Stanley Glacier Hike

I hike and walk often around my home in Creston, BC; but not many of the adventures I embark on feel particularly ambitious or audacious. I love exploring new places and occasionally challenging myself, and though there’s many beautiful and interesting areas around where I live, their allure can dim over time as the novelty wears off.

My interest was piqued when I made plans with my boyfriend and his siblings to hike at Stanley Glacier Trail in Kootenay National Park, near Banff area. I always find that area fresh and wild and exciting. During the drive, we saw mountain goats and their kids, a black bear, hawks and eagles and osprey, and even a coyote pup or fox kit. I enjoyed watching the usual Douglas firs and cedars change to lanky, windswept lodgepole and ponderosa pines.

The hike itself was intense and enjoyable. I personally loved the absolute majesty of the mountains and glacier that surrounded us, looming over our heads as we neared their bases. Misty waterfalls poured out of rock crevices and swirled like steam in the air. Intriguing rocks, geodes, and even fossils were everywhere, and I wish I could’ve inspected them all. I got to taste cold, biting glacier water straight from the creeks running through the scree and felt the spray of waterfalls on my skin. We obviously had to have a snowball fight once we finally made it to the remaining snow patches, too.

Overall, I’m so glad I had a chance to be immersed in this place for a day. It was such a rewarding and epic adventure – many thanks to my boyfriend for planning it all.