North Boundary Trail - Jasper

Me and my friend Shane hiked Jasper's 180 km North Boundary Trail at the end of August 2010, in 8 days. The weather wasn't great, but the scenery and solitude were excellent. I was trying out some new gear, namely a single walled ultralight tent, and a new ultralight backpack. Both held up pretty good. This was my first 100 + km trail.

DAY 1 - Celestine Road to Shalebanks Campground - 17 kms

Nice lookin' Shaggy Mane's

Starting hiking late, around 4 pm and hiked 17 kms to Shalebanks camp. This section was entirely along a road, although I cant imagine what kind of vehicle you would need to drive down it. Lots of shaggy mane mushrooms along the way, good for eatin' if you can pick em' out in a crowd. We arrived at camp in the dark.

DAY 2 - Shalebanks to Willow Creek Campground - 21 kms


This section was great because it passes Snake Indian Falls. This waterfall is big, loud, and there was nobody there to enjoy it but us. Good place on the rock to dry out our gear from the rain the night before.

Snake Indian Falls

 The road finally becomes a trail just after the falls, passing through a nice meadow and ending up at willow creek. Willow creek camp is quite nice.

Willow Creek Campground

Tent at Willow Creek

DAY 3 - Willow Creek to Blue Creek Campground 26 kms

This section had terrain very similar to the day before. Nice meadows, easy hiking with very little elevation either way. Tour a short detour (0.5 km) to Welbourne falls, which is definitely worth stopping at for lunch.

Welbourne Falls. Nice spot for lunch.

Tent at Blue Creek Campground

Blue creek camp is nice. The creek itself has a perfect little pool for rinsing off after a few sweaty days.

DAY 4 - Blue Creek to Oatmeal Camp - 28 kms


Nice views in this section. Hiking was still quite easy, with no significant elevation. Stopped for lunch at three slides campground. Three Slides would have been a great spot to spend a night with great views of the valley.

View from the trail.

Oatmeal camp is nothing special, although the tent spots are right next to a creek which is nice to listen to all night.

Tents at Oatmeal Campground

DAY 5 - Oatmeal Camp to Twintree Campgorund 24 kms


This was the best day of the trip. This section crosses over snake indian pass. It was really boggy going up through the pass, with no real trail, and made for some slow hiking. The pass itself was beautiful. At this point, we hadn't seen a soul since we left our car. The pass is located almost 100 kms either way between trail heads, and there was a real feeling of being 'out there.' 

Snake Indian Pass

Twintree lake was spectacular. I wasn't expecting such a big and beautiful lake- it seemed to come out of nowhere. Againn, we were the only campers there. We did however see some people on horseback between the pass and the lake, the first and only people we met from the trail head to Berg lake. The campsite was actually hard to find. We had to plow across a marsh and through some bush to get there, but it was entirely worth it. We never did find the actual trail that goes to the camp.

Washing up at Twintree

Twintree in the Morning

DAY 6 - Twintree to Chown Creek Camp 17kms


This section actually had some elevation, but nothing troublesome. There seemed to be a number of washed out bridges, so we had to muck through a few creeks. We lost the trail a few times, but always managed to find it again no problem. There is some great scenery in this section, most notably at Chown Creek, which is by far the most scenic campsite on the entire trip.

There seems to be a bridge missing...

Chown Creek

Camp at Chown Creek.

The pictures of Chown Creek don't really do it justice. There was also lots of driftwood which was great for drying out all our wet stuff. It was super windy though, which made it insanely frustrating trying to set up my ultralight tent. I almost lost my shit... but kept it together.

DAY 7 - Chown Creek to Adolphus Campground - 24 kms


This section is mainly in the woods, passing a few mediocre campgrounds (Donaldson and Wolverine). The trail really opens up, however, as it nears Adolphus. We were thinking of hiking all the way into Berg lake, but our dogs were barking pretty good by the time we reached camp. Plus, there was a box of dry, chopped wood  that sealed the deal. We had a fire, and met two hikers who happened to be doppelgangers of our future selves traveling back in time. Good thing we stayed.

Nearing Aldolphus, raining again.

 DAY 8 - Adolphus Campground to Berg Lake Trail Head - 25 kms

 
Woke up early and hiked out. This section was beautiful. Hiking over Robson pass in the early morning was stunning. There were many grouse sleeping on the trail who had a hard time getting out of the way. Berg glacier is quite the site, unfortunately it was totally overcast, so Mount Robson wasn't to be found. Berg lake campground is more like a resort than a backcountry campground. There are people everywhere, and cabins, and sinks. But, the scenery is stunning.

Alberta BC Boundary in Robson Pass

Berg Lake + Glacier + Cloud

Just outside Berg Lake Camp

Some Thoughts-


The tent I used was "The One" from Gossamer Gear. Overall it held up pretty good, considering the conditions. It was a little difficult to set up in the wind, but once it was pitched it was sturdy. Rain definitely made its way into the tent. A couple mornings I woke up in puddles- but then again, the rain was relentless some nights, and I had only seam sealed the outside. This tent is hard to complain about because it is so light, and it dries really quick. For next time, I am going to try seam sealing more thoroughly, and maybe try and be smarter about where I pitch it to keep away from as much weather as possible.

I used a ULA Circuit backpack. This bag is just incredible, I have no complaints. It is super light, and seems to be quite durable. It's not quite as comfy as my Gregory pack, but its four pounds lighter, and doesn't squeak.

I definitely regret not bringing camp shoes. By the time I got to camp every night, my boots were soaked right through, and they spent the whole night by the fire drying off. Subsequently I had nothing to put on my feet, and they were constantly wet and cold and dirty and thorny...

Also, don't forget lip chap.