Burstall Pass
A bad start to the day. The moment I put my book down last night a serious toothache took hold (don't worry mother, there's a happy ending). It lasted all night. An Internet search this morning revealed a dentist that opened at 8 am. I went down there twice. The premises were deserted.
So we reverted to our plan and after de-icing Charlie we drove about 40 km up the gravel road known as Highway 742 to the Burstall Pass trailhead that Peter had recommended and for which he had lent us his map and guidebook. It was a popular destination, with lots of cars already in the car park.
Sue had resuscitated the broken flask, so some ibuprofen could be dissolved in tea in an effort to reduce the severe tooth pain arising from 40 km on a washboard road surface. This initially had little effect. But a few km into our walk a lump arose on the gum below my recalcitrant tooth. 'Ah' I thought, 'abscess' - 'need antibiotics'. The lump grew and I tried to excise it. Pain jumped from 8/10 to 10/10. The ibuprofen then kicked in and the pain lessened.
It was a brilliantly sunny morning, albeit quite frosty. We were ready for that and well equipped. The views were great.
We reached the 2380 metre pass at lunchtime and tucked into our usual fare, the ibuprofen having reduced the pain to an extent whereby I could just about tolerate eating on the 'good' side of my mouth. Sometime during this process the lump on my gum started to decrease in size. My theory is that it was punctured by an errant shard of the excellent crisps we've been eating. (More crisps please!) This seems to have released the pressure. Tonight's red wine has been laced with a cocktail of ibuprofen, codeine and paracetamol (Sue had to give the pharmacy a full family history in order to get that) and hopefully the sore gum will repair itself.
Anyway, whilst the tooth episode has detracted a little from today's walk, I hope the photos will demonstrate that the day wasn't a complete disaster. In fact the views were absolutely superb.
There were lots of people, all local Canadians as far as we could make out (this walk doesn't feature on the tourist leaflets), and that made it a chatty day. At the end of the walk there seemed to be a move to relax in camping chairs prior to the drive home. Since Shak's chairs live in Charlie's boot we were able to join in that tradition on the warm, sunny afternoon.
Wildlife today was mostly keeping its own counsel, but we did see a Hairy Woodpecker, several birds of prey, and the usual squirrels. I forgot to mention yesterday that we found what might be a hornets nest. Constructed from papery layers and about a foot in size, hanging in a tree, it looked empty. Until we poked at it; then we ran away. There will be a photo in due course.
There are still some flowers, struggling on trying to tempt the last of the bees, including fleabanes and yarrow, and the ubiquitous papery remnants of the (probably Pearly) Everlasting flowers (pictured).
The walk was another 'there and back' effort, very little of which was in trees without a view. An excellent route with an intermediate plateau between two gentle ascents, and thanks go to Peter for suggesting it.
Dinner was delicious. Home cooked avocado, tomato and olive salad, sautéed potatoes, mushrooms and onion, with salmon burgers. Followed by strawberries and cream. With a nice red wine.
Today's pictures:
1 - Early morning view from our living room
2 and 3 - From the Burstall Pass trailhead by Mud Lake
4 - A view from one of the Burstall lakes
5 and 6 - On the 'intermediate' plateau
7 and 8 - Around lunchtime
9, 10 and 11 - on the descent (it clouded over a bit)
12 - There were lots of these clumps of Everlasting plants
16.5 km with 500 metres ascent, in 5 hours, and 4 km by the creek in 21.45.
2 comments:
Looks like the smoky hazy atmosphere has disappeared now. I wonder if there are any unclimbed peaks in the Rockies?
There's been a series of wildlife programmes here focusing on mountain habitat. Just when you think these films have reached the summit of excellence they keep surprising us with ever more impressive photography and flora and fauna one has never heard of before - it was the one on the Andes that made me wonder about unclimbed peaks - there are mountains there that look virtually unclimbable.
Not sure whether there are any unclimbed peaks in the Rockies, Conrad. I meant to ask today's companions, but I forgot. If there are any, don't expect to see us up there!
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