Hike to Burstall Pass

When I was a kid we traveled to Calgary every few years to visit my Dad's family. One of my favorite past times is going on hikes in the Rockies with my Uncle Matt.

Uncle Matt is what I consider a hiking expert. He LOVES to be outdoors and has probably hiked all the hikes in his area multiple times over.

This vacation Stan got to join in on a hike. Uncle Matt took us and Taylor up to a place in the Kananaskis, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park called Burstall Pass.

Pardon in advance for all the pictures, but you don't spend a whole day exhausting yourself and eating jerky and trail mix to only share a few photos.

Things I love about hiking in the Rockies (with Uncle Matt as our guide):
The view is always worth the climb
The hike almost always involves some "off-road" adventures
The terrain changes several times
You can eat all day long and still never feel full
You get to yell "Auggie Auggie Auggie!" to scare away the bears
You get to go through snow in the middle of July
You get to see tons of wildflowers and even some wildlife
You get to go the whole day without checking email or answering a phone call or text
You get to take LOTS of breaks to rest
You get to be in some of the most beautiful places on Earth
and most importantly,
The view is always worth the climb

Here's a slideshow of our climb.Every hike tends to start with a long semi-flat trek through the trees to get to the base of the mountain. Luckily this time we got to bike through that part and save a little time and a little wear on our feet.


Stan pointing to the valley we're about the hike through


One of the many snack breaks


Going up some more.

Zoom in on a glacier opposite of us. Pretty amazing how those things hang on to the side of the mountain.

Another break, different view.

And we keep going up.



Another stopping point with a gorgeous view.




And we go up some more


Finally to the top of the ridge. What a view!





Taylor was pretty winded and didn't want to go as far as we did. So Uncle Matt made it up to him by helping him throw HUGE rocks off the side of the mountain. Let's just say they created a few rock slides and kicked up a lot of dust.
Moving down the ridge.
Taylor pointed out the blue flowers that were in the shape of a heart. It's amazing these things survive all the way up here.


Notice the very steep descent. This part makes me nervous.


Going down some snow. Most of us walk (or heel) down it. Stan decided to follow Taylor's example and slide down it.
Unfortunately he did not have as successful a landing as Taylor.He has a bruise/scrape on his rump to match his leg.

I'm pointing to the ridge that we had just came from.

It was a lot of hard work, but an enjoyable experience as usual.
We're looking forward to next time Uncle Matt!