Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1186 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2012 : 9:38 PM
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2012-07-20
The forecast was calling for thunder showers in the afternoon, so we thought this hike would be a perfect one to do in the morning. I had done it before, but I don't make my way to Waterton too often and didn't mind doing it again.
The hike got interesting right from the start. Near the trailhead was a black bear sow with a cub. She didn't seem too interested in us and disappeared into the bush when we got there. Still, we made lots of noise as we put our gear on and continued making lots of noise well into the hike.
We detoured off the trail a couple of times to check out the waterfalls along the way. The first one was very early on, maybe five minutes into it. It's a nice one because the water comes over some red rock. The second falls is about half way to the first lake.
The first Rowe Lake, or the Lower Rowe Lake, is quite pretty. We were the first there and had it to ourselves for a while. Lots of wildflowers, particularly columbines, dotted the shoreline. I walked around to the end of the lake and wondered about a scrambling route up by the Rowe Falls.
After a break and sufficient amount of photos, we continued along to the Upper Rowe Lake. A few switchbacks later, we were at about 2100 meters above sea level. There are actually two lakes here and I dubbed one Middle Rowe Lake. I dropped down to it and circled around it, eventually connecting to Upper Rowe Lake.
From the Upper Rowe Lake, it looks like it would be pretty straight forward to gain the ridge and scramble up to Mount Rowe. However, we were here to hike and it was also looking quite stormy.
We hiked back to the car and didn't see the black bear. By this time, several other groups of hikers were making their way up to the lakes. It had not rained yet, so we decided to head over to Cameron Lake and rent a couple of canoes. We merged to canoe to the south end and back before the rain came.
Photos
           
Some post hike canoeing at Cameron Lake:
   
Map
[Download GPS Track]
More photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markostavric/sets/72157630812178052/
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Edited by - Marko on 07/29/2012 9:39 PM
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Rowe Lakes
