Shoving an Australian out into the snow
Nick, who is visiting Calgary from Australia to work on a part-year project with one of the professors in Andrew's dept., was getting a lot of complaints from his boss and friends about his failure to get out to the mountains in the months he's been here. We got him hooked up on his first winter hike through an invitation from our mutual friend Jean, and the experience led to another day hike a couple of weeks later.
On the first hike, we visited Barrier Lake and Troll Falls. Andrew and I saw Troll Falls in the summer when we went to Kananaskis Country with our big group of 11 Americans. In rainy June, the falls was a loud and powerful rush of water flinging itself over the rocks' edge. The whole area was so wet there was water seeping out every possible crack in the rocks behind the falls, too. When it is frozen in the winter, there's just a small column of flowing water that can be seen and heard through the ice pillar. It's trapped like Merlin in the stone. Barrier Lake would be a better visit in the summer, I think, when a person can pick a path around the mountian-ringed lake itself. The trails that branched off from the lake, which we took, were not particularly interesting.
Walking across the hydroelectric dam that forms the lake
Nick, Jean and Heather on the trail near Barrier Lake
Nick at the frozen falls
Ice climbers on frozen Troll Falls
The "troll" in the rocks
A mini-falls flowing out of the rocky soil
Behind the falls
Nick and Jean on lunch break
Nick revealed on his trip with us to Kananaskis Country that he had seen snow before, but hadn't really walked around or played in snow until coming to Calgary. So, the next time, we took him to one of the snowiest places I've ever been. The trail we took to Boom Lake in Banff National Park had about six feet of packed snow, tamped down by snowshoers and cross-country skiers. Anytime one of us took even a step off the beaten path, he or she would be floundering in snow up to the hip. This happened even sometimes when we thought we were on the trail. Another step off the trail and the snow could be over the head. We didn't test this. We walked mostly uphill through the snow for a couple of hours. Nick was surprised to find he wasn't really able to gauge how far we'd gone because he found that going through snow was so much slower than his usual hikes on solid ground.
Feathery ice crystals on a tree
Snow-covered stream
Andrew and Nick on the trail
Mountains appear through the trees
Lovely view of mountains on the other side of the lake
Nick on the trail back down
I asked Nick what he thought of snow now that he'd been in it nearly up to his waist. He was, of course, still a bit damp and chilly when answering and said it was an interesting experience, but he wouldn't probably intentionally seek out snow that deep again.
To warm up, we went into Banff and had a nickel tour of downtown, Bow Falls, the fancy-pants Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, and then we ate at our favorite Banff restaurant, Thai and Grill.
On the first hike, we visited Barrier Lake and Troll Falls. Andrew and I saw Troll Falls in the summer when we went to Kananaskis Country with our big group of 11 Americans. In rainy June, the falls was a loud and powerful rush of water flinging itself over the rocks' edge. The whole area was so wet there was water seeping out every possible crack in the rocks behind the falls, too. When it is frozen in the winter, there's just a small column of flowing water that can be seen and heard through the ice pillar. It's trapped like Merlin in the stone. Barrier Lake would be a better visit in the summer, I think, when a person can pick a path around the mountian-ringed lake itself. The trails that branched off from the lake, which we took, were not particularly interesting.
Walking across the hydroelectric dam that forms the lake
Nick, Jean and Heather on the trail near Barrier Lake
Nick at the frozen falls
Ice climbers on frozen Troll Falls
The "troll" in the rocks
A mini-falls flowing out of the rocky soil
Behind the falls
Nick and Jean on lunch break
Nick revealed on his trip with us to Kananaskis Country that he had seen snow before, but hadn't really walked around or played in snow until coming to Calgary. So, the next time, we took him to one of the snowiest places I've ever been. The trail we took to Boom Lake in Banff National Park had about six feet of packed snow, tamped down by snowshoers and cross-country skiers. Anytime one of us took even a step off the beaten path, he or she would be floundering in snow up to the hip. This happened even sometimes when we thought we were on the trail. Another step off the trail and the snow could be over the head. We didn't test this. We walked mostly uphill through the snow for a couple of hours. Nick was surprised to find he wasn't really able to gauge how far we'd gone because he found that going through snow was so much slower than his usual hikes on solid ground.
Feathery ice crystals on a tree
Snow-covered stream
Andrew and Nick on the trail
Mountains appear through the trees
Lovely view of mountains on the other side of the lake
Nick on the trail back down
I asked Nick what he thought of snow now that he'd been in it nearly up to his waist. He was, of course, still a bit damp and chilly when answering and said it was an interesting experience, but he wouldn't probably intentionally seek out snow that deep again.
To warm up, we went into Banff and had a nickel tour of downtown, Bow Falls, the fancy-pants Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, and then we ate at our favorite Banff restaurant, Thai and Grill.