Rae Glacier

I was recently joined in Calgary by my visiting mother from Winnipeg, and aunt Lucy from Victoria.  On this beautiful Friday morning, we decided to head out on a hike in Kananaskis.  After ambling up to Elbow Lake, I convinced the group to imbibe in an off trail route to the toe of the Rae Glacier.  The views up the valley granted us a lot of bang for our buck. Now I am gearing up for the beginning of my residency at the Banff Centre, which begins on September 14th.

The group at Elbow Lake (Me, Gisela, Ardith, Lucy)

Hiking up the valley to Rae Glacier

Looking into the cirque, and towards Mount Rae

Standing at the toe of the glacier

End of the line for us

Looking back at the valley

Yet another furry pika in a rock glacier

Mount Indefatigable

On Friday I picked Jessica up at the Banff Centre with the intent of returning that evening to Blairmore.  Her final critiques lasted longer than anticipated, so we ended up spending the night in Banff and hiking in Kananaskis on Saturday.  Indefatigable was a pleasant outing, albeit not private.  We passed as many as 60 people on the way up, and a few more on the ridge joining the South and North peaks.  The one surprise was the degree of exposure on that ridge; it was a little more airy than Jessica would have cared for, but she managed again not to fall off of the mountain due to vertigo.

Airing out the feet just off of the South summit

Jessica scrambling on terrain typical of the ridge connecting South and North summits

Looking back along the ridge

North summit view looking East

The Fortress

This was my first hike in Kananaskis.  I had planned on completing a loop trip, starting up the Headwall Lakes route and returning via the Chester Lake valley, however an angry grizzly bear in the area forced a trail closure.  I was considering other options, as the possibility of the bear crossing into Headwall valley did not excite me, when two other groups showed up.  We ended up hiking in and out to The Fortress via the Headwall route.  It was a brutally hot day, and the summit views were hazy to say the least, but I believe I took some good photos of the Headwall Lakes.

Lower Headwall Lake

Our route to the top from above Upper Headwall Lake

The view to the East from the summit