Canada

This summer was a good time to visit Canada. I initially thought about going to the U.S., but what with Trump's anti-foreigner policies and the immigration police locking people up all the time, Canada had a greater appeal. Why not visit the Canadian Rockies? Never been there before. Betsy and Dex said we should go to the Bugaboos, so we did. Great.

On the first day we drove to the Conrad Kain Trailhead and hiked up to the Conrad Kain Hut. The road was rough, but the rental SUV handled it fine, and the hike was short but steep, so we took our time... We had several ideas for the next day. In the end, we decided to hike up and over the pass to Cobalt Lake. This was a good idea, but what we had not counted upon is the fact that while there are many rocks, cairns are scarce, and the trail is mostly non-existent. But we were confident, and experience was on our side, so we climbed up the scree slopes, boulder hopped through the rock fields, walked down the glacier, and eventually found our way to Cobalt Lake. The route was sketchy and fun... On the third day, consistent with day before, we found that the Cobalt Lake Trail doesn't exist in places, but with the assistance of GPS and offline cellphone maps, we meandered out of the mountains and back to civilization... A spectacular three-day hike, provided you have the skills and strength.

The next day my parents wandered west and I drove up to Glacier National Park — the Canadian one — for several days and then headed up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper, where David joined me up. Jasper, Banff, and the Parkway connecting them are rightly famous.

The hiking and camping were excellent. The mountains were majestic, the glaciers were gigantic, the waterfalls were wonderful. In the words of Stompin' Tom Connors, In Canada, where adventure ever falls — in Canada, we get to see them all.