We began our journey late on Thursday evening, leaving Calgary at about 8:00pm. We arrived at the trailhead at about 10pm and then hiked in the dark with flashlight and headlamp to our campsite at The Point campground. On the way, Tegan almost stomped on a toad. She was truly surprised to see her first toad. Shortly after the toad we startled a poor little bird in a tree. Frantically the bird flew trying to escape from our flashlights and finally settled into a nearby tree. Poor guy.
We made camp and had a snack of popcorn before settling down finally at 1am.
The next day we woke up around 9am and made breakfast then packed up our stuff. The journey of the day was a long 13kms and it was mostly uphill. We almost never made the trail had it not been for some fellow hikers pursuing the same path as us and guiding us a little to the trailhead, that we had just past on our journey. We made the break into the woods and it was a tough go in those woods. This wasn't a maintained trail and if you weren't going over or around it, you were going under and through it! You would think you could do better than 1 km/hr on a flattish trail, but not the case with this one.
Finally we cleared this mess of a forest and popped out into a barren scree slope that ascends some 500m in elevation over loose rocks, streams and snowy slopes. At the end awaits a crux that requires some sure footing to pass and then a trail that lacks labeling of any kind. We missed the cut into the woods towards Aster Lake and ended up continuing along a path that slowly disappeared and left us wondering where we went wrong. Tegan and I had to traverse virgin terrain towards our destination only guessing what the terrain would be from gps and maps we had.
2 hours lost we made it to camp. This is when I spotted the grizzly bear and cup on the opposite bank, some 200m away. Grabbed the camera and shot a few photos. I think they turned out well enough for the lighting conditions. On to supper, tent setup and then bed.
The next day we woke at 8:30am and proceeded to prepare for the big day. Breakfast, pack up and on our way to the Northover Ridge... only we didn't make it. This time we were barking up the wrong cairn so to speak. We wasted 3 hours looking for the route in the wrong area... it was simple, but we over thought it and messed up. It was now 2:15pm and we looked at a route that now seemed not feasible to conquer. We turned back to Aster Lake and camped there for the night, returning home the next day.
Northover Ridge will have to wait. We will likely tackle it, but we are just not sure when. Tegan was the show and she received praises from everyone we passed. Seven years old and able to confidently do so much. She is a very courageous and energetic young girl. I hope I can keep up with her for a few more years.
A photo gallery of
our backcountry camping trip to Aster Lake in Kananaskis is available in our Photo Gallery page.
