My first back country experience – McArthur Creek/Otter Trail

So the nerves were building for my first back country hike. I was feeling so unprepared it was scary. I was hiking with a very capable hiker, Mary, but I don’t know if this made me feel any better!

I headed into town for a few last minute items… food… What food are you supposed to take on a back country hike? Well anything light! So i headed to the local outdoor shop, Valhalla, in Canmore and purchased some dehydrated food (BBQ rice with chicken and lasagna).

Now i am ready…

• Tent – check
• Rucksack – check
• Food – check
• Waterproofs – check
• Spare dry clothes – check
• Stove and cooking utensils – check
• Torch – check
• Water – check
• Bear spray – check
• Cameras – check
• Confidence and sanity – not quite sure where they had gone!

Everything else that we needed, Mary was going to bring. I was a mix of excited and a feeling of pure dread. I knew that this was not going to be an easy couple of days by any stretch. I was just hoping that i was not going to pass out before the end.

So we decided to meet in Canmore at 7am. We drove to Banff to pick up the camera kit and the 6 cameras we were to be setting up around the area. Then off we went to Yoho National Park to start our hike. Now this hike was supposed to be done over 4 days, but due to the weather forecast for the last 2 days, Mary and I decided to hike for as much as we could over the first 2 days so we wouldn’t get caught out in the rain.

We arrived at the trailhead and sorted out all of our kit, leaving behind anything that wasn’t needed that just added unnecessary weight. I will say that even so, the packs were still heavy! Then we began. It was a 15km hike to the camp ground. The hike wasn’t so bad, it was a gradual uphill climb and in the end took us around just over 4 hours to reach the camp, even with a 10 minute stop to set up the 1st camera. By this time it was around 2pm, we had some lunch and then set up camp.

After camp was set up, we hung all our food/smelly stuff on the bear hand (a big metal pole with a winch to keep you food away from the bears!) and off we went to Otter Falls and Good Sir Pass to place 3 of the cameras. It didn’t take us too long to set up the cameras according to the maps that we had. Along the way there was a lot of bear and wolf scat which was exciting/scary. We ended up getting back to camp at around 6.30pm.

Then it was tea time. We headed down to the creek where we had a delicious meal of soup (for starter) then salmon pasta (for main). It was just what we needed after the 20+km we had hiked. After washing up, it was time for bed.

The second day was painful. I was sore from all the hiking the day before and from sleeping in a tent (never comfortable), and we still had to put 2 cameras along McAurther Pass, which was an un-maintained trail. With the last nights rain still looming on the trees it was a very wet hike through bushes to get the 2 cameras up. But we got there, 3km in and 3km back out again. Then it was time to hit the road and head the 15km back to the car.

Those 15km were the most painful 15km I have ever hiked. My feet were wet and sore and my legs were aching from the weight of the pack and all the hiking. I cant say how long it took to get down but I can say that it took longer than on the way.

At last we made it to the car. The journey was over, I had won! 40+km over 2 days, brilliant. I was so happy. And what made me even more happy was the thought of a bath and my own bed for the night.

(sorry for the lack of photographs on this blog entry, the weather wasn’t great and the thought of carrying my massive camera as well as everything else was too much!)