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.