Old Goat Glacier

Well, Tom's back at work so Kali & I gave my friend Mike a call to see if he wanted to go for a hike today. We originally planned to do Mt. Indefatigable (aka Mt. Fatty), but at the last minute decided to hike Old Goat Glacier instead since it was supposed to be around 30 Celsius today. Definitely ended up being the way to go! It was 10.5km round-trip with a 620m elevation gain. It started off really pleasantly meandering along a packed dirt and pine needle path that paralleled a rushing glacier-fed creek... but eventually led to a steep climb along a trail that became rubbly in places and could have used a few more switch-backs. The view was spectacular and there were neat glacial erratics the size of a trailer home poking out of the talus slope. Once we reached the top we picked our way along a huge moraine right up to Old Goat Glacier. Kali was pretty ecstatic to see nice cold snow at the top and gobbled some up and pranced around... I guess we did work up quite the sweat getting up there! The glacier was encrusted in rubbly debris that kept cascading down the side as it melted and gushed water into a stream. We hung out on some erratics, eating lunch, and enjoying the cold adiabatic winds blowing off the glacier and the bright sunshine. Kali had a little bit of trouble navigating some of the bigger rubble on the top of the moraine, taking a super sketchy detour past a boulder along the edge of a shear drop that nearly scared me to death, so on the way back we opted to walk down the snow... slippery, but fun and a neat novelty for one of the hottest days this summer. The trip down went quickly and I was really appreciating my hiking poles for taking the pressure off my knees and saving me from sliding down the slope a few times. Kali of course was a little mountain goat making everything look graceful and easy. I'm feeling pretty good so far, although Mike was feeling a bit stiff by the time we got back to Calgary.

This cascade is coming off the glacier and feeding the creek we initially hiked along:

The trail up and some of the erratics and debris along the slope: View at the top of the climb looking down on Spray Lake (where we started from): First view of Old Goat Glacier and the moraine:Fun in the snow: Walking down into the valley, looking up at the moraine. There are people walking along the top for scale, but you have to zoom in to see them.

View of the glacier from the bottom... that's all ice - gives you an idea of how dirty it is! The water in front was black with silt, but was running crystal clear by the time it hit the creek below.Closer view of the ice, debris, and water pouring off of it:Wow... check out that geology! Neat erosion on the bedding.