In spite of a province-wide drought, it began raining the moment my brother, his wife and I arrived at Bow Lake to begin this trail. Fortunately the trail still afforded excellent views in spite of the weather, though water drops got onto my digital camera’s lens. Even the nearby glaciers were reasonably visible, though the highlight of the trail is the Bow River — here a little creek running from Bow Glacier to Bow Lake, along a neat canyon with pretty waterfalls.
The trail seemed in less than prime shape and very little used. It was poorly defined along the gravel riverbed and in the glacial basin, and a bit slippery where it climbed or descended. And less flat than I had expected — the vertical bits were rather concentrated. Most of the traffic seemed to be hikers and alpinists going to and from the Wapta Icefield via the trail to Bow Hut.
It was windy, particularly on the final exposed kilometre in the basin, as we approached the falls themselves. All in all the weather did spoil some of the fun, but we still enjoyed ourselves, and Geoff and Shannon were able to take many puppy pictures. (By the time we headed home, the rain had extended itself to the foothills, but never reached Calgary.)