backpacking
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June 17-19, 2024 – Day 10-12 – Caches, bears and terra incognita
On our way to the cache we had our first bear encounter of the trip. A large, male grizzly was feeding along a small creek bed directly in our path of travel, unaware of our presence. We debated trying to… Continue reading
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June 16, 2024 – Day 9 – Into the Kaleidoscope
Today we left the desert Southwest and entered Iceland. Verdant, wild green kaleidoscope mountains capped with gray tops and snow surround our campsite this evening. Dark rain clouds move up the valley, dousing us briefly, and then disappearing as the… Continue reading
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Brooks Range Traverse Gear List
This is a list of the gear we used on our hike/paddle across the Brooks Range. This was roughly 600 miles of hiking and 400 miles of paddling. Gear is super personal; what works for some people doesn’t for others… Continue reading
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Mount Robson to Kakwa Lake
Words by Elaine, photos and captions by Dan. This is it, the big one, the one we’ve all been waiting for! Sure, Fred and George Weasley may have forever engrained these words into many a millennial’s mind, but they sure… Continue reading
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Jasper to Mount Robson: Mud, Mosquitos, and Magnificent Mountains
The short version of the last four days might go something like this: *squelching through shin deep mud* *slapping away gigantic mosquitos* *spending a whole day crossing rivers* *jaws dropping at the incredible Mount Robson* August 8th – 17 miles,… Continue reading
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Into The Arctic Basin and Caribou Country – Saskatchewan Crossing to Jasper
We continue on with our 2019 Great Divide Trail journey from the U.S./Canadian border to Kakwa Lake. Saskatchewan Crossing to Jasper is the 6th segment of the journey, or Section E. Here we begin to enter the far north including… Continue reading
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The Rock Wall, Lighting Storms and Wild Strawberries – Sunshine to Field
We’ve entered the civilized part of our Great Divide Trail hike. Not that it’s not wild and remote and stunningly beautiful, but there is a bit of a different feel, thanks in part to that very beauty. This is world… Continue reading
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Into Wonderland: Kananaskis to Sunshine
Excitement pumped through the blood as we neared the trail again, the heady rush of embarking into a land that you know will blow your mind with the wild wonder of it all making us a bit punch drunk. We… Continue reading
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Coleman to Kananaskis: Forget-Me-Nots, Tornado Mountain and the Most Beautiful Spot on Earth
July 9, 2019 – 24 miles, 3,300 of climbing Aspirations for getting out of town quickly rarely go as planned. The pattern of the trail gets broken, conversations happen and breakfast places keep serving food – all delaying departure. Such… Continue reading
Alta Backcountry 