Tag: Alberta

trip report: Banff National Park – Bow Summit Outlook & Peyto Lake, August 2019

July 29, 2020.Reading time 13 minutes.

Peak season on the Icefields Parkway can be incredibly busy and it’s understandable based on the world class views. The places you’ll feel the crowds the most are at the popular viewpoints, such as Peyto Lake and the Toe of Athabasca Glacier. It doesn’t help that these are also the stops the tour buses makes, especially the Chinese ones — I know how my people travel.

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However, this also means the crowds are gathered mostly at these outlooks and a short hike will take you to an equally impressive view without the traffic.

This is the tenth entry of our Canadian Rockies trip series covering our tenth hike. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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trip report: Jasper National Park – Wilcox Pass, August 2019

July 22, 2020.Reading time 10 minutes.

Near the border of Jasper National Park and Banff National Park sits one of the crown attractions of the Icefields Parkway, Athabasca Glacier spewing off the Columbia Icefield.

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While many tourist pay to take the buses to walk on the glacier itself, the best view of the motif is across the valley at Wilcox Viewpoint.

This is the ninth entry of our Canadian Rockies trip series covering our ninth hike. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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trip video: Jasper National Park – Skyline, August 2019

July 13, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

This is the companion videos to our trip report detailing 2 day and 1 nights hike on the Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park. The highlight of the hike were the high alpine meadows and vistas of the Athabasca River drainage and Maligne River drainage.

You can find the detailed report of our hike linked in the index below.

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trip report: Jasper National Park – Skyline, August 2019

July 11, 2020.Reading time 29 minutes.

As foreshadowed by our hike the previous day up Bald Hill, we were in for more weather. Sometimes we get nice bluebird days, sometimes we get low clouds and gusting winds over the alpine ridge. It’s all part of the adventure on the Skyline trail.

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This is the eight entry of our Canadian Rockies trip series covering our eighth hike. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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trip report: Jasper National Park – Bald Hills, August 2019

June 27, 2020.Reading time 19 minutes.

For the most of our trip into the Canadian Rockies, we were extremely lucky in regards to the weather. A sudden shift of strong winds and hail while we were scouting out the area for our next backpacking trip reminded us that we shouldn’t leave those extra layers behind.

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This is the seventh entry of our Canadian Rockies trip series covering our seventh hike. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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trip video: Mount Assiniboine, August 2019

May 19, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

This is the companion videos to our trip report detailing our 3 day and 2 night backpacking hike to Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park. The highlights of the hike were hanging out along Lake Magog underneath Mt. Assiniboine and a perfect morning hike down from Wonder Pass to perfectly still Marvel Lake.

You can find the detailed report of our hike linked in the index below.

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trip report: Mount Assiniboine, August 2019

May 13, 2020.Reading time 45 minutes.

Mt. Assiniboine is the highest peak in the Southern Continental Range of the Canadian Rockies sitting at 11870 feet (3618 m). Its pointy pyramidal shape reminds many of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, giving it the nickname of the “Matterhorn of the Rockies.” While our previous hike of the Iceline was about the experience as a whole, this hike was the opposite. Mt. Assiniboine is well worth the end to the many miles of mediocre trails.

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This is the fourth entry of our Canadian Rockies trip series. You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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trip report: Canadian Rockies – decision, planning, & getting in, August 2019

March 18, 2020.Reading time 40 minutes.

Ah Lake Instagram, rather Reddit Lake, I mean Moraine Lake. The last time I visited this beautiful spot was in 2011 on a road trip, when a group of us checked out the mountains and breweries around the Pacific Northwest that eventually ended up here.

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Our joke for our drive through the Canadian Rockies was that they must sprayed LSD in the air because the colors were so unreal.

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Jared overlooking the teal Lake Louise back in 2011

I’ve meant to head back to properly explore the backcountry since then, but it seems like the rest of the world had the same idea. With the crowds, must come the permits to protect the beautiful landscape from being loved to death and effects of overcrowding. Since this current trip was planned rather last minute, the initial prospect looked like I’d have to wait to see the best and most popular spots. But with some flexibility and constant checking of the permit websites, I got to have my cake and eat it too… a big LSD filled cake.

This is the first entry of our Canadian Rockies trip series covering our pre-trip planning (1) and our travels to the Canadian Rockies (2). You can navigate to the other parts in the index below as they are posted.

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