Rocky Mountain Planning

Packing List

MEC List

• 4 x Bear Bells (2$)
• 4 x Mosquito Shirts (12$)
• 1 x Inflatable Pillow
• Waterproof Sandals (Canoeing Sandals)
• Backpack for Margaret
• 1 x Karabiner
• 1 x Headlight
• Trouser that can be converted to shorts. Fabric needs to be mosquito proof.
• Foam roller (for trip preparation)
• Mosquito Repellent
• Hat?

Packing List

• Sunscreen, sun glasses, tooth brush and paste, soap/shampoo, hair brush, nail scissor, shaving
• Water bottle
• Clothing
• Food
• Noodle, Soup, Chocolate
• Rope to hang things up.
• Trangia, Fuel (bottle), Candle, Matches, cups, plates, fork and spoon
• Pocket knife
• Tent
• Rain poncho, backpack rain protection
• Gamaschen
• Laptop
• Camera

 

Backpack Trails:

Rockwall (Kootenay)

Floe Lake Trail Head (1350m) - Floe Lake (camp ground, 2040m) - Numa Pass (2380m) - Numa Creek (camp ground, 1510m) - Tumbling Pass (2210m) - Tumbling Creek (camp ground, 1880m) - Wolverine Plateau - Rockwall Pass (2240m) - Helmet Falls (camp ground) - Helmet/Ochre Creek - Paint Pots Trail Head

• 4 - 5 nights. First night at Floe Lake, 2nd at Numa Creek, 3rd at Tumbling Creek, 4th Helmet Falls.
• Options:
• Visit Goodsir Pass from Helmet Creek
• Possibility to shorten trip: Exit via Numa Creek, Tumbling Creek
• Backcountry reservation: The visitor centre is at Vermillion Creek 5km away from the Floe Lake Trail Head.
• Provincial Park Campgrounds at Ochre Creek (need to check)

Iceline - Whaleback (Yoho)

Takakkawa Falls Parking Lot (Provincial Park camp ground, 1520m) - Iceline (2210m) - Little Yoho Valley (Campground, Stanley Mitchell Hut 2075m) - Whaleback (2210m) - Waterfall Valley - Yoho Valley - Takakkawa Falls Parking Lot

•  1 night at Little Yoho Valley
• Options
• Stay another night at Twin Falls camp ground before hiking out Yoho Valley.
• Possibility to shorten trip: Skip Little Yoho Valley, skip Whaleback
• Iceline appears to be very open. Nothing to hide if it storms or rains.

Lake O'Hara (Yoho)

Lake O'Hara campground. Booking needs to be done first-come first-serve at Yoho Visitor centre in Field (office opens at 9am, be there at 8am). See if it is possible to book 2 (if possible 3) nights (3 days of hiking). The bus starts from the Trans-Canada Highway at 8am in the morning. Last bus out is about 5:30pm

Lake McArthur

Easy 3h (413m elevation gain) trip from the camp ground. Maybe the best trip on the first day.

Lake O'Hara Alpine Circuit

O'Hara Trail Head (2035m) - Wiwaxy Gap (2535m) - Lake Oesa (2275m) - Yukness Ledge route - Lake Opabin (2285m) - Opabin Prospect - Mary Lake - All Souls Alpine route - All Souls Prospect (2475m) - Schaffer Lake

• 6 to 7h
• Options
• Several possibilities to shorten the trip around Lake O'Hara by descending to it from Lake Oesa, Opabin, Mary Lake

Lake Oesa or Opabin Plateau

Relaxed exploring of Lake Oesa (maybe up to the Abbot Hut) or of the Opabin Plateau as time permits on the last day.

Burgess Shale (Yoho)

It is possible to sign up for a guided tour to the Burgess Shale: World famous for its fossils. 1 day tour: Need to inquire about this possibility at the Yoho visitor centre. The tour starts at Takakkawa Falls and ends in Fields.

Yoho Misc

Other 1day options in Yoho

• Visit of the Lake Emerald area (probably very touristy but beautiful).
• Sherbrooke Lake - Niles Meadow tour: Very much recommended by the Copelands (top 4 in terms of alpine meadows). Trail head is the west end of Wapta lake. 700m elevation gain, 7 to 8h hike.

Probably Takakkawa Falls campground is the best campground for a first stay and doing 1 day trips.

Mount Robson Region - Berg Lake

Trailhead (855m) - Kinney Lake (campground) - Whitehorn camp ground - Valley of a Thousand Falls - Emporer Falls (camp ground) - Marmot camp ground - Berg Lake (camp ground, 1646m) - Snowbird Pass (2410m) - Hargreaves Glacier (2150m)

• 3 to 5 day tour, 800m elevation gain
• Supposedly it has enough campgrounds that the reservation can be made at the trail head visitor centre.
• 1st night is probably Whitehorn camp ground, 2nd night is a camp ground in the Berg Lake area (there are multiple).
• Multiple 1 day hiking options from Berg Lake: Toboggan Fall - Hargreaves Glacier - Mumm Basin loop, Snow Bird Pass
• The weather in the Mt. Robson area is supposedly very unpredictable with the mountain itself quite often in mist and rain clouds

Mosquito Creek Campground (Northern Banff)

Trail head and closest proximity for several recommended hikes (single and multi day hikes)

• Fish Lakes, Molar Pass, Devon Lakes and back (3 or 4 day trip). Rated top.
• Mosquito Creek, North Molar Pass, Fish Lakes and back (2 day trip).
• Helen Lake (see below).

Helen Lake - Cirque Peak (Northern Banff)

• 1 day easy trip to the lake. 4h to lake, 6h to peak 
• Trail head at Bow Lake - Crawfoot Glacier Viewpoint about 5km north or so of Mosquito creek.
• Rated top: Superb alpine meadows.

Wilcox Creek Campground (Northern Banff, Southern Jasper)

Wilcox Pass and Mt. Wilcox (Jasper)

• Easy 3h tour, 330m elevation
• Trail head 1.9km northwest of Sunwapta Pass (right beside Wilcox Creek campground)
• Tour can be extended to Mt. Wilcox.
• Recommended tour because of super views to Columbia Icefield and surroundings (especially alpine meadows).

Nigel Pass - Upper Brazeau Canyon / Cataract Pass

• Trail head: about 10km south of Wilcox creek campground.
• 7 to 9 hours for lake, 8 to 10h for pass. Tour follows Nigel pass route, then into the upper Brazeau area (Cataract lake (please note that the lake is unnamed in the maps)). From Nigel pass the trail drops to a crossing of the Brazeau river (the river is shallow and likely rockhoppable). Don't follow to Jonas pass, instead follow the Brazeau upstream. Follow cairns through a bouldary gap (several more bouldary gaps need to be crossed).
• Nigel pass is rated very good. The upper Brazeau canyon is rated tops.

Parker Ridge

• Easy 1 to 2 hours for saddle (300m elevation), 4 to 5 hours for ridge crest (500m elevation).
• About 5km south of Wilcox creek campround near Hilda Creek hostel.
• Plenty of meadows.

Other Possibilities

• Lake Louise: Eiffel valley, Sentinel Pass, Paradise Valley (and maybe even Mt. Temple)
• Jasper: Skyline (however this is not a round trip)
• Jasper: Ramparts and Amethyst Lake (multi day trip)