Mt Assiniboine: Like in a far dream

Tomer in action

Sunburst Lake and Mt. Assiniboine

Lunch time :)

hey,

yeah!!! The next hike which I did together with Tomer was just unbelievable. Just everything was perfect. It was realy like in an other world. I always thought it might be a dream. The landscape was gorgeous, the views breathtaking, the weather 5 days sun pur, the food like in paradise. All together there are just a few words which are suitable to discribe this unforgetable hike.
It started all with a try to hitchike to the Sunshine Village on a late afternoon. At this time we had bad luck and so we waited long untill sobody stoped for us. As we already gave up some boys stopped and took us to the road which goes in the Sunshine ski resort. Unfortunetly it was already to late to get to our suposed campsite. Because of that we camped illegal on a nice creek. There Tomer cooked a nice pasta with creme sauce for dinner.
At the next day we get up early. At this time somebody stoped for us very soon and took us up to the skiresort. The last meter we drove up with a shuttle bus. In this bus we met Martin. Martin is a friendly guy from Quebec and accompanied us for a long time during the trip because he picked the same route like we did. Together we had a lot of fun. On our first day we hiked from the skiresort to the Rock Isle Lake. From there we had a great view to the moutains. It was fantastic. We continued hiking over alpine meadows and last snowfields to the Howard Douglas Lake. After a nice Lunch break at the Lake we went up to Citadel Pass. From there we had an other great view on the up coming Mountains and a nice valley. from the pass we went down to our first camp. On the way down we have seen some bighorn sheeps at the hill. after we set up our tents we made a fire and cooked the famous smashed potatoes with salami.
The day two was very beautyful as well. The weather forecast saied it gets rainy in the afternoon but we had luck and enjoed the sun all the day :). We hike through the forest the valley up. After some kilometers we came in the valley of the rocks. There we saw a bizzare landscape formed by rocks laying around. Everything looked so strange and it seemed to be that we are on an other planet! It looked like on the moon. Tiered we arrived in the afternoon at the Og Lake. There we have been so lucky that we could enjoy a great view over the lake Og to the Mt. Assiniboine at the surounding glaciers. After the lunch break we went further to the Lodge at Lake Magog. From this point the trip was just unbelievable. I felt like I'm dreaming all the time. The view was amazing. The Lake Magog and the canadian Matterhorn the Mt. Assiniboine have been so beautyful. We hiked along the shore of the lake and everybody didn't trust his eyes because it was so great what we have seen. We set up our camp at the lake. Because we were scared that the weather changed we decided to climb the Nublet in the evening. On the way to the top of the hill we came along the Sunburst Lake where got an other nice panorama. On the way to the top we also passed a colourful meadow which was just inviting for Martin to relax. On the top of the hill the view was unbeatable. We really didn't know if we should trust our eyes. I stayed on the top for a while and just enjoyed the view. The way down i opened my jacket and run down all the way. The wind under the arms felt just like freedom. It was a great feeling. As I arrived the thought I run away from a bear :))). At the evening Tomer made another nice pasta and all the other camper got big eyes because it smelled so good :)
The night was cold. Very cold! Minus 9 degree. The small creek next to the camp started to freeze. But therefore the next day was sunny like the day before. I enjoyed the morning in the sun on a nice meadow with vie to the mountain. After the cereals in the morning and packing our stuff we hike to the Wounder Pass. We hiked again along the Lake shore and took thousands of pitures of us and the Lake :) Over snow and meadows we hiked up to the Pass. From the top we had a awesome view back from where we came. A clear sky gave us a great view on the surounding area. On the other side the view was just even better. It was great wath we have seen. Spectacular peaks, glaciers, alpine flowers,... That was the perfect spot for the best lunch break we ever did. We just enjoyed the view untill we get suburned :) And of cause no lunch break is perfect without nutella ;) We still didn't realized wath we have seen in the last days as we have seen already the next highlight. We thought this great panorama you can't top. But yes you can if you put a nice turkis lake in the middle of them. Lake Gloria was so impressive and unbelievable. I really couldn't believe what was in front of me! After the way down from the pass the trail took us along the shore of Marvel Lake. That was an other nice scenic hike with a great view. As we arrived in the forest we have seen our first wildlife too. Hunderts of mosquitos made us fire under the ass :) Rushed by them we arrived at our third camp at the Bryant Creek. This Valley is also very beatyful and so we set up our tents under a nice waterfall. There told our stories with other hikers. We relaxed and slept well.
At our next day we went down to the Spray Lakes. But instead to go out we decided to go up the Spray River Valley. Because of this really hot day wanted to go bathing in the river. The river was cold and it was great refreshment. The river is glacier feed. Tomer wanted to go in the water to but he just put his big toe in and cried it's cold :))). The day we finished at Leman Lake. There we made fire and had an other fantastic last lunch. The highlight of dinner was our desert. A nice bannasplit made us a sweet evening at the fire.
At the next day I got up early. I went to Leman Lake which was close to our camp. There i enjoyed the nice view on the lake and the sun which was going up over the mountains. except that I had the great chance to see two eagles starting next to me and circling over the lake. We packed our stuff and did our last big climb. We went up the Burstall Pass. At the top of the pass we still had a lot of snow fields. At one snow was still about 1,5 m high! We enjoyed the scenery at the pass before we went down. As we arrived at the road we have been lucky to finish the great trip successful.
At the end I also found my answer. O thought all the time i'm dreaming. The answer is I'm living a dream!
From the end of the trail we hitchiked back to Banff. On the way we have been also so lucky to see a grizzly cup. Just an other thing to make this trip unforgetable.

Enjoy the video!

Greetings from Banff

Karsten

Ps: check also Tomers blog!!!! He has maps and a lot more pictures online

http://tomernegev.blogspot.com/

Hiking around Banff

Hey,

sorry again that the last posting is already so long time ago but sometimes we have the problem on a hike to find firewood. So you can imagine it's even more difficult to find internet ;)

After the hike of the incredibble three it was not easy to find other hiking buddies around the town. Because of that I decided to leave for an other very long hike alone. Unfortunetly the weather was very bad in these days. I tried to make my way but because there left still that much snow in the forests and at the mountain passes I decided to go back to Banff and gave up. I also realized that the most important thing on a hike are the people aaround you. I mean of course the weather and the food is important too :). But I learned that I don't like to be alone on the trail. I need the people around me. So I was very luck as I met Tomer from Israel in the hostel at the same evening I came back from from the trip I broke up.
Together we went out for a small trip together. There we had already a lot of fun. And something I learned on this trip is: if you have a Israeli on the trek you don't have to be worry about the food. Tomer is a great cook. He served me with fantastic dinners and lunches.
This trip together was the basic to our next hike to the Mt. Assiniboine. This hike was just amazing and there are no words for it. So stay exited for the next posting it will be unbelivable ;)

greetings from the Rockies and enjoy the video

Karsten

The incredible three on a hike

Hey,

already in the bus I realized the still very snowy tops of the mountains around me. Just two days before the last snow come down! And that in June!!! After I arrived in Banff I went to straight in the National Park Information Centre. The information they gave me there was not good. They told me that there is no backcountry hiking possible because of snow right now. But I didn't believe them and so I went up the Sulphur Mountain to get a better view. In my point of view it looked not that bad. Up from 2200 m it started to get snowy. 2500 m seemed to be the limit without special equipement. So I saw a chance for long trip. The problem was just one pass! The Badger pass with 2550m seemed to be the key point at the route.
In the hostel I met Kay from Berlin and Jooseph from Estonia. Together we decided to test what is possible right now. At the next day we went again in the park informattion centre. There we asked for the permits for our trip but we didn't got them because it's not recomended to cross this mountain passes right now. But we all wanted to try our limits and wanted to check out by ourself whats possible for us.
So we went to the grocery store to buy some food. This was my shoping list: 1kg cereals, 500g sugar, 1kg milk powder, 1kg butter, 1kg salami, 500g raisin, 1.5kg chocolat (mhmm!), 1 kg potato powder, 300g cheese, onions and garlic.

At the next day we started from the hostel in Banff. We went to the Skiresort Norquay. There we made our first stop the lift. The backpacks were so heavy and were not used to it. So we wished that the lift is runnig but it wasn't the case :(. Instead we went up the long way in the 40 mile valley. On the the way we always stoped from time to time to rest and put the heavy backpack away. Short before we arrived at the Mystic Lake campground we came in the rain. After this short shower we were lucky to arrive the camp after more than 24 km. But Jooseph and me wanted to see the Lake too which was about 2 more km away. The way to the lake was very snowy. For one way we need 1.5 hours!!! The snow was so deep that we were stucked in it to our knees! It was very hard to walk and the snow came in our shoes so that we got wet feets :(. The Lake was ofcourse stilll frozen. as we arrived back on the campground we were so tired! We made a warm campfire to dry our feets and cook a warm meal. After that we jumped in the sleeping bags.
At the nxt day the weather was very nice. After I enjoed my cereals and my tea to the breakfast we packed our stuff and continued our trek going up the valley. at this time we always had to walk around deep snowfields which covered the trail. At the afternoon we climbed the summit of th valley and came to nice alpine meadow with a beautyful view. After the lunch break with chocolat cheese and salami we went down along Sawback Creek. Very tired we arrived late at Flint's Park our next camp. We set up the tents and made a nice dinner over the camp fire. I ate mashed potatos with salami, onion and garlic. We tried to wash ourself in the river but it was to cold :))) Very tired we fall in sleep.
At our third day we planed to go to check out the Badger Pass. The way along the river and up to a pass was very mudy because of melting snow. It was hard to climb up. On our way we followed Grizzley bear traps in the snow. The bears cross the passes to get down to the valleys in the spring. It was very impressive to see what performance is necessary when so a big and heavy animal is crossing a high pass like that. We crossed a couple of big snowfields which was hard and wet :(. At one we even had to use my rope and some climbing tricks. But finaly we come to the Badger Pass which was covered with a big snowfield. After we crossed this field we were so lucky to made it safe to the top of the pass. We made what everybody told us is impossible. At the Pass we enjoyed the view before we went on a snowy way down. Because it was already late we decided to ste up the camp short behind the pass. We melt snow to cook our dinner and spent the night at 2400m.
At the next morning we went down in the Johnson Creek Valley. We went out to check out already the next pass. But this one was still snowy too. Everybody was tired from the last days. So we decided to make a break. We went to the next campground and enjoyed the sun to tan our tired bodys. We went to the very cold Johnson Creek were Jooseph and me took a bath in the cold water. Fuck was that cold :))) At the evening we cooked our dinner under trees because it was hailing!
At day five Jooseph and me were still hungry for adventure, landscape and hiking. Because of that we decided to cross the next pass. Kay had enough from the snow. This was the reason we went different ways. Kay went back to the hostel. Jooseph and me continued hiking. At an amazing day we croosed the Pulsatilla Pass. At the climb over the pass we had to cross some more snow but at the other side it looked better. We went down the Wild Flower Creek Valley. There we had to cross some streamings of the melting snow. The crossing were not always easy. The streaming was strom and the water deep. But we used all tricks and things like rope, trees, branches,... to come over the water. Unfortunelty Jooseph got wet feets :))). At the same day we went further to the Cotton Grass Pass were we have seen a fantastic sunset over meadows. At the evening we arrived at the still snowy and frozen Baker Lake where we camped this night.
At day six we went over the Cotton Grass Pass. As we arrived at the Red Deer Lackes it was rainy. But this was no problem we set up the fly of the tent as a roof and boiled a nice tea. After the rain stoped we contiuned walking. We went down the Little Pipestone Creek. After these many river crossing we aleady thought: Hopefully we don't have to cross this river because that's going to be impossible. Some Minutes later we got the problem the we came to the Pipestone River. We had to cross it but there was no bridge and so it was impossible. We had a diffcult situation because we could not go south because of the Little Pipestone Creek and could also cross the Pipestone River. So ther were just to ways out. The way back or bushwhacking along the Pipestone River untill this was going to be smaller and slower. I went out and found a very old trail which was not always clear. Anyways we decided to go up a long the River in the hope that these is going to get smaller. It was already late and so we camped illegal at a warden hut. We made a fire to dry josephs shoes and ate beans.
At the next day the weather was beautyful. Unfortunetly Jooseph felt bad because of the beans last evening. We started early and walked up the river on the old path. After a while we came to a meadow where we ate breakfast. As I looked at the other side of the river suddenly I saw a black bear about 75 meter a way from us. This was a fantastic moment to see the bear from safe distance and to watch them. :) Jooseph and me just enjoyed this moment before we continued walking again. Then we came to an other creek which was to cross. Actual not a big deal but we made it to a big one. We tryed to bring the backpacks dry over with my rope. But because they are so heavy my backpack fall in the creek :\. That meant my tent and clothes were wet. How I later realized at least the food stayed dry. I just thought ok at least you are still dry :) But then I dryed to throw Joosephs Backpack over. But because the backpack was also to heavy to throw it over I steped in the river and got wet shoes. Ok Backpack and me were wet. But anyways we had a lot to laugh. :))) The next crossings we managed in underware and barefoot :) Finaly we came to good spot to cross this stupid river and we could continue on the trail. We followed the trail up to the fish lake. There we dryed our things in the sun, set up the tent and cooked our dinner. The valley and the lake has been very nice. we enjoyed the full day with a lot of fun and our first bear.
At our last day we had to cross the North Molar Pass which was higher than the Badger Pass. I was worry because of that because I know that ther was no real other way out. As we came to the 2590m high pass it sart to rain and later even to snow!!! We crossed some more snowfields but as we came to the last one it was more ice than snow. That meant for us we could'nt walk on it because it was to slippery. Because of that we scrambled around at a very stepy wall which was not without risk too. Finaly we made over the snowy pass. The which left was easy. We went down from the North Molar Pass in the Mosquito Creek Valley. The way lead us over a alpine meadow in a forest along th creek.
Finaly we arrived after 8 days and 125 km at the Icefield Parkway. We were so lucky that we made it. After 8 days we have seen the firts human there. A crazy feeling. We hitchhiked back from there to Lake Louise and from there to Banff where we arrived at the hostel just looking forward to take a warm shower after these many days. In the Hostel we met Kay and told him the story.
At the next day I went to the park centre to tell them about the trail conditions but they didn't believe me :))))

Greetings from the Rocky Mountains

Karsten

Ps: At this time I didn't post pictures because I had to many good ones to post :) Instead somebody teached me how to create a movie. So click play and enjoy! :)

A nice ride

A long way crossing the praries by bus

Hey,

from Toronto I took an other time the Greyhound Bus. My destination at this time Banff. That means I had to go all the way back where I was coming from. Why? Because I want to go hiking in the Rocky Mountains in the summer.
The bus ride took for ever. I spent 2 nights in the bus. Every two hours I woke up because th bus stopped. This nights were just terrible. The way back trough Ontario was endless. As I arrived in winnipeg I met me with Jens the guy who bought the camper. Together we went to his house where we had a great typical german dinner. But after that I sat in the bus again. We crossed Saskatchewan and Alberta. After 55 hours I arrived in Banff. I was so lucky as I arrived. It was a strange feeling to cross Canada again and to see all this places again too. I never trvelled so long in a bus.

Once is shure: the next time I take the plane :)

Greetings from Banff

Karsten