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    • Iceline/Twin Falls – Yoho NP
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Day 3 Mt Assiniboine Lollipop Banff NP

Moose in the meadow.

Day 3 Allenby Junction Campground to Mt Shark Parking Lot, 17 km, 265 m Elevation Gain, 392 m Elevation Loss, 5hrs 23 min.

The story for day 3 starts in the middle of the night. I love the night sky, and there is no better place to view the night sky than far away from the lights of the city. Allenby Junction is a prime night sky viewing location. I brought my fast wide angle lens I use for astro-photography and my small tripod (you can see it on the bottom of Emily’s backpack). When we went to bed, the sky was clear, making it ideal for photography and just simply looking at all the starts. I was concerned though by the fact we were camped just outside an area restricted due to grizzly activity, and there were no other people around. I woke up at 12:30 am and lay awake contemplating getting up and checking out the sky. But I kept wondering about “what if” there was a bear just outside. Plus we did have Volcano, and did not need to surprise a bear in the middle of the night with a dog. There were periodic flashes of bright light, that added to my confusion. End of story, we did not get up.

When we arrived home, I read an article that the Perseids Meteor Shower was underway in the night sky. Well, that would account for the flashes of bright light that lit up the tent. I also went up the street to talk to a retired friend who used to work for Alberta Parks. He said that I absolutely should have got out of the tent. In his opinion, backcountry bears are very wary of humans, and if we had made noise when getting out of the tent, the bears would have left the area. Personally, he is more concerned about front country bears, since they are more used to humans.

The moral of the story, is that if you are interested in the night sky, you should get out of the tent to check it out. I used this philosophy on a later trip to Floe Lake. It was suppose to be cloudy in the evening, but when I got out of the tent and looked up, I was rewarded with clear views of the Milky Way and the Northern Lights.

Our hike for day 3 was pretty straightforward. The hike was 17 km and mostly downhill, and the majority on trail we have already hiked. We decided that we would enjoy a coffee break at Big Springs Campground. It is a pretty spot, and we were not in a rush. We enjoyed our breakfast coffee and Logan Bread while tearing down camp. Volcano ate her breakfast and after having slept well looked energetic. We left the campsite at 7:24 am.

Campsite all cleaned up.

The first 3 km where almost completely flat, with small undulations in the trail as we followed above a long meadow. I was glad to be above the meadow, because I felt that it was much like the meadows I hiked through on the Sawback hike, more of grassy swamp then firm ground.

Volcano back to the lead, just checking I am coming.
The mountains escorting us along the meadow.

The trail wove in and out of trees, passed over a couple of streams utilizing some very high quality bridges. We crossed another meadow, and came to a very wide path through the trees.

Parts of the trail had wide open spaces, big vies all around.
Nice curved bridge over a small stream.
Flat and smooth,

After 25 minutes, through the trees Emily spied a moose in the meadow below us. This confirmed my suspicion, that the meadow was a bit of a swamp. We stopped for a couple of minutes to take photos and observe the moose from a distance.

Moose in the grasses.
The moose is quite far away, and very small next to the mountain.

We continued down the trail and in a few minutes came to a pretty pond, time to stop for more photos. I was not concerned about all the stopping, as we knew that views were limited pass the junction to Marvel Lake CG.

Morning reflections.

Little distraction kept coming. A frog jumped across our path, exciting Volcano. I kept her from investigating the frog too thoroughly, and we watched it hop into the bushes.

Frog in the bushes.

Just over 10 minutes later we arrived at the Parks Canada Patrol Cabin. It was busy with activity as the wardens were saddling up the horses for a trek back to the Mt Shark parking lot. The trail past right in front of the cabin and through the horse paddock. The wardens and the horses took no notice of us. Passing through a gate on the far side brought us to McBride Camp.

The trail to Marvel Junction on here is very faint and probably seldom used.
Parks Canada Patrol Cabin at McBride Camp.
Looking back from where we came. We slept under the cliff in the distance. Somewhere there is a moose munching on some grass.
Trail passing through the paddock, interesting the paddock is not fully enclosed, and only has a gate on one end.
McBride Camp, was a busy place.

We stopped at McBride camp for 10 minutes for a pit stop. Continueing on we came to the first major elevation change for the day. On the profile for the day, it looks quite drastic, but it was a drop of 115 m over 2 km, so not very steep. After 1 hr and 20 minutes we had covered the 4.3 km back to the junction with Marvel Lake Campground. The rest of the trip would be retracing our steps from Thursday.

Volcano in the lead, pulling hard on the leash setting a strong pace, wonder if she knew we were headed home.
One of the last views of the day, The mountain is Marvel Peak.
A short connector to Marvel and Wonder Pass trails.
Hey! We have seen this sign before.

The wide smooth trail plus the fact that we were buried deep in the forest with not a lot of views helped to keep our speed up. We covered the 3.6 km to Big Springs Campsite in just 40 minutes. This was were we had planned to stop to enjoy a morning coffee break.

Volcano wondering what is slowing the humans down.
Emily getting coffee ready at Big Springs Campground, Volcano all tied up.
Volcano has herself all tangled up.

While Emily tended to the coffee I took a quick trip around the campsite. It is very small and compact, the trees are more spaced out than at Marvel Lake CG, giving a more open feel, and less privacy. We enjoyed a refreshing cup of coffee and ate chocolate that we had brought for the trip. After coffee I headed down to the creek to take some long exposure pictures of the creek, to get the effect of the blurred water. I do not have a filter yet to darken the picture to lengthen the exposure, but I did the best I could, and it was fun.

I like this photo, because the wardens and houses are crossing the bridge and show up as smudges of colour.
Emily’s giving me the look that it is time to leave, we were gone 5 minutes after the photo.

It took us about 40 minutes to reach the Spray River. I stayed on the trail while Emily took Volcano down for a drink, it was 11:10 am and getting warmer out. We started the lone uphill section for the day. It was fairly steep for about 5 minutes before leveling off for another 20 minutes. At the top we ran into a group of much more mature hikers having a break. They were visiting the area from the USA and we quickly struck up a conversation. I believe Frosty Paws and Horace were part of the conversation and one the women had her own mascot. While we were talking the wardens passed us, we must have passed them at some point.

Hot wide finish to the return tot the parking lot.

We then proceeded to hike back to the car chit chatting about hiking and trading stories. One tip we got from a hiking was to skip the American National Parks, and visit the Monuments and State Parks that surround the different National Parks. The theory being that the Monuments and State Parks are less popular, but provide the same scenery without the crowds. Another tip that the guy had was there is a device available that allows you to transfer fuel from one canister to another. I looked it up online, and it exists and has good reviews. I plan on purchasing one and trying it.

Group photo at the finish.

We arrived back at the car at 12:40 pm, 17 km covered in 5 hrs and 15 minutes. It was a super final day to a rapid three day excursion to the Mt Assiniboine area. For the third straight backpacking trip I ate lunch on the final day back at the car. We loaded up the car and headed for home, agreeing that we must return to Assiniboine for a longer stay.

Volcano taking a rest, looks like a good idea.

Mt Assiniboine Loop Home

bootwreckers

Pondering the pleasures of the hike. Mt Assiniboin Pondering the pleasures of the hike. Mt Assiniboine and Lake Magog.

The first 3 days of my 10 hike on the Great Divide Trail, Section C, with Emily are summarized and up our my website, see link in Bio.

Fun addition to the summary is that we have included some of Emily's thoughts in the summary. Fun to see how she sees life on the trail.

Hope you the enjoy the summary nearly as much as we enjoyed th hike.

#greatdivide #greatdividetrail #gdt #parkscanada #parks #bcparks #trails #longdistancehike #longtrail #outdoors #outside #thruhike #hike #thruhiking #canada
My second trip to Yoho NP last year was a 3 day tr My second trip to Yoho NP last year was a 3 day trip featuring the Iceline and Twin Falls with @sio.mellors 

Great weather, great company, great adventure. 

Full trip report on my website, link in Bio.

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking, #yohonationalpark #yoho #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelbcp #snow #waterfall #waterfalls #waterfallphotography
New hike posted to Bootwreckers, see link in Bio. New hike posted to Bootwreckers, see link in Bio.

Three day hike along the Rockwall in Kootenay NP early July, 2021. Camped at Helmet Falls and Tumbling Creek Campgrounds.

With a @neil.real.deal and @kbsymington 

Photo - crossing snowfield at Tumbling Pass, with Mount Gray at centre and Tumbling Peak and it's glacier in the distance.

Great early season three day hike.

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking, #kootenaynationalpark #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #snow
I wrote an article about not judging other hikers I wrote an article about not judging other hikers on the trail and it got published.

It is my first ever article. Was a fun little project.

See link in bio
Takakkaw Falls from th Incline Trail, Yoho NP. Ph Takakkaw Falls from th Incline Trail, Yoho NP.

Photos of Takakkaw Falls taken from the Iceline Trail.

1) 1.6 second exposure of the falls

2) view of the falls and the Daly Glacier that feeds the water to th falls

The Iceline Trail was a nice way to get a more unique view of the falls and with fewer people.

Morning of day 2 of amazing trip last summer with @sio.mellors 

Yoho NP

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #backpacking, #yohonationalpark #yoho #friendsofyoho #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #falls #waterfallphotography #waterfall #waterfallsofinstagram
Going through some photos from summer 2020. I lik Going through some photos from summer 2020.

I liked this photo, captured the early morning at Yoho Lake CG on my trip with @sio.mellors 

Loved how the water grabbed th orange reflection off the bottom of the clouds as the sun just crested the horizon.

I enjoy getting up early when camping. Not only do I get to enjoy the peace and quiet of camp, but the light of the sun presents fleeting visual displays that are gone in moments.

Yoho NP

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #backpacking, #yohonationalpark #yoho #friendsofyoho #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #sunrise #morning #sunrisephotography  #lake #reflection #reflections
View looking West over the Tonto Platform from the View looking West over the Tonto Platform from the South Kaibab Trail.

This April will be our 10 year anniversary of our first trip to the Grand Canyon.

It is truly one of my happy places, have visited five times and camped below the rim three times.

Looking to get back sometime soon, but good things are worth the wait.

#nps, #nationalparks, #slotcanyon, #hiking, #hikingadventures, #familytime, #camping, #campingadventures, #outdoors, #outside, #nature,  #FIndyourpark #landscape #landscapephotography #optoutside #nationalpark #desertphotography #grandcanyon #grandcanyonnationalpark #grandcanyonassociation #100yearsofgrand #100yearsofbeauty #100yearsofgrandcanyon
Sunday morning sunrise! There are perks for getti Sunday morning sunrise!

There are perks for getting up early on a Sunday to go grocery shopping, and the mountain sunrises are one of them.

Shot off my phone from the parking in downtown Canmore.

#sunrise #sunrisephotography #sunrise_sunset_photogroup #earth #outside #outdoors #naturephotography #nature #naturelovers #sky #skyphotography #sky_brilliance
No doubt 2020 was a prickly year, and 2021 has sta No doubt 2020 was a prickly year, and 2021 has started out a little rough.

Just like hiking, if we keep going we will see beauty in amongst the prickles, but we need to stay on the trail.

Here's to good times ahead.

From our hike last year Emily hiking among the cactii towards the feature we affectionately named the Thumb, Passage 16 on the Arizona Trail

#teamzpacks #zpacks #zpacksduplex #aztassociation #aztrail #aztrails #hike #loveazt #desertphotography #desert #hikingadventures #hikes #backpacking #camping #getoutside #familytime #traillife #aztassociation , #hiking, #hikingadventures, #familytime, #camping, #campingadventures, #outdoors, #outside, #nature,  #FIndyourpark #landscape #landscapephotography #optoutside  #rightnow #goparks #aztrails #aztrail #loveazt  #azt #arizonatrailassociation
Looking at a fun trip last summer through Yoho NP Looking at a fun trip last summer through Yoho NP with @sio.mellors 

Lots of waterfalls to see in the park, Laughing Falls is a fun and loud falls right off the main trail located surprisingly, next to Laughing Falls CG.

We stopped by on our way to Twin Falls CG after spending the day hiking the Iceline Trail

Like this photo of Siobhan getting close to the falls for her own picture. 

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #backpacking, #yohonationalpark #yoho #friendsofyoho #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #waterfall #waterfall #waterfallphotography #waterfallsofinstagram
Haiduk Lake, Banff NP. Haiduk Lake is just beyond Haiduk Lake, Banff NP.

Haiduk Lake is just beyond Whistling Pass as you hike from Egypt Lake to Balls Pass Junction.

Very pretty Lake. We were lucky enough to pass by early in the morning as we hiked from Egypt Lake to Floe Lake during our #gdt hike this summer.

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #alpine #lifeelevated #getoutside #lifeonthetrail #britishcolumbia #gdt #greatdividetrail
#kananaskis #kananaskiscountry
Chasing th Aurora on Friday night at Lake Minnewan Chasing th Aurora on Friday night at Lake Minnewanka in Banff NP.

Sadly it did not come right out to play,  but was obviously a lot of light coming from th North East.

Always fun to be outside in a dark place to see th glory of the night sky.

#outside, #hiking #camping, #backpacking,
#adventure, #adventureoutside, #nature, #landscapephotography, #nobaddays, #adventureholiday, #hikingadventures, #astrophotography, #milkyway #kootenaylife #kootenaynationalpark #nationalpark #nationalparks
#parkscanada #northernlights #aurora #auroras #auroramax
Hiking the GDT Day 1. I was almost completely sa Hiking the GDT Day 1. 

I was almost completely satisfied with or trip on the Great Divide Trail when on Day 1 we finished the uphill to Turbine Canyon and popped out of the woods and saw this amazing alpine vista.

I remember remarking to Emily "this is why I hike"

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #alpine #lifeelevated #getoutside #lifeonthetrail #britishcolumbia #gdt #greatdividetrail
#kananaskis #kananaskiscountry
Morning from Floe Lake with Floe Peak selection of Morning from Floe Lake with Floe Peak selection off the mirror smooth waters.

Another amazing morning hiking the GDT.

Never get tired of Floe Lake, was my third visit and just a year after my previous visit.

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking, #kootenaynationalpark #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #flowers #getoutside #lifeonthetrail #britishcolumbia #gdt #greatdividetrail #goldenhour #goldenhourphotography #mirrorphotography #lake
Golden hour! Morning sun shining off of Tumbling Golden hour!

Morning sun shining off of Tumbling Glacier and the Rockwall. 

Waking up at Tumbling Creek Campground during my Great Divide Hike this summer. 

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking, #kootenaynationalpark #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #flowers #getoutside #lifeonthetrail #britishcolumbia #gdt #greatdividetrail #goldenhour #goldenhourphotography
Flower Field, Tumbling Pass, Kootenay NP. From la Flower Field, Tumbling Pass, Kootenay NP.

From last summer's Great Divide Trail hike. At th top of Tumbling Pass on the Rockwall, treated to a visual feast of colour.

Awesome day, epic hike.

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking, #kootenaynationalpark #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #flowers #getoutside #lifeonthetrail #britishcolumbia #gdt #greatdividetrail
As we head into winter, a shot from last spring at As we head into winter, a shot from last spring at the end of winter. The snow was just clearing from the trails, and flowers poking through to greet the warmth.

Heading out over Rockwall Pass, Kootenay NP, with @kbsymington  and @neil.real.deal .

Had some snowfields to cross, good day out on th trail

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #rockwall #backpacking, #kootenaynationalpark #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #flowers #getoutside #lifeonthetrail #britishcolumbia
Fun photo from Twin Falls Campground in Yoho Natio Fun photo from Twin Falls Campground in Yoho National Park.

As night fell I was able to take some long exposure shots of Twin Falls Creek as it tumbles through the campground.

Fun 3 day trip with @sio.mellors.

#friends, #alberta, #parkscanada #backpacking, #yohonationalpark #yoho #friendsofyoho #nationalpark, #nationalparks, #mountains #naturephotography #travelcolumbiavalley #travelbcp #waterfall #rainbow #spectrum #hikingadventures #longexposure #longexposurephotography #river
Top of Guinns Pass, Kananaskis Country 2016 Guinn Top of Guinns Pass, Kananaskis Country 2016

Guinns Pass connects the valley with Ribbon Lake and Ribbon Creek and the valley with Lillian Lake and Galetea Creek. Stunning views in all directions from the top of the pass.

There is also a scramble up the connecting ridge to the east up to Guinns Peak and onto Mt Kidd South.

Great two days hiking with @emilysjumpinginpuddles

#hikingwithdogs, #hiking, #hikingdogsofinstagram, #outside, #kananaskiscountry, #kananaskis, #spcacanmore, #spcarescue, #snowyowlsleddogtours, #snowyowldogsledtours, #retiredsleddog, #retiredhusky, #backpacking, #tongueouttuesday, #canmore, #canmorealberta, #adventure,
Larch season is coming to an end in the Rockies, b Larch season is coming to an end in the Rockies, but last weekend we were treated to quite a display near Taylor Lake in Banff NP

#outside, #outsidethebox, #liveoutdoors, #liveoutsidethebox #naturephotography, #naturelovers,  #retiredhusky, #rescuer
#parkscanada #banffnationalpark #banffalberta #banffcanada #larches #fall #autumn
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