One ice climbing trip during the winter took us out to the Ya Ha Tinda ranch. We were pretty impressed with this area, apparently in the 'dry ranges' but was bountiful with ice climbs. But we were also incredibly intrigued by being in limbo of foothills and rocky peaks.
We were further intrigued after finding the Cascade Valley trail on the Banff South map, as well as an expansive trail network around the east Banff boundary. The route we decided on was 80km total, starting from the Bighorn falls trailhead parking lot, and ending at the Upper Bankhead parking in Banff. It's worth noting we only had 3 days to complete this route, which I knew from the start was going be a challenge sometimes.
After a mishap the evening before, and a few delays on the morning of departure, we had dropped a car at Upper Bankhead and were starting to hike by 1:30pm. Bit later than expected, but travel was cruisy on the flat valley bottom, following the Red Deer river.
From the Bighorn parking, don't head up the open road towards the Ranch, instead take the road that's gated. Then I can almost guarantee you won't get lost at all on the trail, because it follows the old fire road.
We had a peek at the camp at Wardens Rock, which is totally worth it for the humorous signs posted all the way down the driveway. Soon after, we crossed the boundary into Banff National Park, 12.3km from the starting point.
Horse camp. Thanks for the reminder!
Eventually we came to a sign that indicated the junction for the turnoff going back towards Red Deer, or continuing on over the Red Deer River (a splendid bridge) towards Banff. This was km 22 from Bighorn parking.
Then after crossing the river, there was immediately another unsigned intersection. After debating for a minute we took the seemingly more traveled way that turned right, rather than straight/somewhat left. A surreal experience unfolded as we were breaching a short hill: I could tell we were approaching a meadow because the afternoon sun was just beaming down in our faces, making everything glow golden. Just before the meadow revealed itself, I said hopefully, "Imagine it's filled with a huge herd of bison!" And just as our eyes were adjusting to the field of sunshine, not 200m away was the real Banff bison herd. I was losing my mind!!!! How cool!!!!
After fangirling for a while, we noticed that Scotch Camp was just on the far side of the field, waving a large Canadian flag for travelers, with a sea of bison as gatekeepers. So we skirted around to the left of them, still close enough to make them run though, and entered back into the woods to find a camp site.
Because there's no campsites it's a free-for-all. We settled on a small opening about 100m off the trail we'd take tomorrow. A small creek was flowing another 100m further into trees past the camp. Tall grass is like another camp mat under your own. Heavenly. It was so soft that we all lay in the grass after dinner and stretched, while the brightest sky filled with stars mesmerized us from above. Our friend Ollie felt so at peace he had a pre-bedtime nap.
Marty explored Scotch camp the next morning and discovered a toilet (!!) and what would've been a pretty nice place to camp. Now we know!
We started at 9:30. There is a steady climb to start the day off until we were steadily cruising along the side of Mount White.
At the Snowbird summit (km 29.2), which I assume is the highest point of the trail (?), there is a faded sign for a 'Snowflake Lake ->'. Marty trudged around the open meadow for 15 minutes or so, and found what he described as not a lake but a pond. Turned out it wasn't the lake - it seems to be nestled in the cirque, a little out of the way.
Continuing along the side of the mountain for a long haul, rewarded with a wolf sighting (!!), until a tight turn brought us down to the bank of the Panther river (km 40). This was 16.5km into the second day. Crossing this river was not nearly as mainstream as the Red Deer, because there's no bridge. Unfortunately. We walked up and back along the bank to make sure there wasn't one hiding. Marty's long legs made an impossible jump that I couldn't make, so I surrendered while I was ahead and waded through with my boots slung over my shoulder.
Walk a bit on the old road, where it drops off into the Dormer River and the lovely warden cabin is waiting on the other side. We stopped here for a nice long lunch break.
The other guys started on the trail again while Marty and I checked out Panther Falls, one of two in BNP. Access it by going steeply uphill for 5 mins on the Cascade North Fork trail, and bush-bash on very faint trails around right, while still atop the small hill, to the top of the falls. Alternatively, take a right just before going up North Fork, and that will bring you to the base of the tumbling falls.
We quickly caught up with the others and after more walking, Wigmore Lake came into view, which is roughly 5km past the warden cabin. A beaver dam has choked the lake outlet, so the old road is completely water bound which forces hikers to go up and around through thick bushes on slippery dirt. It's on and off the whole distance of the lake.
At around 7pm we crossed Cuthead Creek (km 49.9), which was the minimum distance goal for today, to ensure tomorrow wouldn't be grossly large. We were all hurting. But the more we did today the less tomorrow! So we pushed on for maybe 3 more km, where, interestingly, the trail leaves the old road briefly due to being a diversion creek now. But we accidently stayed on the road, a nice flat open area that would make a good tent-pitching location. The next day, not 400m more meters away, we'd discover the historical site of 'Cuthead College' that theoretically would've made a great campsite, but I'm not sure the ethics on that. But since we weren't on the trail, this part of the road would do nicely for the night. Got a lot colder this night.
Because it was going be a lot of driving on the final day, we got an early start, about 7:30am. And we were moving fast. Marty measured it on his InReach and we were going 7km/h at our fastest. Not maintainable for the rest of the trail but we got to Stoney Creek (km 65) at 11am, just 15km left.
A brutal 15km it was. The hard, dirt, rocky road was not gentle on the joints, and by the bridge that crosses the Cascade River, the last 6km from there couldn't go fast enough. It didn't help to know the trail quite well from cross country skiing it, and going twice the pace of walking. It was soon over though, and we were back at the car by 1:40pm. Altogether it took us 6 hours and 10 minutes to do 27km. Pretty buggered!
We didn't waste any time and were on the road back to Ya Ha Tinda pretty soon. After getting into our car and farewelling Ollie who'd driven, off we start back home, and after only about 1km, come across Ollie with an absolutely shredded tyre. Luckily we started the day so early! Because we were unable to figure how to release the tire, and with no owner manual, it took a lot longer than a standard tyre change. No matter. Home sweet home before 10pm. Icecream for dinner.
I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and couldn't help compare it to the Sawback trail. I guess Lake Louise is a closer drive, but this route was so wild, with the added intrigue of random camping and complete self-reliance (bear hangs, waste disposal, washing, etc.) it was personally more enjoyable and rewarding. Or maybe I'm romanticising the unkempt but wise and trusty old fire road. Albeit, the landscape that the Cascade Valley Trail takes you through is pure and has a virgin forest feel, not to mention the wildlife viewing potentials are rich and exciting. It was a trip of 2 firsts for me: bison and a wolf. Many of the peaks that channel the trail also have a draw, being not very high and most are bare of trees once past Scotch Camp. I would seriously consider doing a peak bagging/back-packing trip in this area - perhaps explore a different trail of the vast selection out there.
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