Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies
Sample of a Premier Rockies trip
Trip 100 — AVION RIDGE / TWIN LAKES ****
| Location | Waterton Lakes National Park |
| Loop trip | 22.9 km (14.2 mi) via Snowshoe campground |
| Elevation gain | 825 m (2705 ft) additional 230 m (754 ft) for Twin Lakes |
| Time required | possibly one long day, but usually two or three |
| Difficulty | Challenging |
| Maps | Sage Creek 82 G/1; Waterton Lakes National Park |
OPINION
Commercial jets fly too high. Hang gliding is too risky. Friends with pilot's licenses are too rare. Bungee jumping is too fleeting. Most of us wingless humans who yearn for the joy of sustained, low-level flight have only one recourse: find a high, narrow, airy ridge and start hiking. Avion Ridge will do quite nicely. Given a sunny, summer day, a smile will splurge across your face for the hour or so that you soar along the crest.
FACT
By Car
From the Waterton National Park entrance, near the junction of Highways 5 and 6, drive 3 km (1.9 mi) southwest into the park. Turn right (northwest) onto the Red Rock Parkway. Follow it 15 km (9.3 mi) to where the road ends in the Red Rock Canyon parking area, at 1495 m (4905 ft).
On Foot
...At 4.3 km (2.7 mi), after 1 hour of mostly level walking, reach a signed fork. Right ascends 2.5 km (1.6 mi) to Goat Lake and 4.1 km (2.5 mi) to Avion Ridge. Following our recommended clockwise loop, you'll descend the ridge that way. So proceed left, gaining elevation gradually. The road/trail is treelined, but there are views. Another 3/4 hour of striding will bring you to Snowshoe campground at 8.2 km (5.1 mi), 1720 m (5640 ft). From here it's 14.7 km (9.1 mi) and a gain of 600 m (1970 ft) back to the trailhead via Avion Ridge. If you're only equipped for a dayhike, think carefully before embarking on the long ascent to the ridge. Be certain you'll have sufficient daylight, energy, water and food to pull it off....
Want to read the whole description for Avion Ridge? Get the book.
Sample of a Don't Do trip
Trip 63 — CASCADE AMPHITHEATRE
| Location |
Banff National Park |
| Round Trip | 14.6 km (9.0 mi) |
| Elevation Gain | 610 m (2000 ft) or 575 m (1890 ft) |
| Time Required | 5 hours |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Maps | Lake Minnewanka 82 0/6; Gem Trek Banff & Mt. Assiniboine |
opinion
Hoodwinked into a bogus venture called snipe hunting, naive greenhorns undertake a futile search. Much like hikers seeking mountain grandeur where it doesn't exist: on the trail to Cascade Amphitheatre.
The trip starts with a disturbing tour of the metal and refuse of Mt. Norquay ski area. Then you suffer spruce and lodgepole forest as ugly as it gets in the Rockies. The trail is viewless most of the way. And the amphitheatre is disappointing, with no lake and only a small subalpine meadow. You see less of Cascade Mountain here than is visible from Banff townsite or the Minnewanka Road.
Proximity to the townsite is no excuse for hiking here, unless you're continuing to the summit of Cascade Mountain. Now that's an outstanding trip, but only feasible for experienced scramblers.