Bighorn No. 8, Alberta

This area is best known for Skoki Lodge, a world class back country destination. Unfortunately Skoki Lodge is quite expensive, and very rarely has rooms available. Luckily you can still enjoy everything the area has to offer if you're on a budget. From Highway 1 take the exit to the Lake Louise S...

Showing up at Moraine Lake before dawn is a must as to avoid the multitude of tours busses. The morning sun is subtle and magical. The lake, being glacially fed, does not reach its crest until mid to late June. When it is full, it reflects a distinct shade of blue. The color is due to the refract...

Opal Ridge is located on the East side of highway 40 in Kananaskis.The trailhead starts at Fortress Gas Station. Park at the North end of the parking lot. The trailhead is easy to spot from here. Follow the creek a couple hundred meters till you reach an open area with power lines. Turn left. Con...

Have you ever done a hike where you just don't want the day to end? Scramble the Fortress and you'll know the feeling. The thing that drew me to the Fortress was its summit elevation of 3000 masl, as well as its blocky, fortress-like profile when viewed from the north. It's so much more than that...

No better way to watch the stars with friends than huddled up in your sleeping bag on top of a 3000m summit. This describes the bivy at The Fortress. Starting at the Chester Lake Trailhead, take the unmarked trail on the right side of the parking lot. These winter cross-country ski trails take y...

The hike starts at the Chester Lake trailhead along the Smith Dorian road in Kananaskis. The first few kilometers follow the old logging roads, now used as cross country skiing trails. Find the beginning of the trail at the upper right end of the parking lot, and continue to follow parallel to t...

Chester Lake was officially one of my favorite hikes of 2016. It's a short & sweet 5 km's to the lake, with outstanding views in every direction. Fall colors were just starting to peak through and the sky looked amazing. From what I understand, this is one of the more popular hikes in the are...

Elevation gain: 300m/984ftEstimated time: 3-6hoursStarting at the trailhead parking lot off of the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Lakes Road this snowshoe is easy to follow on the clearly marked trail. There is a trail that splits off to the left for cross-country skiers make sure you are following the righ...

Head to the northwest corner of the parking lot to find the trail. For the first 5.5 km the trail is quite easy, with only modest elevation increase. At 5.5 km you will arrive at what is known as the gravel flats. Depending on the time of year the gravel flats can be either quite dry or a wide, s...

The trail begins along the berm beside Mud Lake. After a rather uninspiring 3 km (you can mountain bike this part) the trail narrows and enters trees where tangled roots twist across the path and you breathe in the smells of damp earth and moss.Ten minutes later the trail spits you across a spl...

This year on the summer solstice, I was invited to go up Nihahi Ridge to celebrate. It's in one of my personal most underrated areas of the Rockies just west of Bragg Creek, and it's a popular objective, but less so during the evening. The trail begins once you park your car at the Little Elbow p...

I think it's because I tend to watch football on Sundays that I've started doing more sunrise hikes --- can't say I regret it either! Oldforgetmenot is a perfect objective to take in a sunrise on: elevation gain isn't too intense, distance isn't too trying, and there are quite a few stretches tha...

As with most hikes in the Bragg Creek/Little Elbow area, the trail begins at the Little Elbow campground. To make the hike a tiny bit shorter, most people bike for the first 4 km on the Big Elbow trail to South Glasgow Creek. If you're not using a GPS trail, you'll know you're at the creek once y...

The Grand Sentinel has two routs on it. While it is hard to access it is a modern classic with bolted anchors, and Cardia Arete is a Sport climbing route. While I could offer my take on this classic,  Chris Perry' Banff Rock is a far better resource than I. To access the climb park at Moraine Lak...

Hike with amazing views of Valley of Ten Peaks, including Mount Fay (10,613 ft), Mount Little (10,131 ft), Deltaform Mountain (11,234 ft), and Wenkchemna Peak (10,401 ft) to two breathtaking glacial lakes in the heart of the Continental Divide. From the lake, the trail is quite easy to follow, a...

Once at Moraine Lake, the directions to Consolation Lakes are quite clear. From the parking lot, head northeast past the rockpile, which provides fantastic views of Moraine, then follow the Consolation Lakes Trail for another 2.9 km (1.8 miles) past Taylor Lake until you reach the lake. Depending...