Finally figured out what Canadian Tire was all about. Think about a walmart mixed with an advanced auto parts. It was about time for me to change my oil and rotate my tires so I made use of the big lot. There was a local car show going on so I got to hang with a bunch of cars from my era.
I went for a hike on crown land (Cactus Loop Trail) not realizing I was in bear country and ended up running into 3 different bears. I had to go off trail to avoid them with some major bush whacking. I got back to the van and met some new friends. We shared a bottle, drove around a mini scooter moped and had a bonfire.
The next day, I made my way into the Northern Rockies where I saw more bears and had to deal with serial killers. More on that here.
Here I slept at an abandoned motel / summer camp. It was creepy at the time but little did I know, it might have saved my life being slightly off the beaten path here. The next morning I hiked just across the way in Stone Mountain Provincial Park. Linking together 5 peaks.
Later in the trip, I re-entered BC from Alaska. Here my van kept over heathing climbing from sea level to higher elevation and needed a break. Not really any souls out here but yet I still found a campsite on the side of the road.
I picked up my girlfriend Danielle in Yukon and we got to do some rainy hikes in BC, bushwhacking our way through a thick forest in Seven Sisters Provincial Park.
We also checked out Wesach Falls and Ferry Island.
I traded out Danielle for Karen and we ended up staying in Glacier National Parks of Canada which is by far my top picks for the Canadian Rockies. Its near Revelstoke so its near civilization but far enough away from Banff and Jasper that you feel more secluded. We stayed in the A.O. Wheeler Hut which is part of Canadas alpine huts. This massive hut had 2 stories, was heated by a wood stove, had gas lamps and the water was boiled in 5 gallon pots straight from the river. Everyone slept on gym mattresses upstairs with mouse traps around your head. We all chipped in to help keep the place running and shared the space. It was one of the coolest experiences.
We hit Abbott Ridge Trail that ended at the knife edge and I decided to keep going to explore more of the area and get some unique photos. We did 5,200ft Elev. gain in 13 miles. It was another epic day out on the trail. Some great alpine climbing.
The next day we checked out Meeting of the Waters.
