Mountains, Waterfalls and Rivers: Exploring Monkman Provincial Park, British Columbia

[Luke Schmidt]

Companion forum thread to: Mountains, Waterfalls and Rivers: Exploring Monkman Provincial Park, British Columbia

So when Ben texted me that he and two other guys had lined up a brand new “epic” trip in Monkman Provincial Park, British Columbia, I probably should have thought about what I was getting into. But I was up for some excitement so I joined the trip.

[Mike M]

Luke- thanks for the report.  Thankfully not as “adventurous” as your Wood River trip!  :)

Some gorgeous looking country; gorgeous enough you have me looking at maps.

If you find yourself exploring a lot of rocky places- look into La Sportiva trail runners (several different models)- easily the best outsoles of any trail runners, very sticky compounds and typically a little more aggressive.

I’ve found microspikes worth carrying if peak bagging is on my to do list for a trip- sometimes they just sit in my pack, but when I have needed them- they were a godsend!

Keep documenting your trips, I thoroughly enjoy them.

Mike

 

[Luke Schmidt]

Thanks Mike. More to come at some point.

I wish I could wear  La Sportiva shoes but they just don’t fit. On my last trip I used a pair of Salewa approach shoes. They were almost perfect. Sized up the toe box was adequate and they had minimal heel rise. They climbed well and were more rugged then trail runners. Main downside was slow drying.

[Mike M]

Luke- might want to try a pair of Akasha’s on; I can’t wear most La Sportiva’s either due to their general narrowness and lack of toebox room- the Akasha’s seem to be an exception, two BMO’s under their belt and 100’s of trail running miles :)

Mike

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Awesome. I’ve been wanting to get to Monkman after hiking to Kakwa this year.

You may want to take a look at some of the Monkman to Kakwa routes for next summer. Looks like you could raft out Jarvis Creek to civilization.

[Luke Schmidt]

Dan actually I did that. Ben S. and I went from Kakwa, across the mountains and down Jarvis Creek. Another report on that is in the works.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Ha Ha…awesome. Looking forward to it.

I did a 560km trip to Kakwa as well this summer (Jasper to Kakwa to Jasper). Wrote that up here:
https://intocascadia.com/2017/08/08/great-divide-trail-yo-yo-part-6-7-the-wildest-rockies/

[Luke Schmidt]

Yeah  I’ve been enjoying your videos.

 

[Ben Brochu]

Nice write-up Luke. It’s even mostly true ;). For the record, my gaiters were not on wrong, I had just forgot the put them on and wanted to try them out. And it was Ben S who nearly flipped at Brooks Falls when he was launching, because he tried to put in the same place I did.

[Monty Montana]

I also found the Altra Lone Peaks to be pretty lame; with virtually no structure to them they’re basically only good on maintained trails. I ended up giving mine away, replacing them with La Sportiva Ultra Raptors, and have never looked back.

[Luke Schmidt]

To be fair Monty the newer versions are better. I still use my new pair. Off trail they are fine. Not as good for scrambling but good enough.

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