This paddle on the Bow River took 4 hours door-to-door from Banff. The take out is on the east side of the Bow River at the Massive Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) siding. This siding is accessible down a 150m gated road from the Bow Valley Parkway or Highway 1A. The access road is slightly NW of what we call "One Tree Island" which is a small clump of trees which splits the highway in two for a brief distance. The gate is usually locked by either the CPR or Parks Canada. We left our shuttle vehicle just outside the gate and continued "up" the Bow valley Parkway and turned left onto Highway 93. We put in from a small parking lot on the east side of the Bow River, immediately downriver from the highway bridge. Two Osprey and their new family watched us launch our two canoes from their huge nest atop the steel framed bridge.
The paddle begins at the foot of Castle Mountain in the Main Ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains about 27 km north-west of Banff Alberta. The Main Ranges are sedimentary mountains which were uplifted over 3000 metres above sea level when North America collided with island arcs which we now call British Columbia. Note that the almost horizontal bedding in Castle Mountain. Brian paddled solo, Chip and I and our dog Kira shared the other canoe.
We absolutely enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour paddle to the Massive take-out. The water was crystal clear and at the lowest water level that I have ever paddled this stretch of the river. Our boats acquired a few new scratches in the very shallow spots. We had to scramble to avoid a few "sweepers" (undercut trees that are slowly falling into the river and present dangerous hazards to passing boats) as we navigated the meandering Bow River.
We saw numerous species of birds including: Osprey, Canada Geese, Harlequin Ducks, Sandpipers and other exotically coloured water birds. We encountered a female elk wading across the river. She was very timid and hurried back on shore and into the forest when she saw us.
The Red Earth Creek rapids were the most exciting portion of the journey. The first big "S" turn was fairly straight forward at this low water level. The second stretch of the rapids, which paralleled the railway tracks, was much more challenging due to the very visible rock garden that led up to the big standing waves. We gingerly picked our was through the rock garden and were pleased to get through the rapids with only a small amount of water slashing in to the boat.
The Massive "Take Out" is on river left about a mile and a half below the rapids. We landed our boats just above the small railway cabin. Our dog Kira was very interested in the Columbia Ground Squirrl colony that lives in the sandy river bank
We absolutely enjoyed the 2 1/2 hour paddle to the Massive take-out. The water was crystal clear and at the lowest water level that I have ever paddled this stretch of the river. Our boats acquired a few new scratches in the very shallow spots. We had to scramble to avoid a few "sweepers" (undercut trees that are slowly falling into the river and present dangerous hazards to passing boats) as we navigated the meandering Bow River.
We saw numerous species of birds including: Osprey, Canada Geese, Harlequin Ducks, Sandpipers and other exotically coloured water birds. We encountered a female elk wading across the river. She was very timid and hurried back on shore and into the forest when she saw us.
The Red Earth Creek rapids were the most exciting portion of the journey. The first big "S" turn was fairly straight forward at this low water level. The second stretch of the rapids, which paralleled the railway tracks, was much more challenging due to the very visible rock garden that led up to the big standing waves. We gingerly picked our was through the rock garden and were pleased to get through the rapids with only a small amount of water slashing in to the boat.
The Massive "Take Out" is on river left about a mile and a half below the rapids. We landed our boats just above the small railway cabin. Our dog Kira was very interested in the Columbia Ground Squirrl colony that lives in the sandy river bank
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