Best Mom Ever! - Rafting the Grand Canyon

My mom is awesome! For her 60th birthday, she wanted to do something special so on her request, the whole family met up in Las Vegas. This was not to hit the strip, but to venture down the Colorado River in a raft for three days with Western River Expeditions. Let me put this in a bit of context. My mom is very outdoorsy and the opportunities Angela and I had to spend our childhood skiing, camping, hiking, and at the cottage in Northern Ontario significantly influenced my passion for my current outdoor pursuits. As a kid, mom taught me how to J-stroke a canoe, run rapids, windsurf and waterski. She is definitely the water lover in our family! When she suggested rafting the Grand Canyon for her birthday, I was surprised, but not shocked. She wanted to do something special that the whole family would enjoy and remember forever and try something new at the same time!

Running rapids on the French River with my mom back in 2007

Crowfoot Glades and Narao Shoulder

Instead of skiing the Wapta over Easter, we checked into the Mosquito Creek Hostel at the last second and did some day trips around the Icefields Parkway. We had brilliant sunshine and frigid temperatures on Saturday and made out way out to Crowfoot Glades.

Mosquito Creek Hostel

Rejected by the Wapta

The Wapta Traverse is a classic Rockies ski traverse that I have been wanting to do for a while, but there was always something else going on and it just never happened. This year, it wasn't in the plan but thanks to an awesome friend, we ended up with the Bow, Balfour and Scott Duncan Hut booked for 4 people over the Easter weekend! Unfortunately we didn't get to do the traverse. We didn't even make it into the Bow Hut...

When I think of Easter, my mind conjures up images of bright sunny skies, stable spring skiing and long, warm days with slushy snow. This year, winter is still in full force at the end of March as Kyle, Alan, Adam and I were getting ready to head out on the Wapta traverse. The word "bail" had been tossed around as the departure date neared because the weather wasn't looking super stellar for the weekend. The idea of spending the weekend navigating the glacier with a GPS in a cloud wasn't that appealing especially because the main draw of the Wapta is the amazing views. I was still keen to give it a shot despite the forecast. Maybe it wouldn't been that bad up there and if it was, we could always turn around.

Gearing up to hit the trail to the Bow Hut