Chip's Birthday Present

Chip's interest in river canoeing has exploded over the last year. She has decided "I am no longer going to be a passenger/princess in the canoe. I want to be in control either in the stern or solo!" So Chip gets her own canoe for her birthday!



We bought this damaged Esquif Prospector 17 from the University of Calgary's Outdoor Centre. The canoe had been wrapped around a rock or some such obstacle resulting in hull creases and a broken gunnel. Chip left town for a week so we moved the canoe into our home, set it up on our dining room table and began work.



We detached the seats, thwarts and yoke from the damaged side. Thomas acted as supervisor. Our dog Kira, who is an avid canoe dog could not understand what was happening in our house.



We invited Bucky the legendary canoe guru over for a consultation and he showed us how to drill out the rivets and remove the damaged gunnel. Linda enjoyed hammering out the gunnel which came off fairly easily.


The hull was creased where the boat was bent back upon itself by the pressure of the river. The ull, which is made of Royalex, recovered most of its shape once the pressure was relieved. We will blast the creases with a hot hair drier to see if we can minimize the distortion.


The gunnel actually broke into two pieces above the crease and there was some minor damage to the rivet hole and the plastic wall of the canoe.




Thomas and I riveted on the new gunnel. We used C clamps to tighten up the space between the gunnel and the canoe side before riveting.

Jamie and Chipper

Hoodoo Recovery

Castle Mountain to Massive Siding Canoe Journey

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

Lower Kananaskis Paddle

Chip's mothersday's float has evolved into a Paddle down the Lower Kananaskis River from Canoe Meadows to the SeeBee "Pond" (Penstock)

Here we are at the take-out point above the Seebee Dam at the confluence of the Bow and the Kananaskis Rivers. Thomas is checking out the canoes. In the background the prominent vertical wall of Mount Yamnuska is formed from Cambrian carbonates of the Eldon foundation (deposited over 500 million years ago). The carbonates have been thrust along the McConnell Fault over Creatceous clastic sediments of the Belly River formation(depositied 80 million years ago).

Our paddling party includes kayaks and 2 canoes. Here we are at Canoe Meadows in Kananaskis Country. This is our put in for Chip's Mother's Day Float. The Kananaskis River flows out of the Barrier Lakes where it is controlled for hydro-electric purposes.

The launch point is at the bottom of the kayak racing course. Here Chip is presiding over colour coordination of the boats and the launch sequence!

Thomas is off like a shot out of the first eddy.

Everyone lined up to surf at the Holy Roller wave. Jim heads into the surf with a forward ferry.

A great exhibition of "hand rolling" by our safety boat.

Louise's boat disappears behind a wave.

Rob is very pleased with the outing and his matching kayak and paddle!

Chip and Becky happy after a busy paddle.

The kayakers line up to exit the last eddy in the shadow of the TransCanada highway bridge.

First Paddle of the Season

Spring is finally threatening in the Bow Valley and we jumped at the chance to launch our canoes into the Bow River for the first paddle of our season. It was -5 degrees Celsius at sun-up and a forecast of +10 for the afternoon. On May first the Banff Springs Golf Club unlocks the gate to the road around the course and we were first in line to launch our boats. We call this paddle the Golf Course Loop. We launch our boats at the confluence of the Spray and Bow Rivers immediately below the Bow Falls.
Above is a Google Earth map of the Banff area with the canoe launch and take-out marked.


There was still three feet of candling ice on the shore as we launched. Fortunately there was a narrow beach so we could launch our two canoes and an inflatable kayak. After scraping over a few rocks we reached the Bow and began our paddle downstream

Our pilot dog Kira loves to be at the front of the first boat in the group and whines until she gets her way. She also is prone to leaping into the river at a moment's notice. You must always be ready to balance the boat or she can quickly capsize you.



The first part of the paddle is alongside of the Banff Springs Golf Club at the base of spectacular limestone cliffs of Mount Rundle

Part of the paddle is an area where the Bow River meanders through unconsolidated sediments left behind by the last glaciers that scoured this valley.





Note the Hoodoos in the upper middle right. Hoodoos are caused by wind eroding the glacial sediments. Mount Cascade rises in to the north.

League Curling Ends

This is the last week for curling in Banff for 18 months! The Recreation Centre is being rebuilt and curlers are both sad and happy. We are sad because our present rink was built in 1960 with 8 sheets and holds many memories. Our Club is over 100 years old. We look forward to four new sheets of ice in the fall of 2010. I noticed on the TV that there are about 1.7 million curlers in the world and 93% are in Canada. 

Today I am giving a curling lesson for about 35 students from Grade 2 - which is a daunting experience. I had this same group last year as Grade 1 students and it was a wild, nerve racking experience. They arrive, all with protective helmets, oodles of energy all ready to go! This year I am prepared with the lessons I learned: be there first and set the ground rules, recruit teachers and parents and give them specific assignments, watch out for the boys who want to use their classmates as bowling pins and be sure to look confident!

I survived Grade 2! Note the signs of success and safety: everyone wearing helmets of some sort, all students sitting down waiting in line for their turn throwing the "junior rocks", teachers and proud parents helping out and taking photos of their loved ones.  I turned my back at one point and discovered some children bouncing the rocks on the ice and enjoying the "pretty" shattered ice designs - oops sorry Mr. Ice Man! Some quotable quotes include "Why do you say "throw the rocks when we cannot pick them up?" and "When do we use the brooms? - my quick response was Grade 3". All the children had fun and many of them exhibited pin-point accuracy that many adults would envy. We do not have a Junior Members Club in Banff which is our next challenge. Clearly this is where we must start!

When all was over I brought our Thomas the Tractor to clean up!

Back to Winter

What a difference a day makes! As promised we have many cm of snow and still snowing! Minus 3 degrees C. Cars are sliding around the streets and people falling as they walk. I barely made it up to work in my car at 6:30 am. I am glad my snow shovels are still handy.

I had a very interesting follow from my kayak photos (I assume) from a canoe builder - check out his blog from my Links list. 

We chased all the kids from their screens today by luring them with: the movie theatre, basketball court/swimming pool and dog walk.

Day Two

It is a beautiful spring day in the Rocky Mountains. The temperature may reach 8 degrees C: snow is melting, lots of mud on the paths, a "V" of Canada Geese looking for open water to land and the forecast is for 6 cm of snow tonight!

I am learning lots about blogs today: including gadgets like Twitter and TwitPic, adding pictures, adding favorite links. Now how do I add a picture to this post? - ahah! I see an icon that I will try.



Yeah! The picture has the Town of Banff, Bow River, Banff Springs Hotel (bottom right-centre) and Banff Springs Golf Club (right centre - some of the fairways have melted), Cascade Mountain (upper left) and Lake Minnewanka (upper right). This web cam shows some great images as the weather changes - try my favorite Link to see what it is like now!

The Beginning

Day one: I obviously now have a blog. From Twitter to Twitpic to a blog all in one week. First day of spring and the rivers are beginning to melt in the Rocky Mountains. Our curling team got whipped last night - a character building experience! I have joined a team for a bonspeil in Lethbridge. The team is PRACTICING and buying uniforms. I am getting nervous.