The Vancouver Island Section has held many summer camps in Alpine Club huts over the years but never before at the ACC Hostel in Canmore. This luxurious facility in the woods ten minutes from town boasts beds for up to 31 people, electricity, running water, sheets and towels, four bathrooms with hot showers, a fully-equipped kitchen with BBQ, large fridge and freezer, laundry, library, spacious seating areas, a meeting room, parking, 3 EV charging ports, wifi and even a pool table, piano and guitar. Perhaps best of all, the hostel is situated a short driving distance from hundreds of spectacular hikes and peaks. And the cost, well let’s just say the Section gets a huge discount from an already fair price.
After Sylvia and Laura stayed there in 2025, they suggested the possibility of a Section Camp to Cedric and Geoff. Cedric subsequently made all the arrangements. When registration opened on March 6th, 2026, over 25 applicants signed up within three hours. As a postscript, on the last night of the camp, almost all the participants voted to come back again soon, perhaps as early as 2027.
The only downside? It’s a long drive from the Island, made unpleasant by smoke from fires in the BC interior. Smoke came and went during the week. Some days were clear but the views on other days were somewhat diminished. Fortunately, no one suffered major breathing difficulties. The area of course is very popular. Even the more strenuous hikes and peaks attract many people but overall, not bad – the notable exception being the huge crowds and parking difficulties at Lake Louise.
Everyone showed up during the afternoon and evening of Saturday, August 1st, in time for a brief welcome and introduction from the organizers. In keeping with camp tradition, cooking groups of 4-5 people were assigned to each of the six dinners. Everyone was asked to show up on the first and last nights but could be late or absent for the intervening dinners.
Closure of the Smith-Dorrien Highway 742 near Canmore severely limited access to many good trails and peaks. However, the southern end of this rough gravel road was still accessible for those willing to drive 1½ hours from the hostel. Several trails were closed owing to bear activity or construction but staff at the Kananaskis visitor centres provided up-to-the-minute information.
Major hikes and objectives during the week included an east-west traverse of Yamnuska, the summits of Grotto, Lady Macdonald and Middle Sister, the Cory-Edith Loop and the Tent Ridge Horseshoe. Other excellent hikes included Baldy Pass, Spray Falls, Rawson Lake and Ridge, Wind Point and Ridge, Cascade Amphitheatre, Ptarmigan and Arethusa Cirques, Grotto Canyon, Moose Mountain, Boom Lake, Sunshine Meadows, Prairie View, Johnston Canyon, Raven’s End, Plain of the Six Glaciers and Wasootch Slabs.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
First, the dinners: In addition to the camaraderie and the spectacular alpine scenery, an important feature of these summer camps is the fine dining experience. Each night, a group of four campers does all the cooking and cleanup. Owing to the close proximity of grocery stores we enjoyed the luxury of fresh food all week. Appies were served at 5:30 followed by dinner an hour later.
Sunday: fresh veggies, chili with buns and all the fixings; followed by home-made Pavlova
Monday: baked brie and French bread, nachos, Italian meatballs with zucchini and beans; meringues with strawberries and ice cream
Tuesday: veggies, chips with five-layer dip, Mexican dinner with chicken tacos and amazing accoutrements including home-made guacamole, Santa Fe salad; Key Lime tartlets
Wednesday: fresh veggies, spicy butter chicken with rice, salad, pizzas and beer; ice cream with brownies
Thursday: Ken’s special mushrooms, tuna pesto noodles with corn on the cob; cakes, cherry cobbler and a Japanese sponge cake
Friday: Wei’s fabulous feast of ribs and chicken with stuffed baked potatoes; watermelon, ice cream and cookies
Beer and wine were plentiful. Nobody starved.
Yamnuska Traverse (11 hikers): pleasant hiking through an aspen forest, fun scrambling on the ridge including a chain link via ferrata, spectacular cliffs, a stiff wind that nearly blew us off the summit, a wonderful scree run despite decades of constant use, and interesting geology – sheer cliffs of Cambrian limestone uplifted, thanks to the huge McConnell Thrust, on top of much younger soft Cretaceous sandstone. (Elevation 2240m, gain 900m, distance 9km, time 6+ hours)
Lady Macdonald summit (by Douglas with Lucia, Janine, Jane, Sylvia, Laura): It was a sunny cool walk up through the forest. A cold, stiffening wind matched the ever stiffening scree slope to the high ridge near 2600m where spectacular views rewarded us handsomely. The significant exposure of the final summit knife edge scramble was not for everyone but the summit was achieved and we all reunited for lunch and the descent, everyone well pleased with sensible decision-making and a great day in the Rockies. (Elevation 2605m; gain 1300m)
Cory-Edith Loop (8 hikers): a long curving traverse to Cory Pass with expansive views to the west, then a traverse across the north face of Edith into a hidden valley with a breathtaking view of the spectacular face of Mount Louis, then a long and pleasant hike through a forested valley from Edith Pass back to the trailhead. (Elevation 2350m, gain 950m, distance 13km, time 7+ hours)
Grotto Mountain summit (by Ken with Tak): The well-marked trail started gently at the ACC Hostel parking lot but soon turned into the steep, unrelenting switchbacks of the forested Grotto Mountain Trail with occasional views of Canmore below. After 4.5hrs, 4km in distance and 1000m in elevation gain, we entered the alpine scree slope. Here we encountered a family of three sliding and kicking down rocks on the steep slope towards us. They wore runners so we advised them to go back up to the gentler Grotto Mountain West Ridge Route to descend instead. We headed east for 1km to the false summit and then scrambled along the exposed ridge for another 1.8km to the windy true summit. The smoke obscured the scenery, but we could still see the faint outline of Cascade Mountain 25km to the west and Bow Valley below. I wondered if Calgary could be seen on a clear day. It took six hours and 1425m of elevation gain to summit Grotto. Time was running short, so we opted for the direct descent via the Grotto Mountain Hard Route. This route was a lot steeper and looser than our ascent route, requiring concentration and careful footwork to stay upright. Hiking poles were knee and life savers. Once we were back in the steep forest, we swung from tree to tree following the faint trail. At times we were lost in thick bushes or had to hug trees to stop ourselves from going over bluffs. Geez, it was Vancouver Island bushwhacking in the Rockies! We hit a section of broken limestone and followed a trail to the right into a canyon, which had bolted climbing routes and log platforms. We were off-trail! On the map, the Echo Canyon Trail was 200m below. We hated to backtrack, so we stumbled down the super loose boulders and scree slope towards the promised trail. It was such a relief to finally get out of Echo Canyon and back to the easier Grotto Mountain Hard Route! We called Cedric and said that we would be late for dinner and arrived just after 7pm, sweaty and exhausted. Cold beers drowned my swollen knee’s complaints. (Elevation 1366m start and 2706m summit; gain 1425m; distance 12km; time 10.5hrs)
Sunshine Meadows (17 hikers in two parties): a gondola and chairlift whisk hikers rapidly into wide-open beautiful alpine meadows dotted with tarns and covered in flowers. This was one of the most popular hikes.
Lake Louise and Plain of the Six Glaciers (9 hikers in two parties): a relatively easy hike around the lake and up to the tea house, then beyond to the view of the notorious Death Trap and Abbot Pass (where the old stone hut no longer sits – but a new one is being planned.) However, the highlight was a special invitation to view Phee’s three magnificent murals that grace the walls of the Chateau Lake Louise lobby.
Tent Ridge Horseshoe (7 hikers): an unusual circuit of three high rocky ridges separated by two main summits, airy and scenic with some pleasant scrambling, surrounded by rugged mountains. Recommended by Gillean Daffern as “the most enjoyable ridge walk in the Kananaskis.” (Elevation 2530m, gain 807m, distance 10km, time 7+ hours).
Middle Sister summit (by Douglas with Lucia, Janine, Sylvia, Laura): We looked out at the Middle Sister all week from the ACC Hostel, so we had to climb it! It was a long day. The access via Stewart Creek had some reasonable paths, much negotiating of boulders in the creek bed and some sketchy slope-side scrabbling! The upper screes were impressive for their length, steepness and never-ending quality. BUT the summit ridge and summit were just reward, 2769m seemed pretty good, even with some smoke haze about us. A 17km day with 1400m elevation gain was a fitting end to a wonderful week.
Participants (25): Geoff Bennett (co-organizer), Sandi Berry, Janine Buckley, Doug & Angela Cliff, Laura Darling, Neil Han, Mike Hubbard, Phee & Rick Hudson, Douglas & Lucia Jamieson, Colleen Kasting, Bryan Kingsfield, Gordon Kyle, David Lemon, Jane Maduke, Stan Marcus, Sylvia Moser, Tak Ogasawara, Brian Parsons, Leona Winstone, Ken Wong, Wei Wu, Cedric Zala (co-organizer)
