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Welcome to the Western Canada thread! I know there are quite a few canuck goons on here who probably like to go outside. Use this thread to post pictures, trip reports, ask questions about where to go and where to buy gear now that MEC is awful. My loose hope for the OP is that we can get a bunch of goon-favourite trips and spots listed that are a bit off the beaten path or interesting for other reasons. I'll organize them here by region/activity and we can have a little compendium of our own. Depending on interest levels we may want to make this a generic Canada thread, I made it AB/BC specific because that's the area I'm most familiar with even though I grew up in the GTA. Hikes/Backpacking For finding hikes, AllTrails is a good resource generally, as are the Backroads Mapbooks series. For Canmore/Banff area the five-volume Kananaskis Country Trail Guide by Gillean Daffern is excellent. The best topo maps are the Gem-Trek series if they have coverage for the area you're planning to go. Grassi Knob, Canmore AB  This is one of my favourites because even in the height of tourist season you can expect almost no traffic. Views are just as good as nearby Ha Ling Peak and EEOR but with less than a tenth the traffic. Be prepared for an absolute grind though, it's ~750m of elevation gain over ~3km and the trail is very rough in spots. You do get an extremely unique view of the Three Sisters however, and during the spring you can see lots of small avalanches coming off of Ship's Prow. Black Rock Mountain, Ghost PLUZ AB  Another favourite because of how un-busy it is. If you have a high clearance 4x4 to get right to the trailhead, this isn't a particularly long hike to an old fire lookout tower on the top. On a clear day, you can see downtown Calgary looking East from above the treeline. Expect lots of scree and a few sketchy sections here and there but no real scrambling. There is an excellent tenting site at the bottom and another about midway if you want to do it as an overnighter. Fall asleep to the soothing sounds of drunk morons in the valley shooting guns into the evening (it's not really as bad as all that though). Elbow Pass/Rae Lake, Elbow Sheep WPP AB  This is one of the best random camping spots if you can't get a reservation for when you want to go. The trailhead and main trail get quite busy on weekends, but Rae Lake itself is quite easy to find a good spot. Keep right as you head towards the lake and there's a nice spot with some benches and a fire pit hidden away in the trees on the far side. A great place to do some day hikes in Elbow-Sheep if you're so inclined. Car Camping Again here the Backroads Mapbooks are your friend for finding sites. In Alberta, your best bet is along Hwy 40/Forestry Trunk Road. Popular spots include the Ghost PLUZ, Dutch Creek, and Ya Ha Tinda. To find sites in BC, check out Sites and Trails BC Ghost PLUZ AB  A few gorgeous campsites to be found here. Gets really busy on weekends but if you have a 4x4 it's easy enough to get away from the crowds of people along the main road. Follow the Trans-Alta Road down into the valley and drive around until you find something you like the look of. Great ice climbing here past December 1st as well when another section of the road opens up. Albert-Palliser Rec Site, Invermere BC  Good to great gravel road into this one, easily doable in any car. When you get there follow the road around to the left all the way to the last campsite. Huge site with good shade, and your own private beach. Probably the best car camping site I've ever been on. Racehorse Pass, AB/BC  This whole area has loads of gorgeous spots, but I really like the higher up exposed sites if you can shelter behind a vehicle. Views for days, and the roads up are not too bad if you have truck/SUV with decent clearance. Regular vehicles are able to camp further down in the valley no problem.
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Aug 7, 2020 03:16
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:25 |
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Coxswain Balls posted:Can we talk about how MEC turned into the mess it is today? I used to love going there all the time ten years ago but now it's just depressing and overpriced. No idea how it happened, although a lot of people put the blame squarely at the feet of the current CEO. It is absolutely infuriating though, 9/10 times when I google "<piece of gear> canada" MEC is at the top of the search results and when I click through it just says "this item is no longer available". They seem to have really cut down on the actual useful gear they sell and mostly just stock clothes and athleisure wear now. I've had a decent amount of success with Valhalla Pure Outfitters but they aren't perfect either. Atmosphere has poo poo all of actually quality stuff, and SAIL is going through bankruptcy. It seems like there really is a gap in the market that MEC used to fill, and I'm hoping some new shop will open up to fill it.
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Aug 7, 2020 04:17
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I hadn't heard of Wilderness Supply, thanks! I also like to check geartrade.ca once in a while. It's just a single guy out in Okotoks and he seems to get a bunch of last run/overstock gear which he sells pretty cheaply. I got a really good deal on my sleeping pad from him.
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Aug 7, 2020 04:42
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xzzy posted:This American had his first real chance to visit the Canadian rockies last summer, family drove the alcan several times when I was growing up but we pretty much always blew through Canada trying to get to where we were going, so it was nice to actually be a tourist. Stunning shots! There really is an endless amount to see out here, it seems like you could spend a lifetime exploring just a couple hours either direction from Banff and not run out of new things to find.
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Aug 11, 2020 02:48
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By the time I got to Highwood Pass there was 5 inches on the ground. Was even more snow on the other side and the road was littered with cyclists who had been caught out in it. 
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Bilirubin posted:Just had a picnic lunch in Kootenay NP, but were good Albertans and didn't stray into Radium like we normally would. Had really excellent weather Yeah it’s bonkers, apparently Banff and Canmore are both seeing absolutely record numbers of visitors even though foreign travel is cut off.
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Aug 12, 2020 02:50
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Bilirubin posted:View to the north Looks really good! I’ll have to check it out, I haven’t been out there.
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Aug 17, 2020 23:57
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Oakland Martini posted:[Cross posting from the Photo thread] Got sick of living in Toronto so I rented a condo in Canmore to work remotely. Good decision! Are you me? I did the exact same thing last October! I’ve also talked another coworker of mine into doing the same, he’s coming at the start of September.
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Aug 24, 2020 22:16
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Well, the Ghost is on fire so that’s a bummer. I wanted fewer campers in there, but not like this! Apparently originated at the base of black rock mountain somewhere, probably someone didn’t put a campfire out properly.
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Sep 6, 2020 15:44
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:25 |
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Hell yeah that looks good. Getting into proper mountaineering is very much on my list.
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Oct 13, 2020 05:04
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