This was the first year I decided that Walter was mature enough to go backpacking with me.
It turned out to be a bit more than we expected, but that's how it goes sometimes. I also have
photos from our Waterton end-of-school camping outing too, and climbing Mt Howard.
First, some catch-up photos
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Here's Walter on the log ride with our friends Scott and Amy at Calaway Park.
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The boys with me on Father's Day with their presents.
Walter's first backpacking experience
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Walter joined me, his friend Niko, and his dad Dustin, to hike into Elbow Lake for his first
backpacking experience. I should have tested out the backpack first as it didn't really fit
him at all. But to his credit, he was a trooper and kept moving.
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Walter and I before hiking into Elbow Lake.
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The boys hiking up the trail and checking out each other's backpacks. Walter's was full, but
mostly just his clothes and his sleeping bag.
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Walter and Niko on the way up to Elbow Lake.
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Niko tried out Walter's backpack and also concluded that it didn't fit him either.
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And after just under an hour of walking and feeding them gummy bears, they made it to the lake.
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After getting our campsite set up and showing the boys around, we went for a walk over to
go try fishing on the lake.
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Niko and Dustin fishing with a gorgeous view of an outcrop of Mt Rae above them.
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Walter was a quick learned and swiftly figured out that keeping his tip high keeps the hook
from getting stuck on the rocks.
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Niko and Walter having dinner. I brought pre-cooked noodles and sauce for Walter which he devoured.
Apparently, the best spices are hunger.
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After Walter's playing in the trees at Waterton, he quite liked climbing in this one too.
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Having candy bags was a massive win for the boys.
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Give boys sticks and mud and they are entertained for hours.
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Dustin brought Jiffy pop for the boys which we cooked on the campfire. Kudos to Alberta Parks
for stocking firewood here as it likely keeps people from chopping their own.
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Sooo, after a fun afternoon and evening at Elbow Lake, this cute and cuddly monster came back to
the campsite, having been trolling through here over the course of the last few days. According
to one of the other campers, he was within 10 feet of our tent... So, we did the prudent thing
and packed up at 9pm and gave up the space to the bears. This grizzly was ~1000 lbs and the other
male up here was also pretty big too. The COs we talked to then came up later that evening and
fired rubber bullets and paintballs to move them along.
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I was quite proud of our pivot to then camp at Boulton Creek and stay in the park instead of tucking tail
and going home. Here's Walter successfully eating Dino Egg oatmeal and enjoying his morning.
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Walter enjoys walking on logs up in the air, which of course will wind up hurting him at some point.
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Since the forecast was going to be so nice, we targeted a hike up to Rawson Lake. Naturally, boys
are more interested in throwing rocks into lakes than hiking around, but we did both.
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Niko and Dustin hiking up to Rawson Lake. I took this photo for the water drainage management here
which isn't even noticeable unless you're looking.
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The boys thought the falls were awesome.
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Once we started hiking up the hill to the lake, Walter got decidedly less interested, as noted
here by his grump. However, I made up a bet about the number of switchbacks and that seemed to
get his interest back.
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The boys were excited to have found snow and promptly threw snowballs at each other.
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Some of the mountain avens on the hike up to Rawson Lake.
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Walter thought this outhouse was pretty cool.
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Playing at the lake amid the snow patches.
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Dustin brought chocolate bars, which was the prize for correctly guessing the number of switchbacks.
The learning I've had with kids hiking is you have to find ways to distract them and have them think about
things that aren't the hike itself. This hike I used a switchback bet and counting backwards from 200.
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This mountain jay (also Steller's jay) was focused on trying to steal the boys' chocolate bars.
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Since the boys had reached their end of the day, we took a tour to the visitor centre to fill up
waters and wash their hands. The boys liked this bighorn sheep.
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This bear was estimated at ~700 lbs, but I'm quite sure the one we saw was bigger than that. Niko
is showing his Mom that he was scared.
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We threw more rocks into the lake at Lower Kananaskis Lake and Dustin taught the boys to skip rocks.
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The boys discovered 'Ice Cream Junction' at Fortress on the way home.
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When we got home, Henry's cousins were there and Grace and Henry got to play outside together.
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We did our first single track family ride of the year at West Bragg the next day. We rode part
of Boundary Ridge to Snowy Owl but I'd say that the Hostel Loop and Telephone Loop area is likely
better for kids with Snowy Owl being pretty soupy.
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We did a bike ride out to Merlin and then Kestrel with my friend Nathan. This is always a great time.
Ink Pots hike
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In spite of the crowds, we decided to do a hike up to Ink Pots via Johnston Canyon on a later
afternoon Sunday since Walter said he was interested in seeing the Paint Pots again. Rather
than driving back to Kootenay I thought this would be a new experience for him.
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Henry at Ink Pots. This hike was a bit far for Walter (~12 km and 500m elevation) so the last couple
of km at the end were rough. Keeping them talking about their favourite things (like Minecraft for Walter)
is a good tool in the toolbox.
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Walter needed a bit of carrying to get down at the end of the hike.
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The family in the cave near Lower Falls. This took ~10 minutes of waiting to get a photo, even
at 6pm.
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We went for a troll into the Jumpingpound Creek to cool off one day. Here's Walter with his buddy Jackson.
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Walter and Jackson. Henry lost his sunglasses and Walter lost his flip flop. Typical Daddy outing.
Hiking Mt Howard - peak 55/108
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Even though I couldn't find a partner, I had a time window and took it. This is the first look at the
trail up to Mt Howard visible from the creek bed.
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Massive creek bed - likely faster for the first 5km to take a bike although the rocks weren't tiny.
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A look back at the colours of Mt Bryant.
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The view to the summit along the ridgeline.
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Some of the snow along the north aspect.
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This great find inside the summit register.
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Some of the watermelon snow along the ridge.
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Good chance to take my boots off and cool off the feet.
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Rather than taking the longer tour around the other descent route, I dropped straight into the north
east drainage and scree- and snow-skied my way out.
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Looking to the west and the colours of Mt Bryant.
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Chilling in the canyon with cool colours.
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Making dinner at our campsite in Waterton Townsite.
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The family went for a bike ride and promptly got dumped on. While the torrential rain came down
we took shelter under some trees and hung out while it rained.
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The family at the top of Bear's Hump in town. Note Henry's great expression here.
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Climbing in this tree was a highlight for the boys from this trip.
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Henry doing bunny ears with Walter in the tree.
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Walter sleeping in our tent at Waterton.
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On the way home from Waterton, we popped into Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump as that was something that
Henry had studied in school this week. This is us having a picnic at the site.
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The boys and I hiking up to Ink Pots in Banff.
