WAD Valley

December 14, 2016

I returned to the Rockies on my vacation with my puppy and attempted to explore the WAD Valley. The exact whereabouts escaped me though it turned out to be relatively simple. On Maligne Lake Road you will continue south to the end of Medicine Lake.  Continue driving south past the Beaver Lake (Jacques Lake / South Boundary Trail) staging area.  Once the hill starts a gradual climb you've gone too far, and can circle back to the first (blatant) drainage on the side of the road.

Bear Spirit

February 13, 2016

This waterfall took me a while to get my bearings as to where it might be located.  I've read summer hikes of this trail, however I never heard anyone speak of a waterfall.  I proceeded skeptical, in search of what ice climbers call Bear Spirit.

Miette Falls

February 14, 2016

I first heard of this in search of ice climbs in Jasper.  I believe this one is called Rocky River Blues to the ice climbing community, however I went with a more proper title, denoting the Miette Range that it belongs.  The Rocky River is actually where this waterfall drains into, making it hard for me to commit to naming it after the river it later becomes.

I wasn't able to get a good enough angle of the waterfall from where I stood, however it is visible (mostly though a powerful zoom lens) from the Talbot Lake boat launch.  The picture above is from the pull over located in the middle of Talbot Lake, a couple kilometers further away from the waterfall.

I overshot the Talbot Lake boat launch thinking the bathroom stall located at the start of Jasper Lake would offer me a better view.  I was sorry to notice that the location was under repair with some heavy machines taking up the majority of the parking lot.  As I got a picture and was capable of noting this waterfall I decided that I would push onward on my journey looking for more ice climbs.

Drambouie Demon & Folding Curtain

February 14, 2016

Having located these two waterfalls has started a small change in my maps for the site.  As I had initially created a map for Rock Lake and a map for Whitehorse, I didn't have this area covered.  For now I've added these to the Rock Lake (which will now be known as Rock Lake & Hinton Foothills).  In the coming trips I believe I might be pushing more territory in the Hinton Foothill range, which may cause me to also meld Whitehorse into that as well.

Melt Out

February 14, 2016

This is a waterfall that took me by surprise.  I knew about Curtain Call further North and Tangle Falls to the South; however this easily miss-able waterfall is found in between on Tangle Peak.  I wasn't even sure this was a waterfall at first, but decided to pull over and take a picture anyways.

It was when I got home that I noticed this was a ice sheet, and after further research found out that it was an ice climb by the name of Melt Out.  In any case, this was a pretty waterfall, with a pop of light blue on an otherwise grey mountain rock.

Selenium Falls

February 13, 2016

The waterfalls of a few names, Selenium Falls also goes by Spray Falls or Spray River Falls.  I chose to stick with Selenium Falls as the Spray River is contained to the basin of the valley and doesn't start with this waterfall.  The trail is more commonly known as a "summer trail" to many people.  I'm not sure why, as this is an ice climb in the winter and though it isn't plowed, I've walked on much more difficult "winter trails".

Kerkeslin Falls

February 14, 2016

This marks a waterfall that I've known about for years, but for one reason or another had never pulled over to witness it.  Kerkeslin Falls even has a couple pull outs and even a campground to allow you to get in off the road and see the waterfall.  On my trip i pulled into one of the pull overs, which offered a broad view of the waterfall.

Mount Kerkeslin

Weeping Wall & Mixed Master

February 14, 2016

On my trip up from Banff to Jasper, I pulled over at the Weeping Wall to let Loki have some water and stretch his little puppy legs.  This isn't the first time I've stopped at this wall and it won't be the last.  Though this time I had a second look, noticing there was an additional ice sheet form.

The Urs Hole

February 13, 2016

For a short hike a lot happened to me on this one.  Down the road from Cascade Falls, you will continue until the road ends (where in the summer you would have access to Lake Minewanka).  I pulled in closer to the gate and settled off the road.  In reading the signs I came to notice that the road is closed as it's an animal corridor in the winter.  This means it allows access for animals to roam and claim as their home during the off season.

Rogan's Gully & Cascade Falls

February 13, 2016

Until I recently started investigating more ice climbs in the National Parks, did I realize that one winter many years ago I tagged a frozen waterfall.  I revisited this image before setting off this time around and confirmed that this was in fact Rogan's Gully.  I needed to ensure I was correct in my assumption so I set off for Cascade Mountain again, and sure enough found Rogan's Gully far off to the left hand side of Cascade Falls.

 Unlike on my trip 3 years ago, this time I was witnessing people pitch their climb up Rogan's Gully.  This further solved the mystery for me as I was aware this mountain is common to ice climbers.

Rogan's Gully

Peskett Canyon Falls

January 16, 2016

First off I could be here all day listing off some of the naming conventions of this canyon, creek and waterfall.  I will list the most common (and drop the other half dozen); Peskett Canyon, BAUTUS Canyon, End of the Line & O.D Canyon.

As the O.D. Creek flows in the opposing direction, on the other side of the mountain peak, I decided that this was not a proper naming convention of this canyon (despite the top of the waterfall starting from the O.D peak).  I also made a decision to drop BAUTUS Canyon, as this had been named by the ice climbing community.  Although this waterfall only really found recognition because of the ice climbers that climbed their ascent, one frozen winter; the name BAUTUS Canyon caused it to fall short for its presence in the summer months.

The region does however regularly speak of the creek as Peskett Creek, in both summer and winter, which causes me to continue with the name as Peskett Canyon Falls.

Mt. Elliot (Elliot's Left Hand, Kittyhawk)

January 16, 2016

In the winter this mountain becomes alive to the ice climbing community.  The most common of the ice climbs is known as "Elliot's left hand", though canyons and creeks around this mountain also have some lesser known ice climbs; the two that will be discussed on this day's adventure are Kittyhawk and the aforementioned Elliot's Left Hand.

The parking area for both of these waterfalls is on a side road off of the Highway (Hwy11) labeled Range Road 180A.  This road will veer down towards Abraham Lake, though in the winter is not completely kept plowed.  The good news is the plows apparently keep the inlet of the road clear, allowing for a slightly larger pull over off of the highway.

Note: I noticed a sign on my approach from Cline River, however did not see one on my return towards Nordegg.

Lower Whitehorse Falls

March 20, 2015

The first day of spring in Alberta and I spent the night being thrashed about by 50km/hr winds and doused by a snow rain combination.  Yes the typical Alberta Spring had landed and that morning I would set off with a 12 kilometer journey in mind.

Lady Agnes Falls

February 14, 2015

Named after the late Lady Agnes McDonald, Lake Agnes offers some great views from atop looking down on Chateau Lake Louise.  This trail was a great day hike, at 3.7Km to reach Lake Agnes and the Tea House.  So far I think this might have to be my favorite trail in Banff National Park.

Bourgeau Falls

February 14, 2015

Once you've loudly swallowed all your fear after seeing the sign above, you can move on to Bourgeau Falls.  This frozen waterfall is found on Mount Bourgeau with access from the Sunshine Village, ski resort.  The best place to park is in the far back near the maintenance lot of the Sunshine Village.  However I know this can be hard as you are sometimes forced to park on the road a long way out from the resort.

Sunshine Village

Maligne Canyon

January 31, 2015

Though my initial attempt would be Morrow-Hawk Canyon, I was chased off the mountain top by sheep.  So not a bad second option.  I've come to this canyon a few times now, but today was the first time I made it during a decent freeze.  Though this winter has mostly been a prolonged spring, it was cold enough in the early going of the day to keep most of the water locked away in ice.

Ogre Canyon

January 31, 2015

As the sun came up on the Rockies I was hoping I would be exploring new territory in the foothills of Jasper National Park.  Ogre Canyon is found at the bottom tip of Rock Lake Provincial Park; bordering the East of Jasper National Park.

To venture in this area I learnt a few things this day that I wasn't able to uncover online.  Just West of Hinton you will take the highway north bound to Grand Cache; and continue on this road for a ways until there is a marked turn off for Brulé.  Once you have taken this left you will follow the Brulé sign until the end of the road; which comes to the fence (pictured above).

Trapper Creek Falls

December 13, 2014

My initial intention in the Maligne region of Jasper was to scout for what Ice Climbers refer to as "Shades of Ugly".  However as the parking lots were not clear and a line of sight from the road wasn't readily available, I opted for a secondary option and headed down to the lake for Maligne Pass.

Morro Hawk Canyon

December 13, 2014

My trip to Jasper in December had one goal in mind, scout out some trails to known ice climbing hot spots.  Not only are Ice climbs most often the best indicators for waterfalls in the winter time, I also have future plans to learn the sport!  Hopefully in a month's time I'll be strapping up for a ice climb and of course I'll be filming my attempt (however poor).  This region of Jasper however is used by a slightly more experienced group of climbers.  Knowing that I'm not anywhere near their skill, I only wanted to search out my future competition.

I would park off the highway in a small pull-over parking spot, West of Edna Lake and East of the Palisades (Celestine Road).  I would hike near 3Km however stop just shy of the canyon, as I would need more proper gear to scramble into the canyon for a photo.

Click the photo to open the Geo-Panorama

Three Sisters Falls

November 8, 2014

Another short day hike near Canmore, Alberta.  This hike has a bit more difficulty in elevation, though it ends up being shorter than the Heart Creek hike I did earlier this day.  This also often intersects the Highline Trail; which is a mountain biking path.  The benefit is the path is worn and I found often used by bikers.  The only down side is there are a number of intersections where the Highline Trail meets up with the overlapping hiking path.