A few weeks ago, Lockey had posted about his trek to Crypt Lake. My boyfriend Geoff and I finally found the time to make our own journey to Crypt, yesterday. We moved to Waterton in April, and while we both consider ourselves well acquainted with the park now, we have both only scratched the surface as far as hiking goes. Part of this is due to the fact a lot of the trails are not do-able until June or July, and the rest is a combination of procrastination and trying to find the time around work schedules. So far this season, I have completed the following hikes:

• the essential climb on Bear’s Hump quite a few times with one scramble towards the top of Crandell
•  Lower Bertha Falls
•  Crandell Lake
•  Goat Lake, which includes a trek through the Snowshoe Trail
•  Blakiston Falls
• Red Rock Canyon
•  Cameron Lake
  
• and now Crypt Lake. 

Most of these hikes are not terribly difficult, with the exception of Goat Lake. I will admit that as a hiker, I am slightly out of shape, but nonetheless I enjoy being challenged. I really want to push myself to complete the Fantastic Four and Triple Crown before the summer is over.

So, forfeiting the first 9 am boat cruise over to Crypt for an extra hour of sleep, we decided to take the 10 am boat. We were in a bit of a panic, as the boat only leaves at 9 and 10 am (it also departs Crypt at 4 pm and 5:30 pm each day...so if you are depending on the cruise to get to and fro, then you have to be especially time conscious!) We narrowly made it after a protein-filled breakfast of eggs and toast with all of the fixings, and scrambling to grab all of our hiking essentials: a backpack with water, Gatorade, packed lunches, bear spray, bug spray, sunscreen and hunting knives. The sunscreen is a must! It was a scorcher yesterday, so I must have sprayed that stuff on at least 3-4 times, and instead of my regular pale white self I am glowing with a bit of red. A hat is also a good hiking accessory. Another thing that we found, is that we definitely should have brought more water or one of those handy-dandy devices that let you filter your own water, since there were at least 3 streams we passed. We joked that at times, the hike was a bit like walking in the desert when we climbed the switchbacks just outside of the forested areas. Seeing running water was a bit like seeing mirage and we happily splashed around in the extremely cold, but refreshing glacier water.

It is really easy to see why Crypt Lake is the #3 hike in Canada and a national favourite. While it was intense at times, it was a great workout with fantastic scenery. There were families with young children out on the trail too- if your family is physically up to the challenge of a day hike, 5+ hours, it is not impossible. I was very impressed to see kids as young as 7 or 8, enduring the challenge, though most of the hikers were pretty experienced.

 As we disembarked from the Roddy Paul and walked into the forest of trees following the hike trailhead, we took in a different, invigorating scent of pine. Along the way, we saw numerous waterfalls. I was clamouring to snap photos at almost every turn, but in our rush I had forgotten to charge my camera battery and so had left it behind. Geoff had pulled out his camera on the boat ride over, only to discover its batteries were still in a flashlight we had used a few days prior at a campfire. Generously, a couple from Pincher Creek, who had asked us to take a photo of them, offered to take our photo in front of the falls and email it to us.

The greatest highlight of the entire trip was, of course, the cave tunnel near the end of the journey. After 2.5 hours of pushing ourselves, we splashed around in a stream to cool off and then on the other side was the cave. Even on a weekday, the boats had brought many people over to Crypt to hike. There must have been at least 100 people out on the trail, which meant waiting in a line to climb the ladder into the cave and then to pass through (1 person at a time sort of deal.) However, not only was this my favourite part of the hike, crawling through the cave but I was also very challenged by traversing the wire-guided cliff edge following it over towards the lake, as someone who is not a fan of heights. It felt good to climb through and then relax on the edge of the lake with a sandwich, before the lengthy trek back.

5 hikes to complete Triple Crown and Fantastic Four: 1 down, 4 to go!

See you on the trails,

Marie

On Tuesday July 26, 2011 my wife, John and Dianna Elford and I hiked Swift Current Pass to Granite Park Chalet.  We stayed at the Chalet and hiked out the loop in the morning.  One of the hikes in the Fantastic Four of Glacier is the Garden Wall hike.  The Garden Wall hike starts at the Logan Pass visitors centre (see picture) and is part of the famous Northern Highline Trail of Glacier National Park.  As of the date of our hike (and today being July 29, 2011) the Garden Wall hike is not opened. 

There is some confusion as to what and where the Garden Wall Hike is but I take it to start at the Logan Pass Visitors Centre and end at Granite Park Chalet.  Eric Molvar in his book “Hiking Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks” agrees.

 For the purposes of the Fantastic Four one must make it to the Chalet and then can take the Loop trail or Swiftcurrent Pass as the rest of the hike.  In my view the best combination and way to do this hike is to start at the Logan Pass Visitor’s Centre, go through Granite Park Chalet and come out Swiftcurrent Pass.  The problem with this is that it makes it a very long day hike but you have very little elevation gain and a lot of elevation loss coming down Swiftcurrent Pass.  This is spectacular scenery and a lot of variety.  We saw both a bear and a moose in the Many Glacier Valley on the day we hiked.  If you go out the Loop Trail you will cut over three miles from your hike.  The other problem with taking Swiftcurrent Pass is you have to have two cars to shuttle between Many Glacier and St. Mary’s (or take the Glacier Park in Shuttle from Many Glacier Motel).  For this reason most people will likely start at the Logan Pass Visitor Centre and take the Loop Trail out to the bus stop.  The Shuttle Buses run July and August so if you are hiking after Labour Day you might as well go out Swiftcurrent Pass.  The Shuttle Buses are amazing and I waited very little time for them at the bus exchange from West Glacier to East Glacier last Wednesday.  I think that our problem was that we hit the lunch hour and had to wait over an hour at the Logan Pass Information Centre to catch the St. Mary’s bus down to our car.

The hike took us about 4 ½ hours from the trail head of Swiftcurrent Pass to the Chalet.  We ate lunch and took our time.  I am sure the young and strong can do this trail in under 3 hours.  The loop the next day took us just under two hours.

We started our hike on a cold and rainy day.The weather got worse as the day went by.  The Swiftcurrent Pass was free of snow until ½ a mile from the summit at a place called devil’s elbow.  There was an ice bridge over the roaring little creek.  We crossed without incident but it is a little dangerous and a group coming out of the chalet decided not to risk it.  After Devil’s Elbow, the trail was predominately snow-covered to the Chalet. The trail is probably a week or two away from being snow free and one should be concerned about the ice bridge going at Devil's Elbow.  The Park Service is still recommending an ice axe(check).  We took our ice cleats, but John and I did not put them on until the after Devil’s Elbow.

The Chalet was great.  The manager Lars has been there for seven years and is a wealth of information.   Lars and his staff are great hosts and a welcome sight when the weather is bad.

As you can see the weather was better on the morning of the 27^th.

Keep Hiking, Lockey

 

Patience is not one of the virtues I possess, so I hate to be the one to say that the launch for Fantastic Four is going to be put off for a week, until Saturday, July 30th at Pearls. WPIR apologizes for any inconveniences. That said, there is another additional week for the snow to melt off some of the trails, which will mean safer and more enjoyable hikes for all!

It's finally summer in Waterton! It seems like I'm stating the obvious to say that, since it's July, but winter lasted well into May this year...Since moving to Waterton, one comes to realize that you really have to milk these beautiful sunny days for all they're worth and get outside. A lot of the hiking trails are finally open and getting the Parks seal of approval- no time like the present to enjoy a great hike. I know that this year I'm trying to fit in as many as possible and conquer as many trails as I can.

 I recently hiked with a friend to Goat Lake and while it was definitely not easy, with over an hour of climbing a steep incline, it was definitely worth it. (*SEE MY PICTURES BELOW OF OUR HIKE*) There was such a fantastic view of the surrounding mountains, many waterfalls and Goat Lake itself. My hiking buddy and I are both photo enthusiasts, so it was pretty exciting and we got very snap-happy (which possibly delayed things an additional hour...) There was a little bit of snow at the upper part of the trail, just before you reach the lake, which is why Parks isn't recommending the hike in their posted trail conditions. I think if you exercise extreme caution, you will be okay- a lot of the snow has melted over the last week or so, and it's pretty easy to go around. That said, this isn't really a hike for beginners, though the first hour along the Snowshoe Trail, up to Goat Lake's trailhead is very easy, as well as picturesque. It takes you through part of the subalpine region of Waterton.

 With impending trail conditions, the kickoff of the Triple Crown of Waterton and our newest hiking challenge, the Fantastic Four of Waterton have been pushed back until this weekend, on Saturday, July 23rd. As you can see in Lockey's recent post, Crypt Lake is do-able, but with exercised caution and going into things well-prepared. Parks still isn't recommending it, but if you're an experienced hiker, there are others like yourself out there on the trail right now.

 The Fantastic Four of Waterton-Glacier: the Peace Park Challenge, is a trek that takes you on 4 hikes: Waterton's 2 favourites, Crypt Lake and Alderson-Carthew, and Glacier's 2 most scenic hikes, the Garden Wall and Siyeh Pass. It's the first international challenge, half of which is done here in Waterton, and half of which is done in Montana's Glacier National Park. Together the 2 parks comprise the world's first international peace park. One of the really cool things, is that if you're like myself and you havn't done Triple Crown yet, you can count 2 of the hikes towards Fantastic Four, as well, 5 hikes in total (since A-C and Crypt are part of both.)When you trump all 4 hikes and get all 4 stamps on you Fantastic Four punch card, you get your name on the wall of fame in Pearls and the Experience Waterton website.

 Drop by Pearls Cafe this Saturday, the 23rd and check things out- it's totally free to sign up and receive your punch card. The launch party will be going on from 9 am until 5 pm. Even if you're not a hiker, drop by- it will be fun!

Happy hiking!

-Marie

There is a new forum on Experience Waterton
Check it out and come join us! www.experiencewaterton.com/forum
This is the place the discuss your Waterton adventures, talk about your favourite hikes, ask others about their visit to Waterton or just shoot the breeze about anything in general. 
Looking forward to meeting you there!
-Marie

Crypt Lake, Waterton Lakes National Park, July 9, 2011 - One leg of the Triple Crown of Waterton (see experiencewaterton.com) is finished for me.  On Saturday, July 9 my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and his friend, niece and husband and one of my best friends John Elford and his wife Dianna and I went to Crypt Lake.  

Apparently there was an accident a couple of weeks ago when a lady slid down a snow drift and seriously hurt herself on the hike to Crypt Lake.  Parks Canada has not been recommending the hike as a result of the accident.  I talked to Keith at Shoreline Cruises, the operators of the boats on Waterton Lake, to see if people were making it through.  Keith told me that their customers were making it to Crypt Lake all week.

We wanted to do at least one of the legs of the Triple Crown, and both the Alderson-Carthew Trail and Akimina Ridge are still impassable for normal hiking.  John and his son Shawn did the Alderson-Carthew Trail with back country tour skis almost two weeks ago and John thinks another week may see that trail passable.

We left the boat dock at 9:15 and the fast group Sarrived at Crypt lake at 11:45 (2 1/2 hours).  It was a beautiful day but windy.  When it is windy in Waterton I like to be in the backcountry.  The snow slides across the trail were a concern but no problem for us.  At least five groups followed us through and no one had any problems.  John, Trevor and I actually slid down the snow slopes on the descent (see pictures) which was great fun but wet.  It took us 2 hours once we left the lake to get down.

There was no snow in the tunnel or on the cliff. There was lots of snow after the cliff to get to the lake (usually only a 2-3 minute walk) but not a danger.  It was the usual great scenery and amazing hike.  It is widely rumored that Parks Canada at one time rated Crypt Lake the best hike in Canada.

If you have not done the Crypt Lake hike and want to get a glimpse of why this is so spectacular, see the pictures in my gallery.

Our next hike is Oldman Lake in the Two Medicine/St Mary’s area of Glacier National Park.

Keep Hiking - Lockey

Recently we acquired a Chevette as our second vehicle. About 15 years ago, this was the choice of car for high-school students owing to its relatively cheap price tag and fuel economy. Our thoughts on the Chevette were that it would be a great grocery getter, a good back and forth car from Mountainview to Waterton Lakes without blowing the bank on gas.

When we arrived in Milk River after finding the car on kijjiji, after miles of driving literally in the middle of nowhere, I examined the car skeptically….”What do YOU think,” I repeatedly asked my fiancé after he asked me what I thought. “It is what it is,” he said, and followed teasingly with “You said you wanted a classic car…..”

Against my better judgement, and after some haggling over price (I love to haggle), I drove the Chevette home. Over the trip of an hour and a half, she grew on me. Maybe it was the fact that my voyage was uninhibited by my 6 month old son (who was behind in the van with his Daddy), maybe it was the fr. eedom to listen to whatever I wanted on the radio – or the cigarette I found and sneakily smoked on the way home - but by the time we pulled into our driveway, I was a fan.

After my husband did some googling about Chevettes, we found they had a huge fan base, even websites devoted to Chevette merchandise – including t shirts and coffee mugs. Those who dared write a foul word about Chevettes on fan-sites and discussion boards, were chortled, and mocked profusely “You must have gotten a lemon if you don’t like your Chevette!”

One day while I was at work, my husband took it upon himself to trade in one of his air soft guns (basically his bachelor money that he moves from toy to toy by selling and trading), for a stereo system for the Chevette. Let me clarify that this was not a simple stereo system, but something that resembled a bomb or a time machine when it was all set up in the back seat. His first trip around the neighbourhood I could hear the base from roughly 2 miles away, a good 4 mins before he actually came into sight.

On the one hand, I felt the stereo was ridiculous, ostentatious (considering the car cost $1000 and the stereo about $500). How silly were we going to look driving this vehicle around in a national park. IT hearkened me back to the days of high school when kids would ….do mainers in their $800 cars with $1000 stereos.

However, if it brought my fiancé joy then so be it. At my his urging, I took the Chevette for a spin. He warned me that I should turn the stereo no louder than 30, 15 was definitely enough. However by the time I returned from my 4 mile trip I had it at about 27 and I had a big grin on my face.

Driving it to work alone the next day, I fumbled for a cd after my ipod ran out of juice. Madonna….its been a while but okay. Respectfully I flipped off the base as I reached the park gates and continued my high-school reunion by singing aloud to Holiday, the music enhancing the sight of the majestic mountains.

I had to admit finally, there was something to be said for this stereo……

Driving into Waterton in the Chevette made me feel differently depending on the day. Some days I felt like an old lady listening to am radio, other days like the odd professor, sometimes like an emo, and sometimes just straight up cool to the core. As time passed and the Chevette grew on us we discussed upgrades such as sheepskin covers, a hula girl, tartan ceiling, paint job and window tint. We even had offers to buy the car – no joke!

My husband returned from work one night with a relevation he had experienced while driving home from work. He had to cruise through a massive herd of elk (and by massive he says close to 1000 but probably closer to 500 in reality). He said that in that moment, he thought to himself "Wow, this is how the First Nations people must have felt, cruising through a massive herd of elk……in their 82 Chevettes……"

So, if you see me cruising around town like a loser, doing a pre-work lap of the Waterton townsite, in my 82 Chevette with a very mild thumping of bass (I am ever respectful of the park), please don`t judge me.

Chevette……and also time machine if you will.

By Auralea Boldt

A while back I shared with readers a link to Park Canadas remote camera galleries. They have recently been updated with photos of grey wolves. These creatures are both rare, and rarely beheld in the park. Another fantastic glimpse into the wildlife corridors.....enjoy.

Parks Canada: Wolves of Waterton

About 2 years ago, I became obsessed with reading books about Mount Everest. John Kraukauer (author of Into the Wild), was definitely the impetus behind my newfound habit with his book about the 1996 failed Everest Expedition: Into Thin Air. After I had my way with Kraukauer, I continued devouring everything I could find on the topic of Mount Everest. I delved into conflicting accounts of the disastrous 1996 expedition, rebuttals to Kraukauer’s book, written by Antoli Boukreev, Sandy Pittman and Lopsang Sherpa . I read High Crimes, a testament to the exploitation and greed that has run rampant on Everest in recent years. These exhausted I moved on to other years and other expeditions. Then when I ran out of Everest material entirely, I had to move on to books about K2 and other mountains to fuel my obsession

Time and time again, I endured the dirty looks of librarians as I routinely cleared out their climbing section – a library faux pas. Soon I had my entire family on the reading rampage as well. The Everest obsession left no one in my immediate vicinity unscathed, including my husband who dotingly referred to me as Lopsang Mummy and we found ourselves speaking in Everest lingo around the house in conversations that went a little something like:

“Oh where is Lopsang Mummy (me) going. Is she going to Sherpa you some oxygen (milk) up to base camp (crib). Look, Lopsang Mummy is crossing the Hilary Step (coming up the driveway).”

Perhaps at the heart of such dialogue, was the claim by Scott Fischer and many others guiding on Everest in recent years: that anyone can get to the top of Everest these days. With Sherpas to carry all of your food and belongings to the top for, bottled oxygen to help you survive the thin air, and guides to set your lines for you – and in some cases almost literally carry you to the top - it appears they really have built a yellow brick road to the summit.

My husband is an intelligent man and this information was not lost on him; after a few weeks of our Lopsang Mommy dialogue and continued reading by all parties,he uneasily probed me:

“You aren’t going to decide you want to climb Everest in 10 years are you, you know when Tristan is 11 or 12 and you have your mid-life crisis?”

He warned me in no uncertain terms, that I – Lopsang Mummy – would not be climbing Everest any-time soon, even if they had built a freeway to the top.

When I thought seriously about it, there was no way in hell I would even consider climbing Everest – even if I was offered an all-expenses paid trip (a gift of around $100,000 a pop these days). While I enjoyed reading about life and death on Everest, I – Lopsang Mummy - had no desire to test my mortality in this way. My mother always warned me that I was not immortal: “You aren’t invisible you know,” was how she liked to put it to me when I was a teenager, and while I may not have recognized it at the time, years later as a new mother I had a clear appreciation for the tenuous hold we all have on existence(perhaps best evidenced by my newfound habit of back-seat driving my poor husband).

I wondered however, or rather my obsession made me question: had I secretly hidden or repressed a mountaineers dreams???

When I began to consciously explore what led to my obsession for these books I realized it was not as my husband fearfully suspected: I had not the hidden dreams and aspirations of a stifled mountaineer. Instead, it was the fact that these books gave me access to a realm entirely outside of my daily existence.

We can step out of our bubble in so many different ways, through a book that transports us to another world, a movie that takes us to another time and place, or an activity that takes us out of comfort zone. What I remember most about my first summer in Waterton is how many times I had the opportunity to step out of my bubble, whether it was hiking or sleeping in a tent when I was afraid of bears, knee-boarding when I’m afraid of sea monsters, or hiking in the dark (obviously I’m afraid of Cougars also). Engaging in an activity, even though it poses no great degree of realistic danger, but still makes us feel slightly uncomfortable, offers us the chance to take a little leap of faith as human beings and place our lives in the hands of the universe. When we return no worse for the wear after stepping outside of that comfort zone most of us walk around in each day, I think we grow a little bit as humans; at the very least we are left exhilarated and endowed with a proud sense of accomplishment - whether or not the danger was real or imagined.

My days of great adventure are over for a few years; these days, stepping out of my bubble may be limited to the escapism found in books. With an 8 month old baby, this Lopsang Mummy will not be scaling peaks anytime soon. The closest I will probably come to an immortal mountaineer in the next few years, will probably be Sherpa-ing around my son Tristan’s diaper bag. However, living in the mountains daily I am given the opportunity to be inspired and challenged by nature and on the horizon, there well could be a mid-life crisis trip to Everest base camp (but no further – I promise). Or perhaps even a hike to the top of Cleveland one day, a great peak on the U.S. side of Waterton Lakes.

In order to climb this mountain, you must first set up a base camp. And Cleveland is a mountain I am told is: exactly, one third, the size of Everest……

By Auralea Boldt

"A River Runs Through It," is one of those movies that captured my soul, as all good films have the ability to do. I watched it over and over again – and not just because it stars Brad Pitt. My mother once did this with the movie "Dances with Wolves," but I’m pretty sure Kevin Costner had something to do with that.

Much of this Robert Redford film was shot just a few hundred miles away from Waterton Lakes National Park, and it contains beautiful scenes of the Montana and the Glacier National Park region. If you’ve ever seen this film, the cinematography is absolutely incredible and will carry you away to “the Montana of my youth, a world with dew still on it.”(Paul, "A River Runs Through It," 2006) After the release of the film – which inadvertedly served as an effective tourism advertisement – Montana experienced a flood of visitors and fly-fishermen (incidentally in much the same way, the movie Sideways inspired me to become a wine enthusiast, or perhaps a bit of a wino).

There is definitely something to be said though for the power of film to romanticize aspects of existence. Pitt’s artistry as an almost mythic fly-fisherman directly served as my impetus, and when the opportunity to fly-fish finally arose, I jumped at it. I started out dabbling in the Waterton River, coincidentally a world-famous fly-fishing spot that just happened to be in my backyard. With the beautiful peak of Vimy majestic over my shoulder, I learned the basics from an extremely patient teacher (who later became my fiancé).

I fell easily into the habit of borrowing a friend’s car to spend the afternoon fishing by the river alone before starting work. You could say the day I got my first pair of hip-waders from Wal-Mart, was the day I got my wings. I always felt proud as I got out of my pal’s vehicle and was able to carry my fly-fishing pole, hip-waders and tackle-box back, past a full audience to my apartment before starting work.

Let me say that while I enjoy it, I am not a great Fly-fisherman. I spend much of my time replacing hooks and fishing my line out of bushes and trees. While lacking in grace it was nevertheless around this time: in my moments by the river and walking the town with my fly-fishing rod, I became in my own mind - the female incarnate of Brad Pitt in "A River Runs Through It."

You could view this as a sort of reverse process of transference, in which I had begun to project Brad Pitt’s fishing abilities upon myself. However there is actually a rational reason I began to equate myself with Pitt’s artistic figure. It stems from the fact that during my many fly-fishing expeditions all over Southern Alberta - I have never caught a fish…….

I will always recall the time as a 7 or 8 year old, fishing alone off the dock near our summer cabin, when I happened to catch a fish. I panicked (thank goodness there was an elderly fisherman nearby who kindly removed the small fish and set it free for me)! I am a life-long outdoor enthusiast but also a life-long animal lover. I readily admit that on the several – okay the many – occasions I lost my hook while fly-fishing, even if I realized I had probably been fishing without it for a good 45 minutes, I didn’t feel any real sense of disappointment. I am almost as happy practicing my casting, as actually fishing.

It seems counter-intuitive that I would eshrew the rational aim of fly-fishing: to catch a fish; it also follows that having never caught a fish, it is somewhat counter-intuitive that I would view myself as Brad Pitt’s feminine counterpart (but what woman isn’t guilty of that?)…… However the aim of fly-fishing: to catch a fish, effectively categorizes it as a sport. When this goal is removed, it becomes a sort of “art for arts sake” argument.

Because it serves no useful purpose, one can argue fly-fishing effectively becomes art. Pitt is an artist clearly because of his abilities. However, if you buy my argument I am an artist also not because of my abilities, but because of my relative lack of them (having never caught a fish and being without any real desire to do so).

One of A River Runs Through It’s central arguments is that art has the ability to bring us closer to God, the universe, Mother Nature – whatever you want to call it. It is in my moments by the river, feeling the chilly rushing life-force of its waters, I feel invigorated and connected to the natural world around me. This is art, and is what fly-fishing is about for me

.

While one day I will likely catch a fish, in the meantime – while I am nowhere near a true artist – even in my inept hands one might argue the act does become a kind of art (although you might take issue with this if you actually saw me casting).

I guess you might say that I fly-fish for fly-fishing’s sake.

And Brad Pitt may still have a little something to do with it….After all, I Am My Great Mother and My Mother’s daughter……

By Auralea Boldt