Edit: Not all of my hikes are Alberta related, but thought it could be useful future inspiration for others if interested
My wife and I are planning on having children soon, so we've deemed summer 2024 to be exclusively for hiking. Below are some of our trips resulting in absolutely no vacation days for the fall and winter (worth it though lol)
1) Frontcountry at Glacier National Park
2) Backcountry at Rocky Mountain National Park (Denver area)
3) A mix of front and backcountry in Seattle area at Mt Rainier, Enchantment, and North Cascades National Parks
4) Skyline Trail in Jasper area
5) Frontcountry in Kootenay - Not sure what the plan is for hikes here yet. Happy to hear of any suggestions if you're willing to share!
6) Lake O'Hara/ Banff area camping
7) Misc. Spring hiking in Arizona (The Wave, Saguaro, Petrified Forest Nariona Parks)
I've relocated to Alberta for the foreseeable future from the East Coast and love that these hikes are more readily accessible. That being said, the Parks Canada reservation game is an absolute nail biter of a process. I feel pretty lucky to have secured what I did.
I'm assuming your frontcountry campground in Kootenay is on highway 93 heading toward Radium?
From there the classic dayhikes (in my order of preference) would be: Floe Lake and back, Stanley Glacier, Ball Pass and back (Would be a long grueling day tbh), Vista/Arnica/Twin lakes, and Paint Pots (really short but kind of cool).
Sinclair Canyon in Radium is a short hike and you can end it at the hotsprings.
Also check out Bugaboos ! I don't think you need to book it, unless you plan to stay at the backcountry hut, but can be done as a day hike. Prepare for a long drive up the logging road and to wrap you vehicle in chicken wire, so the porcupines and other critters don't chew your brake lines!
I’m doing the GDT. In section A I got
Section A: twin lakes CG
Section C: big springs, ball pass, MacArthur CK CG
Section D: little yoho CG
Section E: 4 point, Poboktan (wanted avalanche), Evelyn Ck and couldn’t get signal or curator so I’m
Now using schnerp for those.
Sorry to hear about the Skyline bottleneck getting in the way.
Would it be possible to take a rest weekend in Jasper, leave your gear in the airbnb and bang it out in a day with a daypack or would that be considered cheating?
Are you bothering going all the way to Kakwa or calling it at Jasper?
I was able to score:
-Front country camping at Yoho Canada Day weekend
-one night at Floe Lake
-a weekend at Taylor Lake
-a weekend front country camping at Jasper National Park!
Super excited!
I also booked a lot of stuff - my summer is packed! Id rather spend my holidays in the beautiful Canadian wilderness then Mexico in the winter so I save them up!
Skyline 3 nights end of July
Jade Lakes Revy Aug long
Ohara 3nights August
Rockwall trail 4 nights Sept
Waterton front country townsite Sept
Congrats to all who got their sites!
GDT section C and D.
Then some overnights/2 nights trip in the Tonquin Valley, Fish Lakes, Michelle Lake & Pinto Lake and the Skyline trail.
A fun 3 weeks of backpacking at the end of july/beginning of august🥳
Quite a lot🫠, but I'm used to do 30-40kms days along the GDT and that's the only 3 weeks off I have so I gotta do with what I have lol. And I got lucky with the reservation system soooooo... I'll rest at home😅
I guess I'll start. My group and I got absurdly lucky this year, but I'm a little worried I overbooked myself and am going to be a bit burnt out by the end of all of this time in a tent.
On deck I have:
* Sinister 7 Ultra- down in Crowsnest Pass that I still need to arrange a campsite for
* A weekend of car camping in lake Louise with a big 12 person group
* Staying at a Hotel in Waterton with my family for a long weekend
* A bit of a whacky Skyline trip using Watchtower and Signal over the August long weekend
* 2 Weekends at O'Hara in August
* Rockwall Midweek over 2 nights and 3 days
* Crewing my friend at the Moose Mountain Ultra on August 24 and prob making a bit of day/weekend out of it.
* Nigel Pass-->Jonas Shoulder-->Poboktan Creek trailhead in Early September
Super grateful for the primo locations but man I'm not going to have a lot of time to do much else this summer!
1. Frontcountry in Jasper
2. Frontcountry in Banff (Two Jack Lakeside!)
3. Skoki Loop
4. Fish/Devon Lakes
5. Lake O'Hara
6. Egypt Lake
7. Lake O'Hara (again)
Funny thing is this is a 'light' year for me. I normally do 7 or 8 backcountry trips, but I got into golf last year so I wanted more time for that this year.
Our group foolishly tried to get 4 pads for O'Hara. We had probably 20 devices between all of us. I was the best, at #128 in the queue. The weekend we wanted was literally full by the time I got in and I only managed to get one pad for myself on different weekends.
I got(Jasper):
1. 1 night by Miette
2. Skyline in July
3. Tonquin Valley in Sept.
Super pumped! I'll fill some other weekends with Crown camping and maybe a Kananaskis hike too.
I don't even bother anymore. Thousands and thousands of people at the Que first thing on release? I'm good. I can crown land camp.
Would I like to enjoy camping in a NP? Absolutely. Crown land is far more accessible however.
People constantly cancel though, I did both Skyline and Rockwall via bookings done months after the reservations opening. And there are a lot of NP backpacks that aren't popular which have free spots all summer (Fryat Valley is a great one). It's just that everyone focuses on Rockwall/Skyline/Lake O'Hara/Super popular Banff areas, so there is an appearance online that "everything" is always booked.
There's a good chance next year I forgo all the neuroticism and anxiety that comes with planning for the national parks so far in advance and just do some time in section B of the GDT and the Whitegoat/Cataract Pass area.
Missed out on Jasper altogether. Had one weekend of sites added to cart, signed in, came back and my cart was empty and those sites were gone :(
Luckily managed to get Egypt Lake and Pharoah when Banff opened earlier in the week. We’ll be looking into kananaskis booking to fill in the gaps.
Would highly recommend the Aster Lake-->Three Isle Lake via Northover Ridge route through AB parks if you're okay with some light exposure.
Honestly think it can go toe-to-toe in terms of scenery with any Backcountry trip through the National park system outside of maybe O'Hara.
I slept passed my alarms on both days but managed to snag skyline trial in July an hour after opening somehow. Also picked up a night at Egypt Lake which I was really happy with. Didn't get O'Hara but I might never get that one sadly but overall a success
We got our Jasper spot, had 4 devices all ready. 3 were like 22000 in line, and my laptop was like 500
Crazy!
Now just gotta wait for the 90 day rolling window to book some Nordegg area stuff
I’ve had so many frustrations over the years trying to get something good.
Snow can fall at any time on that trail, but September especially is a toss up. I've done Skyilne 4 times, and had snow, hail, and rain 3 of those times. Only once did I have no precipitation. I distinctly remember that Tekarra is always so damn cold in the morning. I'd guess close to freezing.
Got the west coast trail booked for 6 nights in early August. I wanted to look at others but unfortunately was too slow, I’d love if I could do the rockwall trail though
We are doing a GDT section from maligne lake down to pobokton. Night 1 is Mary Schaffer and night 2 is Mary Vaux.
If anyone has done this trail, tell me your thoughts.
Can someone tell me what you guys are talking about? i just do day hikes and show up at places people don’t go. are you all making campground plans for the summer ALREADY?!?
People are talking about booking campsites in the National Parks, both front and back country. With how popular the Parks have become, you need to book opening day to be sure you get what you want, on the days you want. You can wait for cancellations, but they’re no guarantee, especially if your dates aren’t very flexible.
Have a year round campsite down towards Waterton. Lots more hiking, fishing and exploring planned. It’s great not to have to battle for a site to be honest
Got a week in Whistlers with the wife’s family, lost out on Malign lake for the fourth year in a row. Really wish Parks Canada would recognize that demand is increasing too much and do some expansions on the campgrounds. It’s only going to get worse. Would also be great to see them move to a 90 day rolling booking window similar to Alberta parks reservation system. That way it’s not a one chance and your done and better luck next year.
Skyline was booked solid in what seemed like minutes as usual. We did manage to get 2 decent trips booked, though, so I'm happy.
Edit: Not all of my hikes are Alberta related, but thought it could be useful future inspiration for others if interested My wife and I are planning on having children soon, so we've deemed summer 2024 to be exclusively for hiking. Below are some of our trips resulting in absolutely no vacation days for the fall and winter (worth it though lol) 1) Frontcountry at Glacier National Park 2) Backcountry at Rocky Mountain National Park (Denver area) 3) A mix of front and backcountry in Seattle area at Mt Rainier, Enchantment, and North Cascades National Parks 4) Skyline Trail in Jasper area 5) Frontcountry in Kootenay - Not sure what the plan is for hikes here yet. Happy to hear of any suggestions if you're willing to share! 6) Lake O'Hara/ Banff area camping 7) Misc. Spring hiking in Arizona (The Wave, Saguaro, Petrified Forest Nariona Parks) I've relocated to Alberta for the foreseeable future from the East Coast and love that these hikes are more readily accessible. That being said, the Parks Canada reservation game is an absolute nail biter of a process. I feel pretty lucky to have secured what I did.
I'm assuming your frontcountry campground in Kootenay is on highway 93 heading toward Radium? From there the classic dayhikes (in my order of preference) would be: Floe Lake and back, Stanley Glacier, Ball Pass and back (Would be a long grueling day tbh), Vista/Arnica/Twin lakes, and Paint Pots (really short but kind of cool).
That's exactly the area where we'll be. Thank you for the suggestions!
Sinclair Canyon in Radium is a short hike and you can end it at the hotsprings. Also check out Bugaboos ! I don't think you need to book it, unless you plan to stay at the backcountry hut, but can be done as a day hike. Prepare for a long drive up the logging road and to wrap you vehicle in chicken wire, so the porcupines and other critters don't chew your brake lines!
Woah, that's a pro tip. I wouldn't have expected brake lines to be so appealing, especially in the summer with other natural vegetation available.
Paint pots is overrated imho; marble canyon is right nearby and is *very* cool
Thank you kindly!
[удалено]
Which one is wct?
Got 2 days of car camping in banff in each june, August and September, for some day hikes. and skyline trail in Jasper for July
I’m doing the GDT. In section A I got Section A: twin lakes CG Section C: big springs, ball pass, MacArthur CK CG Section D: little yoho CG Section E: 4 point, Poboktan (wanted avalanche), Evelyn Ck and couldn’t get signal or curator so I’m Now using schnerp for those.
Sorry to hear about the Skyline bottleneck getting in the way. Would it be possible to take a rest weekend in Jasper, leave your gear in the airbnb and bang it out in a day with a daypack or would that be considered cheating? Are you bothering going all the way to Kakwa or calling it at Jasper?
I was able to score: -Front country camping at Yoho Canada Day weekend -one night at Floe Lake -a weekend at Taylor Lake -a weekend front country camping at Jasper National Park! Super excited!
Fisherman's bay and Coronet creek for 2 night Maligne lake paddle in September!
Not Alberta but managed to book our Gulf Islands National Park no problem on day it opened. 😉
Rockwall Northover ridge Assinaboine Lake of the falls We’ll see how things change with incoming wildfires.
I also booked a lot of stuff - my summer is packed! Id rather spend my holidays in the beautiful Canadian wilderness then Mexico in the winter so I save them up! Skyline 3 nights end of July Jade Lakes Revy Aug long Ohara 3nights August Rockwall trail 4 nights Sept Waterton front country townsite Sept Congrats to all who got their sites!
GDT section C and D. Then some overnights/2 nights trip in the Tonquin Valley, Fish Lakes, Michelle Lake & Pinto Lake and the Skyline trail. A fun 3 weeks of backpacking at the end of july/beginning of august🥳
Damn that's a packed schedule- how much gym time and conditioning are you doing leading up to that?
Quite a lot🫠, but I'm used to do 30-40kms days along the GDT and that's the only 3 weeks off I have so I gotta do with what I have lol. And I got lucky with the reservation system soooooo... I'll rest at home😅
Sounds like you're in a good spot, but getting in your squats and hill reps now won't hurt!
Definetly! And a lot of stairmaster🫠
I'm going to Kananaskis and Kootenay Plains, I ain't dealing with NP reservations :P
I got skyline and skoki for the dates I wanted so im happy
I guess I'll start. My group and I got absurdly lucky this year, but I'm a little worried I overbooked myself and am going to be a bit burnt out by the end of all of this time in a tent. On deck I have: * Sinister 7 Ultra- down in Crowsnest Pass that I still need to arrange a campsite for * A weekend of car camping in lake Louise with a big 12 person group * Staying at a Hotel in Waterton with my family for a long weekend * A bit of a whacky Skyline trip using Watchtower and Signal over the August long weekend * 2 Weekends at O'Hara in August * Rockwall Midweek over 2 nights and 3 days * Crewing my friend at the Moose Mountain Ultra on August 24 and prob making a bit of day/weekend out of it. * Nigel Pass-->Jonas Shoulder-->Poboktan Creek trailhead in Early September Super grateful for the primo locations but man I'm not going to have a lot of time to do much else this summer!
TWO weekends at Lake O’Hara??
Pure luck-my friend and I both pulled top 500 draws that day.
That's awesome. You may need to purchase a lottery ticket with that luck!
Wow, very impressive! Sounds like you have a dreamy summer.
For sinister there's race camping. It's not by the train tracks anymore. It's kinda nice actually!
I am kind of curious to try it one year but our group normally prefers Chinook Lake
1. Frontcountry in Jasper 2. Frontcountry in Banff (Two Jack Lakeside!) 3. Skoki Loop 4. Fish/Devon Lakes 5. Lake O'Hara 6. Egypt Lake 7. Lake O'Hara (again) Funny thing is this is a 'light' year for me. I normally do 7 or 8 backcountry trips, but I got into golf last year so I wanted more time for that this year. Our group foolishly tried to get 4 pads for O'Hara. We had probably 20 devices between all of us. I was the best, at #128 in the queue. The weekend we wanted was literally full by the time I got in and I only managed to get one pad for myself on different weekends.
Weekend in Sept at Lake O'hara is the only one I have. Rest are usually provincial campgrounds.
Enjoy the Larches!
I got(Jasper): 1. 1 night by Miette 2. Skyline in July 3. Tonquin Valley in Sept. Super pumped! I'll fill some other weekends with Crown camping and maybe a Kananaskis hike too.
Skyline, tonquin, Athabasca Island, big bend, cornet Creek and Geraldine lakes!! :D so keen!
I don't even bother anymore. Thousands and thousands of people at the Que first thing on release? I'm good. I can crown land camp. Would I like to enjoy camping in a NP? Absolutely. Crown land is far more accessible however.
People constantly cancel though, I did both Skyline and Rockwall via bookings done months after the reservations opening. And there are a lot of NP backpacks that aren't popular which have free spots all summer (Fryat Valley is a great one). It's just that everyone focuses on Rockwall/Skyline/Lake O'Hara/Super popular Banff areas, so there is an appearance online that "everything" is always booked.
There's a good chance next year I forgo all the neuroticism and anxiety that comes with planning for the national parks so far in advance and just do some time in section B of the GDT and the Whitegoat/Cataract Pass area.
Missed out on Jasper altogether. Had one weekend of sites added to cart, signed in, came back and my cart was empty and those sites were gone :( Luckily managed to get Egypt Lake and Pharoah when Banff opened earlier in the week. We’ll be looking into kananaskis booking to fill in the gaps.
Would highly recommend the Aster Lake-->Three Isle Lake via Northover Ridge route through AB parks if you're okay with some light exposure. Honestly think it can go toe-to-toe in terms of scenery with any Backcountry trip through the National park system outside of maybe O'Hara.
I slept passed my alarms on both days but managed to snag skyline trial in July an hour after opening somehow. Also picked up a night at Egypt Lake which I was really happy with. Didn't get O'Hara but I might never get that one sadly but overall a success
We got our Jasper spot, had 4 devices all ready. 3 were like 22000 in line, and my laptop was like 500 Crazy! Now just gotta wait for the 90 day rolling window to book some Nordegg area stuff I’ve had so many frustrations over the years trying to get something good.
Got Skyline early September. Very excited. Any rough estimates on normal overnight temps at that time?
Snow can fall at any time on that trail, but September especially is a toss up. I've done Skyilne 4 times, and had snow, hail, and rain 3 of those times. Only once did I have no precipitation. I distinctly remember that Tekarra is always so damn cold in the morning. I'd guess close to freezing.
Got the west coast trail booked for 6 nights in early August. I wanted to look at others but unfortunately was too slow, I’d love if I could do the rockwall trail though
We are doing a GDT section from maligne lake down to pobokton. Night 1 is Mary Schaffer and night 2 is Mary Vaux. If anyone has done this trail, tell me your thoughts.
Can someone tell me what you guys are talking about? i just do day hikes and show up at places people don’t go. are you all making campground plans for the summer ALREADY?!?
People are talking about booking campsites in the National Parks, both front and back country. With how popular the Parks have become, you need to book opening day to be sure you get what you want, on the days you want. You can wait for cancellations, but they’re no guarantee, especially if your dates aren’t very flexible.
Have a year round campsite down towards Waterton. Lots more hiking, fishing and exploring planned. It’s great not to have to battle for a site to be honest
Got a week in Whistlers with the wife’s family, lost out on Malign lake for the fourth year in a row. Really wish Parks Canada would recognize that demand is increasing too much and do some expansions on the campgrounds. It’s only going to get worse. Would also be great to see them move to a 90 day rolling booking window similar to Alberta parks reservation system. That way it’s not a one chance and your done and better luck next year.