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Old 08-05-2018, 12:38 PM
Treefarmer Treefarmer is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Half an hour west of Leduc, 10 minutes south of Genesee Power.
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Question Bugs in Willmore?

Two years ago I did a trip in August in Willmore. Rained all but one day.

Great trip.

Last day it was sunny. Our last night, where we parked the car at Mumm Creek was warm and mosquito ridden.

Is this typical in warm weather in Willmore? Or more generally in the mountains?

Most of my mountain experience has been around the Labour Day weekend. Usually a few frosts have occurred and mozzies are non-existant.

I've had a few times however that there were small biting flies in the high country pucky brush. Not as bad as black flies, but still a nuisance. They went away with the sun, so camp life was fine.

Anyway, what are the bugs like in the mountains right now in the warm dry weather, particularly the northern mountains near Grand Cache, Rock Lake?

How does it compare to typical years at this time?
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  #2  
Old 08-15-2018, 09:17 PM
Treefarmer Treefarmer is offline
 
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The bugs are fine! Nice and healthy.

Horse flies, deer flies, and a smaller delta-wing fly. Some mosquitoes in the evening. Didn't notice bugs except at breaks, and in the evening around camp.

Weather was generally hot for all but two days.

Jack Knife Pass is spectacular. Mountain Trail and Indian Trail are boring on their eastern 2/3. Each has a 'mini pass' and the Nw side of the pass is trail. Camping on Mountain Trail is very limited as the trail mostly runs through pucky brush a good distance from both the tree line and the creek.

By direct walking It's two fairly hard days from the trailhead at Rock Lake to the approach to JackKnife. (24-30 km)

Our trip:
Day 0: Arrived Rock lake and got on the trail at 3:00 p.m. Arrived at Thoreau Creek (16 km) at 8 p.m.

Day 1: Discovered we'd brought only one extra 2 liter pop bottle for the ridgewalk. Trail begins behind the ranger cabin near the creek junction with the Wildhay. Was very hot (30 C) Trail climbs 900 feet in a hurry. The ridge is a lot more up and down than you'd guess from the map. 100 foot contour intervals hides a lot of topographic subtlety. We came down a side ridge, and didn't complete the full length of the ridge due to running out of water. Camped at Wildhay Summit Camp.

Day 2: Continued on Indian Trail, over it's mini pass, and ascended Jack Knife. Tried to camp at timberline, but no water, and had to retreat half an hour to last outfitter's camp. About 16 km.

Day 3: Scotch mist (blended, no single malt...) all day. Jack Knife cool. Both literally and figuratively. It's a long pass, winding between peaks and bowls. I really want to go back there and spend some time rather than just pass through. With the mist and wind, both the dog and us were chilled by the time we started down Zenda Creek.

Beautiful outfitters camp at the bottom of Zenda Creek.

Mountain Trail is winding, and crosses this tiny version of the Sulfur River many times, eventually leaving it and going over a low pass. Starting down the other side you are in an extended section where there is little water other than some boggy bits. Valleys that are clearly large enough to provide a watershed for a year round stream don't. I suspect that the valley is glacial till and the flow is underground. Rock Creek runs down the middle of the valley, but you have to cross a good bit of dwarf birch and willow to get to it. We camped where Rock Creek is close to the trail at a spot where there were two firs only 50 yards off the trail. Stopped early because of the wind and rain.

Day 4. Mountain Trail continued to be boring and dull up to the point it turned up into Eagle's Nest Pass. Cathedral Rock is awe inspiring. We had considered doing a day hike up Eagle's Nest Creek and using a ridge that would put us across the valley from the Rock, but I left that detail map on the dining room table. Instead we crossed back, and went partway up Thoreau Creek to the last place to camp before ascending the pass. Intent: I've been trying to do a ridge walk on Bury Ridge -- It's shown on the old Willmore map, but I can't find either end of it. I've been across the top twice, and didn't find it, but any trail above grass line is problematic.

Day 5. Woke to heavy smoke, specially imported from BC. 200m visibility. Climbing Bury would be pointless for scouting. Partner's shoes were wearing out, as were his feet. Decided to end early and walk out. 24 km. Trailhead at 2 p.m.

Pointers:

Take a tour around the house to look for stuff you meant to pack and didn't.

The folding 11" pruning saw worked better than a bow saw for taking dead branches off the bottom of firs.

You need a 2 liter bottle plus your usual 12 oz (700 ml) bottle to do ridge walks in warm weather. Water is scarce outside the bowls above tree line. Conversely in fog and mist and wind, the passes and ridges are quick hypothermia weather. Keep an eye on the sky.

A lot of the ranges in Willmore are block thrust mountains. The SW face is steep, but smooth while the NE face is fractured with bowls and cliffs. Last reliable water on a SW face is at the base of the big climb. NE faces often have narrow steep trails that cross the stream frequently.

Something odd geologically happened around Jackknife. There is a folded mountain beside the north end, and both Indian and Mountain trails have lots of stream crossings, and a steeper slope on their NE ends than on their SW ends.

Radar, our border collie X something clumsy, drinks as much water as his people. He carried his food. Next time he carries his water too.

The Iron Mountain K9 pack worked well.

Most of our camps were in fir country, not pine or spruce. While there is some spruce and even a bit of lodgepole at the bottom tree line, the bulk of the trees are balsam and alpine fir, with some whitebark pine.
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Old 08-15-2018, 09:51 PM
grouse_hunter grouse_hunter is offline
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Thank you for the informative write up!
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Old 08-16-2018, 12:06 PM
artie artie is offline
 
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very good write-up thanks
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Old 08-16-2018, 02:28 PM
traderal traderal is offline
 
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Pics or it didn't happen.
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  #6  
Old 08-16-2018, 02:57 PM
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Albertadiver Albertadiver is offline
 
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Willmore is on my bucket list for sure. Thanks for sharing.
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  #7  
Old 08-16-2018, 06:26 PM
Kristopher10 Kristopher10 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Treefarmer View Post
The bugs are fine! Nice and healthy.

Horse flies, deer flies, and a smaller delta-wing fly. Some mosquitoes in the evening. Didn't notice bugs except at breaks, and in the evening around camp.

Weather was generally hot for all but two days.

Jack Knife Pass is spectacular. Mountain Trail and Indian Trail are boring on their eastern 2/3. Each has a 'mini pass' and the Nw side of the pass is trail. Camping on Mountain Trail is very limited as the trail mostly runs through pucky brush a good distance from both the tree line and the creek.

By direct walking It's two fairly hard days from the trailhead at Rock Lake to the approach to JackKnife. (24-30 km)

Our trip:
Day 0: Arrived Rock lake and got on the trail at 3:00 p.m. Arrived at Thoreau Creek (16 km) at 8 p.m.

Day 1: Discovered we'd brought only one extra 2 liter pop bottle for the ridgewalk. Trail begins behind the ranger cabin near the creek junction with the Wildhay. Was very hot (30 C) Trail climbs 900 feet in a hurry. The ridge is a lot more up and down than you'd guess from the map. 100 foot contour intervals hides a lot of topographic subtlety. We came down a side ridge, and didn't complete the full length of the ridge due to running out of water. Camped at Wildhay Summit Camp.

Day 2: Continued on Indian Trail, over it's mini pass, and ascended Jack Knife. Tried to camp at timberline, but no water, and had to retreat half an hour to last outfitter's camp. About 16 km.

Day 3: Scotch mist (blended, no single malt...) all day. Jack Knife cool. Both literally and figuratively. It's a long pass, winding between peaks and bowls. I really want to go back there and spend some time rather than just pass through. With the mist and wind, both the dog and us were chilled by the time we started down Zenda Creek.

Beautiful outfitters camp at the bottom of Zenda Creek.

Mountain Trail is winding, and crosses this tiny version of the Sulfur River many times, eventually leaving it and going over a low pass. Starting down the other side you are in an extended section where there is little water other than some boggy bits. Valleys that are clearly large enough to provide a watershed for a year round stream don't. I suspect that the valley is glacial till and the flow is underground. Rock Creek runs down the middle of the valley, but you have to cross a good bit of dwarf birch and willow to get to it. We camped where Rock Creek is close to the trail at a spot where there were two firs only 50 yards off the trail. Stopped early because of the wind and rain.

Day 4. Mountain Trail continued to be boring and dull up to the point it turned up into Eagle's Nest Pass. Cathedral Rock is awe inspiring. We had considered doing a day hike up Eagle's Nest Creek and using a ridge that would put us across the valley from the Rock, but I left that detail map on the dining room table. Instead we crossed back, and went partway up Thoreau Creek to the last place to camp before ascending the pass. Intent: I've been trying to do a ridge walk on Bury Ridge -- It's shown on the old Willmore map, but I can't find either end of it. I've been across the top twice, and didn't find it, but any trail above grass line is problematic.

Day 5. Woke to heavy smoke, specially imported from BC. 200m visibility. Climbing Bury would be pointless for scouting. Partner's shoes were wearing out, as were his feet. Decided to end early and walk out. 24 km. Trailhead at 2 p.m.

Pointers:

Take a tour around the house to look for stuff you meant to pack and didn't.

The folding 11" pruning saw worked better than a bow saw for taking dead branches off the bottom of firs.

You need a 2 liter bottle plus your usual 12 oz (700 ml) bottle to do ridge walks in warm weather. Water is scarce outside the bowls above tree line. Conversely in fog and mist and wind, the passes and ridges are quick hypothermia weather. Keep an eye on the sky.

A lot of the ranges in Willmore are block thrust mountains. The SW face is steep, but smooth while the NE face is fractured with bowls and cliffs. Last reliable water on a SW face is at the base of the big climb. NE faces often have narrow steep trails that cross the stream frequently.

Something odd geologically happened around Jackknife. There is a folded mountain beside the north end, and both Indian and Mountain trails have lots of stream crossings, and a steeper slope on their NE ends than on their SW ends.

Radar, our border collie X something clumsy, drinks as much water as his people. He carried his food. Next time he carries his water too.

The Iron Mountain K9 pack worked well.

Most of our camps were in fir country, not pine or spruce. While there is some spruce and even a bit of lodgepole at the bottom tree line, the bulk of the trees are balsam and alpine fir, with some whitebark pine.
Great write up and some very good information. Thank you for sharing!
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  #8  
Old 08-16-2018, 11:01 PM
grouse_hunter grouse_hunter is offline
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I forgot to ask you a question, Treefarmer. Did you see any blue grouse or ptarmigan?
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