June 15, 2013
On this quick journey out to Kananaskis I wanted to go past the winter closure gate for the first time and take in as much as I could of the view on the other side. My sights were set to hit Opal and Elpoca Falls at the same time. However there was a bear sighting in the area on the trail to Elpoca, which caused me to only get one of my two choices. The picture above is a small fraction of the entire waterfall, as such I was not disappointed with what I managed to see beyond the gate.
The trail for Opal is achievable from the Elpoca Lookout sight. Behind the outhouse there is a unmaintained trail which will take you to the waterfall. Keep in mind when traveling this trail that you will want to keep taking the path which increases in elevation; as the one which goes directly to the stream will cause you to cross the fast moving water. I took my time this day and explored both path options, what I noticed is that this unmaintained trail is one I would only consider doing if the snow has completely melted as the path is narrow and you would have a good chance getting lost, despite the length of the trail only being one kilometer.
On my excursion I would encounter multiple dead trees on the path; some hanging high and low. However when following the high trail you are given a couple spots where you step out of the tall trees and take in the majestic mountains. The final spot to take in the surroundings you will need to descend to near the stream in order to be able to photograph and fully appreciate the size of this waterfall.Overall I would estimate that this waterfall is near 70 meters tall, if not more. From what I could gather is this was a two tiered waterfall, however it was hard to tell by looking around the carved out rock face. If you're not as impressed by such a large waterfall, you should be impressed by its power, as you're able to see how the rock juts out and where the falls have moved the mountain in order for the stream to be born.
Finally this area was heavily populated with mountain goat and snow tailed deer. In the photo you can see the guardian of the falls (and the only ones to maneuver sound it) the mountain goats.
thanks for your description to the Falls, and wondering if you can provide the trail distance and the level of difficulty, as we are coming to Jasper late June, early July........
ReplyDeletethanks again......
This waterfall is found in Kananaskis Country (South of Banff NP) and I later found out this has also been named “White Man Falls”; but only about a Kilometre walk. I recall the trail being rather untraveled and rugged but not difficult.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re going to the Jasper area I would suggest looking up some of these waterfalls
https://waterfallsalberta.blogspot.com/p/jasper
However this particular waterfall is a beautiful sight though, as you can see the power of water shaping the curves of the mountain. The two tiered waterfall chisels out a path in the mountains from very high up. I couldn’t determine the actual top that day.
Thanks for sharing! We did try to "discover" the falls but got lost as the trail was pretty inclear and although we had the GPS, it was hard to figure out where exactly we decend to the creek. We came across a 10 foot "slope" that seemed worn and well used and where we descended but not to the creek, but rather just a way we thought would get us there. Decided it was a little too much and double backed to the parking lot after a 20-30 min hike.
ReplyDelete