A Back-Packing trip in Jasper National Park and Willmore Wilderness Park Alberta Canada
A 15 day solo trip to Upper Blue Creek
A.k.a.
The green bean tour
Willow thrashing fishing trip
Part I
Click on the photos to see the full size picture
Author's note: I have never taken many pictures or kept a journal of a trip in the Canadian Rockies. After all, what is there to write about; you see lots of mountains, your feet get sore, you get dirty and when you get home, you start planning the next trip. So I thought I would keep a journal during this trek.
BACKGROUND: This hike was in the North-Eastern corner of Jasper National Park on the North boundary Side Trails of Blue Creek and Glacier Pass. Access was via Willmore Wilderness Park. I linked the two trails by waking along the South Sulphur & West Sulphur rivers in Willmore Wilderness. Blue Creek is a fairly wide 30 km long valley with the saw-tooth Ancient Wall on the eastern side and a series of mountains and lakes on the western side. There are Rainbow trout in the lakes and creeks. Though it may not be the most dramatic areas of the national parks, it is very scenic and has few visitors as it requires a minimum 12 day trip.
Day 1. August 6, 2000. Rock Lake Trailhead (1495m) to Willow Creek Campground (1355m). 14 km.
The day started out from the shores of the Rock Lack campground. I drove five kilometres to the trail parking lot and was greeted by a very enthusiastic crowd of mosquitoes. There were about 20 vehicles in the parking lot with half towing horse trailers (presumably Willmore bound). I loaded the 20 kg backpack and within 2 kilometres, I was off the wide former fire road onto a lightly traveled track that headed downhill. As I passed above a swamp, I watched a cow moose in the water, then she moved towards the bush, but stopped before entering, and she kept a close eye on me. I was then interrupted by a sharp short hailstorm and I found little shelter in the only skinny lodgepole pine forest of the day. After the descent, I entered a wide creek valley, forded Rock Creek, but mostly walked through willows bushes along the aptly named Willow Creek valley. It rained hard at one point and I waited it out under a tree. I was caught in more rain about a kilometre before the Willow Creek warden's cabin. It was 2 hours of waiting in the woodshed (I also dried a few things when the sun returned) while it rained and played cards with Basset & Keith who were exiting from an overnighter. I began to wonder if I had brought enough plastic bags because my trusty old North Face pack is no longer water-resistant. Willow Creek was a very pleasant campsite. I had a nice pasta dinner washed down with "Chateau de Ziploc" red wine. The evening's entertainment was some strange noises coming from a tree. I walked over with wine in hand, to watch an incredulous tree simply fall down. Yes a falling tree in the forest does make a noise. Around 8;00 p.m., it cleared right off, so I marched through wet willow bushes to the Snake Indian River (silty, no fishing) to soak my long pants and boots. I crashed after returning to the camp, someone arrived at the campsite, but I disappeared into sleep-land.
Day 2. Willow Creek Campground to Little Heaven (1690 m). 18 km.
I became briefly acquainted with Jerry from Little Rock Arkansas, the late evening arrival. He and I are doing similar routes in different sequences. I marched along the North Boundary Trail, the only section of that trail I was to do. 10 km of wet, soggy grass and willows soaked water onto me from my waist down. I stopped a couple of times to POUR water out my boots. The 3 layers of waterproofing I had put on my boots seemed very effective at keeping the water in. The Snake Indian River Valley is very wide (scenic, but not dramatic) with mountains a long way off, beckoning from the west. The country was open, mixed meadows with lodgepole pine and aspen forests. Plenty of animal tracks, but none sighted. I turned off the main trail onto the Glacier Pass Trail, more sogginess until I climbed into the woods and a final stiff grunt through trees and occasional fantastic view to Little Heaven. The campsite is set next to a meadow and Mowitch Creek a little ways below. Scenic and quiet.
While the light showers had eased, I was experiencing sunny breaks, so I decided to do clothes washing and person washing. A small creek runs close by each jasper campsite so far and there was plenty of firewood. I had too much hot water in the end (8 litre portable wash basin awash with very hot water). Suddenly a strange sensation; clean body and clean clothes.! Simple pleasures! The afternoon also marked the discovery of the soft taco. I grilled a tortilla with aged cheddar on the fire and added pesto and alfalfa sprouts and presto a nice snack. After dinner, I made my way down to the Mowitch Creek hoping for some fishing. It was nice wading back and forth the gravel-bottomed creek in bracing clear water but no fishing holes. So Little Heaven doesn't have fishing, a golf course or a single visible angel. It does have mosquitoes, nice views and lots of firewood. A nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to spend eternity there!
Day 3. Little Heaven to Spruce Pine. 10 km.
I got out of the tent to frost (August 8th and it frosts at night) and had another wack at fishing further downstream. Nothing but a nice walk. After an early lunch, I headed up the Mowitch Valley, sometimes at the stream's edge, others in the forest. The scenery wasn't especially inspiring and I found the 10 km slow; I suppose the first 2 days of hauling a heavy pack had taken their toll. I left 3 days of food hanging at Little Heaven but my pack still didn't feel light with only 9 days of food in it. I decided to call it quits at Spruce Pine rather than pushing on a further 5 km to the last camp in the valley. This turned out to be fortuitous as the next camp is one of the few unappealing campsites in all of Jasper Park. Spruce Pine was a nice campsite with good views of the Noonday Peak wall and a hanging glacier. Whilst the weather had appeared threatening all day, there were sunny breaks and I seized the opportunity for another bucket bath and did some laundry. Later in the evening, I had 2 visitors; a deer and Steve from Edmonton who arrived around 8:00 p.m. (it gets dark around 10:00 p.m.). This turned out to be the end of the line for Steve who headed back to Celestine Lake.
Day 4. Spruce Pine to Brewster's Wall (1800m) via Glacier Pass (2100m). 20 km.
I was greeted by a rain shower at breakfast. I felt revitalized as I climbed the 10 km to Glacier Pass, first through forest, then soaking wet willow bushes and finally wet alpine flowers that managed to soak my boots that had just dried for the first time in 2 days. Clouds cleared away from Noonday Peak and I soaked in the sunshine around 11:00 a.m.. Grey ominous clouds moved in quickly, providing the standard 5 minute warning before it rained. So I saw the pass in sun and rain. I wasn't sure where to keep my eyes on; the trail, stunning scenery or to look out for a large grizzly with huge claws that had passed along the trail earlier on. I've concluded that photos do the Canadian Rockies no justice as there is so much more to the experience. There are a few hanging glaciers spotted about the pass area and the Willmore side seemed more impressive with a string of jagged, rocky peaks along the western side. I descended the open meadows to South Sulphur Creek. Willmore is a horse trekking area so the trail was cut to maximize the number of creek crossings (no bridges). After rock hopping (one soaker) and boot removals to ford the creek, I put on sandals and kept them on. I probably crossed the creek 20 times. It felt like I was cruising down the valley in bathroom slippers. Eventually I put socks on and that enhanced the grip on my 5 dollar sandals.
The descent seemed to go on endlessly, then a trail cut up to one of the valleys and I followed it until it disappeared in a boggy area, so I bush-wacked most of the way to a disappointing moose pond (no moose). I wandered about until I picked up a horse churned trail upwards which brought me to another moose pond (still no moose) with a fantastic setting so I pitched my tent on a postage stamp size meadow. The mosquitoes were real friendly, forcing a retreat in the tent. Then a series of thunderstorms with hail blasted away, never really slowing down the kitchen staff. I was beat, so I went for an early sleep with most of my clothes on and I was still chilled.
Day 5.
Brewster's Wall (1800m) to West Sulphur River. 14 km.The day started out with semi-frozen boots, a centimetre of ice on the water basin and plenty of frost on the tent. It had been a cold night and I wondered why I hadn't cleaned my sleeping bag to revitalize the down after 250 plus nights of use. Not 20 minutes down the trail and I hit the lake that I had been seeking yesterday. It was a stunner with Brewster's wall as a backdrop and several peaks thrown in for good measure. From one angle it was green and from another it was blue. There was a well-appointed campsite at the outlet (and another part way up the south side). I decided to check out if there was any fishing potential and eventually circled the lake (about 30-40 minutes). I found one inlet creek (to oxygenate the water and fish) but the lake was shallow, I eventually found an interesting inlet on the deep side of the lake. I caught 4 bull trout, one must have weighed 3 pounds. The colouration of the fish's dots was a pale orange (I have seen much brighter and attributed the lack of colour to a lack of oxygen). The water was clear and I could see a dozen plus fish, often travelling in pairs or even 5 or 6. I watched all of the fish take the lure. Later I took a dip in the lake and was able to approach the fish within 2 metres. Alas, bull trout are catch and release, so it looked like fish was off the menu.
I left the lake around 11:30, still elated, and headed back down to the South Sulphur River trail and a few creek fords, then the trail improved and rose above the river and a canyon. West Sulphur River was reached and forded a couple of times, the god trail passing through dry willow bushes. A warden's cabin is being built (almost complete today) and I stopped into to talk to the builders. I was treated to some interesting information about the tail ahead and a slice of Cantelope. I continued up the river and halted at a fine campsite, rather than higher-up (colder). Body wash and clothes wash all made relatively easy with my wash basin that seems to have changed my life! Like all, but the first campsite on Day 1, a good supply of chopped firewood is available. A magnificent, twisted, folded mountain faces the campsite. Clouds rolled in on the near perfect day and the rain forces me into the tent to listen to incredible thunder in all directions.
Day 6. West Sulphur River to Upper West Sulphur River (1750m). 5 km.
The day started out in fog or mist. I decided to press on, hoping it would all clear off to reveal a blue sky day, glimpses of which I saw for brief moments. My boots became quickly waterlogged, the mountains remained hidden as I climbed the valley with its flat plateaus with impressive beaver engineering. I continued up to a point where I wasn't sure I was on the right trail, unable to take bearings (no visibility) and assailed by a rainstorm that forced me under a tree for half an hour. I scouted the trail that started to head steeply DOWN the other side of the watershed and decided to return down to an earlier trail junction (that lead nowhere earlier) and hope for weather improvement. I made a quick fire to heat up pasta lunch (last night's dinner) then continued back down as rain set in (I had no intention of crossing the pass and missing out on the views). I was thinking about returning to the last night's camp when the rain let up and the mountains partly cleared. A falcon swooped past me quite close, then it was joined by another; they appeared curious about me. I also heard a bell and thought it was a horse at first, but it turned out to be the "New Yorker" and "photographer" all rolled into one that I heard of on the trail. He was heading back to Rock Lake. I found him on the other side of the creek on another (correct) trail. We talked in the rain (he called this a Class A hike) then he went on while I spotted a campsite and found a dry patch beneath a tree and ducked out of the rain.
I rigged my tent up so that the front part is completely sheltered from the rain. I'm wearing dry clothes and I am under my sleeping bag and feet are still cold. One of the activities I did to warm up included redistributing the down in my sleeping bag in a hopeless attempt to improve its warming power. My feet did warm up. The rain eased over the dinner hour enough to provide exceptional views of the rock faces at the pass. Clouds swirl, rain falls and the wind blows. There is a very raw beauty here. On the food front, the last courgette (zucchini) was eaten today. It would have lasted longer except the beans are looking so good. The cheese, pepperoni and whole wheat tortillas are all still holding up very well. Of course the food chills to just above freezing every night and stays cool in the backpack as daytime temperatures hit a whopping 15C on a warm day. The tent has a virtual standing vestibule as I am camped nicely under the still dry trees and the food hang was a minor ordeal but sits well now. It's time to read for a while before submerging into sleep (it's around 8:30p.m.). I can hear the occasional grunt or yelp somewhere in the distance, though nothing is visible form here.
Day 7. West Sulphur River to Caribou Inn via Hardscrabble Pass (1965m) 16 km plus 3 km detour around Azure Lake
Click on the photos to see the full size picture
Another frosty start and I started early (7:00a.m.). It was a beautiful sunrise on the mountains. I passed through trees, then wildflowers in expansive meadows with endless streams and impressive views on a pipe-organ or fortress style mountain. I saw a solitary caribou at some distance but otherwise saw no large animals. The marmots were very approachable (apparently they were pesky to the New Yorker who camped there the previous evening and he had to throw rocks at them to stop then from chewing his ski pole handle). There were pikas too. As views of Willmore receded, I crossed a firm rocky narrow pass then continued up to the highest point of the crossing to views of Blue Creek Valley and Azure Lake below. I dropped off the trail to investigate the Willmore side of the lake, walking down ideal ski slopes (wildflowers and pine clumps) to a shallow, exposed 2 km long lake which had most the characteristics of a tarn, except it was big. I had originally intended to stay near the lake on the Willmore side but decided to press on down the Blue Creek Valley. Initially I wandered through the meadows, but eventually found the trail. At times it was easy going, other times the trail seemed to vanish. Fairly interesting peaks on both side, then I reached Willow Alley with the branches whipping my shins endlessly. Finally, I reached a lodgepole forest (really tall, thin tress well spaced apart, like a ponderosa pine forest) and dropped down to the welcome sight of the Caribou Inn.
The Caribou Inn campsite has a fire pit/grill, basic latrine, food hang and a few comfy logs to sit on. After pitching the tent, I dropped in to see the warden (Phil) who happened to be staying at the Inn (the warden's cabin side of the creek). Later he provided insight into the rather unique way of life, travelling from cabin to cabin on horseback, especially the work involved each morning to get underway (catching, feeding and packing the horses to start with). When he described his food (he had roast that evening), my mouth watered and the lentils and rice suddenly didn't sound so appealing. Phil was a nice guy and lent me a blanket for the night (I was wingeing about how cold it gets in the early morning). Either the down sleeping bag needs to be cleaned or my body huts down at night. When I headed for my tent, it was still light at 9:00 in the evening and the temperature was 6C.