Cascade bridge now ready

Chuck

ps The temporary bridge has been removed.”

This is one of the epic ski trips which I look forward to doing at least three or four times every winter. If you go to the end of the trackset trail, it’s a 29K return trip. With last year’s marginal snow conditions, I only managed to ski it twice.

The Cascade valley ski trail, in Banff National Park, starts at the Lake Minnewanka parking lot. The trail crosses the Cascade river, now on the new bridge, at 6.1K. We were able to cross the river last winter on a temporary bridge. Beyond the bridge, the trail was routed through the campground. I don’t know if that will be a permanent feature, or if the old trail which skirts the campground will also be trackset again.

There are a few spots along Cascade where the trail is now different than it used to be. The most dramatic being just after the campground where the trail has been diverted for 700 metres around the flooding debris.

I like taking the short detour to the warden’s cabin which is in a picturesque location on the bank of the river at 13.4K. People used to live in a little house year-round which is still standing, and as I eat my lunch on the veranda, I enjoy imagining what life was like for them.