Just listen to that...Whitehorse Wildland....it evokes thoughts of rushing rivers, rugged peaks and wild animals. And that was exactly what we got during four May days in this protected area bordering Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada.
This was the first time we went on a family hike without a stroller to push equipment in; instead Alma carried all her stuff. This is big for us, as it opens up possibilities of hiking in areas we have not been able to reach in the past 7 years. Alma was quite proud, equipped with new hiking boots, pants and of course a brand new back pack, as we set off along the Whitehorse creek trail. After just a few hundred meters, a bear crossed the stream a short distance ahead of us. We stopped and waited to see where he might go. After what felt like an eternity he came walking towards us on the trail. Despite our lectures on how to behave in bear country, Arthur ran the other way while yelling "I see the beeeeaaar"! The animal just wanted to avoid us so we could soon continue, just with our hearts beating a little faster. We crossed the stream a couple of times, passed a small lake, dense forest and when we started to suspect that we had missed the campground we had in mind, around the 5km mark, it appeared right in front of us. Open forest with a few gravel tent sites, an outhouse, a bear pole, it could not have been more convenient. But the night was cold, and some of us shivered all night despite having put on the extra clothes. The next day, after going straight from frozen to roasted when the sun started to shine on the tent, we broke camp because we wanted to reach an impressive looking water fall and a small camp site next to it. But the trail soon turned into a muddy/snowy/bushy nearly impassable mess so we turned back and put our tent back up in the original spot. The following day we explored the area close to camp, found an old abandoned cabin, and took a skinny dip in a calm spot in the cold river. It was a very pleasant day overall. We took the lower, more picturesque, trail on the way out and enjoyed the views of the land of rushing rivers and rugged peaks. But, to the kids relief, no more wild animals came our way!
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AuthorHi, I'm Irene. I'm from Sweden and live in Edmonton, Canada, with Andreas and our two kids. We love to share our passion for the great outdoors with our kids and hope to inspire you to get out there too, kids in tow or not! Archives
October 2019
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