Mount Galwey

October 2, 2020. Scrambling on one of Waterton’s most exciting and accessible peaks. Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional Territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina and Ktunaxa First Nations Distance: 6 km round-trip Total Ascent: 960 m Elevation of Objective: 2367 m Total Time: 4h 2m Safety and Disclaimer The last time I climbed Mount […]

St. Eloi Mountain

September 11, 2020. Straightforward scrambling to a summit on the Continental Divide. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Ktunaxa First Nations Distance: ~13.5 km round-trip (my 3 tracking programs varied wildly on this: 12.6 km, 13.3 km and 14.9 km) Total Ascent: 1414 m Elevation of Objective: 2500 m Total […]

Mount Tecumseh Attempt

August 27, 2020. Late summer scrambling on the Alberta/BC border. Region: Crowsnest Pass. Traditional territory of the Blackfoot and Ktunaxa First Nations Elevation of Objective: 2549 m Total Ascent: 1500 m due to my wandering off course. Accounts of uncomplicated ascents put it at 1100-1200 m Distance: 16.1 km due to my wandering off course. […]

Spread Eagle Mountain (Mount Roche)

August 23, 2020. A scramble to the summit of Spread Eagle Mountain and its impressive western outlier in the Castle Wilderness. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Ktunaxa First Nations Distance: 17.8 km round trip (I estimate that omitting the outlier summit would shave about 2-3 km off that distance) […]

Victoria Peak

August 4, 2020. A scramble to the summit of a distinctive mountain in the Castle Wilderness. UPDATE September 3, 2021: This post has been updated to reflect changes to access. Old access instructions have been deleted but time and distance information below still reflects the old route. The new route can’t be bike easily. Region: Castle […]

Mount Bourgeau

July 17, 2020. A full-day hike in Banff to the summit of the most accessible Canadian Rockies peak above 2900 m. Region: Banff National Park. Traditional Territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations. Distance: 25-30 km round-trip (1 of my apps and my Garmin measured the trip at 30 km, another app measured […]

Drywood Mountain

July 10, 2020. A full-day excursion involving biking, scrambling and ridge walking in the Castle Wilderness. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 25 km round-trip Total ascent: 1417 m Elevation of objective: 2473 m (official summit), 2485 m (ridge high-point) Total Time: 7h 33m Safety and Disclaimer Climbing Pincher Ridge last […]

Pincher Ridge

July 3, 2020. An easy scramble (with some unpleasant bushwhacking) to the summit of Pincher Ridge in the Castle Wilderness, followed by a quick visit to Drywood Falls. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 14.7 km round-trip Total ascent: 1082 m Elevation of objective: 2426 m Total Time: 4h 49m Safety […]

Avion Ridge via Goat Lake

June 22, 2020. A bike and hike to a high mountain ridge on the northern border of Waterton Lakes National Park. Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 21.6 km round-trip (approximately 10 km on bike) Total Elevation Gain: 886 m Elevation of Objective: 2370+ m Total Time: 5h 32m […]

Mount Ward

June 21, 2020. A straight-forward scramble with impressive views in the Crowsnest Pass. Region: Crowsnest Pass. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 4.8 km round-trip from the east shore of Window Mountain Lake Total Elevation Gain: 651 m from Window Mountain Lake Elevation of Objective: 2567 m Total Time: 2h 45m round-trip from […]