Visiting Banff was always on our bucket list, this year we finally committed and made it happen.

One of the greatest hurdles is just arranging logistics, Banff is a popular place, permits and campgrounds are booked out months in advance, hotels in summer months are incredibly expensive, and its not easy to get around without a car. To make this economical we made a few decisions that I think worked out for the best.

Why Drive?

Driving lets us avoid spending money renting a car for 7 days, 2 roundtrip plane tickets, and significant amounts of baggage since we needed to bring everything to backcountry camp as well as rock climbing.
The biggest sacrifice is of course time, but we don't mind (and kind of enjoy) driving large distances in the west. We've driven from KC to the west coast or vice versa many many times, its never been a big a deal. In exchange for our time, now we only have to spend around $350 on gas. Plus better for the environment, right?

Planning Luck

While researching backpacking trips in or near Banff I learned about Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. Camping permits for the place are booked out for months in advance, we happened to get lucky finding a 3 night window in the Assiniboine core area right over the weekend of Canada day.

We then further got lucky to find a single night available site to camp in Banff at Tunnel Mountain Village the day after we return from Assiniboine.

The schedule worked out beautifully to have a night in a hotel after backpacking before returning to camp again, a break we really needed just so we could dry out out gear with the hairdryer.

Backpacking Mount Assiniboine

We initially planned for this hike to originate at Sunshine Village, but unfortunately the snow stuck around later than we anticipated. Reports indicated that the 8 mile trail from Sunshine would be breaking trail in multiple feet deep rotten snow, with nobody having approached from that direction yet. Luckily there were many reports of the route from Mt. Shark trailhead being (mostly) melted, so we made the last minute call to take that 'less scenic' route to the core Mount Assiniboine area.

Unlike our original plan, this trail had us cutting through thick forest with limited views of any of the mountains we were hiking into. It was a long rainy day (as most ended up being), we perfectly caught the dreariest weather window possible.

Here's some photos! Shot on either iPhone 15PM or Minolta SRT-MC II on Ektar 100

Day Two

Finally some mountain views!

Assiniboine itself only became visible in the last 1-2 miles, before that we were still mostly in the forest with low overcast obscuring the mountains. Was fantastic to finally see our destination and get one of our only spots of sunshine!

Day Three

We started by taking a 'short cut' that would let us hike along the shores of Sunburst Lake. Sadly we didn't get the memo that nobody had passed this direction yet, the snow was deep and the trail untouched. Trailblazing for 2 miles was tricky and slightly worrying in undisturbed grizzly country.

The view from the Nublet is unreal, sadly a storm blew in blocking our views and pelting us with rain & hail right as we reached the top.

Day Four

The best weather of all the days, too bad our flight out was at 10am. After a soggy existence the warm dry car at the end was heavenly.