I had to come back! I knew Karen and Bill would love the adventure. We started to make a plan to return to the backcountry in Banff National last March. All three of us love hiking in the backcountry and when add you add the lure of fly fishing for beautifully coloured cutthroat trout, well; you know it was an adventure tailored for us to relish and enjoy! ...and that we did!
The hike in to our base camp was approximately 13 km. During our trek to our camp, we walked up and over a pass at 7400 feet. It was a rainy day so the amazing view that we hoped for on the pass was shrouded in low lying clouds. The vast carpets of wild flowers were a great distraction as we steadily worked our way to the high point of our trip. Our view was limited and so we proceeded to head down into the next valley to set up camp. A lull in the showers allowed us to get our camp set up. Parks Canada has designated camping sites and the eating area is set up well away from the tenting area. Bear bins are also there to store your food.
The view climbing up the pass included tamarack and an explosion of wild flowers.
Before we ate supper, we strung up our fly rods and made the short trek to a lake that had a lot of stunted brook trout and cutthroat. We caught a ton of them and soon we headed back to camp for a well deserved supper.
The next two days were special. We had to climb the steepest part of a second mountain pass as we headed by a beautiful lake where Dr. Bill took a break to watch a billy goat high up on a mountain. We finally headed through amazing stretches of colourful wild flowers as we again climbed up to a beautiful valley that included a boulder garden we had to negotiate before we got to our lake with the colourful cutthroat.
The final stretch from base camp to the lake had a push through a steep boulder garden.
Our lake was finally in view. It was a great moment to stop and scan the lake. All that effort to come back was well worth the sweat equity. The fly fishing was amazing. Here we were at 7300 feet and the beautifully coloured cutts ate chernobyls, microleeches, chironomids and streamers. The mountain weather constantly changed during the day. The brisk wind and quickly moving showers made us layer up. We were well prepared and that allowed us to enjoy the outstanding fishery that was right at our feet.
Imagine amazing fly fishing, but you do have to negotiate close to 16 km of hiking and two mountain passes. It is definitely worth the sweat.
I am pretty sure that we missed a lot of strikes because we were enjoying the sight of big walls that surround the lake. There is so much more than fly fishing on this trip. There is a lot to enjoy and take in. As the day started to wind down we took our time heading back to camp. We all made it back to camp with big appetites. Dr. Bill enjoyed his predinner rum while Karen and I sipped Crown Royal. Our fettuccine supper filled our stomachs. Back at our camp we enjoyed talking to other campers, many of them teachers. We were the only ones fly fishing. That was a bonus. Our lake had a few hikers but for the most part we had the lake to ourselves.
The Columbian Ground Squirrels, marmots and pikas made Pepper, our dog, quite excited. He was leashed so he would not chase them.
You know where we went the next day. Right back to this beautiful place. The barometric pressure was dropping but we were fortunate enough to have a second day of fabulous fly fishing. Karen, Bill and I explored more of the rather large mountain lake. As the day wore on, the wind wound up and made casting tough at times. We did take advantage of the lulls in the wind to cast. The cutthroat were quite willing. We used chironomids a lot on day two with a great deal of success. A size 14 or size 16 black sally was a real winner! There were also moments where climbing up above the lake and enjoying the view was just as marvellous.
Day 4 was our time to pack up and grind our way back up the first pass we went over to make our way back to our Golf station wagon. When we took down our tent, the mercury was below zero. There was frost everywhere in the valley. When we topped the mountain pass, we had a beautiful sunny view with very little wind. We certainly enjoyed the amazing view. We could see most of the places we hiked to from the high pass.
We worked our way back to the car and soon we enjoyed a delicious burger and beer back in Canmore. The trek back to Red Deer was uneventful until we tried to get out of the car. We were all stiff and a bit tired.
I admire my friend Dr. Bill. He has two joint replacements but you would never know it. This was a trip that all enjoyed. Being well prepared is a big ingredient in the success of a trip like this. Karen, Bill and I may be retired but our young at heart attitude and excellent fitness allowed us to enjoy this trip.
Pepper looking for a marmot!
The Pass! What a view!
Heading for the parking lot about 10 km down the valley!
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