Canadian Rockies Hiking Blog
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Hiking in Kootenay National Park 50 years ago
Kootenay National Park is celebrating its centennial with a "Kootenay Then and Now: Recreate the Photo" contest. Since we began our fieldwork on the Mountain Parks' first comprehensive trail guide 50 years ago, I thought it would be appropriate to reminisce by...
Reopening the back door to Mount Assiniboine
Cut off by a collapsed suspension bridge in 2016 and devastation from the 2017 Verdant Creek Wildfire, the Simpson River-Surprise Creek-Ferro Pass route into Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park has been restored thanks to a new bridge and trail clearing up the charred...
Canadian Rockies mountain elevations and trail distances
Two of the biggest problems in creating the first trail guide to the Canadian Rockies was the accurate measurement of trail distances and elevations. Distance was the most important element for the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide. We solved the problem by creating trail...
Virtual backpacking in the age of coronavirus
We're still wondering whether there will be much backcountry travel in the Mountain Parks during this coronavirus summer. But you can still make dozens of virtual treks in the Canadian Rockies on the YouTube channel while you're waiting. These lengthy video...
COVID-19 update for the Canadian Rockies
Updated July 28, 2020 Parks Canada began lifting COVID-19 restrictions and closures in the National Parks on Monday, June 1. Most trails and day use areas are now open throughout the Mountain Parks. All camping facilities, including backcountry campsites,...
Mountain films for the great indoors
Click on Epic Films for the Great Indoors to access the Banff Centre’s page featuring films from the cancelled world tour and 2018 available for free viewing at home during the coronavirus crisis. You can watch these selections on your digital tablet or computer, or...
The Loneliness of the Solitary Backpacker
A veteran solo backpacker looks back to a decade of exploration on the remote trails of Banff, Jasper and the Willmore Wilderness and provides useful tips for today's wilderness travellers. Back before there were text-enabled GPS units, solar panels with power banks,...
Jasper National Park backcountry trips
Winter is finally losing its grip on the Canadian Rockies. The first robins have made an appearance, not to mention the first grizzly bears. It won’t be long until we hear the sound of the first mosquitoes buzzing in our ears. Even if you’re not looking forward...
Vanishing Trails in the Canadian Rockies
Gavin Fitch is a lawyer in Calgary, the President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a self-described "hardcore crazy backpacker". As an active backpacker plying the remote valleys of the mountain parks over the past decade, he has experienced trails that...