With a new summer season rapidly approaching it’s time to plan out my summer adventures, goals and expectations. First thing’s first, it’s the beginning of June and our spring has decided to finally make an appearance. I thought for sure our good old Canadian climate decided to skip this beautiful season but nope, It was just postponed by a month, it seams the month of May and beginning of June has been nothing but cloudy sky’s and rain. Don’t get me wrong, clouds and rain make for some very interesting and dramatic photographs. It’s just not the most appealing weather to go out and shoot in, very hard to get motivated.

Moose Mountain is located just about 14.5km west of Bragg Creek, Alberta. At it’s summit is Alberta’s highest fire lookout station that’s still manned all summer long. Don’t let the start of Moose Mountain hiking trail fool you, almost immediately you’ll start by descending into the valley for a kilometer, immediately followed by the start of the ascending slopes.

Grassi Lakes is located just outside of Canmore, Alberta. This is a very easy and scenic hike that offers great views of Canmore and the Bow Valley. I’d recommend taking the difficult trail instead of the easy way up. Views are very limited when you hike the easy trail. Views greatly increase while trekking the more difficult route. It’s not very difficult anyways, just a little steeper but the views offered are much more rewarding!

Hiking in the mountains in January?! Since it’s been such a mild winter, I decided to venture out to do some hiking Johnston Canyon and see what the falls had to offer. Once again, the Canadian Rockies did not disappoint. Having great weather (just above the freezing point) I headed out to the trail-head, which is located just off the Bow Valley Parkway (Highway 1A) at the 18km marker.

Burstall Pass may be one of the finest trails available within the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. This trail offers absolutely amazing views and a challenging, but rewarding hike to the top! I hiked the trail on June 22nd 2011, the weather was great and the water level in the flats below Robertson Glacier had pretty much subsided. There were a few streams that we needed to ford, the water? Ice cold glacier water, crystal clear!

The Nihahi Ridge Trail is unique to the Elbow Valley and the Kananaskis regions. It’s trail stretches through the 3 ecological zones (montane, subalpine and alpine) and create the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies.