENDRON |
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| I have no idea what this is.....just beautiful.... |
I love these ladies hairdo.....I'm actually jealous, thats it.....
Beautiful rock wall...'
Hand made stairs!
"Au-natural"
Native made tribute to the Creator at the summit of Mt. Revelstoke
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| Heather Lodge built 1940 burnt down several yrs. later, never rebuilt. |
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| Pussytoes |
View was spectacular but the mosquitos were terrible (of which we were warned) Even worse than that were the horseflies! In my opinion they almost ruined the trip. Repellent was useless, it was in the low thirties temp. wise. Even you were covered up completely, they were diving at your face, I couldn't focus on taking photos, all you could do was swat.
From Revelstoke we headed toward home and stopped at our favorite area, Field, this time Kicking Horse Campground. Showers!!!!! Martha Creek had no showers.
Our first hike was the complete loop of Emerald Lake, we had taken a beautiful hike previously in the spring, when we couldn't complete the Great Divide, but did not do the loop.
| Easy Trails | ||||
| Wapta Falls | 4.6 km | 1.5 hours | 30 | A lush, forested walk to the base of an impressive 30 m waterfall - the largest waterfall on the Kicking Horse River. |
| Emerald Lake | 5.2 km | 2 hours | minimal | A gentle, lakeshore trail surrounded by mountain and glacier views. Includes a level, gravel path from the parking area to the bridge at the back of the lake. |
| Hamilton Falls | 1.6 km | 30 minutes | minimal | A pleasant stroll to a delicate cascade. |
| Centennial | 2.5 km | 45 minutes | minimal | A shaded trail along the Kicking Horse River that is known for wildflowers. |
| Walk-in-the-Past | 3 km | 1.5 hours | 90 | Walk to the historic pieces of a narrow-gauge locomotive, abandoned after being used to build the Spiral Tunnels. |
| Kicking Horse to Amiskwi | 3.6 km | 1.5 hours | 50 | Walk or cycle a forested road to a picnic site at the confluence of three rivers. |
| Great Divide | 6 km | 2 hours | minimal | Walk or cycle on a closed, paved road to the historic archway marking the location of the Continental Divide. |
| Ross Lake | 6.4 km | 2 hours | 100 | Start on an abandoned road and continue on a forested trail to a lake set at the headwall of Narao Peak. |
We now have our Fitbits so will be able to confirm how far we have walked....it will be interesting....especially the flights of stairs it counts.....Oh dear, that means we have to do these hikes again!!!!
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| Emerald Lake BC |
This hike was in Aug. and disappointing in that we did not see the flowers, or few of them....
Reflections on this lake are always beautiful.
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| Grass of Parnassus |
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| Time to Reflect |
Loved this hike around the lake...easy hike....seemed a little long at the end, but was very hot day....
the North side of the lake is sunny and completely different climate than the South.
North is quite shady but drier....the end of the lake is open and wet. as you travel around to the south side its like a rain forest, the paths are damp and rotten, the smells are wet. the boardwalk is rotten and both sides of path are covered in mosses of all kinds....beautiful...As I said it was a hot day and yet on this side it was cool and quiet....not as many people go the whole way, they start on other side and turn around....
Can't find this beauty in the books either! Also the only one we saw on the trip!
My all time favorite elusive bird and I was lucky enough to get two shots.
Confluence of the Rivers, Kicking Horse, Amiskwi, and Emerald
3.6 K Hike (easy)
Seems every trip we find
more entrances, hollows.
I wonder if people try to explore
these?
This hike was a bit of overkill....Not only our second hike of the day (not a long one and easy)
we went back to campground for lunch and then headed off again to a hike just off the Kicking Horse Campground.
The 'Walk in the Past' is a short, relatively easy and historically fascinating, interpretive hike from the Kicking Horse Campground to the 'Big Hill'. The trail begins at the far end of the Kicking Horse Campground past Monarch Campground. Both campgrounds are near the beginning of the Yoho Valley Road off the TransCanada Highway a short distance east of Field in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. The return hike is 2.7 KM (1.7 miles) long with an elevation gain of about 120 m (394 ft.) to a maximum elevation near 1,375 m (4,510 ft.). 'A Walk in the Past' hiking trail resides in the Kicking Horse Pass National Historic Siteat Yoho National Park in British Columbia.
I don't interpret elevation gain very effectively! I didn't find this easy, I would say moderate. the climb was slow but the finally hump just before we went under the Trans Canada highway was more than I could do.....The hill below the very narrow path was difficult, my knees were like rubber and when I got to the top I was sweating, teary and shaky and I still had to get down! did not appear to be another route....
This is the official YoHo Nat Park photo of this spot......
And this is what we missed....I couldn't do it....
I had no legs when I got to top, sweaty, shaking and close to tears.
Poor Ruth, she always has to help Heather....First sight of the path I knew I couldn't take Oliver, he would be pulling on the leash with all his 14 yrs. he seemed to love this hike and didn't tire...Crashed when he got home but pulled constantly. So Ruth had to take him even down that hill.....We couldn't let him go because history said he is like a pack horse and he would just header home on his own, leave us in the dust....
Kicking Horse Campground site #68
The next morning we headed for home....It was a rainy week but how beautiful. The YoHo valley is particularly beautiful with the low hanging clouds hugging the mtn. tops.....
I asked Ruth to take shots as were driving, you can't stop everytime you see some beauty, would take days to get home!!!! and you still have to stop at Canmore Timmy's
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| Castle Mountain |
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| Three Sisters, Canmore AB |
