Spray Valley Provincial Park

by

AB Canada – Kananaskis Country, Spray Valley Provincial Park, Ribbon Falls (06/23)

It was a day to go find a waterfall and see how close I could get to connecting to Boller Pass, which I’d hiked a few days previous.

The welcoming committee?

It was a lovely hike along Ribbon Creek, with plenty of open views, blooms, and cascading waterfalls.

As I was hiking back toward the trailhead, someone asked if THE waterfall would be easy to spot. My answer. It would be nearly impossible to miss.

Notice the object just below the waterfall. That’s a huge chunk of snow from an avalanche, still supporting living trees.

The approach view provides a better perspective as to the location of Ribbon Lake and Bollon Pass.

Ribbon Lake is less than a mile away. Oh the temptations . . .

HOWEVER, this warning was posted at the trailhead.

This sign was at both the trailhead and the waterfall.

A couple of days later I saw these photos of the “trail.” It might have been fun at some point in my life but I think a bit above my pay grade now.

Here’s a visual of the gap between my sections of the trail. So close . . .

Canadian Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)

Likely Eggleaf Beardtongue (Penstemon ellipticus)

Mountain Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis asiatica)

It was a day for butterflies and bees.

The tiny butterflies must have been on a migration. There were hundreds flittering about.

This was a nearly 13-mile 1,200′ elevation gain/loss out and back hike.

Links:

by

AB Canada – Kananaskis Country, Spray Valley Provincial Park, Buller Pass (06/23)

I’ll admit to being a little concerned about hiking this trail solo. It seemed like a low-use trail, and in fact, on this day there were only two of us, me and a trail maintainer.

It was a day to use my bear-alert voice. Many hikers say, “hey bear.” Another friend yells “whoop, whoop, whoop.” I’ve found A-O to be my preferred shout. I didn’t want any encounters of the grizzly kind.

A couple of days earlier I enjoyed seeing this black bear sow and cub in the Banff area.

Thankfully the trail opened up and it didn’t feel so intimidating.

The Mountain Avens continue to delight me and have become a predominant early June bloom.

White Globeflower (Trollius laxus ssp. albiflorus)

White Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla occidentalis)

They are super tall. Bino Bob is 1.25″ tall.

A juvenile.

Sitka Valerian (Valeriana sitchensis)

Silky Phacelia (Phacelia sericea)

This waterfall dropped into a seriously blue pool.

Views appeared as I began to gain treeline.

Look at those new needles on the larch trees.

Baby cones and some a bit more mature on the larch trees.

Buller Pass was finally visible.

Looking back to a lovely turnaround spot for those hikers not wanting to tackle the rock and screen ascent to the pass.

There were a few snowfields to cross and some nearby snowmelt creeks. Buller Pass is on the right side.

Buller Pass is in the distance.

This section was tedious with some sections eroded and of varying tread. Not my favorite but not horrible either. There were marmots and pika in these rock fields.

Juvenile marmot.

There’s my trail maintainer friend on the final ascent.

Woohoo, there’s the top, such a relief after first reaching a false summit.

Looking back at what I’d climbed.

That’s Mount Assiniboine in the distance. It’s the seventh tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

Views over the other side of the pass include Lillian or Galatea Lakes. A trail drops down to these lakes and on down to Ribbon Creek Falls which I hiked to from the other side a few days later.

There’s a lot of rambling to be done on this pass.

This side might not be so much fun.

These high altitude flowers piqued my curiosity.

Using iNaturalist I learned these are Purple Saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia).

American Smelowskia (Smelowskia americana)

Western Roseroot (Rhodiola integrifolia)

This was a 10-mile, 2,300′ elevation gain/loss roundtrip hike.

Links:

by

AB Canada – Kananaskis Country, Highlights Edition (05/23)

Kananaskis Country is a park system situated to the west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The Kananaskis region stretches from east of Calgary to the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. Nine provincial parks and over 50 recreation, wilderness, and natural areas provide 4,000 kilometers for outdoor adventures and protected wildlife habitat. Since this isn’t part of the National Park system, a separate pass is required known as the Kananaskis Conservation Pass.

On this day, I explored AB-742, Spray Lakes Road/Three Sisters Parkway, which takes you through Spray Valley Provincial Park. The road turned to gravel and I met the road crew out doing some grading as well as this wildlife crew. So far I’ve seen more bighorn sheep this trip than even deer and elk.

Whiteman’s Pond is just outside Canmore, a short drive from the town of Banff. The very popular Ha Ling Peak Trail is accessed on the north end of this Pond; however, with limited parking the Goat Creek Trailhead route seemed be a well-used option.

Goat Pond had this cool ice slop on the shoreline.

Near Three Sisters Dam at Spray Lakes Reservoir, is Big Sister Mountain. I didn’t find a view of the Three Sisters, but I wasn’t looking where I should have just south of Goat Pond where there’s Three Sisters Pass Trail. Maybe I’ll come back and explore these trails.

I enjoyed lunch along Spray Lakes Reservoir with views of the Goat Range.

Looking south along Spray River Reservoir.

Future Posts:

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Upper Kananaskis Lake

I hiked part way around this lake to a waterfall. It was awesome!

Quaite Valley Provincial Recreation Area, Barrier Lake

I hiked from the lake to a fire lookout. The viewpoints were outstanding!

Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Mount Yamnuski

The biggest surprise on this hike was the number of blooms, including a couple of new ones for me. I ended the hike with a visit to Bow Valley Provincial Park where I got to mark off a bloom that’s been on my must-see list.

Bow Valley Provincial Park, Grotto Canyon

Who knew there were slot canyons in this area of mega mountains? What a wonderful surprise to walk through an environment so different than anywhere else I hiked this trip.

Links: