makeshiftmind

We awoke to snow on our fifth day in Canmore.  Big flakes were falling from the sky, covering everything with a wet, heavy snow.  The temperature hovered around one degree Celsius, just one degree above freezing, so the roads were relatively clear and the accumulation everywhere else was rather light.  We decided to stay near town because the day called for high winds and heavy snow in the afternoon, so we picked a small trail about fifteen kilometers outside of Canmore and set out for the day.  As we carefully drove up the mountainside, we saw a group of cars in the distance pulled off along the side of the road.  That usually means that some kind of wildlife has been spotted, so we pulled over as well and were treated to a herd of mountain goats slowly grazing their way across a steep incline.  We snapped some photos, took in the scenery, and were on our way.

The trail was Grotto Canyon, and according to the guide, was located near the mouth of Grotto Lake, a medium sized body of water with rather unremarkable features.  Because the weather was so wet and cold, we both wore more layers than normal.  I felt like Stay Puft, but even in the driving snow I was comfortable and warm.  One very interesting thing about the Grotto Canyon trail is that, well, there really is no trail.  A small sign at the entrance to the trail head indicates which way to go, and from that point hikers over the years have forged a variety of trails through the deep woods that followed the canyon’s edge up the mountain.  We met a few other hikers along the way who had no idea where they were going, but we all figured that “up” was generally a good direction, and as long as we could see the canyon we could always find our way back.

The guide rated Grotto Canyon trail as “easy”, which was accurate for the first five hundred meters or so.  After that the well-worn trails began to disappear, and we found ourselves moving along the canyon floor, climbing over large slippery rocks, occasionally finding steep dirt paths in the brush that lead over insurmountable canyon obstructions.  The climb, in other words, was anything but easy, and the driving snow did not help.  It was entirely worth the effort, however.  At various points along the canyon, the trees would part and we would be treated to panoramic views of snowy peaks and the expansive alpine forest.  Our descent was quite a bit more challenging than our climb up the canyon.  The dirt paths were loose with small rocks, and the large canyon boulders were wet and slippery.  I took a slight spill as we navigated down the canyon bed, and managed to bang up my knee and my hand a bit, but it was nothing serious — I was pretty lucky.

When we returned to our car, we decided to walk around the lake for a bit, but it was pretty bland so we headed back into town.  We were both very hungry, so we pulled out our map and drove around looking for the Grizzly Paw Pub, a local restaurant and outlet for the Canmore Grizzly Paw Brewery.  We felt a little out of place in our hiking gear because nearly everyone in the restaurant was part of a large wedding party, but we were hungry and wanted beer, so we really didn’t care.  We ordered a Grizzly Wings appetizer dowsed in “Grumpy Bear Hot Sauce” and the beer sampler, and spent the next hour or so warming our feet and relaxing.  Brittany favored the Big Head Nut Brown beer, while I was partial to the Powdered Hound Pilsner.

We spent the remainder of the day back at our lodge — we had laundry to do and wet coats, gloves, hats and boots to dry out.  We watched some TV, read some books, and turned into bed early to get a head start on day six.

You can see our pictures in the Banffventure 2009 Day 5 web album.