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.....a trip of a lifetime!
SEPTEMBER 5 - 18, 2010
$1675
Jack & Shelley Finnegan, Leaders
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Trip
Itinerary
 Day #1, Sunday 09/05/10—ArrivalUpon arrival at the Calgary International Airport you will take the hotel shuttle to the Holiday Inn Calgary Airport, located at 1250 McKinnon Drive NE just a 10-minute ride. The telephone number is 403-230-1999. Two dinner suggestions: either the hotel restaurant or walk to Denny’s using the pedestrian bridge just out in front of the hotel. I would like to have a short organizational meeting at 7:30 PM on the 5th floor lobby just off the elevator (nice view of the city). Day #2, Monday 09/06/10—Driving Tour Of Banff—Lake Louise—Moraine Lake Our tour starts out in royal fashion as we leave Calgary headed west with the foothills of the Canadian Rockies front-lit ahead of us. After entering the gates of Banff National Park, we will do a drive through orientation of Banff town site, Lake Louise, and Moraine Lake, using scenic highway 1A to make our way north. A few words about each location: Banff sits on the banks of the Bow River, with 9,836 ft Cascade Mountain looming above. The Banff Springs Hotel, built in 1888, anchors the town site. At the time of its completion, it was the largest hotel in the world. Lake Louise is simply the most beautiful venue I have ever seen. The view looking back over the lake at the grand Chateau Lake Louise with the ski area visible in the background is one that you will never forget. And, many believe that Moraine Lake is even more beautiful. It is definitely more remote. This turquoise-green lake with its looming peaks was once depicted on the back of Canada’s $20 bill. These are the highlights. Other activities include an overview of the mall area in Lake Louise, a visit to the Park Visitors Center, and of course—checking into the Lake Louise Inn for our 6 night stay. Day #3, Tuesday 09/07/10—Hike To Plain Of 6 Glacier Teahouse The Plain of the Six Glacier trail transports us into the heart of the Canadian Rockies’ most famous postcard view (looking back at Lake Louise) and sets you down beneath the glacier-capped summits of Mounts Victoria and Lefroy. This hike is a moderate to strenuous 7-mile roundtrip hike to an elevation of 6,800 feet at the Teahouse. This steady climb is well worth the effort when rewarded with the Tea House famous chocolate cake. My suggestion would be to pack your lunch, but definitely experience the alpine, wood fire baked—chocolate cake—dark, dense and decadent. The Teahouse also serves assorted sandwiches, soup, and of course—tea. (Distance 7 miles, elevation gain 1,115 ft, hiking time about 6 hours).  Day #4, Wednesday 09/08/10—Paradise Valley-- Lake Annette--Giant Steps Circuit Thought by many of our past participants to be the premier hike of our entire tour, this hike has it all and should not be missed. From the Moraine Lake Road, we climb to beautiful Lake Annette with the ice-capped north face of Mount Temple in the background. This extraordinary wall is one of the most difficult ascents in North America and remained unclimbed until 1966. We walk underneath it as we press on to into the remote Paradise Valley and our lunch spot at Horseshoe Meadows (where we viewed a large avalanche while having lunch in 2005). After lunch, we will visit The Giant Steps a pretty series of waterfalls on the north fork of Paradise Creek. This is a great picture spot. Finally, we complete the upper Paradise Valley circuit by walking down valley for another few miles to rejoin our original trail at the Lake Annette junction. (Distance 11.2 miles, elevation gain 1,250 ft, hiking time about 7 hours). Day #5, Thursday 09/09/10—Day Off The Trail In Banff After a leisurely breakfast, we will head to Banff town site, returning after an early dinner. We’ll have several suggestions on how to spend your day including shopping, hiking, a soak in the Banff Upper Hot Springs, touring the Banff Springs Hotel, or perhaps some combination. Banff has many upscale stores, a bit like Aspen or Vail. Banff is the largest town in any North American National Park, a unique combination of resort civilization and mountain wilderness. Banff was born to be a mountain resort, a historical fact clearly revealed in the beautiful design of this classic view. From the Cascade Gardens, Banff Avenue stretches quite perfectly towards the base of 9,836 ft Cascade Mountain. Seven thousand residents now call Banff home. Day #6, Friday 09/10/10—Hike Emerald Lake To Yoho Pass And Burgess Pass For many years, the image of Emerald Lake adorned the back of the $10 Canadian bill. Today, we will be hiking in view of it almost all day as we bag two passes and make a high traverse across Wapta Mountain on the British Columbia side of the divide. We start the day by walking along the shore of Emerald Lake (4,265 ft) and then climb to Yoho Pass (5,955 ft) and finally on to Burgess Pass (7,152 ft) on this 12.2-mile strenuous hike. This is the site of the world famous Burgess Shale beds, where paleontologists work each summer unearthing many fossils. This will be our most difficult hike; however a shorter variation does exist. Distance 12.2 miles, elevation gain 2,890 ft, hiking time about 7 hours). Day #7, Saturday 09/11/10—Hike Moraine Lake To Larch Valley To Sentinel Pass This highly popular trail rises rapidly above Moraine Lake to delightful subalpine meadows that are set against the jagged backdrop to the Valley of the Ten Peaks. The meadowland above Moraine Lake with its dense stands of alpine larch (they should just be starting to take on their golden color) and the panoramic overview of the Ten Peaks is exquisite. And above this valley, amid stark pinnacles of rock, is Sentinel Pass—the highest point (at 8,566 ft) reached by a major trail in all of the Canadian National Parks. Sentinel Pass is flanked by Pinnacle Mountain on the left and Mount Temple (the most prominent peak in the Lake Louise area) on the right. (Distance 7 miles, elevation gain 2,376 ft, hiking time about 6 hours).  Day #8, Sunday 09/12/10—Drive Icefields Parkway To JasperToday we drive what is without doubt, the most magnificent 150-mile drive in North America, if not the world—The Icefields Parkway. Our drive brings us near and in some cases through large glaciers as we snake our way north to Jasper. One of the many highlights of the trip is the climb up and over Nigel Pass high into the alpine zone. We will also pass through the Columbia Icefield. We are actually going to stop at the Columbia Icefield on our return trip on Friday. No doubt this parkway will offer a few surprises, we saw a timber wolf in 2002, a bull moose in 2004, and a grizzly bear in 2005. Our lodging for the next five nights will be at Patricia Lake Bungalows, a stunning venue of its own. Day #9, Monday 09/13/10—Hike From The Whistlers Summit The Whistlers (8,100 ft) is the prominent mountain immediately south of Jasper townsite; easily identified by the tramway terminal on a promontory just below the true summit. Here is our plan, we will ride the tramway (reduced fare for one-way) up to the upper terminal (restaurant, gift shop, restrooms, etc.) then hike the remaining distance (less than a mile) to the true summit. There is a 360-degree view from the top, which does take in most of the mountains and valleys in this section of the park. We will be well above treeline where only a few hardly plants and hoary marmots and pikas survive on this windswept ridge. From the true summit, we will hike down the 5 mile trail to the base station parking lot. The vertical descent will be 4,100 ft as we walk through 3 different life zones: the alpine, the subalpine forest, and the montane life zones. (Distance 6 miles, elevation gain 653 ft and loss 4,100 ft, hiking time about 5 hours). In the late afternoon we will tour the historic Jasper Park Lodge. This grand lodge was originally built in 1922 and was rebuilt in 1952 after a fire. Tuesday 09/14/10 Day #10—Hike Bald Hills From Maligne Lake This hike leaves from the shores of Maligne Lake, at 14 miles long, it is the largest in the Canadian Rockies and one of the most beautiful. The Bald Hills hike leads to what is undoubtly the best view of the lake. We climb to an elevation of 7,118 ft., looking down directly into the lake. The old lookout site at the top provides a panorama encompassing nearly 360 degrees. The lake will be about 1,600 ft below, with many glaciated peaks visible beyond, some of which approach 10,000 ft. We will have time to visit the gift stores and the snack shop before we drive back to Jasper. (Distance 6 miles, elevation gain 1,607 ft, hiking time about 5 hours). Day #11, Wednesday 09/15/10—Hike Sulphur Skyline Summit-Miette Hot Springs Today will be a memorable day. We start by driving 37 miles from Jasper to the very end of a boxed canyon road—Miette Hot Springs Road. The Sulphur Skyline Summit hike leaves directly from the hot spring pool. This is the most outstanding hike in the Miette area. From the barren summit of Sulphur Mountain, the wild peaks stretch back across the horizon like ocean waves. Although the climb to the rounded summit top is steep and fairly long, the rewards are great. We will enjoy soaking in the hot springs at the bottom of the trail. After the hot springs, we will treat ourselves to a group dinner at an adjacent restaurant. You just won’t believe that this restaurant could be out there, literally in the middle of nowhere. http://www.pleiadesmassage.com/miette/index.html Day #12, Thursday 09/16/10—Hike To Dorothy, Christine, And Virl Lakes A mellow ending to our hiking days as we visit “the three sisters”, Dorothy, Christine, and Virl Lakes, located in heavily wooded rolling terrain west of the Jasper townsite. This walk to these pretty embedded lakes proved to be a fitting ending to our hiking itinerary in 2005 as we began to think about heading back down the spectacular Icefields Parkway. (Distance 5 _ miles, elevation gain 820 ft, hiking time about 4 hours). Day #13, Friday 09/17/10—Drive Icefield Parkway Back To Calgary We once again drive the spectacular Icefields Parkway, this time stopping at The Columbia Ice Field for an optional tour. The Columbia Icefield is so huge it can be seen from the International Space Station. Melt waters flow into three oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, and the Arctic. Here you can ride a SnoCoach onto the Glacier for an interpretive tour. The 2004 price was $29.95 CAN. I would highly recommend taking this tour, if you haven’t already done so. We will be at this location for approximately 3 hours (9:30 AM to 12:30 PM). We then drive back to Calgary to complete our adventure. Our lodging is once again at the Holiday Inn Calgary Airport. www.columbiaicefield.com Day #14, Saturday 09/18/10—Depart Return flight home from Calgary airport, using the hotel shuttle to get to the airport. For more information, an application and to sign up, contact the leader, Jack Finnegan, P.O. Box 573, Lehighton, PA 18235, telephone 570-386-2128, E-mail jackfinn@ptd.net. |