Grizzly Peak (solo)

A nice short half-day hike with one easy staircase-style scramble section about 500 meters from the trailhead. The rest of the trail goes around the peak to the col connecting Grizzly and Evan-Thomas, and then straight to the summit. Once I got there, I was out of weather luck, and the view of nearby mountains Evan Thomas and Packenham was a bit cloudy, but still exceptional: It make sense to walk from the summit all the way to the Opal […]

Boundary Ridge via Powderface Trail

More photos from Boundary Ridge via Powderface Trail. A very good guide for this hike can be found here. Our track is here, but it’s not ideal – the trail is overgrown and we lost it and found again a few times.

Ship’s Prow

Ship’s Prow is the South peak of Ehagay Nakoda. It is named for its prominent, ship’s prow-like appearance on the end of Ehagay Nakoda as seen from the nearby town of Canmore, Alberta (Wikipedia) More photos:

Fairview Mountain

Fairview Mountain (2744 m, 9003ft) is situated along the southeastern shoreline of Lake Louise. It was named in 1894 by Walter Wilcox, and the name reflects the view from the top. From Lake Louise the cliffs look intimidating, but the mountain is easily ascended via a trail around the backside on the southern slopes of the mountain. The trail starts in the left corner of the main Lake Louise viewpoint and goes around the mountain to the col between Fairview […]

Wind Tower

I was fascinated by the Wind Tower when I saw ascent trail to its summit (photo above) during my solo Little Lougheed hike. Since late May it was just a matter of good weather and smoke free weekend, when we finally decided to go for it. The hike turned out to be not too hard (just may be a bit steep before the summit, but totally OK if you just switch to 1st gear), and very rewarding. Allocate half day […]

Little Lougheed

Nice short trail which I tried to do in winter but turned back at the big boulder viewpoint because of deep snow. It was perfect this time. If you take 742 from Canmore, U-turn and park your car on the left side of the road, the trailhead is right there. Once you reach the fork with 2 bridges, cross the one on the left (the right bridge leads to Lougheed). Steady ascent through the forest for about 1.3 km, then […]

Ha Ling and Miner’s Peaks

Tourist, or live in Calgary, – this hike is a must. It was closed for a while, and after maintenance the trail is very popular. I normally would come early to avoid crowds. The parking seems to be large now but my guess is during summer touristy season it will be very busy. This time we had some morning issues to resolve, and started the hike only on 10:30 AM. There were a lot of people coming up and down […]

Stanley Glacier

Very nice and quiet trail. If you go by HW 93 from Castle Junction, about 4km after Continental Divide on the left side there is a small parking lot, cannot miss it, – the trail starts from there. Very moderate incline through the forest with openings here and there; if you come early you’ll enjoy the sun on surrounding mountains. You cross a small bridge, then hike deeper into the canyon, and eventually it opens up with a gorgeous valley […]

Saddle Mountain

Saddle Mountain is not difficult, but the views from it are incredible, you just cannot get enough of them. The most challenging part probably is boulders hopping to reach the peak, but it’s not hard, it’s even kind of fun, simply watch your step and better have hiking poles. The trail begins at the left corner of Lake Louise main Instagram viewpoint next to parking lot, and inclines through the forest for about 3km; there are a few openings with […]