Author: mhomac

On our last day in the Crowsnest Pass for this visit we started out with a plan to drive over to Oldman River Brewery in Lundbreck. We were hoping for a growler fill of their fine brew to take home with us. It was not to be….the brewery was not open on a Monday….argh…!!!

But we made the stop in this tiny little town of Lundbreck anyway.

…and, on the recommendation of Jordy (of Turtle Mountain fame……LOL) we stopped at Lundbreck Falls…..the Niagara Falls of the west.!!

It’s a bit like Niagara Falls miniaturised…. very pretty stop actually and handily just off the highway if you happen to be driving through.

Next stop Leitch Collieries. We had driven by this site a few times and with plenty of time and our recent search for old mining towns it seemed appropriate to stop.

Its a place that does not require much imagination to ‘see’ the way it was all set up……

….and the interpretive walk is well laid out to tell the story with pictures of the original buildings.

Another stop on our way back to the campground was the Hillcrest Mine Memorial Park and Cemetery. It is an incredible site in the shadow of Turtle Mountain and in view of Frank slide. This site has a memorial to all the deaths in mining accidents across Canada, the most notable here being the Hillcrest Mine disaster in 1914

The explosion in the mine killed 189 men (aged 17 to 54)…… most of them laid to rest in this cemetery and many of them in mass graves.

It is an extraordinarily somber place to pass some time, pay respects to the souls buried here and reflect on the tragedies this area has witnessed.

The story is tragic and the arrangement of the cemetery is powerful and sobering as its story unfolds with the name plaques of all the men lost that day.

There were some positive outcomes from this awfulness. As a result of this incident, legislative changes included the implementation of trained mine rescue teams on every mine site. Regulations regarding occupational health and safety. Workman’s Compensation changed to a no-fault system providing better protection for victims and support for families left behind.. 

It makes the drive back past Frank slide with its similarly awful history just that bit more compelling.

There are days where it is good to be reminded of how fortunate we are and remember the hardships and tragedies of those who made our lives possible….and comfortable.

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After that epic trip up Turtle Mountain….a quieter day seemed like a good idea.

It was time to spend a lazy day doing not much but dabbling our tired feet and legs in the creek.

The following day, we could not justify sitting still some more, but we were definitely not ready for any big ambitious hikes. Scott had been looking at some interesting ghost towns in the area and seemed like a change of pace with some potential of coolness.

The Crowsnest has been extensively mined for coal from the early days of the railroad to more recent and modern extraction of resources. As you drive west through the pass there are mountains that have been taken apart and put back together in the interests of removing the black stuff.

The first town on our list was Hosmer (click), near Sparwood. Sparwood is very much a mining community ….as you drive through the town there is a huge disused mining truck sitting out in a park as a tourist attraction.

We stopped where the GPS indicated the road to Hosmer should be right by a derelict looking seriously sketchy building (that we were later informed actually still operates as a pub…..!! 😲)

With the help of a local lady who was walking by we did find the road to the remnants of the Hosmer Mine which is now set up as system of walking and ATV trails.

It looked like the truck might not fit….and you definitely don’t want to meet anyone coming the other way….. but heck…having packed our seasoned sense of adventure …why not…!!!

There are quite a bit of the old buildings still standing, and the trails are well marked with information boards and posts.

With a promise of more ‘stuff’ up the incline we tackled the aptly named incline trail. There were rewards at the top with a house/building…….

…and more bits of the mine workings still evident.

We completely failed to find any part of the cemetery…but I did find a link online which suggests that there is more to see there…. the grass was tall (and those horrid little seeds get in your shoes and socks) so we gave up and headed out to the last bit which was the ‘tipple’ (I had never heard of a tipple either..!!)

Morrisey (click) was the next mission……

We found the trailhead and followed the logging road up to where the mine used to be. We were unsuccessful at finding any part of the town or the mine site. But there were some really healthy wild raspberries ….. 😁

Next stop was the town of Corbin (click). The townsite is up the road to Coal Mountain.

The mine was still in operation ’til very recently and is now used for training people for their other sites. The town itself is a combination of very old disused buildings from the original town and more modernized small houses that look like vacation/hunting cottages and very much in use. We were careful not to trespass.

With a stop on the way back out of town to see some of the older mine workings. (the newer part was through a private gate with active security)

The drive up to Corbin was quite beautiful and a very remote quiet road. All in all it was a good way to spend a day.

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If this sounds like the title of a cautionary fable, it probably is. …and it probably includes the follies of challenging young people (who move like mountain goats crossed with Jack rabbits) to climb scary mountains.

We were back in the Crowsnest Pass, Blairmore Alberta to visit with friends Jordy and Tanya. Two lovely people we met on our first trip through the Crowsnest pass.

We arrived in town in time for the first annual Crowfest (unbeknownst to us at the time) in Blairmore, Alberta. The festival included live bands in the park, a vendors market…..and a beer garden with brewskies from two local Craft brewers…..The Pass Brewery (click) and Oldman River Brewing (click). Both of these breweries make mighty fine beers by the way.

Photo op with the Crow…!!!

After some socialising and a couple of adult beverages it seemed like a good idea to have another go at Turtle Mountain (click). We had attempted this one on our previous visit….and only managed halfway partly because of weather…but mostly because it was a very steep hard climb that we were not really prepared for (well I wasn’t..!!)

So…early morning start to try and beat the heat of the day……we convened at the trailhead.

The beginning of the trail was in much better condition than the last time we were here as there had been a trail run competition recently. Mind blowing to imagine how anyone could run up or down this trail……but apparently it did happen..!!

…..and this is just the start….!!!

Even with the improvements to the trail and our vastly expanded experience, it is still a brutally hard climb.

The elevation gain on this one is rapid to say the least.(3,136ft in 4.5 miles…..or 960 m in 7.2km) ….and those darn young people loped on ahead.

It was a warm day for it as well……and this path involves a lot of spots where you are completely exposed and looking down the valley, which is breath taking……..

…using views …and local wildlife…as excuses to stop for a breath…..

….or looking off the edge of a ledge…which is heart stopping.

The whole thing is quite the cardiovascular workout.

I stopped frequently …but I have to say it was not nearly as scary as last time.

The path follows the rock ridge…

…….and is pretty much up….all the way………. ( I guess mountains are like that..!!)

…and there is a bit of hands and knees climbing thrown in……..

…but just little bits.

It’s a very well-marked and well-travelled trail. We met a couple of people on the way up….and quite a few more on the way down.

Just about when you are thinking it can’t go up much more…..

It does exactly that..!!!

It has to be one of the most rewarding hikes for the views all the way. The advantage(!) of being on the rock ridge is that most of the trail gives you this beyond spectacular view right up the Crowsnest pass.

….and then you have to climb up a few more rocks…..

We got up to just before the peak and stopped for rehydration and a bit of wonderment on the side of the ridge where half the mountain fell off in 1903 Frank slide used to be this side of the mountain right here……..

..and now its down there…..!!

Jordy and Tanya continued up the few hundred feet to the peak for this photo op…I was not that ambitious. The chance to rest was welcome and the views of Frank slide were amazing. This thing is impressive from the ground but it is jaw dropping from above.

And so to the journey down. It was a hot dry day and the path was rocky, dry and dusty…….and steep.

My blogtographer was way more amused than he should have been as I ‘starfished’ my way down the path.

I think he may have almost fallen off the ridge he was cackling so loudly…

The descent was about as hard as the ascent (our arms were sore for days after from balancing ………..and the occasional starfish..!!)

Going down gives you a whole different set of views. It is incredibly beautiful.

Towards the end we took a bit of a wrong turn on one of the switchbacks and ended up at the top of a cliff. To add to the torture you can see the truck….right there…….we are almost there……

…and then theres the rock chimney you have to climb (slither on your backside more like it…LOL)

…and then we were down…….

It was time for a beer…..( maybe a shower first….but definitely a beer…)

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Moving on from Revelstoke and beginning the journey south to meet up with some lovely people we met on the road on our first trip west, the first stop on the way there was in Cochrane.

Cochrane is not only close to the youngest (💗) but also a stop to visit with Ontario friends who had traveled out for Calgary Stampede. Always good to visit with good people.

The route south to Blairmore gave us the chance to go home briefly to chop down the now waist high grass and pull some of the jungle of weeds. (not kidding…!!)

Then back on the road headed for Lost Lemon Campground in Blairmore (a favourite)

It would be a few days before our friends, Jordy and Tanya, were going to arrive….so …the search for an interesting hike that we had not done before turned up Tent Mountain to Window Lake…..

Sounds intriguing ……..thought we…..!!!

The trailhead is waaaaaay up a logging road……..a long, beautiful drive into the middle of nowhere…..and then a little bit further…..!!

We parked in the best shady spot we could find and set off up the first part of the gravel road….

The first part, as many of these hikes can be……was a bit of a trudge…..

The first part is often in trees where the shade is welcome….but the view is obscured

After a couple of kms…the gravel road gave way to a stony road….!!!

…..and then the path really started to go up….

…….a few devilish switchbacks later there is a section which a bit of a scramble across the rock face. On these parts I have learned to look for the worn patches where the only real clue to the best path to proceed is the more worn surface of the rock……(most often it does not really look like a path …..!!)

Ironically as I searched for the pictures of this rock face….and did not find any I realised that the photography guy following me had to put his camera away to traverse this bit…LOL…

Abruptly at the top of this rock tho’…the path completely levels out to a flat, lovely, shaded forest trail…

…….and another kilometer on through the trees it opens out into a truly spectacular mountain lake view…….

There were quite a few people up here already….lots of them fishing…..the ones we chatted to were not catching any….but you could see the fish jumping….

It was breathtaking……..!!!…Unfortunately the smoke that day made it a little hazy so the photo is a little dull compared to reality.

I could not resist…..I found myself a little ledge…..boots off…feet in the water…..heavenly….. 😁

Scott carried on around the lake as I indulged in my spa moment….

We did go a little further…and there is a path up that scree face to a window crevice that gives the mountain its name…….but it was a hot day and there were already many people headed up there…..

We lingered for a while….it was just such a beautiful spot……

….before beginning the trip back down…

………with a few pauses to stop and stare….

Sometimes you just have to….but you can’t look and move your feet at the same time……that’s the fast way to the bottom of the mountain……

As we made our way down there were many many groups of people on their way up…..from teens with fishing poles…to families with teens who were clearly unimpressed at what their parents had them doing on vacation….LOL…. and many other people just happy to be there….!!!

It always surprises me how much easier the tricky rock face bits are on the way down. It’s easier to see the footholds when you are looking down…!!!

The actual walking down the path is harder tho’……in these dry conditions the dusty path can be treacherously slippery.

At the bottom of the trudge part the view down into that little meadow was quite lovely. The change in perspective as you go down is almost like a whole new path………but maybe it was seeing the truck and knowing there was a thermos of coffee waiting……!!!

These logging roads off the Crowsnest path have great spots for wild camping…..if you peek through the trees there are many, many trailers tucked into some lovely spots. Some of them in groups and some in private little glades. Very tempting….!!!!

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I guess this is another redo of sorts. Having missed the window to get up the mountain when we wanted to on our initial visit…we organized the whole Cathedral experience (1. and 2.) with a plan to come back through and stop in Revelstoke once again to bag this peak-to-peak trail from the summit of Mount Revelstoke to Eva Lake. This is not as much of a trial as it sounds, Revelstoke supports a couple of excellent craft breweries.

When you look at that map picture…you can actually see the switchbacks of the road going up the mountain before the green trail (the green trail being what we walked)

It was a longer hike and a time limit on access to the park. so the plan was to be at the gate when it opened at 8am for the 40-minute drive up the mountain. (They close the gate again at 8pm)

The first kilometer of the trail is to the Summit (the bit we did before!)

….and from there …the start of the Eva Lake Trail….. It’s a well-travelled path.

After the Summit Trail the next couple of kms are almost depressingly down (when you know it’s a long hike…and eventually you have to climb back up…!!!)

There was one guy ahead of us as we headed out …young guy…he took off like a rabbit and we did not see him again…LOL…this was not going to be a tortoise and the hare situation…

There are some really lovely spots where the forest opens up into wildflower meadows…..

There were lots of birds and chipmunks ……and butterflies galore…!!

Mount Revelstoke NP was established in 1914 and the peak is relatively accessible, so the trails are very well manicured and enjoyed by many.

Once you start going up again…there are some really evil parts of the path across old rockslides…. but the trail itself is easy to find…… and to follow.

One big advantage of being out this early is the wildlife.

As we strolled along, just ahead of us was this strange little critter. It’s a marmot, we’d never seen one before. It sat munching its breakfast of greens, not bothered by me at all. It even waited for Scott to catch up and get a couple of decent pix….(Editor. I’m always running to catch up or tearing up or down a rock face. photographic opportunities are everywhere)

I’m getting better at this rock ledge lark…I even managed to look down on some of those ropey parts.

The marmot was a little distraction before the path got crazy again…. and we saw a second one a little further along…..

Believe it or not……on the way back down we passed a guy heading up this path wearing Crocs….!!!! Even on the more level parts of the trail this seems like not-a-good-idea..!!

In this next picture, just to give an idea of the scale of this place I am on the path ahead of the blogtographer….the second pic shows you where I am…!! (Editor. I just wait patiently until I get the shot I want then run, while other hikers stare at me in amazement)

Eva Lake is quite magnificent. The water was crystal clear and still. Lots of small fish jumping.

We followed the path to the other end of the lake..so the next picture is looking back up the lake.

After some hydration ( from the water bottles we carry with us..!!) and a snack it was time to turn around and head back down.

Checking out the wildflowers as we went.

There is a side path to Miller Lake…it’s an extra couple of kilometers but fortunately we had started early, were making good time and of course we were here, so why not…!!!

The path comes down to a beach with stepping stones out to a couple of islands. The blogtographer wanted me out on the island.. (Editor. Platitudes like….it’s for the blog…never work)

…but that next rock did not look stable enough for me…….no matter how long I stared at it…!!…… LOL…..

Continuing on down…..this little guy appeared and did a full ten minute posing session…….If he’d had a bowl we’d have popped in a few Sheckels.

It was still reasonably cool, and we were meeting more and more people on their way up. We gave ourselves an extra little pat on the back for starting early.

Just in case you are wondering….yes he waits for everyone else to pass before he takes the pictures….

That climb back up to Revelstoke summit was cruel on tired legs……but we made it….. 😁

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Well, we did try to go to the Scottish Festival in Penticton. We did not even know it was a thing ’til we stopped off in the Penticton Art Gallery for a look. The lady in there said to us ‘Oh you must be here for the Scottish festival…!!’ Like it’s the only reason two people with Scottish accents would be in Penticton……haha..!!

In the end…. we had to do a bit of a musical campsites shuffle around the campground (a whole ‘nother saga) and by the time that all over…it was a bit late for the Scottish thing….so we pulled up our chairs and had a beer instead…!!!

The next day…it was a hot one…. the challenge for the day was another redo…. This time the hike we had to abandon last spring because the rocks we needed to climb were still covered with ice. The last straw had been Scott’s knee impacting heavily on one of these rocks…….and much expletive-izing later…we headed back down.

As would seem to be the usual pattern with these things…….the general direction was up….!!!

We quickly gained enough elevation to be rewarded with that clear view across Skaha Lake

…and then there is a section that goes pretty much straight across the contour line…I remember this being quite mossy and marshy the last time we were here

It was a beautiful climb for sure….but a lot of it was on the outer edges of my comfort zone……

It always surprises me just how well my hiking boots grip……I always expect to slip….but rarely do.

It has to be said …that even without the ice this trail was a challenge with the climb up the rocks.

There were a few moments from the blogtographer suggesting that the picture he wanted was further over on that slipperier, steeper, shinier part of the rock…….while I was already sliding on the bit that I was on…..there may have been some suggestions involving anatomical acrobatics sent in his direction at those moments….maybe…!!!

In these situations the guy with the camera ends up with less spectacular shots than he would like….!!!

….and has to make do with the scenery as I refuse to hang off the edge of the cliff by my fingernails…LOL…

Eventually we got to a section where the trail had been closed because of the burn (the other side of the hill from the Sauerkraut trail) so…..reluctantly (!!) I had to admit defeat (no not gleefully…LOL…) and we set our way back down again. Some spectacular views of the lakes from up there tho’ .

…but then you have to pick your way back down those rock faces…..!!!

…with the occasional stop to stare out across the lake…..

…and soon enough we were back down into the greenery and the backside slide down the dirt back to the truck……

The day was starting to heat up. We were thankful we had started early….and then headed home for a cold beer…!!!

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Still in Penticton as the summer kicked off and the weather was heating up. We had decided to stay put in Penticton until after the Canada day weekend……. being crumbly old retired people we generally try to avoid travelling on holiday weekends, and also wanted to make sure we actually had a spot with power with the increasing heat ( yup…the cat needs air conditioning…LOL).

As it was too hot for hiking, the plan for this day was to go back to the Ornamental Gardens in Summerland. Last visit was in the early spring when we could see that there was an exceptional range of flora ….but not much was happening as it was still rousing from winter slumber.

This time the gardens were full of life…flora and fauna and many dancing butterflies….

The original house in the centre of the garden is surrounded by a rose garden. The fragrance as you walk through the roses was quite heavenly…..

The lookout to the rail bridge was much greener than last time we visited…..

The butterflies were plentiful…….but it took a bit of chasing to catch them sitting still……

The colours and perfumes ….abundant and beautiful……

I kept losing the photographer as I wandered, and he stopped to capture images.

The lower part of the garden has a vast collection of pines and firs of all sizes and shapes…….

and an even vaster (!!) collection of cacti………this time many were in bloom.

There is such incredible delicacy to the flowers that those big scary prickly cacti produce…..

Not sure what the weird pod tree was….but it was pretty…!!

The day was an extravaganza of shape, colour and smell…… and a lovely shady place to spend a hot day.

The visit this time fulfilled our expectations. It’s a beautiful old garden that has delightful little fairylike nooks…..

It may not be high on the list of tourist spots, but if you find yourself in the area the gardens are easy to access right off the highway and well worth the time to visit.

Well…after all that excitement of Cathedral park and after a couple of days of recovery…….a leg stretching exercise was in order. We plumped for a redo of the Skaha Ward 1 Trail that we trekked in March of last year….(following the major wildfire destruction from the fall of 2021 which occurred just before we arrived in Penticton.)

(I forgot to turn Alltrails off when we finished the hike……..but it handily shows the road back to Wrights Beachcamp.)

It was an opportunity too cool to miss….to go back up and see just how much had changed in a little more than a year, and Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park is always a great starting point.

Experiences we have had with other wildfire sites….Waterton from 2014, Hells Canyon in South Dakota from 2002…… prepared us not to expect much change.

Here in Skaha the picture was quite different…

Setting off from the parking lot the trail winds up through the ponderosa pines headed for the south end of the park and a bit out the other side.

It was a hot day……and with tired legs still from Cathedral meant a slow pace chugging up the hill….. ( I think I can…!!!)

The familiar path, Sauerkraut.……in the interests of keeping it different…we trekked the trail in the opposite direction to last time.

The first part of the path is up through a fairly leafy green area of forest….the next hill over from the burned area.

…and once we got high enough we began to see the evidence….but a little more hidden than last time.

The spring following this fall burn, the willows that were fervently sprouting a year ago…had become thick bushes almost completely hiding their blackened core……….but now a year later, more of the flora was bursting to life…..

Even the stark blackness of the burned trunks had softened to browns and whites…with this carpet of lush lime green growth and abundant wildflowers ( and bees)

We were glad to have started out early in the day….that sun was hot….

Walking across the scorched rocks, the contrast between the burned stumps and the almost joyful new growth was impressive.

It was a harder climb going this way…….or maybe it always seems that way on the way up

As we made our way around the front of the hill, the views down into Skaha are ever impressive…

…and as we made our way around the end of the loop, there is more bare rock and black lumps………but I remember this bit last time being mostly ash underfoot…..

It gets hard to follow the trail through this area…and we were trying especially hard to keep to the trail being conscious of the fragility of the ground as it recovers

At the top of the bluff you can still see the rock faces scorched white from the heat…..but even up in that section…the soil underneath is knitting back together firmly.

Last time we lost the path through this section and ended up scrambling a bit….. it was easier this time…..

Up over the top we met a crowd of curious goats.

They were quite unafraid……sniffing and stepping a little closer……having seen signage about aggressive goats in other areas we were not about to find out if these guys were going to be unfriendly….we (I .. !!) skirted around them.

They were quite unfazed by our presence….(does bear spray work on goats?…

………..any available big sticks were too burned for my illusion of defense😂 ..!!)

We continued picking our way through this more damaged section of the trail….

Do you remember the holes made by the exploded stumps ?……..they are healing nicely……

It was almost unbelievable how lush the surrounding forest on the other side of the ridge had become. Literally buzzing with life.

…and there was an abundance of wildflowers….

….the path became a thick carpet of clover and grasses…….

As we started down, the path follows a little creek…….now we were becoming snack food for the abundant mosquito population……

…..so we cut a couple of corners and hit the path down to the parking lot a little sooner…..

……. and another photo redo……!!!

…… heading down this path towards the parking area….as we turned around some of the tight switchbacks…..now I remember how steep this path was last time…..haha..!!

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Cathedral Park part 2. The Rim Trail

This entire experience in Cathedral was quite ‘out-of-this-world’. Be warned….there are going to be a LOT of pictures…… ( please click on them for a clearer view )

Following part 1 of the adventure ( click ) where we had made it to the shoulder of Pyramid Mountain, the path dips down to the shore of Ladyslipper lake. The regular trail heads up around the west shore of the lake…….. and then up……….

I had been a bit too smart for my own good here. In order to shorten the rim trail to make it more manageable in our limited time, I used Alltrails to map out an alternate path that went to the east side of the lake. This would almost prove to be our undoing.

To begin with it was a clearly defined path……

….but it quickly became clear we were on a goat path…..’cleverly’ we made the decision to continue as it looked like it was going pretty much where we expected it to, plus we would have the opportunity to practice our mountain goat skills.

A bit of a rock scramble towards the end of the lake made things interesting….but still quite manageable…lulling us into a false sense of security and completely unprepared for what we would shortly face.

After crawling across a rock field at the top of the lake…..we were face to face with a fairly sheer climb up the valley to the rim. about 600m of it. At this point we are certainly not turning back…..but I am now seeing my error…!!!

The path was more of a …..well a ridge of rocks and scree…. Note well…..Alltrails uses satellite images to follow trails when you draw your own maps. The hiccup here is that the sheer edge of a rock ridge looks like a path in a satellite image……!!!! This realization was not my favourite moment…..!!!

But here we are…..and you don’t ever achieve anything in life without a bit of discomfort or even heart-stopping terror……so…let’s give it a go…!!!

I don’t know how it looks to you….but it was a hard climb. It became gradually steeper until we were using hands and knees to keep going….

The next two pictures are (L). looking up to that boulder and (R). looking down from it…..

….and then we were into snow …..In addition, all the way up the wind was bitingly cold and relentless.

If you look closely ……I am in the middle of this next picture……

I have to say…about halfway up…I did not think I was going to make it. There were a couple of spots that were near vertical…and the only grip was some grassy tufts that were tenaciously rooted into the rocks and gravel.

Scott was doing his best encouragement halfway…as the ice pellets started blowing at us and we could see snow clouds heading our way over the ridge below us….

No choice but up…so up we went……the only thing keeping me going at that point was the grim determination NOT to be one of those people that needs rescued…..

It was more mentally tough than physically, I think . My dear husband delighted in the photographs of me struggling in my moments of misery…..I knew we still had 400 m to climb……and my legs were not enthused at the idea.

But…no choice…pushes you on…and we made it to the top of the ridge

As you come up over the top edge of the ridge…..it’s a real WOW moment….. truly like being on top of the world…8300ft above sea level, surrounded by 80,000 acres of pristine, and difficult to access, wilderness. After the climb you try and catch your breath, but the views simply take your breath away.

…and you can see the different weather systems for miles in all the valleys in every direction….

Once we collected ourselves and thanked our lucky stars, we joined the path (the dull and far less challenging one we should have been following..!!) around the rim, path is a loose description as it’s a vague line between cairns.!!)

There was quite a bit of snow on the rocks up there which made walking rather dangerous, not quite sure of what you were stepping into.

We picked our way across the top…the views are beyond description……you can see forever up there and of the 610 named mountain peaks in BC, it feels like you can see about 500 of them (maybe a slight exaggeration) it really is like being on top of the world….

Even being on the edge of the rim…looking down the steep, steep valley into the glacial lakes below……maybe the last couple of years of driving and walking some of those scary, scary paths has altered my brains perception of those dizzying spots….or maybe it was just so breathtakingly beautiful that the vertiginous viewpoint is completely nullified…… but it was just ……. spectacular….like nothing we have ever seen before.

……..and then it was time to come back down to earth.

Even with the waves of weather blown in by that biting wind, ice pellets, snow and cloud there could simply never be enough time up on the rim …….

Down towards our 4th lake of the day, Glacier Lake.

This was one of the few occasions where going down was LESS scary than going up……

I am sure the distraction of the view down into Glacier Lake also helped…

The steep path gave way into a gentler incline ……

…and on very tired legs we made it back into the camp with about an hour to spare on our time limit.

As we arrived, there was a big group of high school students arriving in these amazing Unimog Mercedes ex-army vehicles. I am sure these little trucks managed the road very well……but it must have been quite the bumpy ride for this group of 17-year-olds. Quite the life experience for them….

The ride back down…13km and hour and ten……..and it was like a slow-motion rollercoaster….with mud puddles. Kudos to our driver……he was amazing.

Then back to the truck for the drive back down Ashnola……which is itself such a beautiful, remote, unspoiled place. We met a few wild locals on the way….

The only reason this place is not on more bucket lists is because most people don’t even know that it exists……..the photographs can only show a fraction of the scale…and the magnificence of this place….

We had high expectations and even those were completely blown out of the water.

Best $300 we have spent in a long time..

My only concern now is that the next places we go just don’t measure up….

We walked climbed hiked from 8.50 am to 3.20 pm…..with no real breaks other than me stopping on the way up the hill to wait for my heart to stop pounding enough to contnue…..and it felt like maybe only a couple of hours at the most.

(Editor. For those who have followed along with us, you’ll appreciate we have been a lot of places and seen many things. We’re often asked what our favourite is, and up until now although there are many we’d happy to return to, picking a No.1 was impossible. That changed with our visit to Cathedral Park which has a scale and majesty that is beyond comprehension and is a place we hope to return to many times. If you have, or can make, the opportunity to visit then please do, it’s an experience of a lifetime. I hope the photos give you enough of a flavour to provide the necessary encouragement)

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Cathedral Park part 1 …..the journey up.

This hike had become a bit of a bucket list thing…….having had two failed attempts at getting into Cathedral Park in Oct 2021…the first time cos we just did not understand the scale of the thing.(click)…and the second because it was just too far to make it in one day. ( click).

( I highly recommend clicking on the pictures in this episode……some of them are spectacular..!!)

There are only two ways in, hike the 16 km walking trail from basecamp to the highest wilderness camp in Canada at 6800 ft above sea level and then camp…….or book the transport in with Cathedral Lakes Lodge ( click) utilizing the only (private) road in the park. Transport is only available from June to September, depending on the weather. In 2021 we were just too late in the year, but this time we were set to book in June and as luck would have it, we’d be daytrippers on the longest day of the year.

We had to set off from the trailer by 6.20 am to arrive in enough time to munch down our brekkie sammiches…and make sure we made it in good time to the gate. We were up early enough that we spotted a black bear strolling up the side of the road on the way there.

As it turned out…that was a very good move because the guy who was driving us up (we were the only two day trippers that day) was ready to take us up early. That gave us about a 40 minute start on the day getting up there. ( Early bird = worm 😁 )

Having walked part of this road before…I could not even imagine how someone could get a jeep up without a winch. It was stomach churning on foot….!!! Turned out it was not a jeep..!! it was a Chevy Suburban making the journey up. Our driver had been driving this road for 33 years…….and he made it seem remarkably easy, knew where all the bumps, channels and ginormous rocks were.

It’s a 13 km drive which took us an hour to get there…and I have to say …even if you could…you would not want to go any faster.

The trip up itself was an adventure. I must have been on enough of these ropey BC logging roads cos I surprised myself I was still conscious looking at some of the sheer drops off the side of this very narrow…very ‘rugged’ road….!!

What seemed like maybe halfway up…..it was difficult to track time on this journey…we crossed the Lakeview Trail…..the one we attempted before….

It’s so difficult to show just how steep this path is with photographs but nigh on impossible to take those pictures as the truck bounces over the rocks and through the little washouts on the road.

The driver told us it takes them several days to open the road in the spring because of the number of fallen trees and washouts they have to repair.

The camp…when you eventually get there is beautiful. There are cabins and a lodge up there. Sensible people would book accommodation with the meal plan (the reviews for the meals are pretty good..!!) . If one wanted to do any of the hikes up there the whole experience…with the comfy bed, the hot tub at the end of the day and the meal plan. ….and the very friendly very helpful staff, would probably be the way to do it.

The requirement for everyone is to sign in and provide their route for the day (and the direction of travel)……just in case you need fetching off the mountain before the predators come out to dine…..!!

If, and when, you do return from the hike the map needs to be picked up to effectively sign out and indicate that you have returned safely. (There are bears…grizzlies…..and mountain lions up there…!!)

The route we picked was blogworthy but I would not necessarily recommend that anyone else follow it..LOL… We tried to pick out a trail using Alltrails that would allow us to get up to the rim trail…..and make it back down..maximising our hike within our limited time yet still getting back without having to be rescued..!!

The beginning of the trail from Quiniscoe Lake goes through some of the camping areas. ….complete with the hoist thingies to keep your food away from the bears…!!!

We headed for Lake of the Woods……..the first lake of the day….

For what is most definitely a challenging hike…..it starts out gently …and is oh so pretty….

We met a partridge on the path. I’m thinking it was cold because it did not seem much interested in moving off the trail……

….and then around the Lake of the Woods……

After the lake the trail did start to climb a little…….

We had lucked out with a really lovely day (first day of summer..!!) the folks in the lodge informed us that it had been snowing up ’til the day before…!!!

…and then the trail started to climb a bit more seriously…..

…with some switchbacks heading up in to the forest……

…until we were high enough to be in snow…..

…then we reached the first peak of our trail crossing the shoulder of Pyramid mountain to take us down towards Ladyslipper lake…

The range of alpine wildflowers was quite spectacular up here…….the mountains above and below….breathtaking…….

Its hard to describe the feeling descending to the edge of Ladyslipper, it’s one of those almost ‘otherworldly’ places and so beautiful….

The trail we had picked out took us along the edge of the lake and then up to the ridge to follow the rim trail…..

…..but that’s the next installment….don’t touch that dial.😁

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