Club Events 2004 : 2004-01-10 : COC - Grotto and Heart Creek Canyons

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We started out today with the largest group we've had in a long time - 17 people!

We headed out to Grotto Canyon, and started out from Dave's favorite 'unofficial' trail head. The canyon is beautiful this time of year, albeit a tad bit treacherous. There is a LOT of ice in the canyon, difficult to walk on at times. Unfortunately, I broke one of my ice cleats early on, so I had one foot that was good-to-go the whole time, and one that wanted to go out from under me. We were all envious of Holly's deluxe ice cleats, and Dave's crampons.

We made our way up the canyon, had a brief visit to the pictograms, and then reached the Grotto Falls. The "His" and "Hers" ice climbs were gorgeous. Most of the group hiked right up to Grotto Falls. I had to stay behind because of my back injury. At the top, Dave gave the group a demo of ice climbing. When they'd had their fill of Grotto Falls, the group made their way back down to the stream, and crossed the treacherous thing to get to the other side and continue down the canyon.

Further down into the canyon, we found the funny 'mountain' with the cave. Our brave Safety Officer charged right up toward the cave, and several of the other folks followed along up - once again, I took a bye. What goes up, must come down, and I think a few of them had a bit of a thrilling moment trying to come back down from the cave. There was more than just a little butt-slideage going on. Coming out of the canyon, I'm sad to say, Jon turned his ankle and came out much more slowly than the rest of us. He was a trooper, though, and was self-propelled the whole time.

On to our lunch spot! Dave chose a roadside turnout and we tromped down the hill, over the tracks, and into a small but snowy clearing. We each cleared a bit of a cubby hole and made ourselves at home. Rob made himself a very dandy little seat padded with pine branches - watch out for the pointy parts! Dave fired up his hibachi, and Gerry and Steve built a small campfire. Some of us just munched on our regular hiking fare, while others roasted some weinies, and Jerry even had some marshmallows.

After lunch, Jon (turned ankle), Michelle (wet and frozen feet) and myself (back injury) bailed on the second hike and came back to Calgary. I'll have to let someone else pick up the story from here.

-- Rhonda

The rest of the group headed to the Heart Creek Trailhead and soon were slowly making progress up the trail. The group encountered a few trail obstacles such as a bridge, that was to be used for crossing the creek, well frozen into the creek. However we managed to use the hand railing for some support as we crossed the ice. There were a few spots where the creek had overflowed its bank and spilled onto the trail. We eventually made our way to the end of the trail and a few climbed a small ridge for a closer view of the falls.

As we descended, many took pictures as the sun was close to setting and one attempt was made to break some ice via some jumping, but nothing broke. At one point, we thought we had lost some members only to find out that one was holding one's pole. (Group funny moment) We made our way safely back to the parking lot and a few even turned up at the new meeting spot, Kilkenny's, for a pint or two. In all, a very fun filled day.

--Dave


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