Assiniboine 2017 Cancelled due to Wildfires

We finally decided to pull the trigger and cancel our trip : / Cannot fight the nature (yet!). We will try again in the future. Might be a good idea to keep wildfires in our radar sooner in the planning process.

Plan 2

Backcountry permits

• July 20-23: Purchased from BC Parks discover camping
• July 24: Booked 1 night 2 sites for McBride camp (BR14) 1Km away from Marvel lake.

Complete Trail with all the Campgrounds marked: map

Itinerary

• July 19:

• Drive: Leave Vancouver at 7am
• Camp: Mountain Village 1 Booked. 
• Address: Tunnel Mountain Road, Banff, AB
• Contact Info:(403) 762-1550
•  map
• Camp site: D29 

• July 20:

• Drive: Leave at 7am
• Camp site to Mt Shark Parking map
• Mt Shark Parking to McBride map
• Hike: 13Km
• Camp: McBride
• Water: ?

• July 21:

• Hike: 12Km
• Camp: Magog  map
• Water: ?

• July 22:

• Hike
• There are several options for day hikes:
• Wonder Pass : map
• Og Pass
• Camp: Magog

• July 23:

• Hike:13k (going back)
• 
  
• Camp: McBride
• Water: ?

• July 24:

• Hike: 6Km
• Camp: Big Springs
• Water: ?

• July 25:

• Hike: 6Km 
• Trailend: Mount Shark Trailhead. N50 51.554 W115 22.781
• Camp: same as above map
• Camp site: B10

• July 26:

• Drive: Leave for Vancouver at 8am

Assiniboine Sunshine meadow area Trails closed due to Wildfire

Trails in Sunshine area is closed due to heavy smoke coming from wildfires in Verdant Creek in Kootenay park.

http://www.summit107.com/news/east-kootenay-news/verdant-creek-fire-spreads-to-mount-assiniboine-provincial-park/

We cannot start hiking from sunshine village trailhead. Looks like northern part of Assiniboine mountain area is all closed. 

We need to change our plan accordingly :|

#BCwildfire

Assiniboine park affected area

Looks like the fire is only 2.5 Km from Sunshine village.

Area Maps

The following 2 area maps are available:

Nat Geo

Gem Treck

Wildfire

As behzad mentioned we need to keep an eye on wildfires as well. At the moment does not look like the Banff park is effected. But the route via highway one does not smell good!

A book on rockies trails

I came across this book. Here is an interesting read related to our last day.

What to bring?

Water purifying tablets

I came across this link which is brief and useful. I decided to go with a Chlorine Dioxide based product. I will buy a pack of Katadyn.

Checklist

TBD

Assiniboine Plan Version 0.5

Backcountry permits

• July 20-23: Purchased from BC Parks discover camping
• July 24: Booked 1 night 2 sites for McBride camp (BR14) 1Km away from Marvel lake.

Complete Trail with all the Campgrounds marked: map

Itinerary

• July 19:

• Drive: Leave Vancouver at 7am
• Camp: Mountain Village 1 Booked. 
• Address: Tunnel Mountain Road, Banff, AB
• Contact Info:(403) 762-1550
•  map
• Camp site: D29 

• July 20:

• Drive: Leave at 7am
• Camp site to Sunshine village parking. map
• Shuttle: parking to Sunshine Village Ski ($15) [Booked?]
• Trailhead: Sunshine village ski:  map
• Hike: 6Km
• Camp: Howard Douglas lake
• Water: ?

• July 21:

• Hike: 8.3Km
• Camp: Porcupine  map
• Water: ?

• July 22:

• Hike: 15Km
• Camp: Magog 
• Water: ?

• July 23:

• Hike:13k
• There are several options for day hikes: [Let's confirm]
• Wonder Pass : map
• Og Pass
• Camp: Magog
• Water: ?

• July 24:

• Hike: 11.8Km
• Camp: Marvel lake (Bryant Creek) map [update to McBride camp]
• Water: ?

• July 25:

• Hike: 16.4k [reconsider for last day considering shuttle]
• Trailend: Mount Shark Trailhead. N50 51.554 W115 22.781
• Shuttle to trailhead at 4:40pm. Booked
• Drive
• Camp: same as above map
• Camp site: B10

• July 26:

• Drive: Leave for Vancouver at 8am

What else is left to do?

1. Get a backcountry permit for July 24th from Alberta Parks. [done] 
2. Decide to rent a car or bring our own?
3. Do we need a GPS?
4. Is the trail well marked? Make a hard copy of a topographic map of the area and mark the following on it: 
1. Trail head and end
2. The trail we will hike 
3. Camp sites
4. Water sources 
5. Identify water sources
6. Decide for how far we want to hike last day
7. Decide which hikes to do on July 23rd
8. Book the shuttle from parking lot to trail head
9. Complete "What to bring?" check list