~*~ “Horseflies the Size of Connecticut!” ~*~

Mosquito Creek to Fish Lake

We awoke fairly early to blue skies and chilly Canadian Rocky weather. I don’t think Alpha, MsKB or I slept too well since we were cramped in the tent. It was decided two tents would be the way to go for us. We all packed up our gear, did one final check and set out to shuttle the cars. Along the way to the trailhead, we pulled over when we saw a momma bear and her two little cubs frolicking on the side of the road. I was riding with Alpha and didn’t have my camera…but managed to get a decent shot with his. The cubs were really small for it being so late in the summer, we thought. Further up the road, yet another black bear was milling around on the wooded bank. Four bears in less than a mile! Yes!

We arrived at Mosquito Creek Trailhead. Monty and Alpha took off to Helen Lake Trailhead to leave Monty’s car. Anna, MsKB and I sat with the gear and waited patiently for their return, all the while slapping at mosquitoes and shivering slightly in the cool air. Within 30 minutes, they returned. We geared up and headed out! Watch out backcountry ~ here we come!

We were only on the trail about 5 minutes when we started to climb a bit. The trail was well maintained and easy to follow (but what’s this? No blazes???). We stopped about a mile in and regrouped. Monty was tired and nauseous and really struggling. Being sick on the trail is an awful thing and I think we all felt helpless at that point. We decided to take it easy and stop at the Mosquito Creek campground for lunch. I’m not sure where the time went, I was so busy ogling the scenery that it seemed we reached our lunch spot almost instantly, even though it had been 2 hours. There were picnic tables at this established sight which were nice to spread our gear out onto. I grabbed the topos and headed up a little hill to eat and gaze at our route. Alpha joined me shortly and we went over the maps, trying like mad to do our metric conversions and figure out how much climbing we would be doing and how far we were going. By the way, Mosquito Creek earned its name. I’ve never seen so many mosquitoes in my life. I think they are addicted to Deet because nothing was keeping them at bay. Miserable little bastards.

After lunch, we set out again…Fish Lakes Campground was our first nights destination but we would first have to traverse North Molar Pass. From the point we left lunch, we had some decent climbing. I’m used to the East and the rocks and roots. The clear paths and constant views really threw me for a loop. I kept wishing my head was on a swivel so I could take it all in. I constantly turned my head back, not wanting to lose sight of any of it. Alpha, Anna and I finally broke through treeline and found ourselves traversing through some rolling meadows. I’ve only seen pictures of places like this and being immersed in it was pretty overwhelming.

When we reached what seemed to be the highest point of the meadow, we tossed our packs down and relaxed. I wandered around the field a bit, snapping pictures and remaining in my constant state of amazement. Anna took an opportunity to catch a little nap. MsKB and Monty soon joined us and plopped down in the field as well. We could see the trail ahead of us, leading up to the scree and North Molar Pass. It didn’t look so daunting from where we sat. I could get used to this kind of hiking. BUT…the blasted horseflies were driving me insane. I stood and swatted and danced and tried to anticipate their next move. They were the size of CT…but not too smart. I think at last count. I had successfully taken out about 21 of them. Ha!

Back on the trail, we stopped briefly to filter some water before our climb. I forged ahead, wanting to check out the little lake. Soon enough, Alpha joined me and we began our ascent of the pass. We found a comfortable pace and stuck with it as we climbed. The nice dirt trail gave way to a scree field and lots of rocks. We kept turning around, keeping our eyes out for MsKB, Anna and Monty. At one point, we lost sight of one of them and stood waiting to see what was going on ~ at last we saw the third so we continued on. I’m not sure how long it took us, but we made it to the top of the pass. A cairn sat waiting, as well as a bit of snow which proved to be irresistible. We dropped our packs, slid down the scree and jumped into the patch of snow. We contemplated sliding down it, but decided it was too wet. Instead, we climbed up the opposite side of the pass, found a big rock and proceeded to sit while we waited on the others.

It was relaxing and amazing to be in the pass and have views in both directions. The peaks kept getting higher, snowier, more jagged and more spectacular. Alpha and I took the opportunity to play “throw rocks at the rock”, which he won, damnit. Not that I’m competitive or anything. I commented that as we sat there, we reminded me of the two judges on the muppet show sitting high above everything else going on. We were wondering how Monty was feeling and contemplating leaving our packs at the top of the pass (cause according to Alpha, there would be no bears there) to go back and make sure everyone was okay. It was unnecessary and soon enough, Anna, MsKB and Monty joined us. I watched as each of them crested the pass and saw the “porn” that lay before us. We took our first backcountry group shot at North Molar Pass.

As we stood up to get going again, Alpha pointed out a backpacker coming up the trail on the side of the pass we were headed to. But wait…there are two, and they are hiking so close together…and they are walking funny and…umm…wait a minute. It’s a BEAR! <insert dance of joy here> In about 2 seconds flat, Anna was on her feet, got her pack on and exclaimed “Oh, Fuck!!! What do we do now?!?!” We get out the cameras! It was hard to tell from the distance whether it was a huge black bear or a grizzly. He stopped, he looked up the pass at us and I’m sure he heard the yelling and smelled us. Slowly he sauntered off the trail, up the bank and disappeared over the ridge. It was a huge adrenaline rush and we were hoping that when we reached the area, we would be able to find his tracks to determine what kind of bear it was. Though I’m not too sure Anna was that thrilled. And me without bear spray…yeah, I’ll lead. Good idea. Take luck! You too!

We descended anxiously over the pass, eyes glued to the trail. Eventually we found his tracks and we think he was a black bear based on what we could tell. I’m hoping someone has a picture that will be the final judgement call. Day 1 in Banff and we have our first wildlife sighting! And we ALL saw it! What a great moment.

We continued along the grassy field, my eyes were scanning the ridge and the valley below, half expecting our four legged friend to make another appearance. Unfortunately, he never did. We crossed over yet another creek and finally caught a glimpse of Fish Lake ~ home for the night!

Fish Lakes also had an established campsite, complete with picnic tables for cooking. Bearbagging here was going to be a breeze, thanks to the set up provided. A large pole with metal “rope”. Unclip, lower the loop, biner your bag to the loop, hoist bag, reclip. Done. Gotta love that kind of ease.

We set up camp quickly, trying to avoid the unrelenting mosquitoes that were gnawing at us. This is the only night where we were not permitted to have a fire. We decided early it would be dinner and the bed…none of us wanted to sit outside and be eaten alive. I found a convenient little area down by the lake where we could sit in the sun and cook our dinner. My Jetboil was debuted here and I’m thrilled to say that I am now on the bandwagon. As we ate, we watched the sun go down over the peaks. The air became chilly and with full bellies, we were ready to call it a night.

Food bags were hung and we mad-dashed for our tents, diving in before allowing the swarms of skeeters to get to us. Monty and Anna immediately got giggling in their tent, I’m thinking they just seam-sealed it and were high on the fumes. Alpha seemed to think someone put a quarter in them. Either way ~ the tired twosome turned into the giggle gals once they were zipped in. MsKB and I settled in immediately and were out cold in no time flat. Ahhhh…life on the trail.

Day 3 – “I’m not coming out of the woods unless I’m carrying an entire tree” (alpha) Fish Lake to Devon Lakes

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