Castle Mountain

Castle Mountain Hike/Scramble

July 30, 2009 25km round trip. 10 hours.
Elevation Gain: 760 m
(to Rockbound Lk).

Wildlife seen: one mule deer, many squirrels, marmots,
and when we arrived back at the
trail-head another hiker told us a black bear and two cubs
had just made an appearance then then disappeared again.

We got a bit of later start than anticipated. Sleeplessness from the heat the night before prompted us to hit the snooze button a number of times. But with the right amount of coffee and a little 'morning dance' we were able to comfortably make the drive to Banff National Park. We started out on the at 10am.

The trail was nice and wide. The grade was steady and was not too grueling. The trail to Rockbound lake is 8.4km. First we came to Tower Lake - thinking we had arrived at our lunch destination, we soon remembered that Rockbound Lake is beyond Tower Lake. A very steep trail on the West side of the lake brings you to Rockbound Lake. We stopped there for a half hour lunch before moving on the scramble.

At Rockbound Lake the West side of the mountain, the 'back side' - the side that faces away from the highway (see photo). Our Goal - to reach the summit. This meant climbing some rocks to the ridge. The day was getting on and we had to turn around prior to reaching the summit. Our estimate is that reaching the summit will take approximately another 3hours. Our late start had set us back. Next time....

Above: This is us in the morning.
Happy little granola munching back-packers.
Castle Mountain in the background.
The 'front' of the mountain, as viewed from the highway.

Above: Rockbound Lake

Above: To the right is the North side of Castle Mountain.
The lone tower at the end of the range is called Eisenhower Tower.

Above: The scramble up to the ridge.

Bourgeau Lake - Banff National Park

Bourgeau Lake - July 27

Round Trip: 15.4km
Time: 5 hours total - 2.5 hours there, 0.5 hours for lunch, 2 hours back.
Elevation gain: 747m

We stopped at the Bourgeau Lake turnout on Highway 1, 11.4km west of Banff. From here we entered the Jurassic park-like gate. Keeping the riff-raff out and the bears in. The first 2/3 of trail is gradual and follows Wolverine Creek. About 3/4 of the way, to the lake, the trail comes to a spectacular set of cascades. Past the cascades the trail gets increasingly more steep. Once at the top the trail opens into a large meadow full of wild-flowers. The lake lies on the far side of the meadow.

We took a half hour break at the lake to eat, where we were bombarded by fat, hungry, and greedy rock chipmunks (see the video).

The weather was great - hot hiking in, much sweat. On the way back it rained which was rather refreshing.

Three Isle Lake - Backpacking

3 Isle Lake: July 17-18

The hike in to 3 Isle Lake totaled about 12 km. We packed our tent and all our gear and planned for a two night trip. Two nights at 3 Isle Lake with a day hike on the second day.

We started at Upper Kananaskis Lake and from there the path goes around the north side of the lake. At the far end it branches off and heads into the pine woods.

From there the path was fairly level and eventually reached the Kananaskis River where it followed along westward to The Forks. The Forks is a picnic/rest/overnight camping spot with several picnic tables and bear bins for the food.

Just beyond The Forks there was a young grizzly standing upright on the trail. To which (I was told on the way home) I exclaimed "Oh S#*$ !". We started making some noise and he walked slowly away.

I was ready to head home right then and there but the bear gave us the trail and went from where we just came. Head back and he would think we were stalking him. So we carried on our way.

From here to 3 Isle Lake it was only about 2.5 km but it has an elevation rise of close to 2000 ft. On the way up there was a waterfall, a good place to rest before tackling the switchbacks and final climb.

The rest of the hike was all uphill and even required some climbing in spots. Once at the top it was downhill thru the forest again until you reach the lake and the campsites.

There was a lot of evidence of bears in the area. Trees with the bark scratched off, fresh bear dung, fresh prints in the mud, and fresh prints on the bear boxes where the food is store. After one rather sleepless night on my part (Peter slept like a baby) we came back to civilization.

Eating oatmeal and dried blueberries for breakfast. So Yum.

There was plenty of evidence that bears were in the area.
The tree above is only one of many trees
where the bottom 12ft of bark has been stripped away.
Used for sharpening claws, rubbing backs,
and finding bugs to eat under the bark.