This long read covers pretty much every aspect of our 12-day Gems of West Greenland aboard Quark Expeditions' Ultramarine. We were blessed with excellent weather and the sunshine and blue skies brought out the best in Greenland's rugged, polar landscape. Our superb sea kayaking experiences top the long list of things we particularly enjoyed, with visits to three colorful and friendly towns a close second.
This one is a long day, especially if you spend any time exploring the geology of The Onion or searching for "ice caves" along the edge of the Wapta icefield. It fits the definition of a Class 1 scramble. The toughest bits are getting up and over the chokestone and then going up the rock ledges above Bow Hut, to The Onion. The views from the summit are well worth the effort.
Cooler autumn temperatures and a bit of precipitation finally put out most of the forest fires in BC and Alberta. As the skies cleared and the summer crowds thinned out, we closed out the 2017 conventional hiking season with an up and back hike to the high point along the Iceline Trail in Yoho National Park. The majority of the trail is across barren landscape that was covered by glaciers just a hundred years ago. Pioneering alpine shrubs added touches of warm, fall colour to the rocky terrain - a beautiful contrast to the icy pools of turquoise glacier melt.
This hike is a scenic powerhouse: four waterfalls, a turquoise mountain lake, a wildflower-filled amphitheatre and an amazing view of the Waputik Icefield (including Daly Glacier, source of Takakkaw Falls). It's ample payback for the challenging 1150 meter elevation gain and total distance of just over 22 km. Allocate a full day to this hike and be sure to pack your camera!
I have a short stack of Rocky Mountain Books' manifestos sitting on my bedside table. The first three books I read in the manifesto series were on topics of great interest to me: beavers, bees and gardening. Becoming Water - Glaciers in a Warming World, is one of several titles the kind folks at RMB …