Castle Lookout

Hike Name: Castle Lookout

Activity: Hiking 

Distance: 7.4 km (RT)

Altitude: ~2,200 m

Elevation Gain: 520 m

Area: Banff National Park (Bow Valley)

Crew: Oliver, Julia, Jaimie, Kate, Trevor

Time to Top: ~2 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: 5 km west of Castle Junction on the Bow Valley Parkway (Highway 1A)
 Getting There:
From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), continue past the town of Banff. Before Lake Louise, take the turnoff north towards Castle Junction. Turn left at Castle Junction and it will be about 5km down the road to the trailhead.

Additional Info:
We had a whirlwind of a day.. We left a little later in the day, planning on doing a quick hike to Larch Valley/Sentinel Pass. There were 6 of us but lo and behold... we forgot our park passes. And lucky for us, there was a 30 minute wait at the parks gate to buy one! By the time we got to the Moraine Lake turnoff, the road was closed and we decided to change plans and do a different hike. We found Castle Lookout, which seemed to be a quick hike to a beautiful lookout - and it was! A great hike for the hangover day we were having + the half marathon I had to run the next day..

Pictures to come.

Alice Lakes

Name: Four Lakes Trail

Activity: Hiking

Distance: 6 km

Area: Squamish

Crew: Mikaila, Byron

We were trying to find a hike to do and settled on going to Alice Lakes Provincial Park, just north of Squamish. This was a pleasant walk/hike through beautiful lush trees and vegetation that is much different than our home Rocky Mountains!

Haha. This is the only photo I took.

The Chief

I did the Chief again with Jaimie, Bennett and Andrew in 2017. We did all three peaks.

Hike Name: Stawamus Chief
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 6 km (RT)

Altitude: 610 m

Elevation Gain: 535 m

Area: Squamish

Crew: Mikaila and Byron

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Stawamus Chief

Getting There:
Head South through Squamish and turn into the Stawamus Chief Parking lot

Additional Info:
I was visiting Mikaila in Squamish over the Labor Day long weekend in 2015. I arrived on Friday and we hiked up the Chief for sunset that night.

Sunset from the Chief

Windtower

Hike Name: Windtower
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 10 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,682 m

Elevation Gain: 969 m

Area: Kananaskis (Spray Reservoir)

Crew: Julia

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Spurling Creek

Getting There:
From the town of Canmore, follow the signs toward the Nordic Center. Continue past the Nordic Center towards the Spray Reservoir. Continue along this road until you reach Spurling Creek. Park on the right side of the road. The hike starts across the road.

Additional Info:
Take the trail up to Windy Pass. From here, continue around the bowl. Follow the cairns as they will lead you up Windtower. There are nice views of the Spray Reservoir behind you as you climb.
The summit is windy, as advertised.

 The view behind of the Spray Reservoir. Weird weather was coming in, so we moved quickly.

You can see me in my blue jacket on the left. View of the Rimwall and 3 sisters.

Julia on the summit of Windtower

Egypt Lake (Overnight)

Hike Name: Egypt Lake (Back-Country Cabin)
Activity: Backpacking

Total Distance: 24 km

# Nights: 1

Date: July 18-19, 2015

Area: Banff National Park

Crew: Jeevan and Julia
Trailhead: Sunshine Village

Route: 
Day 1 - Sunshine Village to Egypt Lake Back-Country Cabin via Healy pass (12 km)
Night 1 - Stay at Egypt Lake Back-Country Cabin
Day 2 - Check out Egypt Lake and then hike back out the way we came in

This was Julia's first time sleeping out in the backcountry. We stayed at Egypt Lake Cabin and made a huge list of places to explore in this area, for when we come back on a longer trip!

Me, Julia, and Jeevan on day 2

 Beautiful flowers up on Healy Pass (which can be a day-hike!)

Me and Julia at Egypt Lake

Knox Mountain

Hike Name: Knox Mountain
Activity: Trail Running

Distance: 7 km (RT)

Altitude: 646 m

Elevation Gain: 245 m

Area: Kelowna, BC

Crew: Rachel and Mikaila

Time to Summit: Unknown (blog created post-hike)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Knox Mountain Park

Additional Info:
Rachel and I were visiting Mikaila at Kalmalka Lake for the weekend. It was going to be a rainy day at Kal Lake, so we decided to drive to Kelowna and spend the day walking around town and shopping, since the weather would be gloomy anyways. Turns out, it was super sunny and beautiful over in Kelowna, so we clearly made the right choice! We ended up using the day to explore Knox Mountain Park.

Shoes!

Ptarmigan Cirque

Hike Name: Ptarmigan Cirque

Activity: Hiking

Distance: 5km (RT)

Altitude: 2,450 m

Elevation Gain: 230m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Julia, Mom, Dad

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Ptarmigan Cirque Parking Area

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head south on Kananaskis Trail (Highway 40). Continue past the turnoff to the Kananaskis Lakes. Around Highwood Pass you will reach the parking lot on your right.

Additional Info:

This was a hike for my dad's birthday. It was a nice afternoon on an always beautiful trail. I came through here to hike up Mount Rae a year ago.

(Me) and Julia hanging out above the waterfall. I wish I had more photos of our hike but this is about it... I guess I'll have to go back!