Bow Valley Provincial Park, less than an hour's drive west of Calgary, is a great year-round destination. The park is blessed with a varied landscape that includes a section along the glacier-fed Bow River at the confluence of the Kananaskis River, grasslands, boreal forest and a bit of the front range of the Canadian Rockies. In summer Bow Valley Provincial Park is a wonderful place to go camping (though be prepared for some highway and…
If you're a camper, I think you'll find the MoonShade to be an incredibly useful piece of gear. It's a lightweight, portable awning that attaches to vans, cars or trucks (via two very strong magnets) or to windows via suction cups. Don't have any of the above? You can still tie it off with guylines to a fence, tree or door frame. The bottom line - it's very portable and it can be used in…
I've been camping now for 30 plus years. Growing up it was all about cottages - but when John and I moved to Colorado, camping and hiking became our focus. We were broke and camping was cheap. All we needed was the initial investment in camping gear and a tank of gas every weekend and we could get ourselves into some fabulous Rocky Mountain scenery. With high unemployment, under employment, tanking stock portfolios and a…
One of the easiest hikes to do in Kananaskis Country is the hike to Elbow Lake. It's only 1.3 kilometres in from the trailhead with about 137 metres of elevation gain. If you're a keen hiker that won't be enough but there is the option to continue to Rae Glacier. Note that the hike to Elbow Lake is ideal for families. And it makes a great first camping trip. You can knock it off in…
An overnight stay in a Wadi Rum camp in Jordan finally got checked off my bucket list in March of 2019. I'd been angling to get to Jordan for well over a decade. The country has been on my radar since I first read Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Advisor to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia. Instagram provided further fodder - with lots of drool-worthy photos over the past few…
If you’ve been thinking about a trip to the Canadian Rockies this summer it’s time to swing into gear and make some plans. For those of you short on time or who hate the bother of planning the details of a trip, check out the following two Canadian Rockies packages offered by Air Canada Vacations. With a single phone call or a click on your computer you can have your holiday booked and on your…
The original list of 10 hiking essentials came from the Mountaineers, a Seattle based organization for climbers and outdoor adventures and the people behind the bible of mountaineering - Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. The idea then as it is today, is that people be prepared for emergency events outdoors, even if it's miles from civilization. The 10 hiking essentials list has since been slightly modified, primarily to keep up with technology. I try…
If you haven't recently stayed overnight in one of Canada's National Parks you probably don't know about all the cool and quirky accommodation options that are now available. Forget your musty smelling tent you haven't dragged out in years. Instead check out options that include everything from micro-cubes to cocoon tree beds to double tents - exciting options to explore whether you're a couple, a group of friends or a family. It seems people are…
If you're looking for an easy, family-friendly summer adventure in Alberta try canoeing or kayaking the Red Deer River. Although it has a good rate of flow, there are very few, if any rapids to deal with. Your biggest problem will likely be running aground on a gravel bar or slipping on a muddy bank getting out of the canoe. There are lots of canoeing options on the Red Deer River from a one day…
You'll find the Sulphur Gates Provincial Recreation Area just west of Grande Cache, a small community 425 kilometres northwest of Edmonton and a solid 4.5 hour drive away. The Sulphur Gates are one of three entrance points to the Wilmore Wilderness Park. While the Sulphur Gates area can easily be visited in under an hour, the Wilmore Wilderness which happens to be the largest wilderness area in Alberta that nobody has heard of, needs at…