Fri, Jun 8 2007, Sat, Jun 9 2007, Sun, Jun 10 2007 - Backcountry camping - Saturday Night Lake Loop, Jasper (View Original Event Details)
|
What a great start to the season! Our original destination (and subsequent back-up destination) plans had to be revised slightly due to the 2 feet of snow that still covered the Saturday Night Lake Loop trail, the grizzly bears that had set up camp at Jacques Lake, and the massive flooding of many of the JNP creeks and waterways! Fortunately, however, we were able to head to Big Bend Campground instead, a lovely spot with beautiful views of the Athabasca River valley.
Following a relaxed departure from the Snaring River campground, Jeff, Ryan, Jaclyn and Kathryn set out Saturday morning, reaching Big Bend in time for lunch on the banks of the Athabasca River. The hike into Big Bend is along a tree sheltered double track trail, 6 km (1.5hrs) from Sunwapta falls - perfect for the first trip of the season (as long as you don’t mind a few mosquitoes!) After lunch we set up camp and then continued another 9 km down the trail to Athabasca Crossing campground. As the Chaba River was too high to allow access to Fortress Lake, we returned to Big Bend for some yummy dinner (so many variations on the just-add-water meal!), and then kicked back to swap stories around the fire with the other campers.
The next morning we had a leisurely departure, expecting an uneventful hike back. As it turned out, Ryan and Jacqlyn spotted a wolf along the trail and little further on we came upon its dinner – the remains of an adult moose that had been felled beside the trail. Although it was tempting to stick around to check out the gruesome but fascinating scene, we continued on to avoid an encounter with any other hungry carnivores. Fortunately, some of the other campers had alerted the Park wardens, who closed the trail while they retrieved the carcass. We finished up the hike by crawling under the area closed tape at the trail head (getting a few strange looks in the process), happy that our 30km round trip weekend had just the right blend of relaxation and adventure.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.