Emerald Peak (Winter)

Helen Shoulder

More info to come.

Mount Jimmy Simpson

More info to come.

Iceline Trail (Overnight)

Name: Iceline Trail

Activity: Backcountry Camping/Backpacking

Total Distance: ~20 km

# Nights: 1

Date: July 20 - July 21, 2019

Area: Yoho National Park

Crew: Ben, Steph, Jeevan
Trailhead: Takkakaw Falls

Route: 
Day 1 - Trailhead to Little Yoho Backcountry Campground
Night 1 - Sleep at Little Yoho Backcountry Campground
Day 2 - Back to Trailhead through the Iceline Trail

More Info to Come.

Narao Glades iv

We just keep coming back. It's not too far of a drive, pretty low risk, fun, chill... Today was a sunny day and we came with Mark F.

Bryant Creek Shelter iii (Overnight)

More info to come!

Trip #2

Initial trip

Chickadee Valley

After skiing here last week, we had to come back! More info to come.

Chickadee Slide Paths

More info to come.
We came back the next week!

Narao Glades iii

We're back! More info to come.

Trip 2
Trip 1

Wawa Ridge

More information to come.

Bow Hut

More info to come.

Morro Peak

Hike Name: Morro Peak

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~5 km RT

Altitude: 1,676 m

Elevation Gain: 628 m

Area: Jasper National Park

Crew: Ben, Garrett, Leah B

Time to Summit: ~2 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Overlander Trail Trailhead

Additional Info:

We were up in Jasper for the Dark Sky Festival with Garrett and Leah. We decided to do a little hike - and it was unbelievably hot and sunny for a late October outing!

 Taco x Westy Setup

 On the way up

Tres Companions

Westy on the way home at the Columbia Icefield

Egypt Lake Shelter (Overnight)

Name: Egypt Lake Shelter

Activity: Backcountry Camping/Backpacking

Total Distance: ~30 km

# Nights: 2

Date: September 29 - October 1, 2018

Area: Banff National Park

Crew: Ben
Trailhead: Sunshine Parking Area/Gondola Base

Route: 
Day 1 - Sunshine to Egypt Lake Shelter (12 km, ~700m)
Day 2 - Pharaoh Peak (~6 km, ~800m)
Day 3 - Egypt Lake Shelter to Sunshine (12 km, ~400m)


Ben and I really wanted to get out to the mountains for an over-nighter since we didn't get as many in this year as we like to. As the weekend drew nearer, the weather forecast became worse, and as we watched the vacancy rise in Egypt Lake Shelter, we decided to book it. We decided to maybe do a day-hike on day 2 but if the weather was too poor, we were happy with hanging out at the shelter and reading. Luckily, the weather held out long enough for us to summit Pharaoh Peak, and it started to snow just as we returned! The hike out was snowy and low-vis but we had an awesome time... ski season is just around the corner!

I came here with Julia and Jeevan in 2015.

 At Healy Pass (day 1)

Looking over towards Egypt/Scarab Lake. Pharaoh Peak on the right.

Pharaoh Peak

Hike Name: Pharaoh Peak

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: ~6 km (RT from Egypt Lake Shelter)

Altitude: 2,713 m

Elevation Gain: ~800 m (from Egypt Lake Shelter)

Area: Banff National Park

Crew: Ben

Time to Summit: ~2 hrs (from Egypt Lake Shelter)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Maybe

Trailhead: Egypt Lake Shelter or Sunshine Ski Resort Parking Lot

Additional Info:

We stopped at Egypt Lake on the way up to Pharaoh Peak (slight detour). It was a cold summit day, we were lucky enough to hike Pharaoh Peak on a Sunday, so it was tracked out in the snow for us from hikers the previous day. It was quite steep in the snow and the wind was very brisk but the view from the top was absolutely stunning. May be some of the best views in BNP. We had perfect timing on this hike, as it started to snow right as we returned to the shelter.

 Ben on the way up

 Myself on the way up

 Still on our way up.

 On the summit!

Couple Selfie!

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

Surprise & Amphitheatre Lake

Hike Name: Surprise & Amphitheatre Lake

Activity: Hiking

Distance: 14.3 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,920 m

Elevation Gain: 900 m

Area: Grand Teton National Park, WY

Crew: Bennett

Time to Summit: ~2.5 hrs

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Taggart Lake Trailhead


Additional Info:
We arrived in Jackson the night before and needed to do a hike in the Tetons! It was pretty cloudy as we started but we had faith that the views would open up - and they did. There was a surprising amount of snow up at the lake which contributed to the cancellation of our plan to do the Death Canyon Shelf - which we will 100% come back for some day!

We did this hike during our Wyoming Roadtrip.

 Surprise Lake

 Ben taking a dip, of course

 Amphitheater Lake

Quick Westy + Teton Pic!

Crowfoot Glades

Name: Crowfoot Glades
Activity: Alpine Touring/Backcountry Skiing

Distance: ? km

Altitude: ~2,300 m

Elevation Gain: ~700 m

Area: Banff National Park

Crew: Bennett, Jon, Emma, Jake

Time to Summit: ?

Trailhead: Pullover on the side of the road to intersect the south end of Bow Lake.

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head north on the Icefield Parkway (Hwy 93). Continue about 30 km.

Additional Info:

So, we were supposed to ski Crowfoot Glades on Saturday after skiing Narao Glades with Jon on Friday. We all woke up a little bit hung over and decided to skip it. Craving the outdoors all day and failing to forgive ourselves for skipping a mountain day, we decided at 11pm Saturday night that it would be a great idea to do Crowfoot Glades the next day, even though Bennett and I had to be back for 5PM Easter dinner... and it was a great idea! We had an unreal day, skiing 3 or 4 laps, with only 1 other group in the area. The snow was the best I've ever skiied in, straight chaaampagne powder!! What a great ski day. Then we went back to my parents place for a lovely steak dinner. Yum.

 Crossing the lake towards the glades (seen on the left of the photo)

 4 abreast.

 Spot 2 ski tourers?

 Adventurin'

 The only sun we had all day

 Keep risin'.

Searchin' for dat good good!

Narao Glades ii

Name: Narao Glades
Activity: Alpine Touring/Backcountry Skiing

Distance: ~10 km

Altitude: ~2,500 m

Elevation Gain: ~800 m

Area: Yoho National Park

Crew: Bennett, Jon

Time to Summit: ?

Trailhead: Lake O'hara Fire Road

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head west past Lake Louise. As you enter Yoho and begin descending, take the left turn towards Lake O'hara and park in the parking lot.

Additional Info:

Link to Original Narao Glades Post

On the long weekend that Jon was in town, we wanted to get out touring but the avalanche forecast wasn't amazing. We all had to be back in the city by 5 so we settled on a spot that Bennett and I had been to a few weeks ago, where we could do as many laps as time permitted and wouldn't have to worry too much about route-finding. As we had such a great time at Narao Glades last time, we decided to come back!
And we came back again the next season!

 Three Blind Mice

 The boys

 Narao Peak from the bottom of our first run. The shoulder below and infront.

 On the Lake O'Hara fire road

Sharing food.. egg cups and chicken!