Pocaterra Cirque

July 21, 2019. A hike with kids to a lovely but lesser-visited cirque just across the highway from one of K-country’s most heavily trafficked trails. Distance: 3.67 km one-way Total Ascent: 415 m Elevation of Objective: 2435 m Hiking time: 2h 13m ascent Pocaterra Cirque is accessed from the same trailhead as the massively popular Ptarmigan Cirque, but draws […]

Sarrail Falls and Hidden Lake

July 20, 2019. A rainy day hike hike to one of Kananaskis Country’s most popular waterfalls and one of its lesser-visited lakes. Distance: 1.1 km one-way to Sarrail Falls; 6.1 km one-way to Hidden Lake (this seems to be the distance most closely matching the Gem Trek map, another app on my phone said it was […]

Star Creek Falls

June 9, 2019. An easy hike around a waterfall in the Crowsnest Pass. Perfect for young kids. (Updated April 30, 2021 after I confirmed the loop-route and checked out the route up the canyon) Region: Crowsnest Pass, Traditional Territory of the Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 1 km one-way from the parking area to […]

Black Prince Cirque

August 21, 2018. A short hike with kids to a rocky cirque in Kananaskis Country. With summer holidays approaching their conclusion, the family and I have once again had a chance to spend a few days in K-country. Looking over our hiking options, it struck me that over the preceding years we’d hit most of […]

Carbondale Hill

March 17, 2018. A rewarding snowshoe trip up to a fire lookout in the Castle Wilderness. (see November 2019 update below for a shoulder-season report, and the May 2020 update for a summer hike with kids report) Distance: 9 km round-trip (winter distance due to road closure) Total Ascent: 496 m Elevation of Objective: 1798 m Total […]

Goat Lake

July 17, 2017. A moderately challenging hike featuring an exciting traverse leading to a lake in a hanging valley. Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional Territory of the Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 14.3 km round-trip Elevation Gain: 520 m Elevation of Objective: 2017 m Total time: 4h 55m I’d been promising my 9-year-old daughter that we […]

Hiking with kids

July 9, 2017. Today was day 2 of a short family hiking vacation. We did this last year with our kids, doing one short hike a day. Last year we hiked Rawson Lake, Ptarmigan Cirque, Grassi Lakes and Elbow Lake. This year we only have 3 days but the intent is the same: short, fun […]

Ptarmigan Cirque

July 8, 2017. This was a family outing with kids, aged between 5 and 11. Ptarmigan Cirque is definitely in my top 3 in terms of best hikes to do with kids (Grassi Lakes and Bear’s Hump would be the other 2 on that list). There’s a bare minimum of uphill slog followed by amazing […]

Writing on Stone Provincial Park

June 17, 2017 This isn’t really a report on a hike, but rather a nod to one of our family’s preferred outdoor playgrounds. Today was a “free” day for our family, and I was anxious to do a hike, specifically Goat Lake in Waterton. We didn’t have anyone to watch the kids, though, so we […]

Bertha Lake and Bertha Bay

Hike Date: May 27, 2017 Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Ktunaxa First Nations Distance: 11.4 km round-trip to lakeshore, add 4.5 km if you circle the lake, add 1.6 km to round-trip if visiting Bertha Bay Total Ascent: 540m, add 100 m if visiting Bertha Bay Elevation of […]