Bow Lake & the Trail to Bow Glacier Falls, Banff National Park, Canada (7-25-13)

Bow Lake is located on the W side of the spectacular Icefields Parkway Hwy No. 93 in Banff National Park roughly 22 miles N of the junction with Trans-Canada Hwy No. 1.  Bow Lake is clearly visible from the Icefields Parkway which goes right past the E shore.  The trail to Bow Glacier Falls starts at the red-roofed Num-Ti-Jah lodge on the N shore of the lake.  There is parking, but no sign or official trailhead that Lupe and SPHP have noticed.  Just look for the trail heading W along the N shore.  It’s easy to find.

Lupe visited Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park on the morning of July 25, 2013, the 16th Day of her 2013 Dingo Vacation to the Beartooths & Canadian Rockies.  After seeing the falls, Lupe and SPHP returned to Banff National Park and headed N on the Icefields Parkway, Hwy 93.  There was still time for an afternoon trek.  On this hot summer day, SPHP had a good one in mind that doesn’t involve too much elevation gain – the trail from Bow Lake to Bow Glacier Falls.

SPHP parked the G6 near Num-Ti-Jah lodge located near the N shore of Bow Lake.  The lodge is within sight of Icefields Parkway Hwy 93.  It’s red roof is easy to spot coming up the Icefields Parkway from the S.  The first thing Lupe did was trot on down to the lake to check out the small beach near the lodge.

Lupe cooled off a bit wading around in the cold water.  She had a big drink out of Bow Lake.  There were more people than SPHP expected to see at the beach, but it wasn’t a big crowd.  A few hardy souls were even in the water, mostly children who tend not to notice hypothermia much.  Lupe and SPHP set off on the trail to Bow Glacier Falls sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 PM.  The trail starts off heading W along the N shore of Bow Lake.

There were quite a few people on the trail to the falls.  There were a couple of big scary dogs, too.  Lupe got by them when the big dogs decided to go for a swim in the lake.  The trail gradually curves toward the S as it proceeds along Bow Lake.  By the time it leaves the lake behind, the trail is heading SW.  There the trail enters a still nearly level area of gravel deposited by the Bow River.  The trail heads for a narrow gap at the S end of a small ridge ahead.  A steep set of stairs climbs up the small ridge on the N side of the gap.

As the trail climbs the stairway, it can be seen that the stream from Bow Glacier Falls is passing in a torrent through a very narrow, but deep gorge just to the S of the trail.  The gorge is so narrow that near the top there is a huge boulder wedged high up between the edges of the gorge.  The boulder spans the gorge creating a natural bridge.  People cross this boulder to a side trail that heads S into a gorgeous valley leading to St. Nicholas Peak, Mount Olive and part of the Wapta Icefield.

(Note:  Later in the day, on the way back from Bow Glacier Falls, SPHP really wanted to go explore this wonderful valley to the S, but crossing the boulder looked just too scary.  Although the boulder was very large, it was rounded, not flat.  It really wasn’t all that tricky, but the roaring water gushing through the narrow chasm below gave SPHP visions of Lupe’s claws being unable to hang onto the solid rock of the boulder, and Lupe falling into the raging torrent to be lost forever.  No valley, no matter how wonderful, was worth a chance of losing the sweet dingo.  If SPHP had thought of exploring this valley earlier, it would have been easy to just cross the stream below Bow Glacier Falls and head for this valley.)

Once on top of the small ridge, Bow Glacier Falls is in clear view ahead.  The trail drops partway back down the other side of the ridge and then steadily climbs through a mostly barren rocky area.  This area is roughly the same size as the area between Bow Lake and the small ridge.  The climb steepens as the trail nears the falls, but it’s pretty easy.  It never gets all that steep.  The trail ultimately disappears among the rocks near the base of the falls.

Lupe and SPHP climbed up very close to the falls, had a snack and photo session, and then climbed even higher until almost in the falls itself.  Lupe and SPHP lingered there for a while enjoying the sound of the water and the amazing world on display.

There was almost no one left on the trail by the time Lupe made her return trip to Bow Lake and Num-Ti-Jah lodge.  Lupe and SPHP drove a short distance to the SE along the Icefields Parkway Hwy 93 to a picnic ground located on the E side of Bow Lake.  Here Lupe and SPHP spent the rest of the evening having a very pleasant time looking at the mountains and watching the sun sparkle on Bow Lake as it slowly sank behind the glorious Canadian Rockies.

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