We needed to do some laundry and there is only one place in Field. It is in the basement of the Truffle Pig's Bistro & Lodge. Fortunately on our arrival none of the machines were being used. There are two washers and two dryers. They only take loonies and quarters. Lana's task this morning = laundry and Randy doing our dishes and researching the various trail options we have for our trip to Golden, BC very late this morning. Lana says there's great irony in the fact that the Asian person is doing the laundry on this trip especially given the fact that Randy does 99.9% of all the laundry when at home!!
Blog teaser--Great grizzly bear story to follow...
View from Field of the Rocky Mountains in the nearby distance. Railroad just below us. This picture is facing northwest. As you can see a beautiful day!
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden has a gondola that you take up to the top and there are seven (7) hikes you can choose from. The resort is about a one hour drive (?) from Field, although construction delays may impact travel time.
Lana found this bird near the laundry facilities. She thinks it was a Magpie!!
Given we were running late after doing the laundry and then getting our hiking gear on, we were hoping for a smooth drive to Golden. No luck as there was a very long and slow CPR train on the tracks so no hope today. We waited about 15 minutes for the train to pass. Lots of semi-trailer trucks travelling on the road, recreational vehicles and other slow drivers. Once we were on the Trans Canada we made pretty decent time to Golden.
Google Maps screenshot for trip from Field westward to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort on Highway 1 mostly.
We were on top of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort by 13:15, but the gondola stops running at 15:30 so we have limited time for hiking on top of the mountain. The gondola ride up to the top cost about $81 for the two of us so not cheap. The positive result was bring up so high on an incredibly beautiful sunny blue sky day. You could see forever and it was relatively warm when hiking or walking. This is probably a busy ski/snowboarding hill during the winter. We spoke with the liftie at the top of the mountain and he confirmed the best route for our time and scenery results.
Gondola lift ticket and summer trail maps brochure.
Map at the top of the mountain mainly for winter customers, but also covers hiking, mountain biking and a new climbing route. Elevation at the top 2,347 metres! Lana is trying to figure out if we were higher in elevation yesterday than today.
Lana on our first trail. What a view of the valley below and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Some snow on the perimeter of the trail. No snow on any of the trails. You can see the gondola cars. Lana takes the opportunity to clean off the dirt and mud from her hiking shoes--dirty shoes make her crazy--even her hiking shoes!!
Great pic of a ridge and then the mountains in the background. Shortly, we will be walking on that ridge as our first trail takes us there below the gondola and along the bowl.
These were our two options for our hike this afternoon.
Lana on Terminator Peak trail and some idea of its steepness and its rock steps. Lana had a bit of car sickness from the windy drive up the mountain. She had to remind me that the goal was to get to the gondola parking WITHOUT throwing up!! Guess I better slow down a little for her.
Panoramic picture from the ridge towards the south.
Panoramic picture from the ridge towards the north.
We thought to try the Terminator Peak first, but within about 3 minutes of being on the steep trail it was apparent to Randy too scary! Lots of stone steps with a drop-off on both sides. Where I stopped there was a rope to hang onto - no thanks! My fear of heights got the best of me. 
Consensus to hike the T2 Peak trail given the difficulties with Terminator Peak trail. Lana has some challenges with dizziness still after our twisting car drive up the mountain. This was not the type of trail to have dizziness--she said she felt like her internal gyroscope was off balance! The estimate of duration was between 1 hour 30 minutes and 2 hours 30 minutes.
T2 Peak trail vertical challenges as you can see from Lana carefully managing her way up the trail. Fortunately, rocks to grab onto.
Another example of this technical hike/climb. This hike is easily the most difficult in terms of sheer verticality and risk of slipping and plunging down a steep rocky slope to your death.
The view from T2 Peak was worth the effort! You can see Golden, BC down below and the Rocky Mountains behind. The main road is the Trans Canada going east towards Field. Lots of snow up top and at this elevation.
Believe it or not this is a caterpillar! This is at the top of the mountain with nothing but snow around crawling across the snow! Lana picked it up in a handful of snow and moved it so it wasn't on the trail at risk of being stepped on anymore.
View from top of T2 Peak and looking at the Trans Canada below snaking its way east towards Cranbrook.
The view south towards the majestic mountains from the top of T2 Peak.
Lana made it to the top of the world! Well, its seems like it.
The descent on this trail is much scarier than the ascent. Trying to show the steepness although not really captured. For both of us, this was very steep, scary with huge drop-offs and many stone stairs. I prefer stepping on the trail itself rather than stepping on stones.
Fortunately, the trail was dry and fairly hard packed.
Lana dancing down the slope--if you can find her in the picture! When we returned to where the trail started it was 70 minutes duration which included waiting for Lana. The minimum estimated duration was 90 minutes. I had speculated that the estimated times were much more than needed. These hikes are probably not used much by experienced hikers.
Very beautiful and weird lichen on the rocks on this steep slope.
Burgundy coloured rocks!
View south from the top of Kicking Horse Mountain.
Can you see the marmot in the middle of the picture? Huge member of the squirrel family that we saw down one of the steep slopes. Lana guessed that it was marmot based on the sign at the Manning Park gate. For years every time we would drive the sign she would ask "what the heck is that animal" until finally she googled it and found out it was a marmot. She thought that the large sign was a terrible rendition of a marmot until today. Now she says the sign is pretty accurate and takes back what she's been saying all these years.
OK, yes indeed there was a grizzly bear sighting! From the safety of our gondola as we were gliding over its refuge located on the slopes of Kicking Horse Mountain. The grizzly bear's name is Boo! He was orphaned after a hunter shot his mother. His brother was orphaned as well, but he is no longer alive. Boo is originally from the Grouse Mountain bear refuge--and was moved here 15 years ago. We asked the lift at the bottom of the gondola ride about him and we were told that Boo has actually escaped from his refuge twice. Once for 7 days after which he was found in the local area. Another time for 28 days when he came back on his own. Lana figures he needed a holiday!! Turns out that during his 28 day escape he didn't lose that much weight which would indicate that he was able to hunt for his own food (or check out the local restaurant scene LOL!).
Great picture by Lana of the beautiful Autumn colours on the slope of the mountain as we were gliding down the mountain.
When we got off the gondola at the bottom we had a long conversation with the liftie about Boo the Grizzly Bear. He (the liftie not Boo!)was from Maple Ridge, BC so almost a neighbour. In addition, he told us about his favourite brew pub in town: Whitetooth Brewing Company. Lana used her Google Maps to confirm directions once we were off the mountain. Everything in Golden is pretty close. Extensive list of craft beer to choose from and all are made in house. Lana chose a craft black current cardamom cider from their fridge. Too much cider for Lana so we both finished it off and by the time we departed we had enjoyed enough drinking and Lana was a bit tipsy :)
Picture taken from our stools looking into the actual brewery. My grandfather George was a brewmaster trained in Chicago in the 1920s. Everything was very clean inside.
Hanging on the wall.
Randy's choice was their Speed Metal Stout and it tasted exactly as advertised below. I really enjoyed this chocolate stout.
Our goal was to find the highly rated Sarah's Kitchen in Golden for dinner. We found Sarah's Kitchen inside a gas station, but it was closed until the end of September. Lana accessed her internet and we decided to head for Q's Restaurant given it had both Korean and Japanese cuisine. Myself, I am always dubious about a restaurant which offers more than one cuisine. In this case, my inclination was correct.
We were both hungry and there was only one table being used when we arrived. Not a good sign. We arrived around 17:00 so it should have more traffic. Plus, the Trans Canada is right there. Got our orders in and took longer than expected. I ordered the Korean beef bulgogi and Lana ordered Korean kimchi ramen. Plus, an appetizer of Korean fried chicken. I won't go into too much detail, but our food was mediocre at best and disappointing.
Q's Restaurant in Golden.
Oh well, we gave ethnic food in Golden a chance. Our windshield picked up a rock on the way to Golden and we will need to get it repaired before we return the vehicle to the Cranbrook car rental. We believe the car rental will charge us more than us getting it fixed. Lana sets up an appointment in Golden for Friday morning at 10:30. There were no windshield repair places open in Cranbrook on Saturday so that was not an option.
Lana was not interested in an extensive or exerting hike today. Our stats:
Lana 9100 steps 5.5 kms
Randy 8700 steps 5 kms
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