Canadian Rockies Hiking Blog
Trail running in the Canadian Rockies
There is a notion that trail running in the Canadian Rockies is relatively new. Actually, it's been around since the first recreational running shoes were created by Nike, Adidas and New Balance in the mid-1970s. I recall camping at Twintree Lake on Jasper's North...
Howse Pass: The disappearing trail
Of a number of trails that have disappeared since the first edition of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, Howse Pass may be the most famous. The trail up the Howse River to Howse Pass and the Columbia Valley beyond was first travelled by North West Company fur trader...
Measuring the length of Canadian Rockies hiking trails
When we set out to create the first edition of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, we needed a way of accurately measuring the trails, many of which had never been measured before. Professional surveying wheels with their small wheels and substantial weight were out of...
Backpacking with Luci® lights
Technology continues to bloom in the backcountry, but one of the best and simplest I discovered this summer is the Luci solar-powered light. LED lights are nothing new on the trail. LED light output and reliability is used in headlamps and even strip-lights to...
Jasper’s South Boundary Trail revisited
We originally hiked and measured Jasper Park's South Boundary Trail many years ago, but a lot has changed since then. Wildfires, floods, rampaging grizzly bears (well, we did have a rampaging grizzly bear). The only way we can keep the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide...
Drones in Canadian National Parks
Technology always seems to be testing the National Park experience these days. In August, I took a short evening hike to a waterfall in Banff National Park. When I got to the viewpoint, I was greeted by three hikers photographing the falls with a buzzing,...
Larch Valley Hike: On the Busiest Day of the Year
Although the hiking season is generally spent trying to avoid the crowds, today we headed up to do the Larch Valley Hike on what is surely the busiest day of the year. This was due to a combination of factors: late September (with larch trees at their golden...
Golden larches gild the Rockies
Just like Halloween and Christmas, alpine larches (Larix lyallii) are providing an annual celebration in the Rockies' high country. And despite rather grim weather last weekend, hundreds of larch enthusiasts hiked through mud and rain to pay homage to this unique tree...
Waterton’s Red Rock closed
The Red Rock Parkway in Waterton Lakes National Park was closed early this season (Sept 8), which cuts off access to several popular hikes in the park's northwest sector. The closure will facilitate major reconstruction of the roadway, the lower parking lot at Red...