by Brian Patton | May 28, 2019 | Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Kootenay National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, Wildflowers, Yoho National Park
Stretching your legs for another hiking season starts now. Here are some favourite early trips that virtually guarantee wildflowers and wood ticks. I’m always amazed how so many hikers rush the season in the Canadian Rockies. The marquee trails leading to high...
by Brian Patton | Jun 27, 2016 | Banff National Park, Wildflowers
After an absence of 20 years, the Sunshine Village gondola will once again transport hikers to the Sunshine Meadows on weekends and holidays for the 2016 season. The gondola will commence its summer operation on July 1st with the bonus of a free ride on the Standish...
by Brian Patton | Jul 29, 2015 | Banff National Park, Canadian Rockies, hiking, Jasper National Park, Wildflowers
It should come as no surprise that the best hikes to alpine wildflowers would be from the Icefields Parkway—Canada’s longest and highest year-round roadway. And this summer is producing one of the earliest blooms ever in the high country. First off, let’s...
by Bart Robinson | Jun 23, 2015 | Banff National Park, Canadian Rockies, hiking, Wildflowers
Brian and I have been monitoring the arrival of an early 2015 hiking season. Neither of us, though, were prepared for just how quickly the snow at altitude would vanish, and neither of us can remember a season quite like it in the 40-some years we’ve been watching...
by Brian Patton | May 5, 2015 | canadian rockies trail guide, hiking, Jasper National Park, Wildflowers
It may seem counterintuitive to head north for the earliest hiking in the Rockies, but Jasper’s Athabasca Valley is always the first to provide dry, snowfree trails and mild weather in May. Aside from being over 300 m (1,000 ft) lower in elevation than Banff, this...
by Brian Patton | Aug 4, 2014 | Banff National Park, hiking, Jasper National Park, Kananaskis Country, Kootenay National Park, National Parks, Waterton Lakes National Park, Wildflowers
Back in the early days, people had a choice for cooling off during the heat of summer—go to a movie theatre (the first air-conditioned venues) or travel to the mountains. Air conditioning may be universal today, but the alpine trails of the Canadian Rockies are...
