Canadian Rockies Hiking Blog
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Larch Valley Hike: On the Busiest Day of the Year
2023 UPDATE: Access to Moraine Lake is now restricted. See this page: Getting to Moraine Lake for more information. 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...
Larch viewing in the Canadian Rockies
It's larch viewing season in the Canadian Rockies and 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...
Johnston Canyon trail closure
Banff National Park’s Johnston Canyon trail will close on Tuesday, September 15, 2015, so Parks Canada can tend to restoration and infrastructure upgrades on the 2.7-km trail leading through the heart of the canyon to Upper Falls. Johnston Canyon is easily the busiest...
Hiking with headlamps
"I have been one acquainted with the night. / I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. / I have outwalked the furthest city light."—Robert Frost Every day-hiking checklist tells you to pack a headlamp or flashlight and extra batteries. I must admit, I don't always...
2015 Perseids Meteor Shower
The 2015 Perseid meteor shower promises to arrive in the night skies over the Mountain Parks in spectacular fashion this week. Often obscured by clouds or the light of the moon, both the moon (new moon August 14) and the weather are cooperating this year. The Perseids...
Rating sun hats for hikers
What's the best way to protect yourself from the sun while hiking? Not a question I lingered over during my career outdoors in the Canadian Rockies. But after keeping surgeons on both sides of the Great Divide amused last winter removing lesions from a lifetime of sun...
Best Icefields Parkway wildflower hikes
It should come as no surprise that the Icefields Parkway has some of the best wildflower hikes in the Canadian Rockies. First off, let's be perfectly clear about alpine wildflowers. These are not the big, showy flowers that hikers find in lush, well-watered subalpine...
Jasper National Park trails reopen
Some of Jasper National Park's most popular trails reopened this week as the danger from wildfire and rogue bears subsided. Rain and cooler weather dampened the Excelsior Creek Fire in the Maligne Valley, and allowed Parks Canada to lift travel restrictions for the...
Grizzly closure at Chester Lake
A grizzly bear moved into the Chester Lake cirque in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park on Sunday (July 19, 2015), resulting in the indefinite closure of that trail. It was a prime example of what happens when too many people wander into a grizzly's dining room, and we...