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It was awesome. Check it out next time you're in the area!

Hey thanks! So glad you were in the area as well. I've spent so little time in this part of the mountains, I have so much more to explore! Hope to see you out there sometime :-)

No way! And Yes you did! It was great to meet you guys that day. And the timing couldn't have been better. It was a thrill for Evelyn and I to meet you all having watched so many of the videos that you all put together. Great time on that trip in the Banff front ranges. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. It's an extremely special place. Let me know when you're back in the area so we can get together!

I heard about that situation on the saw back with the grizzlies. Safety and numbers! Yikes!!!!! Yeah that descent was pretty crazy. Like there was no trail, and barely any place to put your feet. When you add that to my issue with a fear of heights, it was an interesting morning! Thanks for the comment and watching the video, hope to see you out there at some point!

I'm not sure elevation and I are good friends, but it's all part of the job!

Haha! Yes I think that's the campsite am my goodness me. Bipolar government of Alberta! I don't need to elaborate much further on that point. So much bureaucracy managing these parks. Everybody comes in with a different idea what they should do, they waste a lot of our money doing it, and then they reverse it. Again, that's all I'll say!

Oh my God Northover. Aaron had pitched that to me as part of this trip, and then I watched a couple of videos and absolutely said no way! I have a pretty bad fear of heights and so that wasn't going to work for me. I still do carry a solar panel on longer trips yes! Great question. But I always tend to carry enough battery power now to get me through whatever I'm on so I don't lose any video. I have to say that my battery bag is far heavier than my food bag and tent combined! That's my sacrifice for RUclips ha ha!

It's been a year of the grizzly for me! But yeah this is pretty awesome scenery and I don't know why I have not explored this area of the mountains sooner. Lots to see and lots to hike. Stay tuned!

It really is! I can't believe I waited so long to enter this area of the mountains. I'll certainly be returning that's for sure. Enjoy your trip when you go!!

Thanks so much Leanna! Yes they are two gyms that's for sure :-) and if you're going to go out and places like that, good companies pretty important! Glad you enjoyed it!!

Oh my gosh, the bird actually gotcha! That was my fear the whole time. I actually held my trekking poles up over my head after the second swoop by her. Certainly good companions are important in an area like that! As well as experienced ones :-) I certainly had two of those on this one and hope we can do it again sometime next year. I think I'm about finished with all these animal encounters this year though. It just keeps continuing ;-)

It could be porcupines for sure. But I've seen this all over the backcountry this summer unlike other years. So it's kind of odd.

So cool! I can't imagine doing that in the opposite direction! That said as we were climbing up North Fork, I could've easily camped there by the cute little little waterfall. The non-panther side is pretty impressive as a meadow and a place to camp potentially. Glad I wasn't the only one struggling out there ha ha! And good for you for going to these crazy places. That's where the experiences are!

Absolutely. Given the warning I have been given a little bit earlier, I was even going a little overboard compared to my usual ways. This is likely what made the bear know I was in the vicinity and came charging for me.

@@HowestheHike oh boy. I just did 4 days Lamar-Pelican alone and was making a ton of noise. Where did this happen

Well good for you for getting out there and learning from things like changing up equipment! I never resupply. I never have and I probably won't unless I have to do something longer than 10 days. ( like the John Muir Trail in California for example ) Why? I don't want the stress. Now on this trail, the resupply box is pretty safe and in a fairly remote area. However, I just don't want to worry about my food being there on such a long trip. What if it's gone? This is what I'm talking about. I go out to relax and not have any stress and I've heard lots of stories about resupply bags and boxes not being there when people have gotten there. That said, those stories are much less than the norm. On the other side of it, I like to carry everything I need for the whole trip. I go at it like a personal challenge. Being completely self-sufficient no matter what. But that's just me. I always tell folks to hike their own hike. Whatever works for you and keeps you out in the woods is a very very good thing! Good luck on your next attempt and I hope you let me know how you did :-)

Yeah that pretty much sums it up. The only issue I think is the footprint. Even the one person has a large footprint and in random areas could be challenging. But it's probably the best tent out there right now to be honest, even though Dan tried to talk me out of getting the two person ha ha!

Why don't you go to my website and PM me. Happy to help! Just might be easier via email. Briefly however I will say that I use four pegs on the corners. The fly has an interesting way of connecting to the tent poles underneath the main body of the tent. Then I use one peg for each side of the rain fly. And then one peg on each end to allow for airflow.

Hehe. I think people are going to be scared to accompany me in the future if this keeps up!

Thanks Dan. It all happened so quickly it was over before I knew it. No time to react. Certainly made it easy to "stand my ground"!

Nope. This is my fourth Bluff charge and on no occasion did I draw the bear spray. In this particular case, it was so sudden and so quick and right in front of me, all I did was stand there. There was simply no time to react.

Thanks Mike. That's the plan! But, I'm not always in control ;-)

Oh my gosh I love all of the things you've written here! Thank you so much for the questions, I will absolutely add them to videos as I start doing this playlist series! And I'm always up for collaborations! I've met so many awesome people in the very few that I've done. Totally open to that :-) although, my girls are now 21 and busy with other stuff. So it's not like they're out with Dad too much at this moment. Hopefully that will change! And thank you so much for the kind words about the channel. It's certainly a labour of love and it always thrills me to meet people like you here virtually. So again, thank you :-) I do have one question for you. You're talking about elk Island. Where are you located geographically? That will help me answer your question about starter hikes.

Some of the areas we walked through had already been burned by previous fires. Certainly cleared the way for lots of pretty flowers and new grasses for the animals.

That's probably a fair bet. They do tend to be territorial

Oh I know! It seems like everybody at backpack with has a Durston Tent :-) I have talked to Dan about the one person versus the two person, and he thinks the two person is a bit of overkill for me because his one person is so large. (and the 2 is a TRUE two person) My main concern is that most of the storage area is in the vestibule and there's been a large uptick in porcupine activity on the trails I've been on this year. I will have a at some point, just trying to figure out which one!

@@HowestheHike Yeah, I can get my pack and kit into my X-Mid 1P overnight, but I won't pretend it's the loveliest way to camp. It's doable, though, if the eagles are trying to steal your boots.

Yeah that's what I thought. I might go for the two person. Love the design! It's just a big big big footprint

Absolutely! Just added it to the description.

Ahem - it's a "kilt". ;)

On my two trips through Stoney cg I found 2 different groups. One was the girl scouts of Canada out on a trip making sure their leaders knew how to camp before sending them out with the scouts. The next was a group of 8 from Camp Chief Hector. It was educational to hear about some of their backpacks. I had no idea.

Well you can message me anytime my friend! So enjoy the popcorn, but let's talk. When are you and I going to go out and do something? The Internet wants to know!

Phil is the man. He also gave me a ton of Beta on that area when I was going to do it last year. Last minute I decided to do Athabasca pass in lieu. He also picked me up after an epic day hike that he had previously posted on FB so I knew it could be done. Gem of a human being.

Why not use the horse camp at Scotch camp?

That's fantastic! So encouraging to see those groups out there. I love it!

Yeah you dodged a bit of a bullet there. This particular section would've been awesome as part of a larger trip like we had planned. But it's a standalone, it was a lot of work for less pay off than most people would endure. That said, I love being out in the middle of nowhere. So this was extremely awesome!

HAHA! I think you dodged a bit of a bullet. As a standalone hike this one isn't quite as impressive as the others in the front ranges, but would've made an excellent add on to our initial plans.

I haven't had an issue so far, but I haven't had torrential downpours either. That said, given the design, I would be surprised to see it pool water anywhere. I can't comment on anyone else's experience, but typically when something pools water it's due to the way it is set up, often because of uneven terrain for example. I will continue to use this for the rest of the summer and into the fall and do a full review probably in October or November

More like three months minimum at this point!

Hey Marc! I was supposed to be in Jasper for three weeks as well. I have met lots of people on the trail in Banff and K country who also were supposed to be there... Dolomite Curcuit would be a great hike for you! Dolomite Creek was in flood when we were there simply because the extreme heat was melting the glaciers at a high rate. I know others who have crossed without issues so I think it's just a matter of timing. Would suggest you keep an eye on the Pipestone water levels at Alberta River basins as sort of a guide.

UGH. I can't imagine!

I would avoid a whistle. This could be mistaken as a marmot or an elk

@@HowestheHike lmao ok I’ll just use a bear horn or sum

Just start singing or calling out with your voice. I would never use an airhorn on the trail because it will make you deaf and you will run out of compressed gas before you lose your voice. :-) I do take an airhorn in my tent at night however, in the rare case that something might be poking around. It would probably scare them enough to allow me to get out of my tent and assess the situation.

@@HowestheHike I should just blast music with a speaker

Haha. I guess that depends on your taste of music!

Hi Bill, thanks so much for the thoughts! No, I was not. I was in the backcountry of Banff when this happened. It is so tragic and sad. I had planned to be there for the next three weeks but will certainly get there as soon as they reopen to help support some of those local businesses and people who are obviously struggling. It's a strong community and I know they will recover quickly. Hope you are well, as well!

Gotcha. I never tire of seeing that old thing!

I love this idea! Next time I'm in that vicinity I might actually try to plan something where I could do that. Sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Tyler! Hope all is well with you :-)

Oh no! How come?

That was not part of our plan; we didn't know what we were missing; did the watchtower; then camp parkr to Jonas cutoff/ pass and then paradise valley in Banff; all 3-4 day trips I have seen some of your videos and loved all of them

We only had 16 days to get everything done; did a few day hikes;:parker ridge; bow glacier falls and the saddle back

What a great trip. But no, not a lot of time to get it all done! That said, good for you!

Watchtower is awesome! You've been out there and I appreciate you sharing. And thanks for the kind words :-) I appreciate it!

Oh, I think I just saw your other comment. Now I understand! It is a gorgeous area for sure.

Hey thanks! Yeah it was a great trip. You have to make the best of things out there because you never know what's going to happen. Don't even get me started on Siri :-) I have my own struggles with her. I hope Jimmy approves!!

Great to meet you too! She was long gone by the time we went through I guess. Too bad, would've made great video ha ha ha! Stay safe and hope to see you out there again soon :-)

Safe and sound. Thank you for your kind thoughts. I am of course devastated with what has happened to one of my favourite places in the world. Heartbreaking.

Thank you so much for reaching out and thinking of me! I am currently in the Banff safe and sound. I wish I could say the same for so many friends and acquaintances in the Jasper area. So so sad.

Thank you so much for thinking of me, how very kind! It IS absolutely heartbreaking. That's the perfect word. I received a Garmin message while in remote Banff front ranges sharing the news. I was sick to my stomach. Still thinking of all the great people of Jasper and hoping for a swift recovery!

Glad you enjoyed it! Scott's a great guy - always a pleasure to be on the trail with him.

one of the hikes on my bucket list is grasslands national park backcountry. It's got a darker night sky than Jasper and is rarely smoky. The desert/semi-arid desert is just phenomenally beautiful (as a person who also loves the mountains).

We are all kind of in the same boat at this point. I had planned to be there for three weeks. The Banff area is still in great shape at the moment as I write this. As is Waterton and Kanaskis. At the present moment, although it changes hourly, there is very very little smoke in the Banff and Canmore areas.

@@HowestheHike we were able to grab a permit for the Molar Pass loop. Not ideal dates, but it’ll do. Let’s chat before we arrive this Saturday.

Absolutely!

You are so welcome John! You and Helen will always have a warm place in our memories and our hearts! I do hope to run into you again on the trail sometime soon.