Backpacking 8 days in Jasper's extremely remote mountains - The SOUTHESK Loop: Part 1 - Cairn Pass
5.9 هزار بار بازدید -
4 سال پیش
-
"If Southesk Lake isn't the
"If Southesk Lake isn't the most remote point accessible by trail in Jasper Park, it certainly feels as though it is." Those words from Brian Patton & Bart Robinson's trail guide have been on my mind forever.
This adventure started 25 years ago, when I was a young engineer living in Fox Creek. My good friend Farsin and I hiked the full South Boundary Trail from Jacques Lake to Nigel Pass (165 km) in 12 days. Since then I have hiked just about all of Jasper's 1,000 km of trails. All but the Southesk Look.
A year ago I met Evan Robertson, an executive chef with a unique mission. He wanted to show everyone that it's possible to have gourmet meals on a long hike. Evan was new to hiking but he's a very fast learner. Over the last year, Evan and I hiked together on progressively longer journeys and "dialed-in" our gear, while he refined his recipes. Our aim was to complete an 8-10 day journey by the end of summer 2020. The Southesk loop was the perfect choice as it allowed me to finish my journey that I started 25 years earlier.
I'll be honest. I had my doubts that we could eat a gourmet meal every day on a long journey. Evan proved me wrong.
Day 1: Beef fajitas
Day 2: Duck pad thai w. duck egg
Day 3: Salmon potato salad
Day 4: Bow tie pasta with carbonara sauce and garlic bread
Day 5: Crab Cakes on a bed of fried onions and peppers
Day 6: Shepherd's pie
Day 7: Escargots (snails) with garlic crostini
We also had 2 fancy desserts: Tarts and chocolate lava cakes.
This trail is absolutely not for weekend warriors. We started south of Cadomin and hiked in via Rocky Pass. From there we headed south through Cairn Pass. We took a crazy "short cut" by hiking over Dean pass, which was not a good idea. Southesk Lake was a relatively easy target from there. Glacier Pass is the longest high alpine pass I have ever traversed. The last part of our journey was willow whacking and constant creek crossings. We lost the trail every day, sometimes for 20-30 minutes. In all we hiked 110 km in 8 days. We went 6 days without seeing another soul. We completed this trip Aug 29-Sept 6, 2020.
I brought a GPS on this trip, something I haven't done in 5 years. I can provide the track to serious hikers. This was a remarkable trip, with an amazing friend.
Enjoy.
My CalTopo map: https://caltopo.com/m/VPP4
0:00 Introduction
2:31 Start of the movie
4:46 Rocky Pass
7:01 Medicine Tent camp site
13:29 Medicine Tent patrol cabin
15:14 LaGrace camp site
17:00 Cairn Lakes
19:04 Cairn Pass
22:46 Cairn Pass camp site
31:14 Grouse on the trail
#Martyupnorth #Southesk #SouthBoundaryTrail
This adventure started 25 years ago, when I was a young engineer living in Fox Creek. My good friend Farsin and I hiked the full South Boundary Trail from Jacques Lake to Nigel Pass (165 km) in 12 days. Since then I have hiked just about all of Jasper's 1,000 km of trails. All but the Southesk Look.
A year ago I met Evan Robertson, an executive chef with a unique mission. He wanted to show everyone that it's possible to have gourmet meals on a long hike. Evan was new to hiking but he's a very fast learner. Over the last year, Evan and I hiked together on progressively longer journeys and "dialed-in" our gear, while he refined his recipes. Our aim was to complete an 8-10 day journey by the end of summer 2020. The Southesk loop was the perfect choice as it allowed me to finish my journey that I started 25 years earlier.
I'll be honest. I had my doubts that we could eat a gourmet meal every day on a long journey. Evan proved me wrong.
Day 1: Beef fajitas
Day 2: Duck pad thai w. duck egg
Day 3: Salmon potato salad
Day 4: Bow tie pasta with carbonara sauce and garlic bread
Day 5: Crab Cakes on a bed of fried onions and peppers
Day 6: Shepherd's pie
Day 7: Escargots (snails) with garlic crostini
We also had 2 fancy desserts: Tarts and chocolate lava cakes.
This trail is absolutely not for weekend warriors. We started south of Cadomin and hiked in via Rocky Pass. From there we headed south through Cairn Pass. We took a crazy "short cut" by hiking over Dean pass, which was not a good idea. Southesk Lake was a relatively easy target from there. Glacier Pass is the longest high alpine pass I have ever traversed. The last part of our journey was willow whacking and constant creek crossings. We lost the trail every day, sometimes for 20-30 minutes. In all we hiked 110 km in 8 days. We went 6 days without seeing another soul. We completed this trip Aug 29-Sept 6, 2020.
I brought a GPS on this trip, something I haven't done in 5 years. I can provide the track to serious hikers. This was a remarkable trip, with an amazing friend.
Enjoy.
My CalTopo map: https://caltopo.com/m/VPP4
0:00 Introduction
2:31 Start of the movie
4:46 Rocky Pass
7:01 Medicine Tent camp site
13:29 Medicine Tent patrol cabin
15:14 LaGrace camp site
17:00 Cairn Lakes
19:04 Cairn Pass
22:46 Cairn Pass camp site
31:14 Grouse on the trail
#Martyupnorth #Southesk #SouthBoundaryTrail
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