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Vancouver, BC
Canada
41 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 6:25 PM
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Wondering from anyone who knows what the crowds are like over the Canada Day long weekend for the non reservable campsites in Banff / Jasper. Any rough guide as to how early they fill up?
Thanks, |
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Finally stopping that crazy suffering that is ice, climbing to concentrate on great ski tours!
3509 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 7:10 PM
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Insane. Banff? Calgarians drive out on Thursday (or even Wed!) and take a site, pay until Monday, and drive home.
Jasper is a bit better, but you better get out early. |
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287 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 7:26 PM
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quote:
Insane. Banff? Calgarians drive out on Thursday (or even Wed!) and take a site, pay until Monday, and drive home.
Jasper is a bit better, but you better get out early.
Seriously? My goodness that's crazy! |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
218 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 8:08 PM
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| The hostel situation is also similar. The ACC one in Canmore sold out over a week ago, Kananaskis and Banff are booked solid, and there were only a few spots left in Lake Louise. However, I'd imagine that Jasper would still have a fair number of spots left. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
468 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2012 : 9:56 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by matthewf
Wondering from anyone who knows what the crowds are like over the Canada Day long weekend for the non reservable campsites in Banff / Jasper. Any rough guide as to how early they fill up?
Thanks,
On long weekend, I suggest you go do some obscured peaks, or go obscured places. Last year August long weekend I did Mt Fairview on the second day, and it took almost 2 hours to drive out from parking lot to the village...... |
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Canmore, AB
Canada
1238 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 09:58 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by johngenx
Insane. Banff? Calgarians drive out on Thursday (or even Wed!) and take a site, pay until Monday, and drive home.
I should start a business where I'd drive out to a site and reserve a site for the city folks. Even if I charged the equivalent of their gas money, I'd still make a profit! |
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Jasper, ab
Canada
1032 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 10:17 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by spicytuna
quote:
Originally posted by johngenx
Insane. Banff? Calgarians drive out on Thursday (or even Wed!) and take a site, pay until Monday, and drive home.
I should start a business where I'd drive out to a site and reserve a site for the city folks. Even if I charged the equivalent of their gas money, I'd still make a profit!
I've done that many times for friends. Of course, I don't charge them though. But thinking about it, that may not be a bad idea |
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 10:38 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Arcturus
The hostel situation is also similar. The ACC one in Canmore sold out over a week ago, Kananaskis and Banff are booked solid, and there were only a few spots left in Lake Louise. However, I'd imagine that Jasper would still have a fair number of spots left.
I booked a 12-bunk cabin at Maligne Canyon for the Canada Day weekend back in November. I learned really early on that you have to reserve at least six months ahead of time if you want to be sure you'll get a bunk.
Oh, and in case anybody's interested, I just bagged the last reservable campsite at Berg Lake for the Labour Day weekend. |
Edited by - peter1955 on 06/21/2012 10:52 AM |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
468 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 12:22 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by peter1955
I booked a 12-bunk cabin at Maligne Canyon for the Canada Day weekend back in November. I learned really early on that you have to reserve at least six months ahead of time if you want to be sure you'll get a bunk.
Oh, and in case anybody's interested, I just bagged the last reservable campsite at Berg Lake for the Labour Day weekend.
Making a reservation months ahead of time is quite not something I like, like the Berg Lake area and Lake O'Hara bus... I will only go these areas on a blue sky day, otherwise I'd rather do a scramble in the front ranges.
That means, I might have to do Berg Lake to Snowbird Pass to Titkana Peak in one day. That's like 75km. Having done the Fullerton to Nihahi to Compression gives me quite a bit of confidence to finish this epic. Start at 11:30pm and arrive at Berg Lake in the morning to give a full day to explore further, and head back in dark again. |
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Finally stopping that crazy suffering that is ice, climbing to concentrate on great ski tours!
3509 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 1:42 PM
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I once went from the trailhead to Berg Lake, went up Snowbird Pass and back to Berg, then into Jasper park, slept for a little bit, then back to Berg Lake, and back to the trailhead in 26hrs. ~104km.
No plans to repeat, but was fun. |
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 1:45 PM
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You guys are masochists.
Hard-core, but masochists. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
218 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 3:24 PM
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| Wow. Is it hard to get a camping spot on the Jasper side near Robson? |
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 | Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 3:29 PM
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I doubt if I will see anyone else in the mountains on Canada Day long weekend...
Because they'll all be camped in the National Parks :D |
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| Engor
Intermediate Member
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Calgary
840 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 4:07 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by StevenSong
Making a reservation months ahead of time is quite not something I like, like the Berg Lake area and Lake O'Hara bus... I will only go these areas on a blue sky day, otherwise I'd rather do a scramble in the front ranges.
It's not that bad with Berg Lake: several campgrounds on the trail and only half of all campsites can be reserved in advance. The other half are on first-come-first-served basis (permits can be obtained on the same day in the visitor centre). I've been able to get 2 campsites at Emperor Falls CG on Canada Day long weekend in the past just by showing up early morning on the first day of the weekend. Would have been able to get campsites at Berg Lake CG if I'd shown up 10 minutes earlier. I wouldn't bother with reservation for Berg Lake Trail.
Much worse with Lake O'Hara. But there is always an option of walking the 12km fireroad and getting back on the last bus at 6:30pm. That should give enough time to do every possible hike or scramble in the area. |
Edited by - Engor on 06/21/2012 4:14 PM |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
47 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 6:02 PM
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Depending on your tolerance for drunken debauchery, you can always stay in the overflow sites in the national parks.
I stayed in Snaring Overflow on August long a couple years back, and it was ridiculous, but it was a place to sleep and was only like $10 / night. No fires, no tables, pretty much a big gravelly field. Not paradise by any means, but they just cram people in so you wont get turned back. |
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1078 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2012 : 6:13 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dru
I doubt if I will see anyone else in the mountains on Canada Day long weekend...
Because they'll all be camped in the National Parks :D
One thing about Banff is that, no matter how busy the campground is, once you get on an actual mountain, you'll be fine. Every 100 yards from the car is a 10% reduction in the number of people.
I don't know what's worse about the long weekend campground crowds though, drunken idiots keeping you up (I don't drink at all, and have a fairly low tolerance for the plastered), or RCMP assuming you're one of them, and throwing out unwarranted verbal abuse! I'm glad that most of the time, I've had good neighbors. |
Edited by - DCIPHER on 06/21/2012 6:15 PM |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
41 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2012 : 09:07 AM
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Thanks, really appreciate the response.
Based on the forecast it may not be worth the drive - will make mind up mid week next. But currently it's gonna be 30 and sunny in vans and based on our current June it will be hard to leave.
Sadly this isn't going to be a backcountry trip - the fiance is coming and while I can get her to come along on day hikes I know I'd get far too carried away in the rockies. Another trip, another year I'm afraid :(
Another Question - are the weather systems that hit the rockies similar to those that hit the sierra nevada? i.e. lots of rain / lightning, but then clears up again soon after. Normally hitting in the afternoon?
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2012 : 11:09 AM
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The eastern slopes of the Rockies are much dryer that the western.
Since the prevailing winds run west to east, the moisture gets dropped on the BC side and not much is left by the time it gets to Alberta. Rain/lightning is rare in comparison, but as with any mountainous area, the weather can change quickly and without warning. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Andorra
3796 Posts |
Posted - 06/22/2012 : 10:29 PM
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We don't get it quite as bad as Colorado, but thunderstorms are definitely a common thing in the Rockies.
I don't think the dry eastern slope here has as big an effect. We don't tend to get days of rain, but the hot days build isolated storms.
As a general expectation, if the thermometer hits 25 on a July day, expect a thunderstorm around 4pm. Sometimes it comes earlier, and sometimes it takes longer and builds all day to hit at 7. But I generally expect that a hot day will storm out at some point for ~30min, and then clear out again for the evening.
If you have a good view of the sky, you can usually watch them building and gauge your time. The trouble is when you're hiking an east face or something and you can't see what's coming until it hits you.
If the weather is forecast hot, and you have big plans, it's a good idea to start early. |
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Calgary
69 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2012 : 9:27 PM
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Hilda Creek Hostel still has a spot available over the long weekend. Not sure what it is about that place, but I went there last August, every single other accommodation - whether hotel or campground - was booked solid from Banff to Jasper and I had Hilda Creek all to myself. Never mind that the place got struck by lightning that night, but it was amazing to have my solitude and just be about 7km from the icefields.
As for car camping, I've had success on scoring sites at Wilcox around 9am on a long weekend, but there was probably less than a handful free on a Saturday morning.
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2012 : 07:06 AM
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For what it's worth, it looks like a large number of campsites in Jasper are closed right now because of flooding, notably the Snaring River site and the overflow With 350 sites out of action, Jasper's going to be a gong show this weekend.
(I have 12 bunks booked at Maligne Canyon hostel. Too bad for everybody else.) |
Edited by - peter1955 on 06/29/2012 10:35 AM |
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Banff/Jasper Campsites
