What a beautiful place that I happen to call home. Canada! So much nature, very WoW, much fun! People travel from all over the world to visit Banff and Kananaskis and I have access to these wonderful places a short hour away from my back yard.
Victor K. a good friend of mine have been planning to hike to Ribbon falls since at least the beginning of the year. So, we decided last month to hike it. And it was a blast! My oldest boy “H” joined us as well and even though he is only 5 years old he managed to complete a good 50-60% of the hike on his own. The other half was a good long shoulder ride… Most of the other hikers were a little jealous. I think the most standard comment was “That’s the way to do it!” and “I wish I could get a free ride like that”.
You can check out more about The Ribbon Creek Trail here.
The trail is 8.1 km one-way to Ribbon Falls with an additional 2.0 km to Ribbon Lake. The first 8 km of trail is a spectacular valley hike hemmed in by massive cliffs of Mt. Kidd and Mt. Bogart. Ribbon Falls Backcountry Campground is located at the falls. To reach Ribbon Lake and the Ribbon Lake Backcountry Campground from Ribbon Falls, one must climb a cliff with two sections of chain to assist. The climb up the cliff is a serious undertaking – likely not possible if you suffer from vertigo. Climbing down the cliff, especially in wet weather, is even more challenging.
According to my Garmin watch – The total hike was 17.72 K/M so a little longer than the Alberta Parks website claims. However this could be due to the fact that The Ribbon Creek Trail was seriously damaged in June 2013 due to extensive flooding. The lower part of the trail is now closed and the new route takes you along the Terrace trail through some spectacular forest with log benches along the way to rest.
Below is a screen shot of my Garmin Stats. The spectacular scenery, the sheer size of the mountains and the fact that you are nearly always hiking near cascading white water, makes it nearly impossible to keep any resemblance of a good pace. So be prepared for an extra long day, especially if you are a photographer.
Random Kananaskis Fact O’ the Day! – The name Kananaskis comes from John Palliser who led the Palliser expedition from 1857-1860 across western Canada. He names the pass after hearing a story of a first nation’s man who survived an axe attack. His name was Kananaskis. You can check out 9 more Kananaskis facts here.
Yes, this is an actual photo (absolutely no photoshop, lightroom or filters applied). I took this facing west in the parking area in front of the Ribbon Creek trail head. Amazing!