by Brian Patton | May 1, 2021 | Banff National Park, COVID-19, Lake Louise |
Update September 3, 2021: Parks Canada reopened the eastern 17 kms of the Bow Valley Parkway between Fireside and Johnston Canyon to vehicles on September 1st. This section of the Parkway was closed to vehicles and used primarily by cyclists from June 1st. Banff... by Brian Patton | Feb 27, 2021 | Backpacking, History, Kootenay National Park |
Sometimes moving through landscape can become art. In the mid-1970s, David (aka Dale) Zieroth was working as a park naturalist in Kootenay National Park when he hiked on an overnight to Floe Lake with some of his Parks Canada colleagues. The poem that came out of that... by Brian Patton | Dec 26, 2020 | Banff National Park, Books, History |
The original Guide to Hiking Trails in the vicinity of Storm Mountain Lodge was published in 1978. The text and design was created by then lodge co-owner Jim Thorsell. After the lodge changed ownership, the book was out of print for three decades. Many things changed... by Brian Patton | Nov 22, 2020 | Backpacking, Great Divide Trail, History |
Jim Thorsell began charting a route for the Great Divide Trail while completing a trail use survey for Banff and Yoho Parks in 1967. After tweaking the original route, he published the Provisional Trail Guide and Map for the Proposed Great Divide Trail in 1970. The... by Brian Patton | Nov 4, 2020 | Banff National Park, History |
Stoney Squaw, Tunnel Mountain, Mount Eisenhower, Chinaman’s Peak. Some of the most popular short-hike destinations in the Bow Valley that experienced name changes over the past 40 years or may do so soon. Stoney Squaw renamed I can’t remember the...