August 1, 2020
McGillvary Creek & Canyon
Bow Valley Provincial Park
Stats as Recorded by Suunto Traverse
Distance : 4.0 km
Elevation : 166m
Ascent : 1h12m
Descent : 0h46m
My request for my bachelorette party was to theme it "Mulan" style. With all the jungle gyms being closed, we ventured out to an outdoor jungle gym to live out my dream of being Mulan. Distance and elevation gain is short and small on this hike, but thinking through the obstacles (particularly with short-asian-legs-and-arms) took up a bulk of our time. Fun stuff!
Take the trail to the right about 3/4 of a kilometre in to get into the canyon, and then follow the obstacles through (it'll be easier than doing it in the reverse). There's several exit-points on the route but continuing through to the end will greet you with a nice surprise at the end.
It's a wide ledge and the chains aren't needed, but nice to have. This is the first "obstacle" which ends with a ladder with a fairly large step down for our short asian legs.
I've attached some photos of the harder obstacles. The left one requiring trust in your grip as footholds can be small. The middle one requiring some upper body strength. And the far right one illustrating how terrified/happy my maid-of-honour was to have a break before a difficult downclimb. I used to indoor rock climb so these footholds were fine for me, but I can see how they can be quite scary for someone who's never done anything like this before. What a trooper!
The several pools of water is where I got more anxious. Hundreds of dollars of electronics in my pack and the possibility of falling into a pool of water do not mix. Can't imagine what it's like in the early season with spring melt and higher water levels.
And this is the surprise at the end of the canyon.
chockstone:
/ˈCHäkˌstōn/
No, it's not rocks that are like "chalk" that you can use to write with.
Yes that is me using my hat to protect me from when the rock eventually falls on me.
"A stone that has been wedged in a vertical cleft."
I think further past the chockstone was a view of Mount McGillvary, but this is where our hike ended and our stomachs began to rumble for lunch.
