Nice 4.5 km hike featuring approximately 685 m elevation gain. This time the entire trail to the very top was well packed. Steady moderate ascent, a bit steeper before the summit. The trail head is right on the left side of 742, if you are coming from Canmore. Once you reach the fork with 2 bridges, cross the one to the left. Can be sections with more snow here and there, especially after the big rock viewpoint. Take a look […]
On the picture above there is The Rimwall mountain, as it’s seen from the Wind Ridge, which we hiked a few weeks ago. Looks pretty intimidating from Dead Man’s Flats side, but from the South-West slopes it’s a surprisingly very pleasant hike, moderately challenging and highly rewarding. Allocate half day for it, but to really enjoy it you do need good weather. Don’t get scared away with foggy Spray Lakes in the morning, it happens more often that you might […]
Wind Ridge Trail in Exshaw surprised us pretty much with everything: well maintained, not too long, challenging enough, with a little bit of scrambling fun, shady forest, almost no people, and most importantly, incredible views of our favorite Kananaskis peaks from totally unexpected angle, impressive and intimidating. We started early (we always do) and air was more or less clear in the morning, but then wind from the West started to bring lots of smoke from BC fires, and unfortunately […]
Castle Mountain is located within Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, approximately halfway between Banff and Lake Louise. It is the easternmost mountain of the Main Ranges in the Bow Valley and sits astride the Castle Mountain Fault which has thrust older sedimentary and metamorphic rocks forming the upper part of the mountain over the younger rocks forming its base. The mountain’s castellated, or castle-like, appearance is a result of erosive processes acting at different rates on the peak’s […]
Mount Jimmy Simpson is a 2,966-metre (9,731-foot) summit located 3 km (1.9 miles) northwest of Bow Lake in Banff National Park, in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. It is a member of the Waputik Mountains, and is situated east of the Wapta Icefield and west of the Bow River valley. Mount Jimmy Simpson can be seen from the Icefields Parkway at Bow Lake. Mount Jimmy Simpson is named for Jimmy Simpson (1877–1972) who was a respected outfitter in the […]
Most of people just hike 6km to the Helen Lake, spend some time there and return back to the cozy parking lot at HW93, right across the Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint. The lake usually provides a nice reflection and definitely worth a trip. But if you have extra 1.5-2 hours, the views from the nearby Cirque Peak are fascinating. And it’s a hike most of the time, with easy scramble in like only 3 places on the way up and 2 […]
There are two approaches to Fortress – via Chester Lake or via Headwall Lakes. Both lead to the col between Mount Chester and The Fortress from different sides, and then you hike up the southwest ridge all the way to the summit. There are multiple routes on the ridge but they all end up on the left side of the summit block where there is an easy scramble up to the top. If you see there a path with exposure, […]
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 […]
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 […]