Mount Rae ii

Hike Name: Mount Rae

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~10 km (RT)

Altitude: 3,218 m

Elevation Gain: ~1000 m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Stephanie

Time to Summit: ~2.5 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: Highwood Pass Parking Lot/Ptarmigan Cirque


Additional Info:
I have been up to the saddle on a previous trip, where we ran into snow and decided to turn around. Steph and I chose Mount Rae after realizing that the weather was absolutely perfect to do a bigger peak. This was an absolutely killer day, we had too much fun! 

Note: Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) is seasonally closed. It closes from Peter Lougheed Provincial Park to the Highwood House Junction from December 1 to June 14 annually.

 Heading up to the rock ribs to get to the saddle. Ptarmigan Cirque is around the corner to the right below.

Just above the saddle. Amazing views already!

 Up on the ridge to the summit

Northover Ridge (Overnight)

Name: Northover Ridge

Activity: Backcountry Camping/Backpacking

Total Distance: 41 km

# Nights: 2

Date: July 21 - July 23, 2018

Area: Kananaskis Lakes

Crew: Ben, Mark, Laura
Trailhead: Interlakes

Route: 
Day 1 - Interlakes to Aster Lake (14km, ~600m) +3km because we missed a turn (so deep in conversation that we went 1.5km without noticing!)
Day 2 - Aster Lake to Three Isle Lake via Northover Ridge (13km, ~950 total)
Day 3 - Three Isle Lake to Interlakes (11km, all downhill, baby)


Northover Ridge has been on the top of our list for a looooong time. We have been talking about it for a few years, and booked it for September 2017 but had to cancel due to a snowstorm and hiked into Assiniboine instead. We finally got it booked for the summer of 2018 and we crossed our fingers for nice weather.

I'll start talking about booking - book 90 days in advance from the first day of your trip - they are strict. We emailed them at 9am on the 90-day-prior-mark and didn't get one of the 5 tent pads at Aster for the Friday night, so we shifted our trip by 1 day (Saturday to Monday instead) and booked right at midnight to get in. This was actually for the best, since on our hike in, everyone we talked to who had done the ridge said it was insanely windy - including on Saturday (the day we originally planned to do the ridge). Luckily, our ridge day - Sunday - had little to no wind and no rain/snow! We were beyond stoked. Of course.

The first day was pretty funny, as we were all head-down, chatting, following each other and kept missing turns. At one point we walked 1.5km in the wrong direction (at least it was flat!) and had to double back so we tacked 3km onto our day.... nice warmup, right??... right. The trail to hidden lake was a little tough to find (with our heads down & hearts in the middle of the now, as Bennett would say) but once we found it, it was quite obvious and a well-beaten track. I'll point out that the trail in the trees around Hidden Lake is solid too - as older trip reports say it is a bushwhack - it is not anymore.

Aster Lake Campground is a beautiful little spot. We met a guided group who had just summited Joffre that day and also ran into some friends at Aster Lake - which is hilarious, considering it is probably the smallest campground in Kananaskis (with 5 tent pads)! We ate some delicious backcountry tacos for dinner - not even dehydrated - thanks for carrying 2 lbs of raw meat in, Laura! We had also read about a porcupine infestation on previous trip reports and they were the butt of the jokes for the weekend - so we were diligent about hanging our packs and hiding our boots in our vestibules - and were looking forward to laughing at the porcupine shrieks in the middle of the night - but that didn't happen... so update: seems that there are no more porcupine at Aster Lake! Haha.

The next day we hiked Northover Ridge to Three Isle Lake. And what a day it was! The photos will speak for themselves (below), but it was a stellar day with pretty ideal weather. We all agreed that this is the best backcountry trip we have ever done in Alberta/BC. The boys went for a dip in Three Isle lake, we played Shithead (which Mark remained undefeated in?????), then called it a night (at 9:30... bunch'a night owls).

Get ready for a photo overload...!

 Making our way to Aster Lake (Day 1)

 Laura (Day 1)

 U wot m8? (Day 1)

 One of the few scramble sections on the way to Aster (Day 1)

 The entire Aster Lake Campground in 1 pic. Seriously beautiful spot. (Day 1)

 The most scenic outhouse. (Day 1)

 Walking towards Aster Lake. Mount Warrior in the middle background (Day 2)

 Tight on the left path around Aster Lake (Day 2)

 HI MOM (Day 2)

 Joffre, Bennett, Warrior. (Day 2)

 Laura walking towards the pass we have to ascend soon (just right of Center, Day 2)

 ..and the Tarns, which you can random-camp at (they are in BC, Day 2)

 Bennett, Joffre. (Day 2)

 3 studs. (Day 2)

 A group close behind us (Day 2)

 A group not too far ahead of us (Day 2)

 Group pic before dropping down towards Three Isle (Day 2)

 Mark and the huge landscape (Day 2)

 Dropping in towards Three Isle, which can be seen at the end of the valley (Day 2)

 Crew still cruisin' (Day 2)

 Dinner with a view (Day 2)

Heading back to reality! (Day 3)

Wyoming Roadtrip

Distance: ~4000 km (total)

Crew: Bennett

Dates: Thursday June 28 - Sunday July 8, 2018

Itinerary:
Day 1: Calgary to Fort MacLeod, AB
Day 2: Fort MacLeod to Jackson, WY
Day 3: Hike in Grand Teton National Park, drive to Pinedale, WY

Day 4-5: Cirque of the Towers (backpacking trip), back to Jackson WY on Day 5

Day 6: Hike Blacktail Butte, drive to Dubois (cue weird Westy noises), drive to Lander

Day 7: 4th of July in Lander

Day 8: Riverton to fix Wesy & back to Lander to drive up Sinks Canyon, hike to Popo Agie Natural Water Slide, drive to Thermopolis

Day 9: Thermopolis to Tensleep, hike in Cloud Peak Wilderness to waterfall, drive to Billings, MT

Day 10: Billings to Great Falls, MT

Day 11: Great Falls to Calgary

Bennett and I took the Westy out for its first official road trip! It had been on a few smaller outings previously but this is the first time we really tested living in it & driving it for 1000s of kms. Needless to say we had an absolutely amazing time. We went to Bennett's dad's for dinner on the Thursday and left directly from there, sleeping at a truck stop at Fort MacLeod. Exactly how we pictured starting off our roady in the Westy.. It was fine and we woke up early to keep heading south and cross the border into the States. Funny how the border guys never cease to amaze you with their kindhearted wit...

We decided to drive all the way to Jackson, stopping in a few towns along the way - Choteau for a nice coffee (and troubleshooting of our inverter - WE ARE NOW SELF-PROCLAIMED ELECTRICIANS!!), Helena for an amazing Cajun meal at Cafe Zydeco, somewhere in Idaho for a propane top-up then a Westy pop-up dinner... Finally around 10:30PM (getting dark already?? Obviously this isn't Canada anymore!) we were ready to go over the pass into Wyoming & into Jackson. We decided to pull over at a treed trailhead and park to sleep. It was a gem of a find and we got up the next day, cooked breakfast, made coffee, played crib.... this became our road trip morning routine... so relaxing!!

We then drove through Jackson and into Grand Teton National Park to hike up to Surprise & Amphitheatre Lake. We really wanted to do the Death Canyon Shelf hike (and Static Peak Divide + Peak), but heard from many people that there was a lot of snow up there ... understandably so, I guess, as it was still June and 3000+m high. We decided that we could no longer camp on the Shelf and debated making a day-hike out of it. We added up how long it would be and it came to a grand total of 43km! So, possible. But.... we're on vacation. Would that actually be enjoyable? We decided to ponder it over a night in the backcountry so we drove towards Pinedale & Boulder to do Cirque of the Towers after finishing the hike in the Tetons.

After finish the Cirque, we drove back to Jackson, nixing our plans to do the Death Canyon Shelf (we WILL be back!!!) due to the snow that was still lingering and would make post-holing a nightmare.. not something you want or need slowing you down on a 42km day-hike.... so to enjoy a view of the Tetons one last time we hiked up Blacktail Butte, a small well... butte across from the Tetons.

We continued North to head towards the Badlands of Wyoming and hike to Ross Lake & Whiskey Mountain, which is into the mountains just past Dubois, WY. Unfortunately, after gassing up in Dubois, our Westy started sounding very strange and even though we assumed it was just the muffler/exhaust, we wanted to get it checked out (we are always on the safe side with this thing). We decided to skip Ross Lake & Whiskey Mountain & drove straight to Lander - where there is free camping in the City Park, PLUS we were able to be in a town for the 4th of July - which turned out being an awesome choice!

Let me tell you about Lander. The best choice of our entire roadtrip was going to this town. While we were sitting in Calcutta Cricket Club (a bar in Calgary), we chatted with a couple from Colorado who told us we HAD to go to Lander when we were in Wyoming. As we were driving towards Lander from Dubois, we came to a fork in the road - Riverton or Lander? Both had auto shops... but because of that couple's suggestion we picked Lander. We went out to a patio at the brewery that had live music and met a couple guys who invited us to their parade tailgate the next day & their barbecue. The next day was open-container in the whole town and free reign on fireworks as well - so needless to say we had a hell of a day with our new friends! It was insane listening to the fireworks going off for 12 hours straight - sounded like artillery...

Long story short, we also found out that we had a mouse while we were in Lander which we spent a few days getting rid of....

Anyways, the next day we fixed our Westy in Riverton (only $40 USD for some welding), we decided that we just couldn't miss the chance to swim in the much-talked-up swimming spot, and drove back to Lander to enjoy a hike&swim in the sun. After the hike, we decided to head to Tensleep & Cloud Peak Wilderness. We ended up back in Riverton for some delicious BBQ from a family-run restaurant. We kept driving after dinner and slept at a truck-stop in Thermopolis, leaving for Cloud Peak Wilderness the next morning.

We hiked to a waterfall in the Cloud Peak Wilderness and stopped at the Ten Sleep brewery afterwards for a thirst-quenching beer. It was in such a cool location surrounded by red rocks (badlands), and was actually.. far... far.... too hot for us to bear. So we hopped in the Westy and started our drive north. It was so hot and we have no A/C in the Westy.. opening the window, the wind (at 100kmph) was HOTTER than inside the vehicle... needless to say the poor Canadians bought a bag of ice at the next gas station and stood in the beer cooler for 15 minutes before continuing on.... to Billings, MT. We drove to Great Falls the next day, stopping at 2Basset (!!!) brewery along the way, then drove the remainder of the road to Calgary on Sunday. Just in time for Sarah & Praveen's engagement party!

 Us. Being us.

Drivin' slefy

rain

 First night dinner!

Very necessary morning coffee!

 A quick happy hour in Jackson after a hike

Tetons.

Last view of the Tetons, heading towards Dubois

 Ummm yes go to Lander!!! (Especially on July 4th)

Badlands around Dubois

 Tensleep Brewery

Just West of

Cloud Peak Wilderness Waterfall

Activity: Hiking

Distance: ~4 km (RT)

Altitude: unknown

Elevation Gain: ~150 m

Area: Cloud Peak Wilderness, WY

Crew: Bennett

Time to Waterfall: ~1 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: West Tensleep Trailhead


Additional Info:
We got off to a slow start this morning and felt so sluggish, probably because of the muggy heat. At the trailhead, we met another guy with a Eurovan (EURO BROS!) and chatted with him for a while and compared our 1992 to his (wow so new) 1997 and were amazed by the differences. He had a hydraulic pop-top! But the hydraulics were broken... so we were happy that we just have the pop-top you have to muscle up a little bit. We decided to go on a little hike in this wilderness area, and although we could have continued onto Mirror Lake & Twin Lakes, we settled with a beautiful waterfall where Bennett went for a dip, then headed back to Tensleep's brewery.

We did this hike during our Wyoming Roadtrip.

 Us!

Yet another swimming hole for Bennett to swim in!

Popo Agie Swimming Hole

Hike Name: Popo Agie Swimming Hole

Activity: Hiking/Swimming

Distance: ~4.5 km (RT)

Altitude: unsure

Elevation Gain: ~220 m

Area: Sinks Canyon State Park, Lander WY

Crew: Bennett

Time to Swimming Hole: ~1 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Bruce's Bridge, Middle Fork Trailhead


Additional Info:
Our friends in Lander recommended this swimming spot to us, we would have had no idea it existed if they didn't tell us, so we are so grateful!! It is a quick little hike up to some amazing swimming pools & ultimately a natural "water slide". Bennett had his second "shower" of the trip here. mmmmm....

We did this during our Wyoming Roadtrip.

Hiking to the falls

 Two... dweebs!

 Bennett

Bennett swimming

Blacktail Butte

Hike Name: Blacktail Butte

Activity: Hiking

Distance: ~4 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,343 m

Elevation Gain: ~200 m

Area: Grand Teton National Park, WY

Crew: Bennett

Time to Summit: ~1 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Blacktail Butte Trailhead


Additional Info:
We decided to do one more little hike in Jackson to get a grand view of the Grand Tetons before leaving for good. We settled on Blacktail Butte because it is just across the valley from the Tetons. It was a little jaunt with beautiful wildflowers, and honestly not many amazing views of the Tetons, but it did open up once & we snapped some good photos.

The best part of this hike, quite honestly, was playing crib & drinking coffee in the Westy with the top popped at the trailhead!

We did this hike during our Wyoming Roadtrip.

Cirque of the Towers (Overnight)

Name: Cirque of the Towers

Activity: Backcountry Camping/Backpacking

Total Distance: ~30 km

# Nights: 1

Date: July 1 - July 2, 2018

Area: Wind River Mountains, Wyoming

Crew: Ben
Trailhead: Big Sandy Trailhead

Route: 
Day 1 - Trailhead to Big Sandy Lake (7km, ~300m), Hike to Cirque of the Towers via Jackass Pass (14km (RT), ~600m)
Night 1 - Sleep at Big Sandy Lake
Day 2 - Back to Trailhead


Cirque of the Towers was an overnight trip we did during our Wyoming Roadtrip. This hike is basically the reason why we came to Wyoming - Bennett had heard of it as he drove through Pinedale, WY on his way back from Colorado in 2016. It did NOT disappoint. Since we cancelled our plans to backpack the Death Canyon Shelf in the Grand Teton National Park due to the snow, we were worried that we would run into similar issues in the Wind Rivers since they are at huge elevation as well. We were going to do the loop from Big Sandy Trailhead - Lonesome Lake - Shadow Lake - Big Sandy Trailhead (2 nights), but ended up camping at Big Sandy Lake (right before Jackass Pass on the way to the Cirque/Lonesome Lake). This was a good choice (except for all the mosquitoes!!!) but we also determined that it would have been fine to camp at Lonesome Lake anyways, after doing a day-hike to Jackass Pass. We figure people who were warning us about snow haven't spent much time in the Canadian rockies... regardless, the Cirque was absolutely stunning and I would love to do more hiking in the Wind Rivers... as we've heard previously, the crux of the trip was definitely getting TO the trailhead on all the gravel roads (especially in the Westy!) Hope you have a map/gps, & good luck to you!

 Couple... of dorks

 Drivin'

 Camp spot the night before.. about 1.5 hours into the gravel road and still 30 minutes to go!

 Almost at the trailhead! You can finally see the Wind Rivers!

 Yours Truly at Big Sandy Lake (where we camped)

 THE CIRQUE!!!

 A Jackass on Jackass Pass

 Descending back towards camp

 Camp spot

 Cooking dinner with a view!

Driving away from the winds... goodbye until next time!