West Wind Pass, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

On our last day, we decided to try a shorter hike outside of Banff. We chose the West Wind Pass Trail, in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park. This required a drive along Highway 742, the Smith-Dorrien / Spray Trail, which was a bumpy gravel road about 40 minutes south of Canmore. This was supposed to be a 2.8 mile hike gaining about 1,200 feet in elevation. We also understood that this was an unofficial, unmaintained trail. We found the trailhead and parked along the road, where there were a number of other cars.

West Wind Pass Trail, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Trailhead of the West Wind Pass Trail

The hike quickly gave us a nice view of The Rimwall, an 8,858-foot mountain peak located in the Goat Range of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park:

The Rimwall, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — The Rimwall

Batya and I were enjoying the hike:

Batya hiking on the West Wind Pass Trail, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Batya hiking on the West Wind Pass Trail

We encountered some Spruce Grouse, which are said to have little fear of humans, so we were able to get pretty close and get some nice photos of them:

Spruce Grouse, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Spruce Grouse

Here is Batya on the trail, with Lake Louise barely visible on the right side of the photo:

Additional photos of the Spruce Grouse:

Spruce Grouse, Collier Peak, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Spruce Grouse

As mentioned above, this was an unofficial, unmaintained trail, and we sometimes weren't sure which way to turn. We noticed some paths had branches across them, and weren't sure whether these had fallen there or been placed there as markers to avoid those paths. At one point, on a slope that was about 30 degrees, we had a choice or taking a high path or a low path. We took the high path, but eventually came to a patch of bare rock about 25' long. I was afraid to cross the bare rock with that kind of angle, and realized that if the trail had been maintained, hikers would have been warned to take the lower path for this reason, or perhaps a cable would have been placed in this location to allow people to safely cross the bare rock without risk of sliding down the rock face. We therefore had to turn back before reaching the end of the hike.

Twigs placed across trail, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Twigs across trail

As we descended the trail back toward our car, we had a nice view of the Spray Lakes Reservoir:

Spray Lakes Reservoir from West Wind Pass Trail, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Spray Lakes Reservoir from West Wind Pass Trail

Returning to the car, we photographed the Spray Lakes Reservoir:

Spray Lakes Reservoir, Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada — Spray Lakes Reservoir

We then drove back to the airport in Calgary and flew home.