Guides and Trips
Trips
Mount Lady MacDonald is one of the most popular trails in the Canmore area. Despite its popularity, very few of the hikers you'll see on the trail will summit the mountain. I had passed the trip over for years after reading a lot of reviews describing the trail as a boring slog uphill and those descriptions were fairly accurate with the exception of the final scramble along the summit ridge if you...
Northover Ridge is one of the premier hikes and my personal favourite route in Kananaskis. The trip is typically done as a three day outing but we did it over the course of two days on our last outing and I've heard some people have started doing it as a long day hike or trail run. The full loop is nearly 40km and you'll climb roughly 1100m from the parking lot to...
Door Jam Mountain and Loder Peak are two quick and easy summits that can be ticked off without only a couple hours effort. Jura Creek is a popular easy summer hike that's popular with kids on hot days because of the opportunities to splash around in pools of cold mountain water. Summiting both peaks and descending via Jura Creek is a popular loop in the front ranges. I read a description of how...
The foothills behind Bragg Creek are full of trails for hiking, running and mountain biking. I failed to start my GPS for the first kilometer of our trail run. The trails in the area are well marked with permanent maps at major intersections and less durable signs at lesser intersections. We weren't completely sure which route we wanted to take and eventually ran into an overflowing creek that we thought would be bridged but wasn't. The...
Windtower is one of the easiest summits along the Smith Dorrien Highway. We were out to do another trip but the area was closed, we didn't have our guidebook and weren't sure where to go but saw some cars in the ditch at the trailhead and decided to give it a go. From the road, the trail follows the obvious drainage as it climbs through the forest to Windy Pass. At the pass...
At 3373m, Mount Willingdon is one of 54 peaks in the Canadian Rockies taller than 11,000 feet. While the mountain itself is not a very challenging climb it is remote enough that reaching the summit is almost guaranted to be a multiday epic. I have heard reports of people making the summit in the winter on skis in a single day, 19 hours from car to car but we planned a three...
We wanted to get our and have a challenging trail run and thought the Heart Mountain loop might be a good candidate. The climb proved far too steep to move up at anything quicker than a walk in the heat we had. The scrambly bits would have been impossible to run through anyway. We ran bits along the top but were unable to run much of the descent. Our shoes weren't rigid enough...
This is the crappy direction to run around the reservoir. We start from the top of the weaselhead hill in North Glenmore park so we thought it might be better to run through weaselhead first to get rid of the big hills right away instead of finishing with them. Unfortunately that meant running up a slight incline for the stretch right next to Glenmore Trail and most of the stretch heading west...
This was an interesting run. It has been an extremely wet year in Calgary. Large portions of the trail in both North and South Glenmore parks were completely submerged for hundreds of feet. Despite our best efforts and a lot detouring and bushwhacking we weren't able to stay dry.
Troll Falls
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park - Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada
Ice Climbing | 3.0 miles
Ice Climbing | 3.0 miles
Troll Falls is a popular little waterfall in Kananaskis near Nakiska Ski Hill. We made the trip for some easy ice climbing with zero avalanche hazard but most people ski or snowshoe in the winter or make an extremely easy day hike of it in the summer. We parked at the Ribbon Creek Trail head. From there follow the wide cross country ski trails past the washrooms and up the hill over the...
A trip from Calgary, AB, Canada to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for a wedding.
Mount Arethusa is a deceptively difficult peak in the Highwood Pass area, just south of Kananaskis. While not one of the highest peaks in the area, it is one of the more difficult to summit. The route is exposed with some difficult scrambling and should not be attempted by those without proper equipment and the skills to return safely. The route starts on an obvious pullout on Highway 40 about 1.3km south of...
This summit received it's politically incorrect name from its resemblance to a breast with a large summit "nipple" when viewed from the Trans-Canada Highway. If you dislike this bushwhacking you will hate this summit. It may be tempting to park in Harvey Heights and save yourself a half kilometer at the start, the residents of the area have a reputation for not taking kindly to people parking on their streets. With that in...
Heart Mountain is an easily scrambled route just off the TransCanada Highway. It's a short drive from Calgary and just across the valley from Exshaw. It's named for a heart shapes formation visible when viewed from the highway. It was getting late in a season with rapidly deterioration weather so we were looking for something quick and easy in the front range. I also wanted to give my new boots one more chance at being...
Aster Lake
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park - Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada
Backpacking | 15.1 miles
Backpacking | 15.1 miles
Aster Lake is a high alpine lake located in a remote section of Kananaskis Country located in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Our original plan was to spend one night at the Aster Lake campground and then push on over the Northover Ridge the following day. Unfortunately Mother Nature had different plans for us and despite being tempted to attempt the ridge anyway, our self-preservation gene kicked in and we decided to play...
Mount Victoria provides the scenic backdrop in just about every photo you've probably scene of Lake Louise. The ridge between the north and south summits dominates the view beyond the lake.We stayed at the Hostel in the hamlet of Lake Louise and woke up at 4am so that we could be at the trailhead at 5am to start our trip. We followed the regular tourist trail around the shore of Lake Louise....
Burstall Pass
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park - Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada
Hiking | 9.4 miles
Hiking | 9.4 miles
Burstall Pass is an easy hike with great views. We chose the hike so because we wanted a short and easy trip we could bring our small 4kg dog on and I also needed to break in a new pair of mountaineering boots before an expedition. Because this trip is so short and easy we went extra heavy on our packs and gear so as to get some benefits from it for...
Bow Peak is a relatively easy summit that yields great views of the Icefields Parkway and distant views of faraway peaks on a clear day. Despite the rewards, it is not a popular trail likely due to the difficulty finding the start and river crossing early into the hike. Park on a gravel pullout 0.9km southeast of the Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint along the highway. We approached from the southeast so we drove to...
One of Banff's premier hikes. It's a long trail but not terribly difficult. The trailhead is clearly marked with plenty of parking. Expect to spend at least 7 hours on trail. From the trailhead follow the clearly marked trail to Bourgeau Lake. It can be tempting to stop here but push on along the trail branching to the right. Near the end of the lake the trail will begin to quickly gain altitude...
The Rundle Massive dominates the skyline and separates Canmore and Banff. The true summit may take you to a higher elevation but only through much greater effort with no more reward. The East End of Rundle grants you a significant summit that can be attained fairly easily and rewards you with spectacular views almost the entire way up. There is a large official parking lot at the Goat Creek trailhead but we were able to...
