Quote:
Originally Posted by starseed
Hey guys. I have a few friends from Chicago, and one from Toronto coming to Alberta in August. They will have a couple weeks, and they want to go hiking. Two of them want to go on a few fairly strenuous hikes.
I was thinking of camping at Lower Kananaskis Lake and hiking Mt. Indefatigable (thanks Phanuthier), Elk Lake, and Centennial Pass. I also heard from a coworker that there is a waterfall near the south end of Upper K lake.
On the last few days, I was thinking about staying at a hotel in Banff for two nights. The first day would be a rest/tourist day. Not sure what to do then. On the next day we would hike Johnston Canyon, then go to Lake Louise, then back to Banff. The next day I want to take them to Drumheller to see Tyrell, then to the airport.
What do you guys think? Are there any good hikes you might suggest? Any tips/warnings/suggestions? What should we do in Banff on the rest day? |
Walking around Upper Kananaskis Lake on a sunny summer day can be great. There is indeed a waterfall back there. About, I believe 16 km round trip. Walking in that area in the winter is very nice too. They might like nearby King Canyon.
Walking up to Elbow Lake is indeed a nice, short hike but you can keep going back through Elbow Pass and, if you're ambitious and have two cars, you can make it a point-to-point of, I think, 40 + Km coming out at Blue Rock, west of Turner. Below, on the way back to Elbow Lake via the pass.
Forgetmenot Ridge, west of Bragg Creek, is a challenging uphill but spectacular at the top.
Lineham Creek trail up to Picklejar Lakes - a string of progressively higher lakes - will burn your legs a bit with a very nice reward. Do not take the Picklejar trail to Picklejar Lakes. Descending from Picklejar via Lineham Creek
Make them watch Brokeback Mountain then take them up to Moose Mountain where some of the filming occurred. A Jack + Ennis cairn used to be in one spot (below). Great hike. Watch the weather.
Hailstone Butte Fire Station . . . . . west of Chain Lakes, past Indian Graves. Up the Petro Canada road to the summit. Then get out and start walking up to the north. Pretty spectacular up there and far superior to the Prairie Creek/Barrier Lake lookout for a combination mountain/prairie view. The fire station is at 7,700 feet I believe. On the way up to Hailstone Butte fire station below:
At the Highwood Pass, to the west of Ptarmigan Cirque (across the highway) you can actually find a pretty challenging climb/trek cirque involving, I think, three mountains. Can't remember the name of the trail and my dogs are a little too old to do it so we only engaged part but it looked like this. The highway is in the valley below, looking southeast. This picture would be a little above 8,000 feet I think.
Below, from the "false" summit of Mt. Indefatigable on a rainy, kind of miserable day in late September, looking back at Upper Kananaskis Lake. Your friends are looking for "challenging" but remember the dangers of altitude, particularly if they are coming from sea level. Mt Indefatigible is about 8758 feet and it's about 3,000 feet up from the lake.
Lillian Lake/Galatea is a little boring in comparison to some others.
Cowperson