Summer Doesn't Stop - Assiniboine Calling

Did you read my last blog about The Toba Adventure? If not, go and read it! If you don't want to, then just know that only one week before doing this trek I had already completed my grandest adventure of all mountaineering adventures. My mountain stoke was still dialed up high after the Toba, and carried over nicely into our upcoming trek to the famous Assiniboine region.

My friend Francine was checking the reservations for the campgrounds everyday for nearly one whole month before an availability presented itself to us due to a cancellation. She didn't hesitate to book it first, and inform me later.

Luckily the timing worked out well for me. I had to leave a music festival early, on the Sunday, in order to drive almost 12 hours from Squamish to Calgary, so that I could sign the papers the next day to finalize the sale of my condo. What a relief it was to finally be free of home ownership! I just needed one full and stressful day afterward to move out the rest of the furniture, and that night I drove straight to Canmore so that Francine and I could prep for the trek.

All stoked for my second trek in as many weeks!

Sunshine Meadows, from the top of the chairlift, the starting point of our trek

Early the next morning we were off! We dropped off our food at a helicopter service company, and continued on our way to Banff National Park's Sunshine Village, a ski resort in the winter, day hiking hub in the summer.

From the top of the chairlift we began our hike initially through smooth wildflower covered Sunshine Meadows, then skirting along the side of a steep valley, through a winding rock garden, and finally opening up into the meadow with the Assiniboine Lodge overlooking classic lake and mountain vistas. All in all, we hiked 30 km on day one!

It was a long and strenuous slog all the way to our campground. But Francine showed her toughness, while I called up my recent Toba experience as well as past difficult treks, to push me forward. I find during such long hauls I get into a zone where I'm laser sharp focused, moving as if every single step mattered. And I internalize the pain and suffering in my body, choosing to see it as growing pains - as an opportunity to increase my resilience. It allows such long hauls to feel like walking meditations.

We limped in to our campground as the sun was setting, feeling tired but extremely satisfied at our accomplishment. We made camp, picked up our food which was helicoptered to the lodge, then cooked dinner under headlamp light before passing out.

Wildflowers such as Indian paintbrushes dotted the trails, keeping the hike colourful

Walking along the steep slopes of the valley, smoke wafting over from nearby forest fires obscuring the view

Rock Garden part of the hike was dotted with tiny rugged rock formations

 Assiniboine Lodge - you can get helicoptered in from Canmore and skip the hike!

The view from Assiniboine Lodge - Magog Campground was even closer to the lake

We woke up the next morning to quite a view! Magog Campground sits in a sweet spot - directly overlooking Lake Magog and snuggled under a collection of peaks including the classic Mt. Assiniboine, a pyramid of rock jutting into the sky, heads and shoulder above all the peaks.

Day 2 was our day to explore, and after breakfast and packing, we took off for little Nub Peak. I've never seen the clouds move so fast as they did in this region. Grey painted clouds overtook the sky and opened up early in day two to a barrage of hail.

But the rains stopped as quickly as they came, the clouds parted, and the rest of the day saw a wrestling match between grey clouds and blue sky. This provided my near ideal conditions for hiking - not too hot with a cool breeze, and so I moved forward with anticipation.

Beholding the thick glacier chilling below the sharp peak of Mt. Assiniboine. The rains opened up shortly

My inner goat is satisfied

View from Nub Peak - Mt. Assiniboine dominates the skyline, with 4 adjacent lakes lining the smooth valley

Sunburst Peak has a lot of character

Nub Peak provided sweeping views of one of the Mt. Assiniboine region. I couldn't help but make one of my fun time lapses. Excited and sweaty from the day's hike, I bathed in

Skinny dipping in Lake Magog under the watch of Mt. Assiniboine

The next day we decided to get a head start on heading home, so we would only need 2 shorter days to hike out instead of another long 27 km day. We also decided to hike out a different way than we came in, taking the Marvel Pass route. It was well worth the view from the top of the pass towards the lake.

As if we haven't seen enough natural beauty, as we hit Marvel Lake and started walking parallel to it we encountered a rainbow! That night, I went for another dip in the river by our campground.

Marvel Lake - it's quite a... marvelous sight

The closest I ever came to a rainbow!

The final morning, we had a pretty easy day of hiking along a smooth forest road. We stopped several times to pick wild strawberries. I also picked some yarrow and labrador tea to take home and make tea with.

We eventually reached the end of our trek, at the Mt. Shark trailhead. It didn't take us long to hitchhike a ride back to Canmore, where we drove in my car to get Francine's car at Sunshine Village.

While this trek was nothing like the raw adventure of the Toba, I still got my mountain fix, and felt very grateful to see such a beautiful part of the Canadian Rockies, which I had previously lived near for 6 years of my life without knowing existed.

August is wild strawberry season in the Canadian Rockies

I'll just leave you with one more time lapse of Francine and I packing up camp on the final morning :)