August 20, 2011 Blackfoot Reccreational Area

I haven't walked as much this summer as I have other summers and I have missed it. I have been out doors a fair amount because I have tented more this summer than that I usually do. I have a vehicle, a backpack and a tent.
If you can ignore the mosquitoes then this would be a good hike. As it turned out I arrived at the staging area sans mosquito repellent. I survived 2 hours but it was a relief when I arrived back at the parking lot and ducked into the cab of my vehicle. Nevertheless for me even a walk in a swarm of mosquitoes is better than no walk at all. The evening was still. The bounty of the advancing summer was all around me. In many places the, almost florescent orange, Bunch Berries were plentiful along the trail. I picked and ate ripe low bush cranberries. Sour but I believe these berries have some medicinal value. My mother says that when the golden rod is in bloom then it is 6 weeks until frost. The golden rod is in bloom. Many plants are now already in seed. I walked to where I could view the Heron colony but I had too many sucking mouth parts seeking my blood for me to stay long. Also my binoculars were in the same back pacjk the insect repellent was. So no Herons were observed but I certainly but count some frogs. And I did see a dozen or so teal, already in fall plumage.

In all I observed 25 to 30 Northern Wood Frogs and on Boreal Chorus Frog as I hiked from the Blackfoot Lake Staging area on the Whitetail trail to the Springs trail. Took the Springs trail to Heron Hollow. Hiked Heron Hollow to the park fence and then hiked south along the fence to Blackfoot Lake. 2.8 km. (5.6 km total).

Frog Walk At Islet Lake

July 9, 2011
When I walk during the spring, summer and even the fall I listen and watch for Amphibians. I record any sightings and I then report my observations to the Amphibian Volunteer Monitoring Program, (http://www.ab-conservation.com/go/default/index.cfm/programs/wildlife/wildlife-projects/avamp/overview/Amphibian). This walk was to be just a walk in one of my favorite places. I had the willing company of two of my nephews. The walk turned out to be a frog counting expedition.
The Cooking Lake Recreational Area with its wetlands is a haven for amphibians but in past years low precipitation rates have drastically reduced suitable habitat for amphibians. Last winter's snow fall and this summer's rains has not been for the best summer for us humans, we like sunshine, but the amphibians are having a great summer. The frogs in particular seem to be having a great year and I can imagine their happiness this summer. That is assuming frogs can feel happy, but back to the walk.
The three of us started our walk from the Islet Lake Staging Area and hiked the Highline trail first and then hiked back on the Middle trail and returned to the staging area on the Lost Lake trail. This was an evening hike and during this walk we counted well over a 100 Northern Wood Frogs and 6 Boreal Chorus Frogs.

Here is the distance and times for the hike.

5.21 km

1 hr 29 min moving

10 min stopped

Max elevation 2669

Bertha Lake, Waterton National Park

July 4, 2011
This hike started out as a few of us planning to do a day hike up to Bertha Lake but it grew into a family get together. People aged in their 70,s and young Issac who was 5 and who walked just about every step of the way himself.

A perfect day for a hike in the mountains. The Bear Grass was in bloom along the trail at the lower elevations this is quite a contrast to when Ken and I hiked to Bertha Falls on February 15, 2011. I am not sure if this is when the notion of hiking to Bertha Lake was conceived. I think the hike to Bertha Falls was a test to see how feasible it would be for some older folks to hike to Bertha Lake.

It was a little above Bertha Falls that I encountered the first bit of snow. As it turned out there was quite a lot of snow still on the trail. In fact I think the snow was knee deep if not hip deep in some places. Hip deep for at least some of the shorter hikers. When I drained my water bottle I just filled it with snow and eventually, as the snow melted, I had more water. Some individuals hiked on to the out houses at Bertha Lake and reported quite a bit of snow on that trail. It appeared to me that continuing the hike around Bertha Lake would be very difficult because of snow. There was also one patch of ice still on the lake.

I just took a few nuts and a a granola bar with me to eat on the hike, which I did not touch. I found ample offers of food when I got to the lake and curiously enough I returned with more food than I had left with.

But I digress. This trail to Bertha Lake is well traveled and there were many hikers on it on this day. I even noted on person hiking it without shoes.

The total distance hiked was about 12 km.
I think we hiked a total of about4.5 hrs to a maximum elevation of 5918 ft.

Whitehorn Campsite to Trail Head/ Day 6

July 2, 2011
This would be one of the busiest days in the park. We encountered many day hikers on the trail. I would catch the gentle fragrances of scented soaps as the people approached and I wonder to myself just what my fragrance was. After camping for 5 days I would certainly have acquired my own unique bouquet.

On June 27, 2001 my notes tell about observing large boulders that had recently fallen onto the alluvial flat. During their fall the boulders had taken out Douglas Fur over a foot in diameter and left craters where they struck the ground. Sometimes the boulders then bounced about 40 feet. By the size of the craters the energy released would have been equivalent to that of an artillery round.

On the hike back Jim and I found the trail across the flood plain so we didn't hike the high bank this time.

Once we were at the north end of Kinney Lake we were encountering lots of day hikers and bicyclists. Cycling is permitted on the trail up to a place just past Kinney Lake where there are racks for locking bikes.

It was a pleasant day and a pleasant hike out.

This concludes my Robson Park Blog entries.

Berg Lake to Whitehorn Campsite

July 1, 2011. Day 5

We got an early start again today. We left the Berg Lake campsite at 7:30 AM. The weather was fair. Where the trail traverses the talus slope I noticed chunks of ice strewn about. The chunks were fist sized and were scattered. I called Jim's attention to this but be could not conclude where the ice would have come from. Our best guess was that it fell from higher up, but what is higher up is not visible from the trail. I think a person would not want to be on the trail while the ice was falling.

I first learned about the Rock Rabbit or Pika when I was studying Biological Sciences at the Northern Albert Institute of Technology (NAIT). For me to learn of such an animal that was familiar to the mountains of Alberta and BC but to have never seen one was intriguing. Hence I have always enjoyed seeing these some what secretive creatures. I have recently learned that Pika put up hay for the winter, possibly the only other species besides man that does, and it does not hibernate. Wikipedia says "They show their peak activity before the winter season. Pikas do not hibernate, so they rely on collected hay for warm bedding and food. Pikas gather fresh grasses and lay them in stacks to dry. Once the grasses dry out, the Pikas take this hay back to the burrows for storage. It is not uncommon for Pikas to steal hay from each other.

Not far beyond the end of the talus is the Emperor Falls Campground and a little further along is the Emperor Falls trail. I think it was at the Emperor Falls trail that we met our first hikers of the day. Two ladies on their way to Berg Lake. This time Jim and I took the time to hike into the falls. Photos and words won't do the falls justice. My notes say "spectacular!" but really You just have to go see them. To visit these falls will certainly validate why you did the hike and make every step worth it.

We arrived at the Whitehorn Campsite at noon. Had lunch and set up camp and then took a rest. We met quite a few hikers on their way up the trail. This time we actually met hikers who were closer to our age. Our tent was near the trail and during my rest I could hear hikers passing by regularly.

That afternoon the park ranger, Anne, showed some people where water welds up. She says this water is pure and is not part of the river flow so it does not need to be filtered. The evening was warmer than the ones at Berg Lake and there was no precipitation so it was a much more pleasant time here. A good opportunity to look around and explore. Jim and I went for a bit of a walk that evening. We crossed the suspension bridge and hiked the horse trail on the other side of the river. We found White Ladyslippers.Jim showed me a plant with a Larkspur like flower that had sticky leaves. The stick leaves will capture insects and the plant then consumes the insect.
It felt good to be back into a little warmer air and to be dry.

Hargrave Lake/ the Cave/Mum Basin

June 30, 2011, Day 4 of Mount Robson Park, Berg Lake Hike.

To get to the Hargrave Lake trail head requires hiking back along the Berg Lake trail for about 1.6 km. The weather was a little better on this day and I think we made our breakfast under the Tyvek Fly. Even though we had some clear sky and sunshine the top of Mount Robson was still shrouded in clouds. Jim and I started our hike at 8:30 AM.

As Jim and I hiked back along the Berg Lake trail I happened to notice 5 Harlequin Ducks loafing on a rock. We stopped to observe them and I was even able to take a photo and a video of them. Then we noticed a few more loafing on a rock near the first one. There were 10 ducks in total.

I had hiked the Mum Basin and Toboggan Falls in June 2001 with Jim and Ken but we did not get to Hargrave Lake on that hike.

Once we started on the Hargrave Lake trail it was a steady climb. The Berg Glacier is a calving glacier meaning that chucks of ice break off and fall into the lake to form Icebergs on the lake. On the way up there was a loud rumble of a Berg breaking. I immediately looked and saw broken chunks of ice tumbling down the edge of the glacier and seconds later I heard a secondary rumble. I kept wondering why I hadn't seen larger chucks breaking off. Later in the day while at the Mum Basin I heard a loud rumble of breaking ice and when I looked at the lake I noticed new icebergs in the lake and waves radiating outward from the toe of the glacier. This confirmed what I had been thinking, which was simply that light travels faster than sound. By the time I heard the sound of the rumble of the breaking ice the event was already over as it would have taken several seconds for the sound to reach me. The waves on the water validated that a calving event had occurred within those seconds of time.

Much of the hike to Hargrave Lake is along the Lateral Moraine left as the glacier shrank in size. I speculate that when the distance between the two lateral moraines were filled with ice the Hargrave Glacier would have been as large in width and length as the Athabasca glacier is now. Walking along the moraine gives one a commanding view of Berg Lake, Hargrave Lake, and the glaciers all framed in rocky slopes and craggy mountains. As Jim and I reached the view point for Hargrave Lake we were over taken two younger hikers. One was a student of geology at the U of A. The other was an engineering student at Bristol University.
We then decided to continue on up to the cave. This is a steady ascent. We saw 2 eagles soaring over the ridge high above us. There were more people at the cave and they went into the cave. Jim and I stayed outside as their description of the interior of the cave was sufficient for us. We had a few snacks here and a bit of a rest. It was very enjoyable visiting with other hikers. The trail from the cave to the Mum Basin is not well defined but it was sufficiently clear for us to follow, however this might not be so had there been any snow or perhaps even on a day with low contrast light. The alpine flowers were out in abundance. A white crocus like flower was just one of many. A person could easily spend many pleasant hours with reference book in hand identifying flowers. There was a significant amount of 'old' snow on the trail but not enough to impede our progress in any way. Where signs of the trail were masked by the snow then there were tracks of the hikers who had been there before us to guide the way.

As we descended from the Mum Basin we saw a Clark's Nutcracker. Seeing it served to refresh my memory about the differences between the Clark's Nutcracker and the Gray Jay or Whiskey Jack.

At some point during our descent to the Robson Pass Campground Jim loaned me one of his walking poles. I found it to be a help went descending steeper trails.

We were back at camp by 3:30 pm.

Total distance hiked: 12.1 km

moving 4 hr.s 20 min

sopped 2 hr 34 min

total ascent 3355 ft.

Max. elevation 7037 ft.

My notes for June 25, 2001 record that we did the Mum Basin hike in fog and snow. During lunch we observed 2 marmots playing and also an eagle soaring above us. I also mentioned the abundance of flowers including the white crocus.

Robson Glacier, Adolphus Lake Day 3

June 29, 2011Day 3

Day 3 was a day of trying to stay dry and getting warmed up. there was a lot of contemplation and some discussion about suitable apparel in wet conditions.

We left the Berg Lake Campsite early in the morning and hiked to the Robson Pass Campsite. There are a couple of routes to the Robson Glacier. One follows the river and the other starts at the Robson Pass Campsite. There is a sign on the first trail showing where the Glacier was in 1911. The glacier has receded a couple of kilometers since then. There was even a noticeable difference in the position of the glacier now and where it was when hiked to it 10 years ago. The two photos taken from the Mum Basin do not show a significant difference but when you hike there it is noticeable. The trail to the glacier is well defined for the most part except where it gets into some rock and talus. It is then marked with cairns. We did manage to lose the trail for a short way but a quick check of our Track File had us quickly back on it. Jim found his walking poles of great advantage on this terrain particularly since a constant rain made the rocks wet.

Ten years ago while walking the glacial moraine we found a log partially buried in the moraine. I concluded that the tree must have be trapped in the glacier as it was advancing and then released from the ice as the glacier receded. At that time we quizzed the Park Ranger about this and he said that indeed some scientist had studied the tree wood and determined that it had be trapped in the ice for 3000 years. I studied this wood more carefully this time and it is still quite solid but I could detect no odder of spruce or pine and the heart of the wood has a faded hue to it.

I also noticed numerous small flowering plants establishing themselves on the glacial moraine.

Another curiosity was the milky look of the water in the river and to me it took on a rather unique greenish hue.

In spite of the rain this was a worthwhile hike.

This hike was 8.2 km. and about 3 hours 45 min. long.

Total ascent was 902 ft.

Maximum elevation 5639 ft.

We stopped for lunch at about 1 pm at the campsite where there is a shelter and fire wood, though we did not light a fire, and a tarp fly over the picnic tables. It was comfortable enough place to rest and eat. We then hiked on to the boundary between BC and Alberta and then on to Adolphus Lake. The rain was upon us then and we made our way back to camp. Jim and I pondered what makes the difference between a general rain and rain showers. By the time I got back my cotton T-shirt and long sleeved shirt were wet. I rested in the tent in hopes of drying out some but I didn't really get dry and warm until I started moving around again. I think Jim and I put up a Tyvek fly.

The day before we had visited with a young fellow from Munich. He gave us some good advice about apparel for rain conditions. When he saw Jim and I dip water straight from the river into our drinking water containers he was perhaps a bit puzzled that we were not filtering our water. He said "you guys crack me up".

Total distance 4.5 km

Total time 2 hrs. 10 min.

Total distance hiked on this day was 12.7 km.

It was June 24, 2001 that Ken, Jim and I hiked to the Robson Glacier. We talked to the Park Ranger Chris and he invited us to the cabin and showed us a photo of the Robson Glacier taken in 1908. Also we stopped at the Robson Pass Campground. I noted a Clark's Nutcracker came near by and rooted around in the litter beside a tree root.

PS: I neglected to mention: while preparing oatmeal for my breakfast on the porch of the cabin a Meadow Vole appeared along the wall. It became so bold that it ventured right to my feet and picked up a few pieces of oatmeal.

Found the trail head to the Snowbird Pass but this trail does not open until July 1st.