Hi Team!

Here’s another early access video for you from just this past week!

My friend Scott and I had planned to be in Northern BC at a very infrequently visited provincial Park that he has been raving about. But, the weather forecast showed the possibility of 52 mm of rain during our hiking, so it was a very easy decision to look for another plan.

Fortunately, we were able to find a way to get on a section of the parks that I have been trying to get on for a number of years to show on video. It’s an extraordinarily popular area and very difficult to book, so you have to be a bit creative.

The usual route for this trip would be from Vista Lake trailhead in Banff National Park all the way down to Mount Shark trailhead in Spray Valley Provincial Park in Alberta. This trip takes you on Bow Valley Highline route through Sunshine Meadows and Mount Assiniboine.

Due to the lack of permits available for the first couple of campsites to do the route as written in the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, we opted for entering via Ball Pass from the Floe Lake trailhead in Kootenay National Park. Reflecting now, I think this is an even better way to begin backpacking this pretty amazing section of the mountains.

Mount Assiniboine was everything I expected it to be having not seen it before. And as I share in the video, Sunshine ski area has held a very special place in my heart for a long time. Lots of great memories there with my daughters!

We were also very VERY lucky to time the larch season as they began to really pop with colour as we made our way toward Mount Assiniboine. It was a stunning trip!

As I send this to you today I’m getting ready to head back to Ya Ha Tinda Ranch where JJ and I will attempt to do the hike that we had tried to do a number of weeks ago when he started to vomit on the trail!

After that trip, everything is going to be weather dependent.

I still have a number of trips rolling around in my mind that I’d like to complete this year if possible while I am still able to do it and still in this area…  most are short but one is quite long and certainly will depend on rain. That would be the Sunshine Coast Trail in British Columbia. It’s a hut to hut trip but you need to carry a tent case the huts are occupied! But at least if the weather were poor at times you would have a roof over your head potentially at the end of each day.

Of course as we head into colder weather and shorter days, I’m open to any suggestions you have for an overnight trip or even two or three nights. I’ve had lots of thoughts on next season and I’m going to share those with you very very soon for your input :-)

I hope you enjoy this video of this trip through a pretty exceptional part of our Canadian Rocky Mountains. I don’t think there are many other places that offer you as much scenery every day as this one.

As always, thank you so much for being here with me with your kind words and notes, and for your support!

Stuart