Andy McKay

February photos

2026-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

Over January and February I really got chance to explore the Vancouver area with a new camera and lens that I purchased after Costa Rica. The result is way too many photos, some of which are below.

Areas the following photos are from:

Deep Cove trails
Maplewood Flats
Boundary Bay
Squamish
Tenderfoot hatchery

Song Sparrow

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 5000 • Aperture: 7.1 • Shutter speed: 1/1000

Spreading wings

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 3200 • Aperture: 9 • Shutter speed: 1/1000

Anna's Hummingbird

Canon EOS R7 • Canon RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 640 • Aperture: 10.0 • Shutter speed: 1/2000

Great Blue Heron

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 6400 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 1/1250

Mist on the trail

Canon EOS R7 • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
ISO: 100 • Aperture: 4.0 • Shutter speed: 1/80

Water over the bridge

Canon EOS R7 • Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
ISO: 125 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 0.5

American Coot and it's reflection

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 800 • Aperture: 6.3 • Shutter speed: 1/1000

It's rare I go out without my camera and lens now, you never know when that wildlife is going to pop up.

First Half - 2026

2026-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

I've done the First Half a couple of years now, it's a half marathon in Vancouver in February and because of that, for many it's the first half marathon of the year. Hence the name.

The nice thing about the race is that it I generally consider October to February prime running season for me. It's cooler in the winter and I spend less time cycling and backpacking.

Doing this race every year let's me see how I'm doing each year with my fitness levels. This year I got an amazing running coach in November, to help me get faster. Together we came up with the goal of getting a personal record on the First Half of beating my last time of 2:04:51. I also set myself a goal of beating 2 hours. Almost 5 minutes faster? Maybe 😀

Then in Costa Rica I injured myself. I ran along a beach (there were few options) and ended up spending 3 weeks not running and then slowly getting back up to speed. This messed up my training schedule.

During training I did a half marathon two weeks before and got a half in 1:58 (moving time) and 2:01 (elapsed time). I did stop for a pee and my airpod fell out. I'd done it! The pressure was off.

Distance

21.12 km

Time

Elapsed: 2h 1m
Moving: 1h 58m

Elevation

📈 121 m

Admittedly the elapsed time was over an hour, but the moving time was perfect.

Then to make it worse, I went to the Scotties and Ottawa and getting back to Vancouver the night before.

Race day did not go smoothly however. I made some mistakes that compounded. I had a cup of green tea before the race (caffeine alert), at 7km and 14km I had xact gels (caffeine alert). Both of those gels triggered heart problems for me brought on by too much stress (late night before, a minor cold) and too much caffeine.

Distance

21.32 km

Time

Elapsed: 2h 2m
Moving: 1h 56m

Elevation

📈 82 m

So I would have run something that would normally be a 1:56 pace but I spent a total of 6 minutes on the side of the race recovering from heart problems. The result was that I completed the race in 2:02:10.

So I got my fastest half marathon, yay, well done me.

I avoided any serious heart problems, but did get a good talking to from my cardiologist when I went for a check up afterwards. Avoid the damn caffeine.

Next year, below 2 hours without any heart problems.

Ditching Strava

2026-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

As part of the slow, but ongoing, effort to remove US companies out of my life, I've decided to remove Strava out of my life. This was not an easy decision, I've used Strava for 8 years and used it a lot. I'll miss seeing what my friends do on Strava and many other things. However uploading so much personal data about my activities to a US company with data on US servers at this point in 2026 is no longer acceptable.

Strava served a few functions for me, so I'll go through what I've done to get off of Strava and what I'm missing below 👇

Recording

I rarely use Strava for recording insted it comes from my watch or my cycling computer. I don't use my cycling computer much anymore but unfortunately its a Wahoo and they are a US company. The main device I use multiple times a day is my watch and that's from Coros.

Coros parent company is Chinese with its head office in California. So at this point I've got no guarantees that my data is going to either China or the US. Also having a legal entity in the US is a problem. At this point, I trust China more than I do the US. I guess that's because China hasn't threatened Canada's sovereignty repeatedly or threatened us with "taking us over". Coros being under the influence of the US is a problem, but one step at a time.

Analysis

I used Strava to look at my activities and analyse the data. So I'm using intervals.icu for that (hat tip to @felix). Intervals.icu is a London company, and their servers are in Germany. Germany has probably some of the highest data protection and privacy laws around (at least that I know about). It's supported by donation of 10 EUR every 3 months 👍.

It imported all my data directly from Strava and I can now go and compare my new runs with my old runs. Activities import straight from Coros, so there's nothing for me to do there:

Blog

In the past after uploading an activity to Strava, if I wrote a blog post about it I'd share it here so that it appears nicely in the post. I tried checking out other services but I couldn't find one I really liked - but honourable mentions to Komoot (in the EU) and Outdoor Active (in the EU).

Strava provided a great download of my data, with all 3,457 activities along with photos, routes and so on. More detail on that is here.

Armed with the .gpx files, I tried to figure out how to convert 117 Strava embeds into a new site embed. Only to find many problems around correlating all the data and the IDs. The Strava export is the raw data, then you have to call it's API to match up other bits of data. Then the other services have patchy APIs that don't really the job either. I spent way too long on this part and instead just decided to build it all.

So instead I:

parsed the markdown files looking for Strava IDs
grabbed some key data from the Strava API and put into a .json
grabbed the .gpx file from Strava (that's not in the export or the API, instead the original upload file is present)
grab the photos out of the export (it's not in the API)
generate open street map image of the route using Mapbox
generate an elevation image of the route
convert the Markdown file to use a new Markdown extension

So given a .gpx I can generate a similar amount of information that any of these services can generate. You can see an example here: Skyline.

It's rather janky at this moment, making it look good is going to take some time and cleaning, but it's a start. All the data and generation is now under my control, with all the advantages and disadvantages that brings, but I'm going to keep those .gpx files backed up locally from now on, so I can easily move between services. It also means that readers of this blog aren't making web requests to Strava, so helping their privacy a teeny tiny bit.

Note: I'm making the decision to be open about some activities and show them on the blog. But I'm not sharing widely the activities I do every day. There's an important difference between sharing everything and having the autonomy to share an activity of my choice on the blog.

What's lost

Connections with friends and seeing what they do. Spying with envy on pro athletes. Segments and easy comparisons of old runs. But credit to Strava for providing an excellent download. I haven't found a great substitute for these yet and I'm not sure I want to look for an alternative at this point.

I realise this is all seems rather futile, there's lots more places where my data goes to the US or US companies. But one step at a time and I'll get there.

Organic Maps

2026-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Traditional mapping apps like Apple Maps and Google Maps aren't great for backpacking. The biggest problem is that there is an assumption that you are always online with a valid network connection.

Google provides a great download option, but it can be finnicky because Google Maps wants to be online - even if the map is downloaded each and every time you open the app. I've also had difficulty with the actual trails matching the information in the app.

Enter Organic Maps. This app does a bunch of things right, is free, open source with over 6 million users.

Offline by default

When Organic Maps looks for a map in an area, it just automatically downloads the map and saves it offline. From then on, you've got the map available locally, it's fast with no network traffic. This means that once you've used it in area, you've got it available offline. As an example:

I opened the app when I was in Costa Rica at the hotel.
It downloaded all of Costa Rica.
That's it.

As they say "...[it] supports 100% of features without an active Internet connection. Install Organic Maps, download maps, throw away your SIM card, and go for a weeklong trip on a single battery charge without any byte sent to the network"

Unlike Google Maps, routing works for walking when offline.

Open Street Maps

By using OpenStreetMap you are using a map that's open source and been built up the contributors, including partners. There are no big US corporations holding the data. The maps are of extremely high quality and contain all the trails and routes and I've needed so far. Something wrong? You can change it.

No data collection, no ads, no tracking

There are no ads. There's no tracking of the user. There's no data collection at all. There is no data being sent to servers in the US.

For example Google and Apple are constantly collecting all that information and sending it to their servers in the US (that's where traffic information comes from).

Given the political climate in the US, constantly sending your location to US companies on servers in the US, might be something you'd like to avoid.

And that's it, Organic Maps has become the default app for mapping for me with just a couple of notable exceptions:

When I need to navigate a route including public transit in a new area or,
When I need to find a nearby restaurant, or other business, and want to see the reviews and ratings.

But if you are backpacking, driving, or navigating a new city or region? Go straight to Organic Maps, your network and battery will both thank you.

Maplewood Flats

2025-12-30T00:00:00+00:00

The Wild Bird Trust of BC has a conservation area in North Vancouver, by Dollarton Highway. On a sunny day last week we popped by with our cameras and was able to see more birds than we expected. Turns it out there were some nice, rather common, birds there:

Bald Eagle

Canon EOS 90D • Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM
ISO: 25600 • Aperture: 29.0 • Shutter speed: 1/8000

Bald Eagle in nest

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 640 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 1/1250

Wood Duck

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 6400 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 1/1250

Varied Thrush

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 800 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 1/1250

Song Sparrow

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 6400 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 1/1250

Spotted Towhee

Canon EOS R7 • RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
ISO: 6400 • Aperture: 9.0 • Shutter speed: 1/640

Costa Rica

2025-12-26T00:00:00+00:00

Recently I was in Costa Rica. I had hoped to do a bit of hiking there but that didn't happen for a few reasons. The places I was in didn't really have good hiking, trails were muddy and overgrown or were in the process of being developed. As I was figuring out a plan, I badly pulled a muscle in my left hip running on the beach. I didn't attempt to run or hike after that and spent the rest of the holiday in recovery.

Photography

As a result, I did get to spend more time taking photographs of the amazing wildlife in Costa Rica. Photography has always been something I've enjoyed, but I found wildlife photography especially fun. There's the challenge of finding the animal or plant you want to photograph, then framing the shot, hoping the light is to your advantage, getting the right gear in place. After all that, you might get a great photo, you might not.

We ended up with over 3,500 photographs and culled it down to 130 that we'll keep in our album. Here's some of my favourites, but there are so many more good ones:

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Canon EOS Rebel T7 • Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM
ISO: 3200 • Aperture: 6.3 • Shutter speed: 1/500

Canon EOS Rebel T7 • Canon EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
ISO: 320 • Aperture: 5.6 • Shutter speed: 1/200

Frog spawn on a leaf

Canon EOS 90D • Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Macro
ISO: 100 • Aperture: 3.5 • Shutter speed: 1/250

Caiman

Canon EOS 90D • Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM
ISO: 1000 • Aperture: 6.3 • Shutter speed: 1/1000

Howler Monkey

Canon EOS 90D • Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM
ISO: 2000 • Aperture: 5.6 • Shutter speed: 1/800

This is a hobby that combines hiking and spending time outside, so expect to see more.

Running in Costa Rica

I did some running in Costa Rica, but it wasn't easy. We spent a few days in San Jose and struggled with vast number of cars, uneven sidewalks, and little safe pedestrian infrastructure. One morning to get my distance in, I ran at 4am and also found that red lights are pretty much optional it seems at that time. It's worth noting that a 4am run in San Jose is not a thing everyone can do with some degree of personal safety, I do recognize the white male privilege there.

Running in foreign cities can be fun, it's a great way just to explore and run at random, discover new places, and change up the routine. Unfortunately for me in Costa Rica I found safe places hard, so I ran around and around the pedestrian area in downtown San Jose, or a park.

But Costa Rica did give me another challenge, the heat (25c at 6am was common) and humidity. Coming from Vancouver, that's not something I'm used to and it totally sapped me, making runs harder. Even though I'd run early, stay in the shade, hydrate, etc, it was hard.

Lack of safe running places meant I ended up running on the beach at Manuel Antonio, and that was when it wrong and I badly pulled my piriformis muscle:

Distance

8.05 km

Time

Elapsed: 0h 58m
Moving: 0h 56m

Elevation

📈 26.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

But it was pretty.

Surfing at Tamarindo

I would have ❤️ to have spent my time in Tamarindo surfing, it's a super friendly beach that's great to learn how to surf. However hopping up onto a board and balancing riding a wave was not going to work with my pulled piriformis. So I bought a little body board and played in the small waves. Amsuingly enough on Strava, it looks something like this:

Distance

0.80 km

Time

Elapsed: 1h 30m
Moving: 0h 19m

Elevation

📈 12.2 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

Piriformis

Thanks to some help from an awesome RMT and physio, my muscle seems so much better and I'm back to running and hiking. Fingers crossed for the next big set of hikes coming up, starting in February 2026 🤞.

Strava and elapsed time

2025-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

🚨 Due to ongoing threats from the US, I'm not going to store personal data anywhere in the US anymore. So I'm deleting my Strava account after 8 years. This post doesn't make quite as much sense as a result, because I will no longer link to Strava.

As you may have noticed, I use Strava, a lot. I've been on Strava since 2014 and have saved over 3,300 activities there. A lot of my friends use Strava and I find it an excellent discovery tool for finding places to hike. But with hiking there comes a real problem - Strava highlights the moving time, not the elapsed time.

When I'm running, I'm moving (mostly). There will be times when moving and elapsed time vary, as the run gets interrupted. But usually the two times are close. It makes sense that Strava should default to showing moving time for running 👍

When I'm hiking, I am likely moving. But I might be having a break, enjoying the view. I might be going up or down an extremely steep section that involves a lot of vertical movement, but little horizontal movement. The elapsed and moving times have large disparities. Strava shows the moving time for hiking and that's a problem 👎

This hike is on the Howe Sound Crest Trail, I did a lot of moving. Elapsed time is 5 hours larger than the moving time. I can assure you, I did not spend 5 hours sitting down. I did a lot of walking.

In another example, I found the elapsed time is again 5 hours larger than the moving time. Again, I did not spend 5 hours sitting down sipping cocktails. But if you look at the blog post, Strava highlights the moving time in the embedded frame.

Why is this important?

Hiking is, for many, a sport of exploration. Perhaps you haven't hiked the trail before. You might not be sure how long you'll be, how difficult the terrain is and so on.

There's a reason why search and rescue crews like North Shore Rescue are busy. People underestimate how long it will take to hike something. When you underestimate the time - badly - bad things can happen. You can get caught when the weather changes. You can find yourself in darkness. Perhaps you end up tired, cold, running out of food and water. This is the sort of thing that leads to rescues being needed.

I've made this mistake too. In 2020, my friend and I were deciding what hike to do the next day and we saw that a good friend of ours had just done Coliseum Mountain in about 5 hours. Knowing our friend and their level of fitness, we felt we had a good chance to do it in 6 hours. At 9 hours (elapsed time) my watch died, it was well over 10 hours for the entire hike.

The problem? We had looked at moving time not elapsed time and the moving time was hugely underrated. We made it back safely. However we ran out of water and food. We were absolutely physically wiped and tired. Our emergency contacts were starting to worry. We were under prepared, but because we'd started early in the day - we made it out safely.

Not everyone is so lucky.

Use multiple sources

Of course the mistake was ours. We didn't research it properly, we just used one source. On All Trails Coliseum Mountain is more correctly listed as a 8.5 - 9.5 hour hike. If we'd used more than one source, we'd have been more prepared.

Strava is a useful source because it contains data on particular people and how they did on a hike. When you see a generic number on a hike "it takes 5 hours" who is that time based on? Is it an inflated number to impart the difficulties of the hike? Is it a number based on a slower person than me? As an example Mueller Hutwebsite states it takes 4 hours one way. I completed both ways in 4 hours 45 minues, a significant difference.

Being able to correctly correlate the time a hike might take for you, by comparing to a person you know is really useful. But you've got to be really careful and Strava doesn't make it easy. On mobile the elapsed time is about 4 scrolls down from the moving time and is hard to spot.

What could Strava do?

But Strava could make a simple change. If the sport is hiking and there is a large disparity between elapsed and moving times, highlight the elapsed time first. Or put in a notice or some sort of warning for that activity. Strava already does similar changes to the time if you mark a run as a race.

Until then Strava is an incredibly useful, but make sure you use another source and double check that you are looking at elapsed time not just moving time.

Note: Yes, I know there are people who run up mountains and into the back country on trails they don't know. People run up mountains all the time. However hiking is generally more a sport of exploration than running is and, perhaps, the people who need guidance the most aren't crazy awesome running folk.

Rockwall

2025-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

The Rockwall is a hike in Kootenay National Park and is one of the most beautiful hikes I've done. I learned about it from Taryn who said that the Rockwall "has the best effort to reward ratio of all the backpacking trips in BC" and based on my experience, I have to agree.

Rockwall isn't a specific trail, but a collection of a few trails and campsites. You'll need to book with Parks Canada and probably do it well in advance. We booked our campsites in January 2025 the day reservations opened, apparently it can book out quickly. With multiple trails and entrances, you really can choose which bits you want to do - we choose to do Helmet Falls to Floe Lake.

We picked a week in September, partly because of our own personal schedules, but also because we thought it might be quieter once schools have returned and the larches might have started to change colours. Fortunately we got amazing September weather for the week we were there, but I imagine it could have been cold if the weather had changed.

Day 1: Highway 👉 Helmet Falls

Distance

14.77 km

Time

Elapsed: 4h 21m
Moving: 3h 45m

Elevation

📈 682.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

We started out at the Paint Pots car park and went in towards Helmet Falls. The trail gains over 570m as you head up towards Helmet Falls. Past Paint Pots, the trail goes up by a creek and is quite a lovely trail.

The payoff occurs in the last km or so as you approach the campsite. To the west of the campsite is a huge wall of rock (not the rock wall) with a waterfall coming over the middle of it. It's an amazing spot as you feel like you are surrounded by a huge rock wall, it wraps around more than 180 degrees of the campsite.

We walked up and stood near the base of the waterfall and watched mountain goats in the distance make their way along a cliff face. Truly a stunning start and it only got better.

Day 2: Helmet Falls 👉 Numa Creek

Distance

20.77 km

Time

Elapsed: 7h 9m
Moving: 5h 45m

Elevation

📈 1222.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

The next day we climb up away from Helmet Falls and across the west side of the Rockwall. The Rockwall is just as described, a huge wall of rock that juts out to the west, looking out over meadows, larches and lakes. Multiple times I thought of The Wall in the Game of Thrones, just nicer.

The view was amazing and the trail just keeps getting better as the mountains on the west side keep changing as you progress along the trail. Most hikers seem to stop at Tumbling Creek Campground, but we powered on across Tumbling pass and onto Numa Creek. Tumbling Pass gives you views of amazing glaciers and more steep mountains.

Numa Creek is another one of those campsites down in the valley between mountains next to creek. It's a long steep downhill into the creek. The campsite is large and in nice sheltered spot - where the sun goes behind the mountains early and rises late in the morning.

Day 3: Numa Creek 👉 Floe Lake

Distance

9.89 km

Time

Elapsed: 3h 24m
Moving: 2h 47m

Elevation

📈 857.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

This was a pretty short day, with a consistent climb up to Numa pass. The pass marks the highest elevation on the trail, at ~2,335m and gives you an amazing view back along the valley the way you came.

Floe Lake is probably one of the most beautiful spots I've camped at. Right by the lake with huge mountains looming above. Floe Lake is used as a day hike from the highway, so it did get a little busy around lunchtime, but those groups soon left.

The lake is cold, but I was still able to get a quick swim in, before having a nice afternoon sunbathe and relax in the hammock.

Day 3: Floe Lake 👉 Highway

Distance

10.37 km

Time

Elapsed: 2h 38m
Moving: 2h 27m

Elevation

📈 191.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

Sunrise on Floe Lake was just spectacular in the morning, just stunning. The sun came up from the west, peeked over the mountain and for about 15 minutes cast an amazing orange glow across Floe mountain. A campsite with a great sunrise makes me so happy.

Heading out of Floe Lake to the highway is pretty much straight downhill and at 10k represents a reasonably easy way out of the Rockwall hike.

Summary

This hike was one of the most spectacular that I've done. It was a couple of days after Skyline. Whilst I mentioned that I would probably not drive 9 hours to do Skyline alone, I would drive easily 9 hours to do Rockwall.

The pace was good, we had a long day in the sun at Floe Lake because that section was a little short, but it was an amazing place to hang out. If it was raining perhaps less so. At my current fitness it felt like a good pace that meant I could enjoy the amazing scenery.

After Skyline and Rockwall I promised myself that I would try and spend at least two weeks next year backpacking in this part of the world. It's an amazing area and has so many trails still to do.

Garmin inReach Mini 2

2025-10-08T00:00:00+00:00

When I started seriously backpacking I got a Spot Gen 4 in 2022. The Spot was a wonderful device that provided a level of security for me and reassurance for my wife. It allowed me to roam further and with more confidence, knowing that if things go really bad there's a button to press that would send a message for help. It made me more confident and more comfortable hiking on my own. I wouldn't have done a lot of the hikes on this blog without it.

Unfortunately the Spot had a few issues and recently it started to act erractically. The battery light would come on just an hour or so after fresh batteries were put in. Messages that I tried to send didn't seem to be going through. The one thing I need in this device is relability, everything else is secondary. Just before some big hikes, I decided I needed to replace it.

🚨 Garmin is a US company 🤦‍♂, so Canadian 🇨🇦 buyers beware. I bought this in 2025, well aware of the companies location, but unfortunately it's the best choice.

One thing my wife and I decided upon is that we'd like to have two way messaging in a device. For the simple reasons that when I press the SOS button, any context or information we can share is useful. For example: the difference between me pressing the SOS button because I've broken my leg and because I've come across another hiker with a broken leg is quite important.

So what were my options?

Another Spot?

There were things I didn't like about the Spot Gen 4:

The battery life was good and required carrying batteries 👍
A lack of information. For example, there's no battery level indicator, just green "ok" and red "replace" 👎
No two way messaging 👎
It's rather big and bulky to strap on the outside of backpacks and the velcro strap sucked 👎
It's a US company 👎

There is a Spot X which provides two way messaging, but it seems like a Blackberry with it's keyboard. The reviews of it are not good. It's not small or light either (198.4g). If I'm going to pay money to a US company, it better be good.

How about Zoleo?

Zoleo is a Canadian company, yay 😻. The Zoleo is a bulky box with some lights, reminiscient of the Spot Gen 4. It does have two way messaging and an app. The problems with the Zoleo were that:

No where local sold them, both Valhalla and MEC had none for sale. I could order online and get one in a week or more (plus shipping) 👎 👎
It looks even more big, bulky and ugly than a Spot Gen 4 👎
It isn't super light 👎 (150g)
It does have a long battery life 👍
It is a Canadian company 👍
It's a relatively cheap device ($250 CAD) 👍

The fact that I couldn't get one in time for my next hikes was the deal breaker, but I admit the thought of having another bulky box didn't fill me with joy.

How about just my phone?

The iPhone 14 and upwards come with Satellite messaging. I've used it a couple of times and it works in North America:

Messages via satellite is available in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It's free for two years after the activation of an iPhone 14 or later (all models).

That's pretty generous and will cover 90% of my use cases, although we do travel outside of those areas frequently. I'm not sure how much it costs after the two years though.

In practice however, I've found it very finnicky to use. It didn't work well under tree cover, it didn't work on the West Coast Trail when a US cell tower could be reached (which I couldn't use), it didn't work well down in a valley surrounded by mountains.

The phone is one of the most important devices while hiking. I use it for pictures, a map, it has a weak backup flashlight (always carry a dedicated flashlight) and in an emergency can be used to find you. But that means it's batteries run down and having a dedicated device for that emergency is important to me. But also, in an emergency I really don't want to be having to move to a spot with no trees, or turning my iPhone around to find a satellite.

Garmin inReach

If you ever see a device on the trail, it's likely a Garmin. I've had multiple Garmin devices and I've pretty much disliked them all. The software is terrible and Garmin will find any way to charge you more. However the inReach does everything I want:

It's small and light 👍 (100g)
It's got a long battery life 👍
It has an app, and clear indicators about what's happening 👍
It is able to send messages in situations an iPhone can't 👍
It's an expensive device ($579 CAD) 👎
It's from a US company 👎

On my first hike out, I came back raving about how much more I liked the inReach. It's small - it fit into my backpack front pockets easily. It has a screw so I can attach it to my camera mount. I can look and see how much battery life is remaining easily. Checkin messages are clearer than the Spot.

Unlike the iPhone I don't need to do a lot of manual steps to send a message. I just queue it up, clip my inReach back in and continue hiking. In a few minutes I'll get an audible notification when it's gone.

I was able to find it on sale at $399 CAD. That was still way more expensive than the other options, but let's talk about plans... 👇

The plans

When buying a device, you need to consider the recurring plan that you need. The Spot Gen 4 was costing me ~$12 a month and there were no extra message charges, but also no two way messaging anyway. The cheapest Zoleo plan is $25 CAD a month and that includes 75 messages, with unlimited check-in messages. The cheapest Garmin plan is $10.99 CAD a month. Messages vary from 15c to 70c.

Company	Cost per month	Messages	Overall
Spot	~$12	No two way messages	👍
Zoleo	$25	75 messages per month	👎
Garmin	$10.99	Check in message 15c, text message, 70c	👍👍

In September I did 5 hikes with the Garmin and I overused it a bit. I sent 19 check in messages, 1 weather message, 8 text messages, so my total cost was $21.23 CAD. Those 27 messages still costs less than the Zoleo plan.

In October I plan on doing no overnight hikes, so my total cast is expected to be $10.99 CAD.

The Garmin cost $150 more than the Zoleo, but in roughly (depending upon usage) one year, the plan for the Garmin will have made up for the Zoleo cost difference. I note this calculation was helped by the Garmin being on sale.

Summary

I ❤️ the Garmin inReach. After four days on the Rockwall in the Rockies, my battery was at 75% and I'd gotten a weather report and sent a bunch of messages to my wife. It's small, lightweight and fits perfectly in my loadout. The plan fits with my hiking schedule of busy and quiet months. I would fully recommend it. The downside is that the original unit is expensive (we know it will get bashed or broken at some point) and I'm paying money to a US company.

Skyline, Jasper National Park

2025-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

Early in the year, we booked the Rockwall, a hike in Kootenay National Park. Since I was heading over towards the Rockies, I thought I'd in another hike. So beforehand I had the opportunity to do the Skyline Trail. I learnt about the trail from Taryn. I booked it from the south towards Jasper, which turns out to be the most popular way.

Skyline trail is right on the edge of the forest fires that occurred in Jasper in 2024 and the damage is visible everywhere around Jasper. Most of the trail that I hiked is undamaged, apart from the last 8km which was burnt out.

Skyline trail heads to 2,500m which is one of the highest trails you'll find in the national parks. To hike in the park, you will need a National Park pass and you'll need to book your campsites in advance.

Day 1: Maligne Lake 👉 Snowbowl

Distance

12.36 km

Time

Elapsed: 2h 56m
Moving: 2h 42m

Elevation

📈 641.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

I started out heading out from Maligne Lake and the trail goes uphill for 12.36km up to the Snowbowl campsite. You'll pass two other campsites on the way, but both of those are so close to Maligne Lake trailhead that I didn't want to stop there. Snowbowl campsite is one of the most popular campsites as a result. The climb up is pretty relentless until you pass Little Shovel campsite and crest Little Shovel Pass.

The result is that you are hiking in forest and shade most of the way. Around Little Shovel Pass, you get some nice views as the trees thin out.

The campsites I stayed at in the park had tent pads, bear caches, toilets and picnic tables. Toilets in both campsites had buckets to collect the poo and then seem to get picked up by helicopter. Unfortunately when I was there Snowbowl toilets hadn't been emptied recently and were kinda full.

My only regret is that I assumed the trail would give me a nice view of Maligne Lake and it didn't. So take the time to enjoy the beautiful Maligne Lake before you head out on the trail.

Day 2: Snowbowl 👉 Tekarra

Distance

19.43 km

Time

Elapsed: 5h 17m
Moving: 4h 31m

Elevation

📈 834.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

Day 1 was nice, but didn't feel too epic - but day 2 definitely delivered. The trail keeps climbing between the mountains until you hit Big Shovel Pass and thats where it gets good. Amazing views of down into the valley, lakes and soaring peaks on either side as you walk through a barren rocky landscape. Again this gave me New Zealand vibes similar to the Alpine Crossing.

Then it's up to the main ridge at 2,500m called The Notch. The climb up is on a bit of a scree slope, but I never felt exposed or worried and didn't have any problem. At the top you get an amazing view back where you came (see picture 👇) and also out across the valley. Sadly at that time there was smoke and haze in the distance which obscured the mountains in the distance.

The ridge continues with more amazing views back along the valley.

Sadly the ridge comes to an end and you head down into the valley again. Snowbowl to Tekarra campground is 19.43km and an elevation gain of 744m, the hike down into the valley takes you into trees, with streams and a beautiful campsite. The sun was shining, so I got a few hours of sunbathing before the sun vanished behind the trees.

Both campsites are tucked away on mountainsides and sheltered, which is what you need in a campsite, somewhere safe and sheltered in bad weather. Sadly none of them had good sunrises or sunsets, as the soon was hiding behind mountains a lot of the time.

Day 3: Tekarra 👉 Signal

Distance

14.38 km

Time

Elapsed: 3h 2m
Moving: 2h 54m

Elevation

📈 186.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

This hike is mostly downhill down past the Signal campsite and down to the car park near to Jasper. The first 4km is quite nice as you stay at over 2,000m and enjoy lovely views and trees. Then 8km from the end you hit a logging road. From then on it's a consistent downhill on the logging road. Sadly all the trees for the last 8km were burnt in the forest fire, so it's a slightly depressing hike down.

Summary

A really nice hike, day 2 was an absolutely amazing day. The other days getting there were great outdoor hikes, but didn't have brilliant views given the smoke in the distance. After day 2 in the campsite, I was a mentioning to one hiker that I was a little disappointed by the smoke. She then said something that cheered me up:

This is my first time hiking. I've never seen mountains like this before. It's amazing, I've never seen such rare beauty and it's really special to me.

Doing the hike in three days was a nice pace for me. I could see tackling this all in one day at my current level of fitness, admittedly it's a long day. Anything more than three days would be too much.

I enjoyed the hike and if I was in the area, I'd do it again. However I probably wouldn't do the approx. 9 hour drive from Vancouver for this hike alone.

Nationality of companies

2025-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

If you go shopping for hiking, running or backpacking gear, you are going to see lots of gear from a wide range of companies. Most (but not all) the things for hiking and backpacking are most likely made in Asia. Anything involving fabric or sewing is like made in Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. China for many other things. This is pretty universal these days, with some exceptions. But the company that is making the real profit, is not from there, it's likely in the US or Europe.

ℹ️ This is not a list of good or bad companies, or any reflection on their products. I only review individual products when I use them. This is just to tell the nationality of the company so you can add that to your buying decisions.

Unfortunately shops don't tend to disclose the ownership of companies, like they do in grocery stores. Recently when I bought a new backpack I was dismayed to find that all but 2 of the backpacks were from US companies. I bought a Deuter (German) primarily because it was awesome, but secondly because it wasn't a US company.

In this list I'm going to go through a whole pile of brands and where the company is based. The gear is likely made in one of countries mentioned before, but at least we can avoid giving the corporate headquarters money.

ℹ️ This list might not be perfect, it was prepared with AI and then I fact checked some and cleaned. It can be updated on GitHub, or drop me a line and I'll try my best to keep up to date with corrections or additions.

List of companies

US or not?	Company	Located	Site
❌	22 Designs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	2UNDR	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	303	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	7 Summits Snacks	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	8BPlus	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	A Little Paddle	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	AKU	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	ATK	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Abus	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Adventure Andy	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Adventure Medical Kits	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Adventure Ready	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	AeroPress	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Aetrex	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	After Bite	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Agawa Canyon	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Aircast	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	All Good	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Aloe Up	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Alpen Fuel	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	AlpineAire	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Altra	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Annika Mang	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	Aqua Bound	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Aqua Marina	🇨🇳 China	➡️
✅	Aqua-Lung	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Aquaglide	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Aquaseal	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Aquasphere	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Aquatabs	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Aravon	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Arc'teryx	🇨🇳 China	➡️
❌	Arcade	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Arcade Belts	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Arena	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Armada	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Asics	🇯🇵 Japan	➡️
✅	Asolo	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Ass Savers	🇳🇱 Netherlands	➡️
❌	Astral	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Atlas	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Atomic	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	Auclair	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Axiom	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	BN3TH	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Backcountry Access	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Backcountry Skiing Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Backpacker’s Pantry	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Backroad Mapbooks	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Baffin	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Balega	🇿🇦 South Africa	➡️
❌	Basecamp Card	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Bauerfeind	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Beal	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Bear Vault	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	BearVault	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	BeaverWax	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Ben’s	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Berghaus	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	BiKase	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Big Agnes	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Billabong	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Billy Bob`s Jerky	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	BioLite	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Birkenstock	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Black Crows	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Black Diamond	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Black Yak	🇰🇷 South Korea	➡️
❌	Blenders	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Blizzard	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	Blue Ice	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Blundstone	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Body Glide	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Bogs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Boody	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Bote	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Bottle Bright	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Bridgedale	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Brooks	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Brooks England	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Brunton	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Buff	🇪🇸 Spain	➡️
✅	Bula	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
❌	Burley	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Bushnell	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Bushnell Performance Optics	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Cablz	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	CamelBak	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Camp USA	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Campsuds	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Canadian Canine	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Canadian Heritage Roasting Co.	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Canadian Map Makers	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Canadian River Supply	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Cannon Paddles	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Cannondale	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Care Plus	🇳🇱 Netherlands	➡️
❌	Carve Designs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Castelli	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Cat Eye	🇯🇵 Japan	➡️
❌	Chaco	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Chinook Technical Gear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Chlorophylle	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Chums	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ciele Athletics	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Clarks	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	ClimbOn	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Clipper Canoes	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Coastal Campfires	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Coghlan’s	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Cole Haan	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Coleman	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Colltex	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	Columbia	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Columbia Sportswear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Continental	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	Contour Skins	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Coros	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Cotopaxi	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Council Tool	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Counter Assault	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Counterpart Coffee	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Craft	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Craghoppers	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Crankbrothers	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Crazy Creek	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Crispi	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Crocs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Current Designs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Currex	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Cushcore	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	DMM	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	DU/ER	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Daehlie	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
❌	Dahlgren	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Dakine	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Dalbello	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Dalbello Ski Boots	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Danner	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Darn Tough	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	DeFeet	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Deadpoint Climbing Co.	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Defense Aerosols	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Deity	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Delta	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Deuter	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Devold	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
❌	Donjoy	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Dovetail Workwear	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Dr. Bronner’s	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Druide	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	DryGuy	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Duer	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Dunham	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Duracell	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Durston	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Dynafit	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	ENO	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	EVOC	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	Eagle Creek	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Edelrid	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Elan	🇸🇮 Slovenia	➡️
❌	Enlightened Equipment	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ergon	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Esquif International Inc	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Eureka!	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Evo	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Evolv	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	ExOfficio	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Exped	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	FACTION	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	Feedback Sports	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Feelfree	🇿🇦 South Africa	➡️
❌	Feetures	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Fenix	🇨🇳 China	➡️
✅	Fenix Lighting	🇨🇳 China	➡️
✅	Fernwood Coffee	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Fidlock	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Fido Pro Corp	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Fieldsheer Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Firepot Food	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Fischer	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
❌	Five Ten	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Fixe	🇪🇸 Spain	➡️
✅	Fizik	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Fjallraven	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Flylow	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Forsake	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Fox 40	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Fox Racing	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Friesen Press	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Fritschi	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	Fuza Wool - Nepal	🇳🇵 Nepal	➡️
✅	G3	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	GCI Outdoor	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	GSI	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	GSI Outdoors	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	GU	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Galerie au Chocolat	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Garmin	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Gear Aid	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Gem Trek Publishing	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Ghost	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Girlfriend Collective	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Giro	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Gladding Braided	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Glerups	🇩🇰 Denmark	➡️
❌	Go-Girl	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	GoPro	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Goal Zero	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Gogglesoc	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Good To Go	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Goodr	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Goodyear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Gordini	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Grand Trunk, LLC	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Grangers	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Gransfors Bruk	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Grayl	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Green Beaver	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Gregory	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Grey Owl	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Grisport	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Grivel	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	GuideMaps Squamish	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	HanWag	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Happy Yak	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Heat Holders	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Helinox	🇰🇷 South Korea	➡️
✅	Helle	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
✅	Hennessy Hammock	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Heritage House Pub.	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Heroclip	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Herschel	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Hestra	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Hillsound	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Hoka	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Honey Stinger	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Hornby Organic	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Houdini	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Hultafors	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Hults Bruk	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Huma	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	HumanGear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Humangear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Hydrapak	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Hydro Flask	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	IXS	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	Icebreaker	🇳🇿 New Zealand	➡️
✅	Icebug	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Icelantic Skis	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Igloo	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Ignik	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ilse Jacobsen	🇩🇰 Denmark	➡️
❌	Incrediwear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Indosole	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Indyeva	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Injinji	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Intuition	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Inuikii	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	J.B. Field's	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Jagwire	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	JetBlack	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Jetboil	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Joe Nimble	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Julbo	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	K-Edge	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	K2	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	KMC	🇹🇼 Taiwan	➡️
✅	KV+ Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Kahtoola	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Kahuna Paddleboards	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Kajak Sport	🇫🇮 Finland	➡️
✅	Kamik	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Kammok	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Karakoram	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Kari Traa	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
✅	Karpos	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Karrimor	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Katadyn	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	Kathmandu	🇳🇿 New Zealand	➡️
✅	Kayland	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Keen	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Kelly Kettle	🇮🇪 Ireland	➡️
❌	Kershaw	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Kids Ride Shotgun	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Kinco	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Klean Kanteen	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Knife & Axe	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Knockaround	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Knog	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
✅	Kodiak	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Kodiak Wildlife	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Kokatat	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Kokopelli	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Kokopelli Packraft	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Kombi	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Kombi Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Komperdell	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	Kootenay GoodLife	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Kootenay Life	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Kuhl	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Kupilka	🇫🇮 Finland	➡️
❌	LARQ	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	LORPEN	🇪🇸 Spain	➡️
✅	La Sportiva	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Laid Back Snacks	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Lasting Merino	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	➡️
❌	Leatherman	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Leki	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Lenz	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	Lenz Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Level Six	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Lezyne	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Life Straw	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	LifeStraw	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	Lifeventure	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Light My Fire	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	LokSak	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Loksak	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Look	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Louis Garneau	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Lowa	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Lowe Alpine	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Luci Lights	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Luminaid	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Lupine	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	MEC	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	MSR	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Macks	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Mad Rock	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Madshus	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
✅	Magicshine	🇨🇳 China	➡️
❌	Magnum	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Malone Auto Racks	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Mammut	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	Maplus	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Marker	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	Marker Bindings & Helmets	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
❌	Marmot	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Matador	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Maurten	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Maxxis	🇹🇼 Taiwan	➡️
❌	Med Spec	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Mephisto	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Merrell	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Metolius	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Miir	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Mirrycle	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Mizuno	🇯🇵 Japan	➡️
❌	Moment Skis	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Moneysworth	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Mono	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Mons Royale	🇳🇿 New Zealand	➡️
❌	Montrail	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Mora	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Mora - Morakniv	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Motorola	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Mountain Coffee Co.	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Mountain Hardwear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Mountain House	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Mountaineers Books	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Mr. Zogs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Muc-Off	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Muck	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Mucky Nutz	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Mueller	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Must Do Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Mustang Survival	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Mustang Survival Co.	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Mystery Ranch	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	NEMO Equipment	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	NRS	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	NRS Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Naak	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Nalgene	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Naot	🇮🇱 Israel	➡️
❌	Nathan	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	National Molding	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Natrapel	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Naya Water Gear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Nemo	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	New Balance	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Nexus	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Nike	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Nikwax	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Nikwax Waterproofing	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Nite Ize	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Nite-Ize	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	NoSo Patches	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Noble	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Nocs Provisions	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Nomadix	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Norda Run	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Nordica	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Norfolk	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Norrona	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
✅	North Water	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Nova Craft Canoe	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Nuun	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	OAC Skis	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	ON	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	Oakley	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Oatworthy	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Oboz	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Odlo	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	Old Town	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Old Town Canoes & Kayaks	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Olukai	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	On	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	On Running	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	OnGuard	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	OnSight Equipment	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	OneUp	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Oofos	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Ooni	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Opinel	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Opinel Knives	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Optimus	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Orage	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Original Bug Shirt Company	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	OrthoFeet	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ortlieb	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Ortovox	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	Osprey	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ossur	🇮🇸 Iceland	➡️
❌	Outdoor Research	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Outdoor Voices	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Outland Living	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Outside Inside	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	POC	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	PackTowl	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Pacsafe	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Park Tool	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Parkhurst	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Patagonia	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Pearl Izumi	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Peaty's	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Pedifix	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Pedros	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Pelican	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Pelican Products	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Peppermint	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Petzl	🇫🇷 France	➡️
❌	Petzl America Pro	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	PiActive	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Picture Organic Clothing	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Pieps	🇦🇹 Austria	➡️
✅	Pirelli	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Pistil	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Planet Bike	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Platypus	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Polar	🇫🇮 Finland	➡️
❌	Polar Bottle	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Polar Joe	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Polygon	🇮🇩 Indonesia	➡️
✅	Pomoca	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	Portland Design Works	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Prana	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Prana Organic	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Primus	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Princeton Tec	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Pro-Tec Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Probar	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Probar, LLC	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Prohands	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Propet	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Pukka	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Pyranha	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Rab	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	Raincoast Books	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Raincoast Trading	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Rangeland	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Red Pine Outdoor Equipment Inc.	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Redback	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
✅	Redback Boots Australia	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
✅	Redtail	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Reebok	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Reef	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
✅	Reef Canada	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Reima	🇫🇮 Finland	➡️
❌	Ride Concepts	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	RideWrap	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ridley	🇧🇪 Belgium	➡️
✅	Rip Curl	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Rite in the Rain	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Ritter Sport	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	Roark	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	RockShox	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Rocky Mountain Dog	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Rockymounts	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Rossignol	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Rottefella	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
❌	Royal Robbins	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Ruffwear	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Rumpl	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Rundle Nordic Inc	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	SKS	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	SMC - Seattle Manufacturing Corporation	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	SOG	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	SRAM	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Salewa	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Salomon	🇨🇳 China	➡️
❌	Salsa	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	SaltStick	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Saltstick	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Sanuk	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Saucony	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Saxx	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Scarpa	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Schwalbe	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Scott	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
✅	Sea To Sky Backcountry Map	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Sea To Summit	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	SealLine	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Seals Sprayskirts	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Seaward Kayaks	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Seirus	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Selle Royal	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Shimano	🇯🇵 Japan	➡️
❌	Showers Pass	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Sidas	🇫🇷 France	➡️
✅	Silky	🇯🇵 Japan	➡️
✅	Silva	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Ski Ties	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Skratch Labs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Slackline Industries	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Slowtide	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Smartwool	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Smith	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Smith Optics	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Snow Peak	🇯🇵 Japan	➡️
✅	Sole	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Sombrio	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Sorel	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Spark	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Speedo	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Spenco	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Spider Tech	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	SportRack	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Sportful	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Sportube	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Spot	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Spy+	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Squirt	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stages	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stan's No Tubes	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stance	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stance Socks	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stanley	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stasher	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Steadyrack	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	SteriPEN	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Sterling Ropes	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Stohlquist WaterWare	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Stoko	🇩🇰 Denmark	➡️
✅	Stonz	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Strider	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Sun Bum	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	SunRace	🇹🇼 Taiwan	➡️
❌	Suncloud	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Sunday Afternoons	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Sunski	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Superfeet	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Survive Outdoors Longer	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Suunto	🇨🇳 China	➡️
✅	Swagman	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Sweet Protection Helmets	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
❌	Swiftwick	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Swix	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
✅	Tacx	🇳🇱 Netherlands	➡️
❌	Tailwind Nutrition	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Tannus	🇰🇷 South Korea	➡️
❌	Tear-Aid	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Tecnica	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Tenaya	🇪🇸 Spain	➡️
❌	Teravail	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Teva	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	That's it.	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	The James Brand	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	The North Face	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Therm-A-Rest	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Thermacell	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Thinkbaby	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Thinksport	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Thule	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
✅	Tilley	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Time	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Tony's Chocolonely	🇳🇱 Netherlands	➡️
❌	Topo Athletics	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Topo Designs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Trail Ventures BC Inc.	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Trango	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Travel Chair	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Trezeta	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Triggerpoint	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Tubbs	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	UCO	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	UGG	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	USWE	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	Ultimate Direction	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Ultimate Survival Technologies	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Ursack	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	VDO	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	VSSL Outdoor Utility Tools	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Vancouver Umbrella Inc	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Vasque	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Vaude	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
✅	Vessi	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Vibram	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Vibram Five Fingers	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
✅	Victorinox	🇨🇭 Switzerland	➡️
❌	Vionic	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Voile	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Vuori	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	WRSI	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	WTB	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Wahoo Fitness	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Wallaroo	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
✅	Wallaroo Hats	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Watershed	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	We Norwegians	🇳🇴 Norway	➡️
✅	Wera	🇩🇪 Germany	➡️
❌	Werner Paddles	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Western Mountaineering	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Wigwam	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Wild Country	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
❌	Wilderness Systems	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Wildo	🇸🇪 Sweden	➡️
❌	WrightSock	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Xact	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Xcel	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Xtratuf	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	YY Vertical	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
❌	Yakima	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Yaktrax	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	Yeti	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	ZAG Skis	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Zamberlan	🇮🇹 Italy	➡️
❌	Zeal	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Zhik	🇦🇺 Australia	➡️
❌	Zippo	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	Zoleo	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️
✅	Zotefoams	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	black+blum	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	➡️
✅	icebreaker	🇳🇿 New Zealand	➡️
❌	inReach	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
❌	nuun	🇺🇸 United States	➡️
✅	tentree	🇨🇦 Canada	➡️

Count of countries

Country	Count
🇦🇺 Australia	15
🇦🇹 Austria	9
🇧🇪 Belgium	1
🇨🇦 Canada	109
🇨🇳 China	7
🇨🇿 Czech Republic	1
🇩🇰 Denmark	3
🇫🇮 Finland	4
🇫🇷 France	15
🇩🇪 Germany	25
🇮🇸 Iceland	1
🇮🇩 Indonesia	1
🇮🇪 Ireland	1
🇮🇱 Israel	1
🇮🇹 Italy	26
🇯🇵 Japan	6
🇳🇵 Nepal	1
🇳🇱 Netherlands	4
🇳🇿 New Zealand	4
🇳🇴 Norway	11
🇸🇮 Slovenia	1
🇿🇦 South Africa	2
🇰🇷 South Korea	3
🇪🇸 Spain	4
🇸🇪 Sweden	19
🇨🇭 Switzerland	17
🇹🇼 Taiwan	3
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	24
🇺🇸 United States	331

Panorama Ridge

2025-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

For some reason Panorama Ridge has been on my list for a long time, but I haven't gone. Partly it was confusion on my part about how to get up to Panorama Ridge and how long the trail actually is. Turns out it's really easy to get to and well worth it. Unfortunately judging by the numbers of people I saw and the posts on /r/vancouverhiking it looks like it's getting overwhelmed by people, rather like Joffre Lakes.

You will need day passes, or camping passes from BC Parks to visit this part of Garibaldi.

Day 1: Chekamus 👉 Helm Creek

Distance

8.15 km

Time

Elapsed: 2h 13m
Moving: 2h 8m

Elevation

📈 785.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

There are two main ways into this area, via Helm Creek (from the north) or via Taylor Meadows (from the south). The Helm Creek route is the furthest and comes in from Cheakamus Lake. It's not a technical trail and is an easy surface to hike on. In 8km it has almost 800m of elevation, but most of that comes in the last 6km of the hike. It starts off with steep switchbacks, but calms down after a while.

Helm Creek has bear caches, a couple of toilets and lots of tent pads spread out across the campsite. With Black Tusk visible from the campsite, it's a lovely spot.

That night a helicopter and crew came into to take out someone who had accidentally set off a bear spray canister into their face. Number of times I've seen bear spray set off at a bear: 0. Number of times I've seen set off accidentally: 2.

Day 2: Garibaldi Day 2: Helm Creek 👉 Panorama Ridge

Distance

15.70 km

Time

Elapsed: 5h 56m
Moving: 4h 2m

Elevation

📈 827.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

I left my tent and gear at Helm Creek and moved the essentials into a smaller day bag. This was a pretty common approach, some people took their tent down and just put their backpack up the bear cache. It meant a light pack to tackle Panorama Ridge. The hike up towards the trail intersection is easy going. As you approach there are big flat areas of lacva rock, right underneath Black Tusk. It reminded me of volcanoes in New Zealand and was something I hadn't really experienced in BC.

The paths up to Black Tusk and the one up to Panorama Ridge are near each other. From that point it's 400m climb up a ridge and on to the top. I never felt exposed or nervous, the trail was pretty wide and felt good. There was one small part as it worked its way to the very top, but that was short lived and wasn't a problem for someone like me who is not keen on large drops or exposure. The top is absolutely stunning and had absolutely amazing views. I can see why its popular.

I left early in the morning and as I was heading down, more and more people were coming up. Runners and others from Rubble Creek via Taylor Meadows were also appearing. I can see this place being very, very busy. One brief diversion of the main trail and I found the place where people go to the toilet and sadly leave their toilet paper (leave no trace people). It was a little depressing.

I was able to have a nice swim in the lake, sunbathe and be back at Helm Creek in the early afternoon. I was tempted to just pack up and hike out, since I didn't figure it would take too long, but in the end I decided to enjoy another night in a lovely campsite.

Mountain lakes swum in: 2️⃣

Day 3: Helm Creek 👉 Cheakamus

Distance

8.15 km

Time

Elapsed: 1h 50m
Moving: 1h 46m

Elevation

📈 97.0 m
ℹ️ Click for profile

This is a pretty straightforward hike out, due to it being downhill pretty much all the way, it passed really quickly. I enjoyed the sun rising and the sunlight coming in through the trees as I made my way down. It only took 1h 46m for me to get back to the car. Then it was drive out on the 8km of unpaved road to Function Junction feeling pretty happy and satisfied. This would be a nice opportunity to divert over to Cheakamus Lake if you fancied another mountain lake swim.

Summary

Overall a great hike with amazing views, but concerns about the overcrowding. I'd happily consider doing this in one day, or perhaps a loop up from one end to the other taking in Black Tusk next time.

Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 Tent

2025-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

Last year I bought the Big Agnes UL1 Tent which was a replacement for my Tarptent ProTrail. I liked the Big Agnes tent so much, I sold my Tarptent and then bought another one. This time a 2 person tent to replace our aging 23+ year old MEC tent, which is heavy and in bad shape.

🚨 Big Agnes is a US company 🤦‍♂, so Canadian 🇨🇦 buyers beware. I bought this in 2024, before the current administration.

The Tiger Wall UL2 Tent, like the UL1 Tent is a white "solution dyed" tent, which is meant to consume much less water during the production process. Like the UL1, it's light coming in at 776g when I weighed it on my scales at home, compared to 556g for the one man. That's light enough that I can use it for backpacking comfortably and took it to New Zealand and multiple trips within British Columbia.

Unlike the UL2 tent, it has doors and vestibule on either side of the tent, allowing occupants to get in and out easily, without disturbing others. The tent is a squish, you have to like the person you are in the tent with, there's enough room for my and the wife to lie flat on our backs, but not alot more.

It comes with pockets on the sides, the top above heads and above the feet. This is enough space to put all your light stuff, leaving the rest to the vestibule.

Like the UL1, it's semi-free standing, the frame stands on it's own at the front and sides, but the back requires at least two pegs. So far I've put up the tent on wooden pads and it's been just fine.

It's listed as three season tent and since I don't really camp in the winter, this is just fine for me.

I got this on sale and it's not listed on Big Agnes site anymore, but so far I'm very happy with all the Big Agnes tents I've bought.

Total weight as carried - fly and inner sheet, poles, pegs with bag for each: 1126g

If you are looking for a Canadian tent supplier, check out Durston, I haven't used their tents yet, but starting to see them more on hikes.