Maccarib Pass in Jasper is usually hiked (skied, or snowshoed) as part of a loop route into Tonquin Valley. For years, though, we skied this as a long cross-country ski day from Marmot Basin up toward the Pass and back. In winter, we often skied right on the creekbed for much of the route, gaining as much as 732m over … Continue reading…
When the river floods, Dale’s Antique Beach is not very accessible, but in early spring this is a nice walk. Start on the River’s Trail from the end of Aviation Way. Walk along the trail west. Side trails stay closer to the river and come to a fence. You can go this way or go past the fenced enclosure and … Continue reading…
On Kauai, we can drive around 3/4 of the island, but there are no roads around the Na Pali Coast. Cliffs run right down to the ocean for 23 km. If we drive to the far west side of the island, we can come to the start of the the pali (cliffs) at a 7 mile beach. Polihale State Park … Continue reading…
When spring starts to arrive, the hills become icy and muddy so we have to find lower routes that dry up early. Rabbit Island is a 4km beach-island walk best done in March. Park at the southeast corner of McArthur Island. Walk down to the beach and go upstream a short ways. Hikers will have to wade through … Continue reading…
All upslopes lead to the central peak of Kauai, but there a few outlier peaks too that rise 3000 – 4000 feet, all connected to Mt. Waialeale by ridges, but separated by gorges and pali (cliffs). Since the jungle/forest is impenetrable, trails from the coast to these peaks are very few. The exception are a small number of routes that … Continue reading…
Lodestone Mountain is accessed from Coalmont. Drive into Coalmont and go south on the west side of the Tulameen River past Granite City, and follow the good road up the Granite Creek drainage all the way up to past the working Basin Coal Mine operation and then continue on to Blakeburn (at 6km), an old ghost town. Continue to climb … Continue reading…
Kauai is nicknamed “The Garden Isle.” Flowers, flowering shrubs, flowering trees, and luxuriant growth can be found everywhere. Public places, private homes, and roadways feature tropical landscaping. Flowering shrubs are used as borders. Hibiscus hedges grow 9 feet tall and can be hundreds of metres long. Feature gardens await visitors all over the island. The top of the island is … Continue reading…
The Navajo sandstone buttes, mesas, hills, and mountains of the southern Colorado Plateau are really hardened sand dunes, weathered into slickrock slopes awaiting our exploration. There are trails in canyons and washes, but to hike to higher elevations is often a scramble on a series of sandstone steps or slickrock ledges. The ledges are really just layers of sandstone, often … Continue reading…
High above the town of Coalmont sits the ghost town of Blakeburn. Coal was mined 6 kilometres up the Lodestone Mountain Road and the town grew to over 500 people at its peak. It had a school, tennis courts, an ice ink, a community hall, two churches, homes, livestock, a bunkhouse, a company store, roads, and an aerial tramway system … Continue reading…
Most of the posts on this site are from recent outings, but in mid-winter, I sometimes go back to fill in the gaps reporting on past hikes. Monument 83 is one of these. I ran from the trailhead to the top and back, a total of 32 km. The trailhead starts at the Monument 78/83 parking lot, which is east … Continue reading…
The Glacier Crest Trail is a steep hike up a forested slope to an open ridgetop that lies between the Sir Donald – Perley Rock Cirque and the Asulkan Valley. For much of the route, we usually wonder why we have chosen this trail, but once we get to the top, we remember. For this reason, only do … Continue reading…
Many of us have hiked the Asulkan Trail which ends at the Asulkan (ACC) Hut. This is a favorite route and has been described before (Asulkan Trail – Sept. 2013). We have scrambled above the hut several times, but eventually we reach the ice and have to cross the glacier, but we know to go onto the ice only if … Continue reading…
Mount Wheeler is the middle mountain in a the north-south series (Opax, Wheeler, Mara) dividing the grasslands from the Tranquille River Valley. There are two main routes up and over the mountain, from Pruden Pass on the south side and from Lac du Bois on the northeast. We have run, biked, hiked, scrambled, and snowshoed on Wheeler, but for this … Continue reading…
There are so many good hiking trails in Glacier National Park that it is hard to choose which ones to do for each trip. The very “best trails list”, though includes Abbott Ridge, Asulkan, Hermit, and Balu Pass. Balu Pass is sometimes closed due to grizzly activity so check at the Ranger Station before heading out. The trail starts at … Continue reading…
When Glacier House was opened in Rogers Pass, tourists could take the trail and stay in the hotel. Swiss guides took visitors out to climb the peaks and visitors could walk to the toe of the Great Glacier in 45 minutes. Historical photos and glacialogical research shows the extent of the Glacier and its retreat over the last 115 years. … Continue reading…
The Perley Rock Trail starts at the Campground then follows the east side of the Illecillewaet River at the stone trestle. The first section is shared with the Sir Donald Trail as the route climbs up through the forest into the Sir Donald – Perley Rock Cirque. One section goes through an old slide area and the creek draining … Continue reading…
