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Joined July 2016
  • Wild wild Canada
    Day26

    26&27: Everyday we're traveling

    September 30 in Canada

    Today we will leave beautiful Nelson and have to say goodbye to our friends. Who took such good care of us during our stay in Canada! We're forever grateful to them, thanks to them we had such a wonderful time in Canada! Our Greyhound bus wil leave at 1855, but you have to be their an hour in advance. So we took it slow. Wandered around in downtown Nelson to do some last shopping. After that I made the last bicycle ride with Nanuk almost all the way to BOB, untill it was time to pack our bags. Which took us almost an hour with all the stuff we got to sort out😅. One last shower and we were ready to leave this wonderful place. We met up with Jane and Jordan at the Subway for a last meal together. Jane drove us to the busstop and since the office was closed (and needed to wait outside) we did some shopping with Jane untill we were ready to say goodbye. Luckily it came a bit earlier then expected! We've found us a good spot in the bus for the 12hour long drive. We will beheaded on our way to Calgary very shortly ;-) so we tried to fall a sleep asap to get in the flow of the Dutch time, to prevent a jetlag.. I slept pretty good due to the narcotics Maris gave me but Maris didn't though (probably used to it).. We arrived in Calgary at 7am and walked to our hotel. It was quite a temperature difference, we were freezing. Lucky for us we could already check in at our hotel. We figured that after so much nature and be thrown back in a big city like this we decided to go to the Calgary Zoo, to see more animals! We finally got to see the grizzly bear, we have been searching for this animal on all our hikes to prevent a dangerous situation and here it was! The male was very big and really you wouldn't want this guy showing up on your trail. Although it was just below freezing point we loved the zoo and got to see a few animals Maris didn't see before in real life, like the grizzly of course, panda and a hippopotamus. When we had seen everything in the park we walked back to the city via some small parks and take a look at Peace Bridge.I had my watch already on Dutch time and it was time to go for dinner, a bit early here, but we wanted to go to bed early. We decided on Sushi which is always a good choice! We started our holiday with it, so why not end with it as well! It was delicious! Too bad both of our phones and the camera couldn't stand the cold and therefore the batteries died😅. Our last hurtle was to get back to our hotel without any navigation, but with a good sense of direction and some logic we found it without getting lost. We took our showers, read some, blogged some and went to sleep for the last time in Canada. Our next night will be up in the air somewhere above the big ocean🤗.Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day25

    25: Salmon, Zipline, Old growth & chill.

    September 29 in Canada

    When you think you did so much and than you find this list with things you wanted to do? You just go out there and do them. We were so lucky with Jane again that we could take the car out. Everybody was a little slow this saturday morning and Jane got a ride to a birthdayparty so we could have the car to go exploring again. We went to this Kokanee Creek where Salmon would come and spawn and actually there were a few probably doing that since they would turn redish when they do that. I got some nice gopro footage and we went on sincd the Ziplines tour would start at 12. Doing that was awesome, I first tought the security was a little to much. But I understand with groups of 10 you can't keep an eye on everybody. The ziplines went from slow to faster and the last one you could reach 90km an hour. I think we went like 60 on the last one but the ones before were more fun since we could play around more.. we both hang upside down on one and that's actually a great feeling. I also noticed again that I lack the fear of heights for sure. The adrenaline i got was more from the speed than heights. Maris also is growing over her fear of heights no worries about falling for sure.
    When we were done we got some food at a gas station and went back up again to walk the Old Growth trail. It really is one very beautifull trail, wouldn't have missef that one. A lot of big trees (Ciders mainly if I remember correct) and a nice creek what resulted in a nice playground for us to climb on trees and such for cool views and pictures. It was only 5,7k round but we had almost 2 hours of fun ;-).
    From this trail we went to the other side of Nelson to bring back what we borrowed plus extra. Loved the tiny house we saw there, to bad we couldn't meet the owner ;-). So we moved back to J&J and decided to do a movie night with some pizza and beers. Normal life is actually really nice for a change. Good night ;-).    Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day23

    23&24: Nelson's Paradise

    September 27 in Canada

    A relaxing day is what we needed after our multiday-hike and the long drive yesterday. So that is what we did, slept in a bit, had a breakfast while J&J where already off to work. We cleaned the camping gear that we borrowed from Jane. After that it was time to chop some wood for the campfire and hang out the tent to dry. We also needed to print out the tickets for the greyhound bus that would take us to Calgary in a few days. When all was clean and the obvious jobs were done it was finally time to relax, oh but wait, Jordan came home and suggested to go mountainbiking with Nanuk. So there we went cycling while Maris stayed and read a book! When we returned Jordan made us some deliscious canadian diner and when Jane finally ;-) came home from work, they put up a campfire with some Canadian friends. Guitar music, beer, wine and 'big' storytellers are always a good combination for at a campfire, especially at a relax day like this.
    The next day we did a short hike near Nelson with the name Toad Mauntain. It had a great view on Nelson and BOB (Big Orange Bridge, which is a well known landmark in this area). The road towards it was a bit challenging though. Luckily Daniel, the Mexican from Jane's camp, drove us up there safe & sound. Allthough the sound part on it's own was also challenging :-p. We climbed the steep trail with the 5 of us (Jane, Nanuk, Daniel, Maris and I) for 4 km to the top. During the hike and at the top we had amazing views all around and on Nelson. We took some nice pics and went back down. At Jane's house we had a shower and went out for dinner at Cantina, a Mexican restaurant, with great food! Then it was time for some real Canadian sports, ice hockey! Canada is world champion in both men and women, so we had to see it for ourselves off course. It's a fun game to watch and a great experience with all that comes with it, cambling, beers, throwing puck game etc etc. It was even more fun because Nelson won the game and the crowd returned home happily ;-). Time to go home (Jane & Jordan's) for us as well and call it a night!    Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day21

    21&22: Make the plan and change the plan

    September 25 in Canada

    We were headed for Wonderpass to walk a circle back to our campsite at Lake Marvel. It was a beautifull track, it went up a little more and went down easy the first part but got steep very quick after untill we recognised the route from the day before. We had much more time today to take pictures and enjoy the view. We walked 30k and that was with the idea of saving some energy for the last day ;-).We arrived around 6, since we wanted to eat before dark this time and sleep early to give plan B a fair shot ;-). We figured that the walk of 25k was to much with backpacks even when they were 3kg lighter. We still had to carry water with us (it came from a drinking water supply in Lake Magog and some that we boiled from lake water at Marvel). So we planned on going via Owl Lake since it was less ascent descent and ascent again and gradually went up to where we crossed the park and provincial boundary. The plan would only work if we could walk at first daylight since it would take 6,5 hours by calculations. So walk at 7 ish and arrive around 2, that would leave us 5 hours to get to Nelson in time for diner :-). Well I have to say....that plan didn't work out for sure haha.
    First mistake was that at 6AM it still was pitch black. At 7 there was enough light and before we had a fast breaky, cleaned up and packed all the bags again it was around 8:20. We left and walked as fast as we could. But after an hour and 4,5k on our way we noticed that we lost a wallet, we actually didn't need it but you have it in case of emergency's. We searched all the stuff to be sure and finally I decided to give Mariska the bear spray and one of my newly made spears and got her in a pritty save zone on a rocky area in the Rocky Mountains. I said I love you and ran back into the woods where we just discovered some fresh bear poopies. Wonderfull knowing that while doing all the things you actually shouldn't. But we did the best we could, I had the speaker on Hardstyle to let animals know I was around and I walked here a few minutes before. I backtracked 1,8k and found the brown wallet lying on the path. No animal ran away with it thank goodness ;-). So I ran back... the trail had to be empty by now ;-). And within 25min I added 3,6k to the total distance of today. We were really happy to be together again since this truly is the wild and like they advertise here: 'don't expect any rescue' we needed to look out for each other. So we got back our joy and fought our fears, and Maris and me were equally tired from this moment on ;-). We lost the path at a certain point but with logical thinking and some mapping we found it and walked all the way up Marvel Pass again to finally recognise the track from 2 days before and that made us go a little fastet again. We planned out to eat and drink everything we had before arriving at the car and that worked out well. We also walked precisely 6hour 40minutes and this is included with my extra 3,6k and in total 26,4k. This meant that we indeed had found a shorter route: 22,8k versus 25.1k. We digged up the car from underneath the protection fences and drove aff since it was 15:00 and we wanted to wash the car before returning it ;-). We did and we drove 5 hours and tought we would be there 21:30 but we totally forgot about the time difference so actually we did arrive 20:30 in Nelson and had lots of stories to tell Jane & Jordan.    Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day21

    20&21: Way over bounderies

    September 25 in Canada

    We tought we were ready for it so we just went for the multiday hike heading for Lake Magog. To get here we knew we had to sleep somewhere along the way because it would be to far. So we figured Lake Marvel was a nice stop in between. We estimated 10 to 15k with an elevation of 800meters would take us 6 ours or so? So after breaky in Radium we rode to Aurora creek, it was the shortest drive for us and the shortest hike but apparently nobody does this trail. We noticed that when we searched for the path. The road was already an adventure with bridges that were rotting away but when I checked and noticed a few new beams we were able to cross this boundary of water ;-). Google maps showed us the way untill google had no road left but there still was one. We scouted a little further and parked where there was some chickenwire to protect the car again. We were ready soon, we had our stuff packed already so we moved out. We didn't know the way but followed a path. Within 10 minutes we both jumped up because this bear startled us whem it was jumping around and dove directly into the bushes next to us. It was a black bear for sure and big enough to frighten us a little since it was so close (15meter) while we didn't see it at first. With this on our mind we had to get over this mental boundary and found the track and kept walking and looking to prevent surprises ;-). It was a hell of a climb and we noticed that this path was not used frequently. We had great views and nice valleys to walk through. At the top there was a camera which kept track of bear movement (and probably us and others). Next to the camera was huge red sign with warnings for grizzly bears in this area... like we hadn't the shiverings already :s. We moved onward crossed the BC boundary to Alberta and also from Kootenay Park to Banff untill we finally got to Marvel lake... after almost 6 hours hiking with backpacks that weigh probably 16kg (12gear and 4kg food and drinks). We had to go around the lake we knew that, but we didn't know it would lead us up so fuckin steep. We already walked for 20k which was double the distance as we tought it would be to the lake. It went so steep I had to drop the backpack for a few minutes... to run up and see if we were really going the right way. We did, so I could do the descent and ascent again but with backpack. Thank goodness that I had 2 sticks to work with and crawled my way up like a gorilla. From there on it was 2 hours walking a little downwards and we arrived walking through darkness and did 25k which is no recommendation for anyone to do. We were happy to find 3 schwiss guys who gladly helped us out by shining some light and showed us the way around the campsite. Toilet and ropes to hang the food in the tree. We slept around 9ish since it was getting to cold anyway.
    Next morning around 9 we woke up, I got the food from the trees and made breaky. We also figured that we had to do something today because the weather was perfect for it. Sitting still would be to cold for sure so we went along with the plan and hiked to Lake Magog a k.a. "our final destination". We left at 10 and we went through the Assiniboine Pass because it had a lesser steepness than the Wonderpass (the one we partly climbed up yesterday). It was a nice walk and within 3,5 hours we were able to see lake Magog. We had plenty of time left today so we had lunch and enjoyed the stunning view on the lake and Mount Assiniboine (a.k.a. Canadian Matterhorn) for an hour. Around 2:30 we walked in the direction of wonderpass and crossed paths with the swiss guys again. They walked the steeper pass and left an hour early than us. So for sure backpacks and the route was a little tougher as they did it. So while all others that we met so far arrived or left by helicopter, we walked in and were planning on walking out as well.... to be continued...    Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day19

    19: Save our strengths

    September 23 in Canada

    From the moment we woke up we were taking it slow to save our energy. This is the day before our multi-day hike so we needed to prepare ourselves. We decided to buy some extra gas for the stove and bear spray... previous hikes were in areas where there are more hikers around, but this hike... we just don't know. So let's take a few chances but not the one that ends with us being attacked by a grumpy bear ;-). From theze preparations we went to Whiteswan Lake . This would be a more sunny day, so let's not waste it. Although this should be a rest day, that meant no hikes, doesn't mean we can't still enjoy the scenery. Whiteswan lake is as beautiful as recommended! We enjoyed the view and after some nice pictures and a lunch, we decided to move ahead to Top of the World Provincial Park. The road was again a bit bumpy but with good stirring we made it through. It was a good trip, and at the beginning of the trailhead we stopped, talked to some motorbikers and turned around since there was nowhere to go unless you hiked in the rain for a day or had 2 KTM bikes in your possession ;-). The way back was even more beautiful because of the views it gave us and the sun came back. After the bumpy road and on the highway again we stopped for some gas and food for tomorrow. In the Lodge we prepared our bags for the hike,took a last shower, watched a serie and went to bed early, since we have a few impressive and though days ahead of us😅.😴 night night!Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day18

    18: At Bugaboo ...provincial park

    September 22 in Canada

    What's up here is what this app asks me every day before I write something. Well I wanted to know what was up here in this park for multiple reasons. First of all what does it have in common with the company I worked for in Amsterdam that has the same name?
    Secondly can we reach the highlights and see if it is as beautifull as in some pictures on the internet?
    My eye fell on this park because of its name, also because it looks really remote and has one way to get there and eventually when we looked up more info online and we found some pictures, a trail or 2 and someone who went there and blogged it.
    We took this information offline and went for it around 10:30. The drive to it was for 20k asfalt and then 50k on a gravelish road filled with mudpools and it was still raining. It took us almost 2 hours to get there and the road demanded full attention. So when we entered the Park and parked the car I finally could blink ;-). We gently wrapped the car with chickenwire to keep critters from eating rubber parts (we read this in the blog). Time to start walking and we did have some rain but it cleared up pritty quick. We had a nice trail filled with little bridges, boardwalks, beautifull streams and waterfalls all around. We knew it was not more than 5k and after 2,5 it looked like an easy job but than the elevation began and at certain moments it went very Via Ferrata like. We even had chain anchored to the walls to prevent falling down the steep slopes. There came a ladder also which shows that even stairs couldn't go steep enough. After the most of the elevation gain suddenly we were on top and watched into some sort of valley that looked beautifull and was also covered in snow. We saw the Conrad Kain hut we aimed for as our goal and met some cute Pica's on our way there. We wanted to linger longer in and around the hut we got cold and the rain was comming back. So we went back.
    In total we walked for 4,5 hours did 10k with an elevation of 700meters. Back at the car we cleared the critter fencd and the trip back took another 2 hours. We felt that a moment in the hot tub of our new Motel would do us just fine and after we went for a nice diner in Helna's stube. Great atmosphere nice schnitzle good beers and after that we walked back and had a well deserved sleep to recover a bit ;-).    Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day16

    16&17: MTB and AWV

    September 20 in Canada

    A perfect day for doing something else than hiking.... let's go biking. Banff city lay in the middle of forrest and mountains so we rented some Mountainbikes in Banff and planned our trip while we were biking. The trail showed itself past a golf terrain and followed a river up the mountain. The trailhead said only 65meters elevation gain.... but after a few minutes we felt like we had already reached those. The trail had really nice scenery and after 10k I was getting in shape and hungry for a bit more. Maris had more the feeling she should take it easy so we has found a nice shelter were we would meet up after 30minutes. I would bike 20min up and 10 back. This appeared to be up down up down up down so I figured 15min would be a better turning point ;-). Before I reached this there was this biker with bags and all that who I politely said hello. I had to switch trails at some point since it was closed of for wildlife protection and came at this nice river crossing and was 4km away from Maris. Time to go back, I saw some pheasants which didn't move a bit when I rode to them. After 2 minutes before deadline I arrived back at Maris and it appeared she met the biker I said hello, he appeared to be Dutch and was biking for over 2 years now. What a life, he rode from mexico till here and was planning on going to Alaska and even through asia back home. I love those extremists and couldn't do it myself. We rode back and had a nice lunch at Coyotes in Banff. Perfect burgers and we had a wonderfull day. We went back to Canmore to do.... laundry.... yeah makes sense if you go away for 4 weeks and carry for 2 weeks clothing with you ;-). So relaxing in a laundryhouse ;-) and after we ate the rest of the pancakes and relaxed some more, this relaxday was a great succes :-).
    The next morning we checked out and went for Radium hot springs but decided to stop at lake Minnewanka and am glad we did. It would be a drowsy day but here it was clearing up. The lake is way more beautifull than in the pictures and I already love the pictures ;-). So with this our day was filled the most and the rest was driving to Motel Tyrol (I love Tyrol), planning our bigger hike and eating at The Old Salzburg restaurant. Great food and good times.    Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day15

    15: We like Lake day :)

    September 19 in Canada

    After our hike yesterday we changed our plan a little bit. The plan was to drive over to Bow Lake, hike for 6 hours and than off to Banff and to our cabin in Canmore. We decided to swap the long hike for a shorter one. That meant more time to see other beautifull places. Lakes everywhere. First it was Emerald Lake's turn. We took a short walk along the shore to take the beautiful mirroring pictures. And also to see the Chinese people ignoring the rules again... it was somewhat more touristic here. Of to Peyto lake. To see it we had to walk uphill through the snow and ice, which was really slippery cause of the many people walking there every day. Snow is not uncommon here, only 3 months a year the path is free of snow. Once we've reached the lookout spot it was a breathtaking view of Peyto Lake. From here we moved to the short walk of 2 hours with an elevation of 300m. This one replaced the long hike and should have the same result. The beginning was a bit vague, but after a short while we saw the right signs for the trail. From the start we walked on snow and a little gravel but the gravel dissapeared quickly and it felt like we were on wintersport. We climbed some more untill we had a wonderful view on Bow Lake. And a nice view it was from a bit further but nicely in the sun like us (for 3 min;-)). We were standing in the snow almost to our knees, but it was totally worth it! The way back we took a few shortcuts, to bad our feet ended up wet and cold. Luckily we could warm up in the car and we headed to Lake Louise, one of the highlights it seems. Well it was very beautiful & even more touristic. So after Lake Louise it was time for our last Lake of the day, Lake Moraine. We found this one even more beautiful, you get picky if you are spoiled with all these nice scenery's but Moraine had it all: Steep mountains, Snowy mirrages, blue water, enough trees and a little less tourists at that time (18:00). We climbed on some rocks and gave us the most magnificent view of the day! Time to end our day in the Rundle Ridge Cabins which we booked for 2 nights to settle in a bit.. but first watch some Walking Death just to act normal :-p Sleep tight!Read more

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  • Wild wild Canada
    Day14

    14: Asulkan trail in Glacier Nat. Park

    September 18 in Canada

    Being surprised by the low amount of places to stay, the high costs and the rainy weather made us plan a little further ahead. So yesterday we came up with the plan to drive past our desired place to spend the night: this was Bow lake. We moved the hike 1 day further and booked in Golden (cheaper allthough you won't say it by the name;-) ) it is closer to Glacier National Park and Rogers Pass because this is what we planned for today.
    We had not planned a specific hike but only a direction, it appeared the direction had also an elevation gain of 700 meters. A bit more than last time and so we started walking... we came past a sign that said.. berry season, this meant bear season, and so it also said that "it is very likely that we would have a bear encounter". Hmmm something to keep in mind while walking through thick forrest on small trails. We were very alert on not surprising a bear because they will defend themselves by attacking. So letting them know that you're there is the smartest thing to do they say. When you see one... you take a picture and move back or around ;-). When it reacts aggressive you wave your hands and make lots of noise. It seems that it is easy to do something wrong :-). Probably the bear will ignore us like last time. So we walked up the trail and out the forrest, walking on a ridge that went steeper and steeper up. Above most trees and finally in snow. It was time to stop and give up. But not without one last fight, so Maris sat herself on a beautifull viewpoint while I ran up for 5 minutes. It started with running but within 3 minutes I almost crawled, it went to steep and the last minutes was on snow and ice. So I made myself a selfie and a video to find out later that the Cabin we aimed to see was only 50 to 100 meters away from where I stood but still out of sight. Damn ... so close. But a beautifull walk and on the way back we saw a big Marmot (60cm rodent) (bergmarmot) and a little later a Pica (not pikachu, it wasn't yellow). The trail down was tough on the knees but within 4,5 hours we walked de 16,2k without any problems. We moved back to Golden and had a nice bath improved by some ducktape to keep it full ;-). For sure the legs needed some revalidation therapy. After that the mind needed rest ;-).    Read more

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