Rocky Point

Name: Rocky Point

Activity: Snowshoeing (Can X-Country Ski too)

Distance: ~10 km (RT)

Area: Glacier National Park, Montana, USA

Crew: Bennett

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Additional Info:
Unfortunately I pulled a muscle in my back while downhill skiing the day that we arrived in Whitefish, so we settled on a snowshoe in GNP. This was a lovely trek with relatively no elevation change, and with a beautiful view of Lake MacDonald at Rocky Point!

 Beautiful forest on the way to Rocky Point

 At Rocky Point

 Bennett and I

Bennett on our way back, exploring the lakeshore.

Mount Baldy ii

Trip #2:Crew: Bennett
Date: November 20, 2016
Time to Summit: 1:30
Click here for the Mount Baldy Post

Mount Allan

Hike Name: Mount Allan / Olympic Summit / Centennial Ridge

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~15 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,819 m (Mount Allen), 2,470 m (Olympic Summit)

Elevation Gain: ~1400 m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Bennett

Time to Summit: ~3 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Ribbon Creek Parking Area

Getting There:
Head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) from the Trans Canada (Hwy 1). Take the turnoff toward Kananaskis Village, then follow the signs to the Ribbon Creek Parking Area.

Additional Info:
Take "Hidden Trail" and follow the Centennial Ridge path. It is the highest maintained trail in Kananaskis, so it is well signed, there is no way to get lost! This is a beautiful hike that I would recommend to anyone. Of the 6 hours, we only spent 1 hour below the treeline. Just be aware that it is a big day at 15km and ~1400m gained! We did a there-and-back from Ribbon, but you can continue along the ridge, the whole Centennial Ridge trail, and drop down into Deadmans' Flats.

Bennett and I 

 Snow. We actually could've avoided this but we were trying to get some respite from the crazy chinook winds

 Playing on the cool rock formations

Bennett on the ridge

Whiteswan Provincial Park

Name: Whiteswan Provincial Park, BC
Activity: Camping/Natural Hot Springs
Crew: Bennett
Dates: November 10-11, 2016

I am on my reading break so Bennett and I decided to go out to Whiteswan Provincial Park in BC to check out the Lussier Hot Springs and go camping. We left Calgary in the early afternoon, stopped in Canmore at the Rocky Mountain Bagel Co (yum) and then made it to the Lussier Hot Springs at sundown and enjoyed the sunset and a little company. There were 4-6 people in the springs, even after dark - it is a pretty popular spot.
However, we were the only ones camping and had the inlet creek campsite to ourselves. We started up a fire and made the best camping quesadillas.. then slept in the back of the truck (may I add - with the tailgate open! It's November!). We visited the hot springs again the next morning (when it was a LOT more crowded) then headed back to Calgary.
I came to Lussier hot springs with my family back when I was in high school as well. It hasn't changed much... except that maybe it is even more popular now!

 Driving!

 The view we woke up to! (We arrived in the dark)

Driving past Whiteswan lake in the morning

Midnight Peak

Hike Name: Midnight Peak

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~12 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,348 m

Elevation Gain: 915 m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Steph, Jeevan

Time to Summit: ~2:00

Lisa's Mom Rating: Maybe if there is no snow

Trailhead: Old Baldy Pass Parking lot

Getting There:
Head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) from the Trans Canada (Hwy 1). In about 15 minutes you will see the parking lot for Old Baldy Pass on the right. Cross the 40 in the crosswalk and begin the trail there.

Additional Info:
We hiked up to Old Baldy Pass then turned right up towards Midnight Peak. We then descended by doing the ridge-walk and cutting down the drainage (which is the alternate route up), aka bushwacking. I'd recommend taking the pass up for sure, as the small slope and clear path make it a quick ascent. For the way down I recommend taking the same route down to the pass, unless you are comfortable with routefinding and bushwacking. The alternate route is a beautiful ridgewalk until you hit the trees - which made our descent route worth it for me - but unless we missed an obvious path on the way down it was a lot of route finding.

Looking up at Midnight Peak from Old Baldy Pass. There was a decent amount of snow.

 I am including this selfie mainly because I want to show how STEEP the slope is behind me. It was a little more challenging with the snow but manageable with microspikes.

Group summit selfie!! 

Me and Steph walking the ridge, heading down the alternate descent route.

Yellowknife, NWT Trip

Name: Yellowknife NWT Trip

Crew: My Capstone Group!

Dates: Thursday October 13th - Sunday October 16th, 2016

Itinerary:
Day 1: Calgary to Yellowknife
Day 2: Meetings with the gov
Day 3: Small plane flight up to Starfish Lake, and drive to the end of Highway 4
Day 4: Yellowknife to Calgary

I went to Yellowknife, NWT for a school project. We are working on a all-season road route assessment from Yellowknife up towards the Nunavut border. 

 Walking around town and snappin' pix

 "Hiked" up a big rock hill

 Most important stop

 Checking out the landscape in a small airplane. You can see where the winter road is usually built

 Me and Jaimie in the plane!

Jaimie and I infront of the plane, up in the tundra, above the treeline! I pinned the location on my GPS to be 64.069898, -111.14792. Crazy. 

 Drove to the end of the existing all-season road, Highway 4. This nice view greeted us.

Tent Ridge (Summer)

Hike Name: Tent Ridge

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 10.4 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,535 m

Elevation Gain: 640 m

Area: Kananaskis (Spray Reservoir)

Crew: Zach, Zach, Travis

Time to Summit: 2:00

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Parking lot on the right side of the road halfway to Mt. Shark Trailhead

Getting There:
Head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) from the Trans Canada (Hwy 1). Take the turnoff toward the Kananaskis Lakes/Smith-Dorrien. Take the Smith Dorrien and then turn at the Mt. Engadine Lodge turnoff. Continue past the lodge, and up the road. You will come across a parking area on the right.
We ski-toured here in 2018.

Additional Info:
I was lucky enough to catch more larches this season up on tent ridge! There was some snow on the top but not enough for microspikes.. soon... winter is coming!

 The bowl before attaining the ridge

Looking towards the Spray Reservoir 

 Zach and Zach take on winter at 2500m!

 The horseshoe

 Great view of some of these big ol mountains.

Some friends back at the car! A cow moose and her baby.

Chester Lake

Hike Name: Chester Lake

Activity: Hiking

Distance: ~10 km (RT)

Elevation Gain: 310m

Area: Kananaskis (Spray Reservoir)

Crew: Steph, Jay, Jaimie, Mark

Trailhead: Chester Lake Parking Area

Getting There:
Head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) from the Transcanada (Hwy 1). Take the turnoff towards the Kananaskis Lakes/Smith Dorrien, then take the Smith Dorrien up to the Chester Lake Parking Area.

Additional Info:
Great spot for larches! That's why we came.

King Creek Ridge

Hike Name: King Creek Ridge

Activity: Hiking

Distance: 7 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,785 m

Elevation Gain: 700 m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Bennett

Time to Summit: 2:00

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: East side of Hwy 40 where the Smith-Dorrien turnoff is.

Getting There:
Head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) from the Trans Canada (Hwy 1). Park on the east side of the road where the turnoff to the Smith-Dorrien is.

Additional Info:
This is a short and steep hike! Bennett and I wanted to get another hike in together this summer, and he just finished work and is heading down to Colorado in a week!

Me on top of the ridge 

Best view!

Patricia Lake

Hike Name: Patricia Lake

Activity: Hiking

Distance: ~10 km (RT)

Elevation Gain: ~400m

Area: Jasper National Park (Town)

Crew: Steph, JJ, Ben

Trailhead: Jasper Town

Getting There:
From main street, turn onto Cedar ave which eventually turns into Pyramid ave. Continue up the street until you find an access point to the trail system.

Additional Info:
This is a nice trail system to explore as you can start anywhere in town and walk through a nice forest, see some nice views of lakes, and get some exercise. We found ourselves at Patricia Lake because of a detour (after finding out there was a momma grizz and two cubs 200ft behind us), where we ate lunch and headed back to town for a coffee.

Looking at Jasper Townsite from the trail entry

Edith Cavell Meadows

Hike Name: Edith Cavell Meadows

Activity: Hiking

Distance: ~8 km (RT)

Elevation Gain: ~470m

Area: Jasper National Park (Icefields Parkway)

Crew: Steph, JJ, Ben

Trailhead: End of Mount Edith Cavell Road

Getting There:
Head south on the Icefields Parkway. ~7km south of town, take the right turn onto the 93A. Follow for 5.2km, then turn right onto Mount Edith Cavell Road approx 15km to the parking area at the end of the road.

Additional Info:
JJ, Steph and I were visiting Jasper from Thursday September 8th to Sunday September 11th to see Scenic Route to Alaska play at the Jasper Music Folk Fest on Saturday night. On Friday, Bennett joined us for a hike to Edith Cavell Meadows - a beautiful and enjoyable hike!

"Summit" Beer (throwing it back to the Yukon!)

Dawson City Roadtrip

Name: Dawson City Roadtrip

Distance: 535 km (one-way from Whitehorse)

Crew: Pouyan, Mike, Garyk

Dates: Friday Sept 2nd - Sunday Sept 4th, 2016

Additional Info:
We left Whitehorse for Dawson City after Mike was off of work. The drive up went by quickly while playing games of "Would You Rather", stopping for sunset pics (or not stopping for sunset pics if Pouyan is driving), watching a 5 hour sunset, and seeing the Northern Lights begin to show.
We arrived just after 11PM and tried to find a hotel to stay at but it looked like the entire city was booked up... so we ended up crashing in Mike's Tahoe. After a few too many shots of Burt Reynolds and a game of pool, we were squished into the Tahoe and passed right out.
After a day of recovery, walking around town, and finding caesars to drink (and an unreal breakfast at The Eldorado), we got to check into the Downtown Hotel and relax for a bit before our next night out.
We ate dinner at the Drunken Goat - great Greek food! (...and Burt Reynold shots..) Then headed to Diamond Tooth Gerties aka Canada's first gambling hall. The boys proceeded to win a few hundred bucks, so they cashed out and we hit the town again. We made it to the Downtown Hotel Bar and did the Sourtoe Toe Shots which I was strongly against doing until the boys fed me enough drinks.
On our way home the next day, we drove past a jousting match which still cracks me up to think about.. I had no idea that was a sport that people still do..
We got amazing Northern Lights both nights, I would 100% go back to Dawson City!

The drive up was gorgeous! 

 Downtown Dawson, Downtown Hotel.

When I caught the northern lights with my phone camera.. you know how amazing it must have been! Pouyan got some awesome lights photos on his DSLR Camera.

Golden Circle Roadtrip

Name: Golden Circle Roadtrip

Distance: ~600 km (total)

Crew: Pouyan

Dates: Tuesday August 29th - Thursday Sept 1st, 2016

Itinerary:
Day 1: Whitehorse to Haines Junction
Night 2: Kathleen Lake
Day 2: Kathleen Lake to Haines, Alaska
Night 2: Haines Ferry Port
Day 3: Haines to Skagway, Alaska via. Ferry. Day in Skagway. Drive back to Whitehorse

Pouyan and I left early on Tuesday morning, heading for Haines Junction. We were in awe of the fall colours in August! We hiked up King's Throne where we met a German solo traveller - Anna - who we ended up hanging out with all evening playing "Shithead", drinking beer, and then went for an evening stroll along the lakeshore. She then hitched a ride with us the next morning as we made our way to Haines, Alaska - we dropped her off at the Samuel Glacier trailhead.
We arrived in Haines, Alaska after driving over a beautiful pass in the sub-alpine. After dropping off of the pass towards the coast, the landscape morphed back into summer with green and huge trees surrounding us in the "Valley of the Eagles".
After exploring Haines and of course enjoying a few beers at Haines Brewing Company, we hiked up Mount Riley. We ended up sleeping in the parking lot of the Ferry Port and heading to Skagway, Alaska the next morning.
We arrived at 6:30AM, grabbed coffees, walked around town, hiked to Yakutania Point, had a few too many beers at the Skagway Brewery, tried to hop on a glacier flight (failed), tried to go ziplining (failed), tried to find a tattoo parlor (failed), sobered up after a nap, and decided to head back to Whitehorse, where we arrived around 7PM.. needless to say we were exhausted and in desperate need of showers!

Welcome to Kluane Country! Day 1. 

 And Haines Junction. Day 1.

 Cool cafe in Haines Junction called "Village". I recommend it! Day 1.

 Kathleen Lake from a roadside pullout, Kings Throne on the left. Day 1.

Kathleen Lake Cooking Shelter. Day 1. 

 Beautiful scenery on the way to Haines. Day 2.

 Day 2.

The first thing we look for in new towns! Day 2. 

 Alaska. Check out that Red Corolla (our home for 3 days). Day 2.

Welcome Canadians! No one else. Everyone else sucks. Haines, Day 2. 

Exploring Haines

 Still exploring Haines.

 Made it to Skagway aka Skaguay aka Swagway. Day 3.

Heading back to Whitehorse. Day 3.