"Keen" On Adventure
95km through the Tonquin Valley
August 2017
Well, what can I say……….another adventure and another great one at that! After weeks of anticipating our hike to the majestic Mt. Assiniboine in Banff, the highest peak in the Southern Continental Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, our plans were foiled by what has been dubbed BC’s worst ever wildfire season. Our trail was closed. As the date approached and our anticipation heightened, we hoped it would reopen in time. It didn’t. But thanks to the efforts and continued excellent planning by the phenomenal brother/sister duo, James and Joanne, they had a back up plan in place. After many hours of research, planning, phone calls and reservation making, we were off to the Tonquin Valley near Jasper instead.
We loaded up the Acura at my house, Saturday, August 5, and headed on our way………7:04am, only 4 minutes behind schedule. By 7:06 we had our first wildlife viewing; a deer and her 2 fawns………probably the same culprits who have been eating my hostas at the bottom of the roadway. We were on our way!
After pit stops at the Blue Moose in Hope for coffee, Pedro’s near Salmon Arm for fruit, the Village Idiot in Revelstoke for lunch and the Truffle Pigs Lodge in Field for a quick hug, we rolled into the Lake Louise Hostel around 7pm just in time for dinner. Thanks to Joanie and Joanne, I didn’t have to drive the whole way myself and was able to take a snooze or two. When I thanked them for helping with the driving, Joanne said “I like driving different cars” to which Joanie replied “I like driving nice cars.” At one of our bathroom stops Joanie pointed out that “These bathrooms are always the pits, literally!”
After dinner we met with James, Joanne’s brother and group “mountain man” who would prove to be instrumental in the well-being, safety, fun and overall adventurability of our posse. This year he brought along his side kick, Daryl, who I refer to as “mountain man 2” but Barb just chooses to call Daniel. We were briefed in detail of the agenda for the next 6 days then sent on our way to prepare for the next morning’s 8am departure along the Icefield Parkway.
Sunday--It was about a three hour drive along this stunning stretch of highway before we turned onto 93A near Athabasca Falls.
After some poor navigating by me at a detour sign and a near miss with an orange cone, we made our way down Cavell Road towards Edith Cavell Hostel where we were to park. By just minutes we had missed seeing a Grizzly bear and her 2 cubs. The other part of our convoy got an exciting view of them and was able to capture some photos from the safety of their car window………..the best way to encounter a Grizzly.
Here the 8 of us donned our hefty packs to start the 16km trek to the Wates-Gibson Hut that would be our home for 4 nights. This was when I named my monstrosity of a pack, “the beast”!
The first 8km seemed to go quite quickly and smoothly as we merrily trotted along enjoying the scenery along the Amethyst Lake Trail The last 8km turned into a very tiring, uphill climb that almost wore us out and we arrived exhausted around 7pm. The trip had taken about 2 hours longer than James expected…………hmmm, so we can’t maintain a 3.2km/hr pace with 30+lbs on our back, go figure!
We arrived to somewhat of a drama. A young “meet-up” group from Edmonton were missing 2 of their hikers from their day trip. The map was out, ideas of what went wrong were analyzed and a rescue plan was devised. If the pair’s mistake was the most likely scenario that they had come up with, they should be about 1 ½ hours behind them. The rest of the group ate dinner, rested up and were ready to head out searching if the wayward duo did not arrive by 9:30pm. At 9:00, in they walked. The young woman who was the leader of this meet up had shown great leadership and had come up with a valid plan but when they walked in, she melted into tears. We were all very happy to see them arrive safely. Even I had a tear in my eye. Sure enough, they had gone wrong in the exact place that the others had anticipated. We were all reminded of how easily things can go wrong and how important it is to stay together on the trails.
With all hikers safe and sound the 18 of us sharing that hut slept soundly despite the snoring, twisting, turning, zipping and muttering of our bunk mates.
Monday—We headed out at 8:20am. Our lunch stop was at the Maccabe lookout. Along the way we saw wildflowers, red squirrels, a caribou and a woodpecker. After lunch we met up with some adventurers on horseback on the bridge in the meadow. As we stopped to admire their horses, one rider told us he named his horse “Baby” because she carried all of his day hike essentials. Well, I informed him that I named my pack “Beast” because she was way too heavy! To reduce her weight I should introduce her to Dr. Atkins, Jenny Craig or Jocelyn Clennette!
After 27.8km of tiring hiking, we returned to the hut that day at 5:50pm. Joanie had stayed back that day and she treated us all to amazing foot massages just like she used to give patients in her early days of nursing. What a treat!
Tuesday—After Barb mixed her Beef Massaman Rice and oatmeal together for an interesting breakfast, we headed out hiking. Today’s adventure involved bushwhacking with full trust that James would find the trail with his orienteering skills.
After a long uphill climb to the foot of Fraser Glacier and beyond, we enjoyed our lunch on the Continental Divide with nothing but vistas for 360 degrees! “This feels like heaven” I thought as I sat on a rock in Alberta just steps from the border, looking at the beautiful view in BC. I bit into my wrap filled with last night’s Uncle Ben’s Rice, a tasty but heavy camping meal. I have learned when backpacking, dehydration is your friend. I will strive for lighter food next time!
Dana expressed that she was very grateful to be here with incredible people and was also thankful that her feet were holding up. She was also grateful for powdered almond butter.
As we reflected later with that fearsome four, here were some of the sentiments:
As we all enjoyed our time “on top of the world” on that Continental Divide, we all reflected on our trip so far:
Joanne thought that yesterday was beautiful and today was incredible!
Barb said that her dip in the Amethyst Lake in her bra and shorts was ridiculously fun……….and cold.
Joanie was feeling so lucky and so in awe.
Jocelyn felt that we were damn lucky and pointed out that our glacier shots where we got some amazing photos were probably a little bit dangerous.
We all felt that we were blessed and there was a common sentiment that we were all so lucky to know Joanie as she is the common denominator of this group.
Back at the hut, there was a handsome young hiker that we all thought kind of looked a bit like Justin Trudeau. That night amongst the sleeping bags and packs in our crowded sleeping area, Barb found some sort of string or rope. She held it up and asked, “Is this anyone’s thingy?” JT’s look alike laughed and replied “No, it’s not my thingy.” We all had a good chuckle over this.
It was fun to meet the other hikers, bonded by our mutual enjoyment of the outdoors. There was JT and his wife from Edmonton, 2 dads from Kamloops with their young daughters, a mother with her sons from Vernon and 2 dads from Kimberly and Winnipeg camping with their grown daughters. It was so moving to witness all of this family bonding in our beautiful outback surroundings. One last humorous moment was when we were all quiet and trying to go to sleep and the 2 young girls just couldn’t settle down and kept giggling. Just when we thought all was quiet, they would giggle again and then we all heard them say “Sorry Dad!”
Wednesday—Today we sadly had to leave our hut for just one night……..we weren’t able to book it for that night but would be back again the next night. So off we went leaving at 8:20am, tents in tow, to set up camp at a campsite 9km away. By noon we were all set up and ready to head out for yet another day hike. Once again James led us off trail through trees, past lakes, over slate scree, over more slate scree and up several ridges. Just when we thought we were done, James would decide we should go up just one more ridge. Eventually, the last ridge was just too much for me. Joanie and Dana had already stopped on the last ledge and when I decided I just couldn’t slide my way up any more of this slippery scree, Joanne kindly turned back with me and we went back to join them. There we hunkered down with our bug nets over our heads while we watched that hard core group of Daryl, James, Barb and Jocelyn while they conquered that last ridge.
Joanie said it was powerful to watch them go up that cliff face. “You guys are really hard core!” she pronounced.
Dana felt a real respect for those people pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone and she felt very content to be a part of it.
Barb’s word of the day was “Bad Ass Awesome”.
Jocelyn’s was “Gratifying”
Thursday—Well, we had to pack up camp and head back to the hut……this stretch of trail is getting a bit repetitive! We enjoyed our lunch at Arrowhead Lake, a beautiful glacial green colour. There was a thunderous roar as it came down the rocky creek into the lake. Here we enjoyed our lunch on the block shaped, lichen covered, rocks, soaking in the sunshine and enjoying the silence……..a rare entity with 6 women travelling together. As we sat relishing our feet in the cold water, there was a sudden splash, then a short panic and a quick rescue. Dana had somehow fallen in and we managed to pull her back up onto the rocks before she got swept away. Upon returning home she informed us she had broken her finger! Ouch!
Friday—Last day; our hike out back to the vehicles. We were tired. It had been a long 5 days already. James had big plans for us to drop our packs and do a side trip but as we approached, we all agreed that we wanted to head straight out. After 6 days of hiking and 95km, we arrived back at the parking lot where we had left the cars. To our joy, Joanie had left beer and potato chips in my car so there we sat, on the pavement of the parking lot enjoying our little treat before our drive to Jasper where we would spend the night before driving back to Vancouver.
These are the proclamations we heard that day:
Joanie---You women are tough!
Joanne—Sorry, my feet don’t smell all that great.
Barb—I’m grateful for James, Joanne, Daryl, Plan B and the other 4 hiking buddies.
Daryl—It was a lot of fun with this non-complaining group.
Jocelyn—This felt challenging until you talk to Daryl about hikes he’s done.
Joanne—I’m very blessed to do this with my brother and it’s awesome to have Daryl with his knowledge and him keeping the group safe.
Joanie—Where are my Birkenstocks??
Abby—Sorry, but I’m really thankful that Joanne’s New York friend needed bunion surgery and couldn’t come so there was room for me!
Our sensational sextet.
Other highlights of the trip:
After an injury free 5 days, Barb had a distracted moment on a bridge on the last day. When she misstepped, her pack launched her into the creek below. James did some on site first aid.
This gorgeous lake had us anticipating an amazing swim to cool off. After our hard climb up the ridge, we circled back this way only to find that the bottom of this lake was a nasty sludge hole. Yuck!
These were a couple of our wonderful
facilities along the way!
Some fun stops along the way:
So much natural beauty!
