That which I crave most is to explore wild areas that I have never seen before.
James Walker Creek is a fairly popular snowshoe trail, and in the past used to also have some groomed cross country ski trails. Several years ago, the provincial government reduced the amount of funding for the parks, and as a result the area stopped being groomed.
It appears to be an unpopular area for the summer, as we were the only cars at the parking lot when we arrived, and we were the only cars at the parking lot when we left. But the area hits the alpine in a relatively easy hike and was very worthwhile!
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| The first of three waterfalls as we follow the James Walker Creek up into the cirque at the base of Mount James Walker. |
One of the things I really miss is natural spring water, and there's a lot of it on this trail as it is fed by a couple of alpine tarns. We didn't see any glaciers, but there were some permanent snowfields.
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| The third of three waterfalls, also known as Twin Falls (although I counted five, maybe more). |
The trail starts up on what initially seems like an old logging road, but then we branched off into a more narrow trail that required a minor amount of bushwhacking.
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| The burden of Atlas. |
A couple of hours in, we finally broke above treeline and were presented with an amazingly wide cirque, literally rolling grasslands surrounded by sharp peaks. I don't think there is any setting more amazing than an alpine cirque.
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| Lunch in the alpine. |
Due to the lack of rain, the tarns were quite small, but we still had a great view of the surrounding area from our lunch spot.
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| Interesting fossils on many of the rocks, showing that this area used to be the bed of an ocean. |
The hike down was quite fast, but the smoke was getting thicker, and once we got back into the forest, there wasn't much to look at other than the roots trying to trip our feet.
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| Heading back home, into the smoke. |
Wildflower season is ending soon, but there were still a fair number about. Pinks, purples, reds, whites, and yellows scattered amongst the lush green grass.
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| There were many wildflowers in bloom. Here, a fireweed. |
There is so much to explore in my backyard. We'll be back to discover it all some day!
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| And here, an indian paintbrush. |
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