Jeremy C
Member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2014
- Messages
- 106
Here's my first trip report since rejoining. It's not a huge trip and I did get caught with some early season snow packs that put a hard damper in the slog going forward.
I left Calgary at 4:45am an got on the highway for the 3hr drive to the trailhead on the east edge of Waterton National Park. Seeing the weather and avalanche reports I was aiming for the clearer skies vs the snow storms hitting the western parks, as well the dry winter down south meant I should have clear-ish trails (or so I had thought).
Got to the trailhead just before sunrise and set off up the first ridge past the buffalo paddock heading up towards the shoulder of Belevue hill.
Looking south towards Waterton propoer and Old Chief hiding on the left there.
I got up and over the shoulder into the valley to be greeted with the omnipresent Mt Galwey being splattered with nice dappled light, which was one of my primary goals for the trip, so I found a viewpoint and setup the 4x5 camera for the first exposure of the day.
After packing up the struggles began. Making your way down into the valley you come upon multiple early season snow packs that were sketchy at best. The crust was the typical spring 3 inch crust for the rockies, so slick ice on top and softer slush underneath. In hindsight I should have packed snowshoes but didn't. SO making my way through the first section I slowly poked my way across the non-obvious trail and punched through a few times but overall it was just slow. This area was ravaged by wildfires a few years back and there was a lot of "hidden gems" of dead fall and remnants that were just under the snow cap which played in my head. Getting to the second major set was worse as it was in the middle of a skeletal forest so I really slowed down and picked my way across coming to a nice valley below the end goal of Lakeview Ridge. As the temps rose I decided that the two main packs I crossed already were going to be a bad idea if I waited longer into the afternoon, so I cut the hike shorter of my goal and picked my way slowly back (only managed to punch a few holes and no long lasting injuries hehe). Stopped at the top of the shoulder looking south towards Waterton again for another photo with the 4x5 and lazily walked back down the ridge to the car. All in all it has a lot of potential for mid season, but needs a week or three to clear some of that remaining snow off to be a bit safer.
Dry creekbed looking towards Lakeview Ridge
Skeletal pine forest after the fire
Final shot of the day
I left Calgary at 4:45am an got on the highway for the 3hr drive to the trailhead on the east edge of Waterton National Park. Seeing the weather and avalanche reports I was aiming for the clearer skies vs the snow storms hitting the western parks, as well the dry winter down south meant I should have clear-ish trails (or so I had thought).
Got to the trailhead just before sunrise and set off up the first ridge past the buffalo paddock heading up towards the shoulder of Belevue hill.
Looking south towards Waterton propoer and Old Chief hiding on the left there.
I got up and over the shoulder into the valley to be greeted with the omnipresent Mt Galwey being splattered with nice dappled light, which was one of my primary goals for the trip, so I found a viewpoint and setup the 4x5 camera for the first exposure of the day.
After packing up the struggles began. Making your way down into the valley you come upon multiple early season snow packs that were sketchy at best. The crust was the typical spring 3 inch crust for the rockies, so slick ice on top and softer slush underneath. In hindsight I should have packed snowshoes but didn't. SO making my way through the first section I slowly poked my way across the non-obvious trail and punched through a few times but overall it was just slow. This area was ravaged by wildfires a few years back and there was a lot of "hidden gems" of dead fall and remnants that were just under the snow cap which played in my head. Getting to the second major set was worse as it was in the middle of a skeletal forest so I really slowed down and picked my way across coming to a nice valley below the end goal of Lakeview Ridge. As the temps rose I decided that the two main packs I crossed already were going to be a bad idea if I waited longer into the afternoon, so I cut the hike shorter of my goal and picked my way slowly back (only managed to punch a few holes and no long lasting injuries hehe). Stopped at the top of the shoulder looking south towards Waterton again for another photo with the 4x5 and lazily walked back down the ridge to the car. All in all it has a lot of potential for mid season, but needs a week or three to clear some of that remaining snow off to be a bit safer.
Dry creekbed looking towards Lakeview Ridge
Skeletal pine forest after the fire
Final shot of the day
