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Day 1 GDT Section C – 2020

Emily descending to Maude Lake at North Kananaskis Pass.

August 11th, North Interlakes Trail Head to Palliser Pass Wild Camp, 27.5 km, 1300 m elevation gain, 960 m elevation loss, 10 hrs 45 min (all distances and elevation are as per the guide book, Viewranger App will vary), Section C Segment 14 and start of 15.

Laura got up early with us and drove with us to the North Interlakes Trail head at Upper Kananaskis Lake. We had everything organized the day before. I was pretty happy with our packing. My pack came in right around 45 lbs which included 13.5 lbs of food (the 2 lbs per day goal) and 7.5 lbs of camera gear. In hindsight this is definitely a day I would split into two. Either an afternoon hike to Forks CG (8 km) or a comfortable day to Turbine Canyon CG (15.6 km).

The trip got off on the wrong foot for Emily as a moose walked through the parking lot while she was in the biffy, harbinger of things to come. Just after 8:30 am we were on our way. Thanks Laura.

Moose.
Start of the hike. Spirits are high.

Our goal today was about 24 km to a wild camp at the confluence of the Palliser River and LeRoy Creek. The initial 8 km to Forks CG was very straightforward on excellent trail. We took the high route along Upper Kananasksis Lake and stayed straight at the junction to Points CG. No topic is off limits when Emily and I hike and we got right into the hot topics of the day which really helped pass the time along this initial stretch of the trail. We arrived at Forks CG at 10:30 am 2 hrs after we had left the trailhead. The campground had several families staying there and looked like a pleasant place to stay, but not today.

Emily note: What dad skims past here is that as we were exploring a creek at one point, I spectacularly rolled my ankle. I have very flexible joints and this took me by surprise as I’ve gone over on my ankles before without hurting myself, but this time it REALLY hurt. The pain faded once we got moving again, but it was not the last we’d hear of it. An auspicious start to the trip, for sure.

Of course there is a bear in the area. We always make lots of noise when we hike. Plus we had three cans of bear spray.
Upper Kananaskis Lake. Mt Lyautey (3082 m) at centre. We will be heading down the valley to the right of Mt Lyautey.
Upper Kananaskis Lake. The clouds are rather unsettled.
Stay right and head to Turbine Campground.
Emily hamming it up. Must still be early, excess energy.
Substantial bridge over an unnamed stream.

We walked through the campground and as we were about to leave we decided to rest and have snacks before the climb up to Turbine Canyon.

Our view during snack. The backside of Mt Lyautey and the Upper Kananaskis River.

It was 7.5 km to Turbine Canyon which included aboutt 500 m of elevation which we would gain over the first 4 km. It was quite a steep climb out of Forks CG which was quite a shock to the system after the easy undulating trail we had been on. Up this first climb of the trip it readily became evident that, despite all my physical preparation, Emily would be consistently outpacing me up the hills during the trip. At noon we found a pleasant place to set up lunch and enjoyed our first meal on the trail accompanied by an aggressive swarm of mosquitos.

Up hill we go. Emily is the blue dot at centre.
Small smattering of flowers along the trail.
Looking back at the entire mastiff that is Mt Lyautey which includes a small glacier at centre.
Frosty eyeing up my lunch.
Emily doctoring up her feet.

After lunch the trail became an easy stroll over rolling terrain as we slowly continued to gain elevation. A bonus of hiking in mid August was that we were provided with almost two weeks of flower fields. At 1 pm we popped over a small hill and came across a small pond known unofficially as Putnik’s Pond which signified our entry into the high alpine. As we made our way over to Lawson Lake I remarked to Emily while looking at the spectacular views all around us that “this is why I hike”.

Emily marching past the flowers.
“Putnik’s Pond” leading into the alpine. We are headed for Turbine Canyon CG at the base of Mt Maude (3042 m) left of centre.

It took us another hour to hike the 3.5 km to Turbine Canyon CG. We stopped several times along the way to take in all the scenery. We would not always be above treeline so it did not hurt to linger a bit. We rolled into Turbine Canyon at 2 pm. We had been hiking for 5 1/2 hrs and covered 15.6 km. I was fairly happy with our progress as it was mostly downhill to our targeted campsite. We chatted with some campers when we arrived at the campground. We were eager to find Turbine Canyon as it is suppose to be a worthy side trip. The campers had no idea about the canyon but the guy wearing the Pittsburgh Penguins hat asked me about the results of the NHL draft lottery. Unfortunately for him I had not kept up to date on the draft lottery. It only took us a few minutes to find the canyon. We traced a small unassuming stream away from the campground to where the stream suddenly vanished from sight down a big hole! Turbine Canyon lived up to our expectations.

Lawson Lake.
Turbine Canyon CG. We would eventually go left to North Kananaskis Pass but first we went right to explore the campsite.
Emily peering into Turbine Canyon. Two small lazy streams have come together to cut the canyon.
It is quite the drop.
The canyon downstream of the little falls.
Temping fate.
Nice looking little campground. If I did this trip again this would be the end of day 1.
Only 2.5 km and then all downhill to our destination (or is it).

It was a pleasant hike from Turbine Canyon up to North Kananaskis Pass. It did go up 140 m but it was never very steep. As we left Turbine Canyon we met a group who had stayed over at the campground. They had just popped over to look at the pass and were heading out. Not sure if they had another campground or were aiming to get back to the trailhead. Upon arriving at Maude Lake just before the pass we were beset by very strong winds. We stopped at Maude Lake and quickly refilled our water. At 3:05 pm we said goodbye to Kananaskis Country and entered Heights of the Rockies Provincial Park.

Lots of trees leading up to the pass.
The final hill before Maude Lake and the pass.
Maude Lake, North Kananaskis Pass at centre.
Mt Beatty (2999 m) to the right with its glacier.
Refilling the water bladders.
Goodbye Kananaskis.
Maude Lake and North Kananaskis Pass

As we descended over the pass I recalled that the guidebook did not have much good to say about the trail down to the Palliser River. We had no trouble navigating the trail but it was very steep near the top. I was thinking how glad I was to be descending when we came across a group coming up. They were looking very tired and very happy to be nearing the top. Going down was aided by a bit of scree skiing in the loose rocks. A controlled descent was out of the question. We would lose 500 m of elevation in the first 2 km of the descent. Luckily the trail became more reasonable the rest of the way down. The clouds from the west that had been threatening us all day finally decided to give us a bit of rain on the downhill. We quickly donned our rain gear. I use a Zpacks poncho and rain skirt while Emily uses a Zpacks rain jacket and rain skirt. (Yes, we have a lot of gear from Zpacks, we’re a bit predictable.) The hill was so steep I had difficulty staying still while putting on my gear. The rain did not last long but it made the many downed trees we would come acroos slippery to negotiate.

Our route down. The photo does not show how steep the trail is. Mt LeFroy to our right and the Royal Range in the distance. The high peak in the distance is Mt King George (3422 m)
Mt LeFroy (2907 m)
Our rain gear.
Looking up towards North Kananaskis Pass.
Trail obstacles.

Our plans got upended when we met a women coming up the pass and she informed us that there was a bear feeding at the meadow which we were planning on camping at. Like us, she had planned to camp at the confluence of the Palliser River and LeFroy Creek but she decided to hike up to the pass and camp at North Kananaskis Pass. She was going to stay on the Heights of the Rockies side as she did not have a permit for any campgrounds in K-Country. We thanked her for letting us know about the bear and started trying to figure out our options and making much more noise.

Emily’s note: As we were barrelling down this section at high speeds shouting for the bear, I turned my ankle twice more. If I’d hoped that injury would go away, I’d probably just set those hopes on fire.

I had scanned all the pages from the guidebook into a PDF document and loaded it onto my tablet for viewing on the trail. I had reread the description of today’s hike in the morning so I knew that there was a campsite 4.5 km beyond the confluence. This would lengthen our distance from just over 14 miles to just over 17 miles. After having a couple of long distance hikes (Emily had hiked the JMT and sectioned hiked the Te Araroa in New Zealand) Emily had determined that she did not enjoy hiking more than 15 miles in a day. I was dismayed that we were going to go over her magic number on the first day of our trip. We had to cross over LeFroy Creek via a fun simple stream crossing. Once across careful scanning the bank found a single piece of orange flagging tape marking the entrance to the trail.

Emily’s note: I’ve had several occasions to hike 30km+ days (18miles) and while I expect when I scale up to longer adventures like the PCT I’ll toughen up to them, on shorter trips I just can’t enjoy them. I can’t spend as much time soaking in the trail and I often feel ragged the next day from overwalking. While longer days are possible and sometimes unavoidable, sticking to more modest numbers means I feel consistently stronger and I get to see more because I’m not heads-down plowing my way through the last few kilometers to the campsite.

Orange flagging tape marks the trail.
Stream crossing

Emily’s note: Obviously this is a bit overkill for such a small stream, but this is the technique I learned on the TA, when stream crossings were sometimes close to hip-deep.

It was not long after reaching the other side that we saw evidence of large furry animals. We increased the noise level and decided that we would definitely be pushing on past the confluence.

Fresh scat
Our route would take us to the end of the brown cliff to our right then turn right up the valley.
Guessing the names of the peaks Mt Prince Albert (3209 m) on the left, Mt Prince Edward (3200 m) on the right and the tallest peak is in behind Albert, Mt King George (3422 m).
Coming up to the confluence.
Pink tape directing us off to the right as we approach the Palliser River.

It was 5:20 pm when we arrived at our initial destination, the meadow at the confluence. We had already decided to continue to the next campsite. So, despite seeing no sign of bear activity, we marched on through. The quality of the trail took a turn for the worse. While we were never in any doubt as to where the trail was, the trail was faint and overgrown in many places.

This is the meadow at the confluence. Would have been a great campground. Has some trees for shelter, easy access to water and pretty flat.
Yes, there is a trail through the grass.

I had a new toy on this trip: the SPOT X two way GPS communication emergency beacon. I had used a SPOT II satellite GPS device for about 6 years. I have never used my SPOT device for an emergency but people back home appreciate a little bit of communication from the Check In feature that everything is going OK. Since this was going to be a longer trip I thought it would be nice if we could exchange a bit more than the Check In message with those back home. I chose the SPOT X over the Garmin because the SPOT X is a stand alone device. The Garmin needs to be paired with your phone to enable texting. Here is a link to my full review of the SPOT X. There are some definite shortcomings with the SPOT X that are not very well explained.

Despite the shortcomings the SPOT X was instrumental in saving our trip. We used the texting feature for the first time during a break after leaving the meadow to let Laura and Kathleen (Emily’s mom) know that we were OK but continuing on to another campsite. We found an open slope so I could send the text. Sometime during our hike to the campsite I received return text messages indicating that everything worked as it should.

Beautiful green grassy slope.
Yes there is a trail somewhere. The weather in the direction we are traveling does not look promising.

We kept our eyes open for spots to camp but despite the fact that it was wild camping there was nowhere to camp. We came to a stream crossing, as detailed in the guidebook, which took us back to east side of the river. Still nowhere to camp.

I did not think it was possible but the vegetation got thicker and taller. The trail was well defined but you basically just had to look down at your feet. It was getting close to 7 pm and we had not had dinner only snacks, but somehow neither of us were grumpy. I knew that we were getting close to the campsite when not only did the trail get steeper but it started to rain. We quickly threw our rain gear on and kept working as hard as we could up the hill. Emily still gets testy when she remembers the description in the guidebook about the approach to the campsite, “the trail ascends moderately”. Emily disagrees strongly that the trail was doing anything “moderately” as we pushed up that final hill. The trail flattened out and suddenly we ran into a person. The campsite detailed in the guidebook was only another 30 seconds away. Two other tents were set up in a small and not very level meadow by a small pond.

Emily’s note: He’s not exaggerating about my testiness. I don’t mind steep trails, but I do mind expecting a moderate one and getting a steep one. I was lied to.

Rain gear on for the second time. Still smiling despite the conditions and the time.

Arriving at 7:15 pm with a storm approaching was not ideal. We set up our tent as quick as we could and made dinner. I had brought two beers to celebrate our first day on the trail but there was really no time to enjoy them. The beers would travel in my backpack for several more days before we found the “right time”. The evenings entertainment was not over, as we had to hang our food from the branches of some trees. I had purchased two Zpacks Bear Bagging Kits (as I said before, we have a lot of Zpacks gear) and we set off into the forest to hang the food. I had read in both Chris Townsend’s book and in an online blog I used extensively for gathering information about the trail, Walking With Wired, how challenging it is to hang food in the Canadian Rockies. The trees are simply not designed correctly. The branches bend down as they leave the trunk of the tree. This makes it hard to just toss the rock bag over as the cord slides down the branch towards the ground. I do not know how long we spent trying to hang the food. But it was very dark and had started to rain by the time we were satisfied we had done the best we could. It probably would have been graded a Meeting Minus (C-, if you’re note familiar with the updated school division grading scheme) by an Outdoor Ed instructor. Despite being a long day we were both happy to be on the trail but tired. Sleep came very quickly, followed by several thunderstorms.

Emily’s note: I think I ended up climbing a tree barefoot at one point trying to get our rope through a split in the branches so we could string the bag between two trees. It was not my finest moment, but hey. The bears didn’t eat our food. That’s good enough in my books.

Before the rain

Day 2 GDT Section C 2020

GDT Section C 2020 Home

bootwreckers

Day 3 of our 2021 Labour Day Weekend trip through Day 3 of our 2021 Labour Day Weekend trip through the Egypt Lake area, Banff NP.

This day took us from the campground at Balls Pass Junction over Whistling Pass, with a detour up Pharaoh Peak, which wasn't without some drama.

Lunch was another side trip to Scarab Lake followed by an excursion to Egypt Lake.

Our final destination was Pharaoh Creek Campground. After a lovely evening the Milky Way came out to play.

Read the summary at www.Bootwreckers.com, link in bio.

Photo 1 - moody morning at Balls Pass Junction

Photo 2 - golden meadows as we approach Haiduk Lake

Photo 3 - making our way up Whistling Pass

Photo 4 - heading up Pharaoh Peak, and it really was this steep

Photo 5 - looking over Mummy and Scarab Lakes from the Pharaoh Peak.

Photo 6 - group shot on the way down

Photo 7 - at Egypt Lake

Photo 8 - Frosty Paws guarding the tent

Photo 9 - the Milky Way

Video - scree skiing down Pharaoh Peak

Another great day on the trail with @sio.mellors

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks #teamzpacks
Day 2 of our Labour Day weekend trip through the E Day 2 of our Labour Day weekend trip through the Egypt Lake area, Banff NP is up on Bootwreckers, see link in bio.

The day was sunny and the skies were blue, it was simply an amazing day to be on the trail.

Out day started out retracing our steps from th previous evening back to Shadow Lake.

After lingering to take in the stunning view at the lake we had an easy hike to our campsite at Balls Pass Junction.

After setting up the tent and having lunch we headed up the short but steep trail to Ball Pass. Ball Pass is in mu opinion one of th premier viewpoints in Banff NP. 

After exploring Ball Pass we returned back to the campground and enjoyed a well earned stream chilled beer and a nap.

Clouds rolled in later in the day but it only lightly rained.

Was not the biggest mileage day on the trail but was proof that a great day on the trail.
Photo 1 - Siobhan looking at Mt Ball and it's Glacier from Ball Pass
Photo 2 - Siobhan checking directions
Photo 3 - Shadow Lake and Mt Ball
Photo 4 - Siobhan on bridge crossing outlet of Shadow Lake
Photo 5 - dried  strawberries on the trail
Photo 6 - heading up Ball Pass
Photo 7 - Siobhan looking over the valley from Ball Pass
Photo 8 - heading down from Ball Pass
Photo 9 - our reward for a good day on the trail
Photo 10 - finding peace and tranquility in the backcountry 

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks
Day 1 of our amazing trip through the Egypt Lake a Day 1 of our amazing trip through the Egypt Lake area Labour Day Weekend, 2021 now posted up on our blog, link in bio. Another Grand adventure with one of my kids, @sio.mellors.

Our four day trip started at the Vista Lake Trailhead on Hwy 93 South. Up and over Gibbon Pass to camp at Shadow Lake Campground on day 1.

Day 2 was a short hike to Balls Pass Junction CG, then after a short break off to explore Ball Pass, in my opinion one of the best vistas anywhere.

Day 3 we hiked over Whistling Pass on the way to Pharaoh Creek CG, with a scramble up Pharaoh Peak, lunch at Scarab Lake, and a visit to Egypt Lake on the way.

Day 4 was hiking over Healy Pass and out to the Sunshine Village parking lot where our car had been moved to.

Lots of stories from this adventure,  was a lot of fun to revisit and write.

Photo 1 - evening as Shadow Lake

Photo 2 - pre-hike happy team photo

Photo 3 - Arnica Lake, where we had lunch

Photo 4 - the yellow of Larches starting to come in

Photo 5 - the golden meadows of th high alpine at Gibbon Pass

Photo 6 - view all the way to Mt Assiniboine from Gibbon Pass, about 70 km away

Photo 8 - mushrooms in the undergrowth as we approach Shadow Lake CG

Photo 9 - Frosty guarding our campsite

Photo 10 - still smiling at the end of th day at Shadow Lake

#parkscanada #parks
#shadowlake #banffalberta #banffnationalpark #banffcanada #banff #backpacking #camping #lake #egyptlake #Egyptlake  #backcountry #family #familytime #familytime❤️
The trip summaries for Days 10, 11 and 12 from ou The trip summaries  for Days 10, 11 and 12 from our 2021 GDT Section E hike is now up on www.Bootwreckers.com, see link in bio

We had a great end to the trip. Day 9 was a short day from our wild camp on the Bald Hills to Evelyn Crk Campground. Day 10 was a spectacular hike up over Little and Big Shovel Passes to the iconic Jasper Skyline Trail. Camping at Signal Campground. 

Day 11 was an easy walk into Jasper.

The trip was an amazing experience over 11 days, I met and hiked with many people but big props to my kid, who for some reason keeps hiking with me.

Photo 1 - end of hike, looking off into the distance, across th Athabasca River at Cairngorm Mt. 

Photo 2 - morning Bald Hills

Photo 3 - campsite Evelyn Crk CG

Photo 4 - Reading before bed

Photo 5 - fresh bear print on the trail

Photo 6 - Little Shovel Pass

Photo 7 - Snowbowl

Photo 8 - Last grind up to the Notch

Photo 9 - looking east from the Skyline down through Excelsior Creek

Photo 10 At campsite Signal Campground 

See trip reports on our blog, link in bio.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks #teamzpacks #zpacks #duplex #sectionhike #sectionhiker
Day 7 and 8 on our GDT trip from last summer. Day Day 7 and 8 on our GDT trip from last summer.

Day 7 was from Waterfalls CG to a meadow in the Six Passes Route. Was a wet, moist day. Numerous creek crossings. Left the main GDT route at Maligne Pass and went off trail into the Six Passes. 

Spent the first night in an amazing meadow. With rain in the forecast we did 5 passes and the ridge walk in one day.

In one word the day was "Epic" . Was a spectacular journey. Huge day, 23 km and over 1500m up and down. So happy we did it, but we were so relieved to put in the tent somewhere flat.

Picture 1) the view of the Six Passes Route from the top of the first pass

Picture 2) me getting ready to leave Waterfalls CG

Picture 3) crossing a creek on a wet log

Picture 4) camping Six Passes

Picture 5) hiking Six Passes

Picture 6) sunrise pass # 2

Picture 7) it's a rocky climb

Picture 8) mmmm chocolate 

Picture 9) the final ascent on the ridge

Picture 10) happy to be home for the evening

See trip reports on our blog, link in bio.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks #teamzpacks #zpacks #duplex #sectionhike #sectionhiker
First 5 days of my 11 day 2021 Great Divide Trail First 5 days of my 11 day 2021 Great Divide Trail Hike Section E is up on Bootwreckers, see link in bio.

Includes the 2 days I did on Section D but aborted due to smoke.

Picture 1) Camp on Owen Creek
Picture 2) Camp at Lower Michelle Lake
Picture 3) Pinto Pass
Picture 4) hiking up Cataract Creek
Picture 5) Smokey sunrise over the Brazeau River

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks #teamzpacks #zpacks #duplex #sectionhike #sectionhiker
Fun trip out to the Ink Pots in Banff NP on Decemb Fun trip out to the Ink Pots in Banff NP on December 31st.

Was very cold, -30C, but bluebird skies overhead.

Did a little snowshoeing in the meadow.

Saw almost no one above the upper falls at Johnson Canyon.

Fun adventure.

Happy New Year everyone.

#outside, #outsidethebox, #liveoutdoors, #liveoutsidethebox #naturephotography, #naturelovers,  #retiredhusky, #rescuer
#parkscanada #banffnationalpark #banffalberta #banffcanada
#sunstar #sun #lake #sunrise #alpin #scenery #reflectionphotography #reflections #sceneryphotography
Day 6 Section E Great Divide Trail Hike 2021 (Part Day 6 Section E Great Divide Trail Hike 2021 (Part 1)

Fun day on the trail heading from Four Points CG to Waterfalls CG. 

The day started dry but damp from the rainfall overnight. As we left the Brazeau River valley and headed up to Jonas Pass the storm clouds blew in forcing us to get our wet weather gear on. 

I discovered shortly after that it is great to have gloves for hiking, but that they should be accessible, not buried somewhere in the pack.

The storm was quite fierce but luckily brief. We arrived at Jonas pass and were able to put our rain gear away.

The clouds would remain with for the duration of the hike adding some mood to the hike.

This was my second time hiking over Jonas Pass and Jonas Shoulder and both times it has rained.

We arrived at Jonas Shoulder. We took some time to enjoy the view and let off some steam. The rest of the hike would be downhill.

Happy Friday

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks
Waterfall on Owen Creek, Day 1 GDT Section E. Req Waterfall on Owen Creek, Day 1 GDT Section E.

Required a fun bit of scrambling to access.

Happy Friday

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #waterfalls #waterfall #naturephotography #naturephotography #nationalparks
Day 5 GDT 2021 Section E. This day was memorable Day 5 GDT 2021 Section E.

This day was memorable for a few reasons. First waking up to more smoke.

First photo is the sun rising over the mountains at 8:30am, shouldn't really be that red.

Doing the extra distance on day 4 meant that this day I had a 3.1 km hike from Boulder Crk CG to Four Points CG.

I could not extend the day as Emily was joining me on this day coming in from the Nigel Pass trailhead and the next campground on our route would be to far to reach on this day.

When I arrived at Four Points it was just before 8am! Must be my shortest day ever.

I spent the day reading and waiting for Emily. I heard her bear calling down the trail about a minute before she arrived.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. Met some some people from Calgary who I had a mutual friend with, he used to be their cross country ski coach.

We went to bed reasonably early as we had a decent day ahead of us tomorrow.

The smoke was lifting as we went to bed. 

The last photo is Links' Happy Badass Bandana. Still miss my little hiking partner.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking
Day 4 Great Divide Trail Section E. Pinto Lakes to Day 4 Great Divide Trail Section E. Pinto Lakes to Boulder Creek CG.

Super fun day full of adventure and a lot of smoke. This was a big day, 32 km over Cataract Pass into the upper reaches of Bourgeau Creek in Jasper NP.

After the clear skies of my astrophotography in the middle of the night I got up at 5am, jst 3 hours after I put the camera away, to join my trail companions Jason and Bent for the day. 

The terrain was suppose to be rugged and the trail a little iffy so I thought it would be good to have some companions. As it was we got took two wrong turns in the first 15 minutes.

After several steam crossings, some with suspect bridge work, finally had to cross a wide stream and get wet feet. I had sandals, but my companions ploughed through so I figured I had to keep up.

I found a rock with ancient Indigenous petroglyphs. It is just off trail, but a good day and a half hike from any road.

We passed from Banff NP to Alberta Parks Wilderness area. There is wild camping in the Wilderness area, but good camping spots are hard to find.

I was going to stop for the day short of Cataract Pass, but it was so smokey I thought I would continue on.

We had lunch at the base of Cataract Pass. I used Frosty Paws as a table for my lunch.

It was such a big day I will conclude the trip in another post.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking
Milky Way and the Persaids Meteor Shower. Pinto La Milky Way and the Persaids Meteor Shower. Pinto Lake

On the night of day 3 I got up at 2am to take photos of the night sky. I was hoping to catch the Milky Way and I knew that the Perseids was going on, so hoping to see both.

I must have seen a good couple of dozen meteors during the hour I was awake.

I went to sleep in my hiking clothes because I knew I was getting up at 2am to take photos then we had a big day ahead of us so the breakfast wake up call was 5am!

I got so lucky with the pictures as in the couple's hours between returning to bed and getting up to start Day 4, the smoke rolled in.

Photo 1 is the Milky Way but no meteor. There are meteors in the following three photos.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #milkyway, #perseidmeteorshower #perseids #nightimephotography #astrophotography
Great Divide Trail Section E, Valley after first p Great Divide Trail Section E, Valley after first pass on the Six Passes route.

New post on www.Bootwreckers.com, preparation and plan for my GDT Section D and E hike for the summer of 2021 (see link in bio)

Learned a lot from last year,  still discovered some new things about hiking and camping.

First post has to do with all aspects of preparation:
- Gear
- Food
- Training
- Itinerary 

The GDT - Where everyday is an adventure.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking
Day 3 of my trip on Great Divide Trail Section E. Day 3 of my trip on Great Divide Trail Section E.

Relatively easy day from Michelle Lakes to Pinto Lake, only over two passes.

I started traveling with two guys I met actually at Yoho a week back, Jason and Bent.

Of course Frosty was on trip, enjoying the early morning at Michelle Lakes.

The first Lake is Upper Michelle Lake.

The photo of me at the pass is at the unofficial names Michelle Pass. Then it was up to Pinto Pass.

I took a one last picture back to Michelle Pass. Last picture is at Pinto Lake.

Great day, only got a little lost.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #zpacks #teamzpacks
Jupiter and 4 little moons First try at astrophot Jupiter and 4 little moons

First try at astrophotography using my camera attached to a telescope, 8" Celeron

Pretty happy with results. Need to research settings for camera to get some colour on Jupiter, but for a first try pretty happy.

Taken from field near Two Jack Lake in Banff NP. Jupiter was over Mt Rundle.

#artofvisual #visualoflife #areyouawake  #earthfocus  #adventurethatislife #createscenery #earthexperience #primeshots #simplyadventure #goparks #wildernessculture #folkscenery #wondersofourplanet #amazingphotohunter #all2epic #milliondollarvisuals #sky_sultans #astrophotography #astronomy
Another photo of the waterfall at Michelle Lakes, Another photo of the waterfall at Michelle Lakes, Day 2 GDT Section E.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #sunstar
#waterfall
#waterfalls
Campsite at Lower Michelle Lakes, Day 2 GDT Sectio Campsite at Lower Michelle Lakes, Day 2 GDT Section E.

Scored the best campsite on the trip at Lower Michelle Lakes. Had more own personal waterfall. Frosty as always had the best spot.

Spent the day relaxing, reading and watching the helicopter activity. 

Started the next day hiking with Jason and Bent who camped by Upper Michelle Lakes and did not know about the waterfall.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking #zpacks #teamzpacks
Morning at Ball Pass Junction, west end of Haiduk Morning at Ball Pass Junction, west end of Haiduk Peak.  Day 3 of our hike around the Egypt Lake area. Thrilled with the colours of the morning sky.

We had some rain overnight, but not much. The clouds lifted off later in the morning. 

Another great day on the trail with @sio.mellors

#parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #sunset #shadowlake #Egyptlake #banffalberta #banffnationalpark #banffcanada
Evening at Shadow Lake, Banff NP. Super fun 4 day Evening at Shadow Lake, Banff NP.

Super fun 4 day hike with @sio.mellors thought the trails around Egypt Lake area.

Shadow Lake was our first evening and was a lovely place to watch the sunset.

 #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #sunset #shadowlake #Egyptlake #banffalberta #banffnationalpark #banffcanada #reflection #reflections
Day 1 Great Divide Trail Section E 2021, Saskatche Day 1 Great Divide Trail Section E 2021, Saskatchewan River Crossing to Upper Owens Creek.

First day of my 11 day hike from Sask River Crossing to Jasper. I was solo for the first 5 days before being joined my my daughter at Four Points CG.

This was only day I actuall slept on my own.

I left Sask River Crossing at 12:30pm followed an old road that intersected th GDT just past the park gates.

Hiked until about 6:30pm as I wanted to camp near tree line for a clear view of th nights sky. The sky was clear and the Perseids Meteor shower was on and did not disappoint 

Photo 1) my tent and the Milky Way

Photo 2) Me getting ready to  head out

Photo 3) view looking West along th north Saskatchewan River

Photo 4) water dropping into the canyon on Owens Creek

Photo 5) the slide that gave people grief earlier in the summer was passable at creek level

Photo 6) the confluence was a mess a hard going

Photo 7) nice waterfall after th confluence

Photo 8) little Canyon near upper reaches of th creek

Photo 9) dinner cooking in th kitchen

Photo 10) Frosty Paws, me and my tent

Was a great day out on th trail.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #outside #backpacking
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