The Canadian Rockies

October 16, 2020 by Catherine Forest in Alberta, British Columbia, Camping spots, Canyons, Hiking, Hot Springs, Mountain biking

View of the Athabaska Glacier from Wilcox Pass.

Beautiful boondocking spot along Abraham Lake

Full disclaimer: I was never wowed by the Rockies. We had camped in Banff and Jasper 18 years ago on our way to the Yukon with our old Westfalia and driven through the park a few times since then, but it was always so busy that I never could truly get a feel this beautiful place. This time, I really did. And I understand why people come from all over the world to see this place.

With the fall colors in full force and very few tourists because of the pandemic, it was the chance of a lifetime. So we drove from Squamish and back for a short 3 week road trip before settling down for the winter. And we’re so glad we did!

There are so many hikes to do in the area that I won’t even try to give you an exhaustive list, but I will gladly share our favorite. Some are short, some are long and involved, I’ll let you do your research depending on what you want. Interestingly enough, most hikes allow dogs on leash!

In the Spray Lake area, our favorite was Tent Ridge (a horseshoe loop on a stunning ridge, be warned that this is not a beginner hike, there is some exposure and some mandatory scrambling). A good shorter one south of Canmore is Little Lougheed (steep but offering rewarding view).

There are lots of hikes around Canmore; Ha-ling Peak is a popular one. We did West Wind last year and found it very rewarding.

In the Park, between Banff and Lake Louise, Stanley Glacier and Arnica Lake are both beautiful hikes, especially in the fall. While you are in the area, go check out Marble Canyon (a short 1,4 km hike).

Near Lake Louise, Paget Peak is beautiful and Iceline Trail looks like a fun challenge. Cirque Peak Trail is also on our list for next time.

By the way, if you have to beat the crowds to see either Lake Louise or Moraine Lake, pick Moraine! It is bluer and more beautiful. Go during the week (pick a day when the shuttles don’t run if that’s an option) and go after 4 pm. Or go super early. And since you got up that early, you might as well hike the Larch Valley Trail, especially in the fall when the larches are yellow!

On your way up toward Jasper, you can stop to stretch your leg and see beautiful Mistaya Canyon (1 km). Keep going North onto the Icefields Parkway and stop to hike Parker Ridge and Wilcox Ridge (so gorgeous in the fall!).

Also know that it is usually possible to camp in the Columbia Icefields parking lot for $15 AND to have cell service (a really good deal in that area). However, it was closed this year because of COVID. I won’t publicly share our all our camping spots, but will gladly share them with you if you write to me personally and are planning to go. If you are willing to drive a bit, there are tons of beautiful camping spots along Abraham Lake (but there is only cell signal at this spot toward the end of the lake, at the trailhead for Allstones Lake Trail, toward the town of Nordegg).

On our way back, we spent two nights in Golden at the beautiful Cedar Lake Rec site right on the Moonraker mountain bike trails. I highly recommend it!

From there, if you are heading toward Revelstoke to mountain bike, you can stop and hike the Hermit Trail.

On our way down toward Rossland, we stopped in Radium for a quick evening soak in the Hot Springs and spent the night at Redstreak campground, 6 km away.

P.S. You will notice that I didn’t mention Johnston Canyon in my post. (but posted pictures of it). It is one of the most popular hikes in Banff and we were lucky that the road that leads to the trailhead was closed this time around because of COVID to limit the amount of people, so we biked 6 km in to get to the trailhead. Even with that caveat, we found the hike to be quite busy, so I cannot imagine how crazy it must be when the road is open!

Stewart, BC/Hyder, AK + Salmon Glacier

August 13, 2017 by Catherine Forest in Camping spots, British Columbia, Alaska

Lake Clements Rec Site is another free camping paradise, 13 km from Stewart, BC.

So many thimbleberries! Thimbleberries taste like raspberry yogurt. We LOVE them.

Waiting for bears to come and eat salmon along Fish Creek in Hyder, AK.

If you look at the map of Northern BC, you can see that Stewart, BC, really is the end of the road. There is no US customs to enter Hyder, Alaska, and no customs again as you reenter BC to get to Salmon Glacier. Hyder really has this end of the road feel. A lot of houses are unfinished or abandoned. We have seen a few buses turned into houses with structures built on top of them. This must be the only place where you can enter the United States without identification. The reason being, is that once you are in Hyder Alaska, there is no place else to go except back to Canada. (You will need a passport or Canadian ID to get back into Canada).

This article published in the NY Times really gives an accurate portrait of Hyder, AK.

For $5 per adult, you can go see bears catch salmons along Fish Creek. At this time of year, you are pretty much guaranteed to see them since the salmons are running.

If you keep driving up towards the mine, you will eventually reach Salmon Glacier (people might tell you that the road is rough, but it's not; you can get there in a 2WD vehicle). Trust me, it's well worth the drive. The view of the Glacier is stunning. And well, it might not still be there in 50 years. You can see here how much the glacier has retreated since 1975.

**You can see on the map that I circled the places I talked about in my previous posts for reference.

Hiking up Sheep Creek, Kluane National Park, Yukon

May 24, 2016 by Catherine Forest in Yukon, Hiking

The children ate Bearberries flowers along the trail.

It was so windy on Kluane Lake that there was some dust from the dried lake bed section flying everywhere. So much so that we wondered if there was a forest fire.

We had planned on hiking Sheep Mountain Trail, but found out it is much more strenuous than the Sheep Creek trail and that you can’t turn around because of the very steep climb in the moraine. Since it is a 16 km hike and it was noon already, we decided to hike up Sheep Creek, where we could enjoy a view of the Slims River and Kaskawulsh Glacier. From Sheep Mountain Trail, you have a view of Kluane Lake (Yukon’s largest lake) and can see sheep from up close. Interestingly enough, this trail is virtually snow-free all year.

We stopped at the little visitor center and could use the binoculars and telescopes to see the many sheep on the mountain. It is baby season, so we were lucky to see many 3 weeks old Dall sheep babies! What a treat!

Sheep Creek Trail is a 10 kilometre (6 mi) return hiking route with an elevation gain of about 430 metres (1400 feet) reaching an elevation of 1281 metres (4200 feet). For more information about that hike and the driving directions, check this site.