Sat, Jul 19 2008, Sun, Jul 20 2008, Mon, Jul 21 2008 - Floe Lake (View Original Event Details)
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A wonderful time was had at beautiful Floe Lake with near perfect weather and a great group of co-adventurers.
We all met outside the Planet Coffee Shop near COP on Saturday morning. On the way out we had a brief stop at Mountain Magic in Banff to take care of a few minor ‘equipment issues’. Thanks to Hal for his repair tricks. He would also come through later in the weekend with another pack trick. I think we should nickname him the ‘ Packman’. I think all the ladies were impressed..;-)
With that taken care of, we were on our way. Once at the trailhead, we got our gear ready and started our long journey toward Floe Lake. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot as you now get very little shade on the trail since the 2003 fire. Once at the lake, everyone scampered to look for the perfect spot for what would be their home for the next few days. We enjoyed supper by the lakeshore and shared stories while Luke introduced us to a new game called ‘Devil’s Throat’. Instead of just going by the lake and skipping stones, it involves throwing a long, thin rock about 20-30 feet in the air and have it enter the water without making any splash. It is fairly difficult to do but makes a way cool sound when you do. Most people went to bed at sunset while a few stayed up to do a little stargazing.
On day two, we again ate by the lake. The light wind had subsided from the previous day and the lake offered mirror-like reflections of the mountains above. After breakfast, we hiked up to Numa Pass for better views of the area. A few people decided on a minor scramble to a small sub-peak below Mt Foster while the rest of us continued on to the ridges east of the pass which gave up excellent views of the entire Rockwall; Goodsir: Ten Peaks; Temple and Assiniboine to the east. . Marz amazed us with her ‘vow of silence’. I think we still owe her a beer or two. Heck if I would have known there was free beer involved, I would have stayed silent the whole weekend! On the way down we went off-route in search of wildflower meadows and water features.
In the evening we had another wonderful meal by the lake. A few more people stayed up after sunset as we had heard that the Space Shuttle flies directly over Floe Lake( at around 11:25 or so) Well 11:25 came and passed and still no Space Shuttle. A few of us started questioning what these two individuals (who shall remain nameless) had put in their coffee the night before and decided to go to bed. A few minutes later while getting ready to go to sleep I heard these blood curdling screams like someone was being attacked by a bear or something and immediately rushed out of my tent to look around and did not see anything at first. I then looked up and there it was. A brilliant light moving across the night sky. Definitely not an airplane.
On our last day, we had breakfast and then went on a short hike around the lake for a different view. We then packed up and started our long, hot descent to the parking lot. On the drive back we made a short stop at Castle Junction for refreshments and ice cream and then in Canmore for beer and a burger which capped the trip very well.
Thanks to everyone for making it a great weekend!
Marcel