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July - September 2024
  • Mary Kieran Gap Year
A 40-day adventure by Mary Kieran Gap Year Read more
  • Mary Kieran Gap Year

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  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 209: Kootenay National Park

    August 6, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Today’s agenda included hiking to Sherbrooke Lake and Lake O’Hara. Sherbrooke is a nice 2 hour hike to an alpine glacier lake. It’s 200 m elevation gain in the first 30 minutes and we loved the workout. Hung out at the lake for awhile digging streams and admiring the clear blue green water.

    Unfortunately we learned Lake O’Hara is super popular and it’s necessary to ride a shuttle up to the lake. Shuttle seats open up in April and it’s a random draw. SKIPPED.

    Instead we drove to Kootenay National Park and stopped at the Chutes, Painted Pots, and Marble Canyon. At the Marble Canyon, we put our feet in the water (it was way too cold) and Mary tried to catch a little rainbow trout that was chasing her fingers.

    Spots:
    Sherbrooke Lake
    Kootenay National Park
    Numa Chutes
    Painted Pots
    Marble Canyon    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    210/211: Golden -Kicking Horse

    August 8, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Allowed two stragglers to join our Gap Year for a bit: Mary’s parents Susan and Andy flew into Calgary and we used Wednesday to pick them up and get some more hotpot (Susan request). Unfortunately there was a large accident on the highway and both lanes were shut down. It was necessary to take a 2 hour detour through Radium Hot Springs so we didn’t get into Golden until 9:30pm.

    Next day we visited Kicking Horse for hiking. Rode the gondola up and saw a Grizzly Bear enclosure where a bear was eating lunch. The hikes were nice except Susan and Andy getting mad that we said one 30 year old in the front and the back for maximum protection.

    Broke off later on to hike the top of the peak, where skiers will run down in winter. Returned back to Golden for a local brewery and pizza!

    Restaurants:
    White Tooth Brewing
    Red Tomato Pies    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 212: Emerald Lake - Canyon Creek

    August 9, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Visited Emerald Lake, another popular destination. You could rent a canoe for an hour, but it was first come first serve starting at 10am. Since we were already at the rental sign and second in line, we opted to canoe instead of hiking. The lake was green due to glacier water and silt/sun filtering. Harassed a goose family minding their own business. We turned our boat in on time, yet Susan and Andy cheated, returning it back 20 minutes late.

    Hiking in Emerald Lake was too crowded so we drove back to Golden for the Canyon Creek trail, which was previously under wildfire. This trail was intermediate and a little too steep for Mary’s parents. It was also full with mosquitos so after 45 minutes we ran back away from the bugs. Finished the evening watching Dune 1 and Dune 2 since Susan and Andy failed to see it in theaters and Mary was offended.

    Spots:
    Emerald Lake
    Canyon Creek    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 213: Glacier National Park

    August 10, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    SURPRISE MORE HIKING.

    Drove to Glacier National Park and checked out Loop Brook hike and Illecillewaet hike. Loop Brook has lots of train history; there are stone pillars that supported train tracks in an S-shape that enabled trains to pass through the mountains with little gradient. They are also some of the oldest remaining manmade structures in Western Canada.

    Illecillewaet had awesome glacier rivers, glacier cut rock, and fantastic views. We hiked for 2.5 hours up to a beautiful overlook while Mary’s parents walked down below.

    Spots:
    Glacier National Park
    Loop Brook Campground
    Illecillewaet Hike    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 214/215: Rafting & Lake Louise

    August 12, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    As requested by Susan, we found a white water rafting trip in the Canadian Rockies. Went with company Wild White Water and floated on the Kicking Horse River. The float lasts 2-3 hours and included a BBQ lunch. The camera lady caught Mary’s mini dry bag and took it, which is why we don’t have photos. It’s a shame because the river had long stretches of calm and the other guides were chill with it.

    The company used wet suits for the glacial water and boy, was it cold. The first rapid called Alarm Clock literally drenched everyone on the boat. Sadly, didn’t see any wildlife and no one fell out of the boat. Headed back towards Banff National Park for some camping at Johnston Canyon. We had a tent set up competition and obviously we won because our tent is 1 year old while Andy and Susan have a tent older than us…..

    Next day, we had to be strategic due to the popularity of Banff and specifically Lake Louise/Lake Moraine. First, you had to book bus tickets two days in advanced at 8am because there aren’t enough parking spots. We chose the 7am bus. Once you are on the shuttle there is a connector to the other lake and back to the parking lot .

    We arrived at 8:00am and started the 8.5 km hike up to Lake Agnes and back; we convinced Susan and Andy to push for it, even though it was straight uphill. For extra exercise, Kieran ran ahead and met us back down towards the top.

    We let Susan and Andy chill at Lake Agnes while we hiked up to Big Bee Hive which views Lake Louise and Lake Agnes above (3 more km). Below, boaters looked like little ants. We met Susan and Andy back down and took the connector to Lake Morraine. Sadly it started pouring rain. We checked it out, grabbed coffee, and went back to the shuttle bus.

    Bad news: Andy sucks at setting up a tent and the rain absolutely flooded their stuff. We drove off with Susan to find accommodation and located a walked distance lodge. Helped Mary’s parents move into the cabin to dry their stuff and ate dinner together.

    Spots:
    Lake Louise
    Lake Moraine
    Lake Agnes
    Kicking Horse River
    Johnston Canyon Campground    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 216: Icefield Parkway

    August 13, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    So obviously Jasper and Jasper National Park partially burned down and the road to the park is closed. It’s a downer because there’s lots of cool things to see along the way. We opted to drive as much of the road up as we could to enjoy the Icefield Parkway.

    Icefield Parkway received its name from the numerous glaciers that are visible along the highway. These glaciers melt into blue and green lakes below and offer accessible hikes/sites for those with little mobility.

    We started at Peyto Lake which offers a stunning view of Mt Patterson Glacier. Next, we visited Upper and Lower Waterfowl Lakes where little rivers offer opportunities for rafting and swimming. Our final stop was Mistaya Canyon which is cut from the same water supplied by Peyto Lake and Glacier!! This was some serious white water and cliff carving.

    There was no more vacancy at the Johnston Canyon Lodge site we moved Susan and Andy into downtown Banff. The hotel had a huge hot tub which was perfect for many days of hiking and nature. We grabbed dinner downtown and returned back to hot tub it up; after, made the cold drive back to our campsite in Johnston Canyon.

    Spots:
    Bow Lake
    Peyto Lake
    Waterfowl Lakes
    Mistaya Canyon    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 217: Johnston Canyon

    August 14, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Today would be a jam packed day with precision planning and perfect execution needed to achieve all goals…which only ended in disaster and stress. See, we have a flight to catch to Seattle for a wedding and need to be back in Calgary by 5:30pm. We had also hoped to pack up our campsite, cook breakfast quesadillas, hike Johnston Canyon, get lunch with Mary’s parents, drop chairs off at Kathleen’s, pick up a paid of nude heels, and stop by Aunt Shelia’s / Uncle Bobs to grab wedding clothing.

    Well we succeeded up until lunch with Mary’s parents. Johnston Canyon was awesome and spring fed; there are actually limestone cave features exposed along the canyon. After hiking for 1.5 hours, we drove to Banff and grabbed poutine at their weekly Wednesday Farmers Market. We said goodbye and wished Andy/Susan farewell.

    We made good time reaching Calgary and pulled into the mall when we heard “CUDUNK CUDUNK CUDINK”. After parking, we did an inspection of the suspension and wheel bearings. Kieran caught it; 3 out of 5 lug nuts were missing!!!! After googling this, it was clear the worst case happened: the threads holding up the lug nuts stripped off and sheared off because if you lose one, the weight is not distributed and they all fall out. The “CUDUNK” we heard was the wheel wobbling…we managed to survive 1.5 hours on the highway without this problem…

    Extremely lucky, a repair shop was 4 minute drive away; Kieran tightened the two remaining lug nuts and drove the car up to the shop. We explained the wedding situation with the shop owner and he was super understanding; agreed to hold our car until Monday!!!!

    We Ubered to Bob and Sheila’s with our bags and got everything packed in time for our flight to Seattle.

    Spots:
    Johnston Canyon
    Banff    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 218-221: US Pit Stop

    August 18, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Fantastic weekend celebrating Andrea and Jason’s wedding in Seattle! Mary and Andrea met in college through drumline and were both tenor players. It was a rough start to the friendship (Mary was an annoying freshman and Andrea was a junior just trying to survive college). However, Andrea went away to Korea for a semester; when she came back, she realized all of Mary’s awesome perks (love for new food, similar music tastes, car to take Andrea to Taco Bell and Chipotle).

    They became super close over the next two years and Mary even visited her twice in Korea and hosted Andrea in Baltimore when she would come back to the states!

    Thursday we held a mini-bachelorette and partied in Seattle! This included hot tubbing, decorating, and pregaming with the bachelor party for a night out in Capitol Hill. Kieran and Francis were real champs helping set everything up, grabbing drinks, and providing party like atmosphere! Friday was recovery and rehearsal dinner.

    Saturday (wedding day) had its bumps and stresses, but it was all mostly in Andrea’s head (because she’s anxious like that). We finally got her to put down her phone and computer at 12 for hair and make up! The wedding was super beautiful and the DJ killed the dance floor with disco, dance hits, and a bit of KPOP.

    Sunday was a bit of recovery and traveling back to Canada! Our flight was delayed so we got into Aunty Sheila and Uncle Bobs at 12:30am

    Spots:
    Lynwood
    Snowhomish
    Capitol Hill    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada

    Day 222/223: Drive & Perley Rock Hike

    August 20, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    Spent the night at Aunty Sheila and Uncle Bobs after landing at 12:00 am. We got to see Aunty Rene one more time as well as cousin Tyne for morning coffee. Bob took us to pick up the car and we reloaded all our gear and hit the road. We would spend the day driving to Revelstoke and resting to prepare for our hike.

    Tuesday we pushed our bodies on an 8 hour hike to see a glacier up close. The trail is 11.9 km and 1,249 m in elevation gain. It’s about 6 - 7 hours to the upper ridge and back, and then you also can walk down to the glacier and explore the surrounding ridges.

    This hike was sooo fucking steep and beautiful at the same time. We had to jump across rocks, lean against cliffs, and continually make noise for the bears. Probably 45 minutes from the ridge, Kieran’s calves were killing him and all the youngins kept passing us.

    When we reached the top, we were greeted with the most beautiful glacier and glacier pool with running melt water. Some people even jumped in, screaming after they realized they swimming in literal ice water. We explored the ridge and could see the other glacier sections as well as the waterfall we hiked a week ago.

    The hike down wasn’t as fun. It rained and Kieran tripped / rolled his ankle 3 times. All close calls, but he made it out with no injuries. Ended the evening soaking in the Airbnb hot tub with jets on full blast for our sore muscles.

    Best hike thus far for Canadian Rockies and probably surpasses Cerro Castillo from Patagonia because we got to stand on the glacier :)

    Spots:
    Revelstoke
    Glacier National Park
    Perley Rock Trail    Read more

  • Mary Kieran Gap YearTravelerCanada
    11

    Day 224/225: Rest & Bagbie Falls Hike

    August 22, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    Well the 8 hour hike defeated us so we used Wednesday as a recovery day. Watched The Boys Season 4 and made use of the Airbnb hot tub, grills, and outdoor area.

    Thursday we ventured to the Meadow in the Sky Parkway. It was crowded; they held people at the National Park Ranger gate on a one out one in system. Turned around and instead hiked around Bagbie Falls and Revelstoke Mountain Bike Park. Lots of mosquitos so we power walked through most of it. The Columbia River was super close and we played in the rocks and streams on the shore.

    A really cool thing about Revelstoke is that in the summer they have live music every single night from 6:30 - 9:00pm. We put on presentable clothing and ate amazing, traditional Mandarin food at Kevin’s Kitchen and watched live music while exploring downtown. It’s a really great spot and we hope that Revelstoke doesn’t fall prey to the touristyness of Banff.

    Spots:
    Bagbie Falls
    Columbia River
    Revelstoke    Read more

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