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Hiking Trail caches in Banff/Icefields/Jasper?


drat19

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Hey there folks...

My buddy and I are going to be up doing the Banff/Icefields/Jasper tour and day-hiking thing next month (mid-Oct) and I'm hoping y'all can recommend some caches we can hit along the way, and on which trails they are? I don't know if y'all have the same "no physical caches in National Parks" limitation that we do in the States.

 

Thanks!

-Dave R., Biloxi, Miss., USA

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quote:
Originally posted by drat19:

I don't know if y'all have the same "no physical caches in National Parks" limitation that we do in the States.


 

We're not sure either icon_confused.gif but here are a few for you. They're generally listed from south to north in Jasper National Park along Hwy 93 the Icefields Parkway a must see while you're here.

 

Wilcox Cap Virtual

 

Glacier Virtual

 

Canada Day Cache Do you like to cliff dive??

 

Endor On the Valley of Five Lakes Trail

 

Here are a few more around the Jasper townsite

 

Rocky Moutain Barking Spider

 

Candles by the Pyramid

 

Wild Waters

 

Hope we have a nice Indian Summer for your trip. Enjoy icon_biggrin.gif

 

PDOP's GPS Pages

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I was just in Banff this past weekend.

 

I highly(pun intended) recommmend the Hike up Sulfur Mountain (not the Gondola ride,hoof it !)The views are spectacular...about 1.5hours up if your in good shape, 3 hours if your not. If you want to ride back down the Gondola ride is free to those who hiked up.

 

more info and pictures I loaded here:

 

Sulfur Mountain

 

For a list of all the caches closest to the Banff townsite, just click "locate all nearby caches" on the Sulfur Mountain page.

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I would recommend the http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=5016. It's a good hike (if you follow the complete circle) with spectacular viewpoints. I enjoyed sitting sitting on the ridge after finding the cache, taking in the sight of Jasper townsite & Jasper Park Lodge.

 

I hope the weather holds and you have an enjoyable trip.

 

"Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again." (Franklin P. Jones)

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quote:
Originally posted by ChiefPig:

Are the caches in Jasper accessible during winter? Maybe I can find a few after skiing at Marmot Basin?


 

Candles By The Pyramid would be easy in the winter on foot. Some of the others are accessed by cross country ski trails.

 

I've got three close to the highway just east of the park that you may want to visit while in transit icon_smile.gif

 

PDOP's GPS Pages

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I just realized most of the caches listed near the Jasper townsite (Candles by the Pyramid,Endor,Rocky Mountain Barking Spider,)appear to be on Mountainbike trails around the townsite. Wild Waters is up near Maligne Canyon.

 

If anyones interested, Freewheel cycle (bike shop)in Jasper has a map of the bike trails. It will show the location of Pyramid lake, Old Fort point, Valley of the five lakes etc. I know most of these trails well from biking them, and cant wait to start cache hunting on them next summer.

 

[This message was edited by JoeyTomato on September 26, 2003 at 03:37 PM.]

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If you're going to visit Mt Robinson (west of Jasper) you could do Hogan's Camp.

 

Do you do benchmarks? While the site doesn't support benchmarking in Canada yet the Brass Cap virtual cache travels to survey monuments in Alberta. There's a link on the cache page where you can download a GPX file of all the caps previously visited. I know there's at least one close to Jasper along the highway and another close to the Wilson Cap cache by the icefields.

 

PDOP's GPS Pages

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Here are some more in the Banff part of your itinerary. They're just ones that I've done; I'm sure others in the vicinity are great too.

 

Tunnel Mountain - Banff You can see it in one of JoeyTomato's logs on Sulphur Mountain. A very quick hike with some great view.

 

Parting Ways Another short hike with a great view.

 

Don't Eat The Rhubarb! A fun walk through the historical Bankhead ghost town.

 

There are plenty of others in Kananaskis; let me know if you think you might make it down there and we can recommend some.

 

Finally, this one hasn't been found yet but it is a good full-day ascent. If you're gnarly.

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quote:
Originally posted by reastick:

Finally, http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=29fab72e-0eed-404b-b994-898b1cebdbfa hasn't been found yet but it is a good full-day ascent. If you're gnarly.


 

I'd be gnarly if I had more time. Since we've only got 3.5 days we'll probably target some of the shorter ones (2-3 hr hikes each max, so we can maximize our caching and also scenic opp'ys). The other ones you listed are definitely on my list.

 

Continued thanks!

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS, USA

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quote:
Originally posted by ChiefPig:

quote:
Originally posted by PDOP's:

Yes. A couple are at rest stops on Hwy 16 west.


 

I don't normally stop at highway rest stops. I am assuming the rest stops at highway 16 (and probably Canada in general) are "safer" that the ones in the states which normally are hangouts of gay cruisers? icon_biggrin.gif


 

Fortunately the pull-outs and rest stops all through Mount Robson, Jasper and Banff are out of the way, and quite scenic icon_wink.gif Not too big of a gay cruising population through there, if any

 

However, closer to the cities... well... At least in the Vancouver area :/

 

A great serial killer once said, "Beauty is only skin deep. Trust me, I've looked..."

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Hey there...

Just a follow-up note. We completed our trip to your neck of the woods last week, and it was great! Unfortunately, we happened to hit Banff/Lake Louise on Thu/Fri when all that snow and ice hit, so Rte. 93 was closed and we could only get as far as Lake Louise. Also, the weather prevented us from doing all but 1 or 2 caches. We did, however, climb Sulphur Mountain - a rigorous but satisfying hike. By the time we got to the top it was snowing pretty heavily...the free gondola ride was much appreciated!

 

We did a whole bunch of caching in Calgary, however, and it was also GREAT! Plenty of good and challenging caches, and they certainly took me to parts of town I would never have seen otherwise if I were just any ol' visitor. Really enjoyed the hike and caches on Nose Hill, as well as others that provided good walks and surprise great views of the city and mountains in the distance (when it was clear out).

 

Bonus to you Calgary area cachers: I've brought and left around 15 Travel Bugs in caches for your enjoyment...if you're a bug collector and mover, you'll be thanking me! (smile)

 

Thanks again for the great caching!

-Dave R., Biloxi, Miss., USA

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Glad you enjoyed the Sulphur Mountain hike!,

I knew you would icon_wink.gif.

 

Calgary is loaded with great Caches, and great Cachers!!!I met about 20 of them at an event cache (GCGWDA) last month when I was down from Edmonton.

 

I'm heading down again this weekend with a load of bugs to trade and a long list of caches to hunt again. Hope to pick up a couple of your travellers and bring them up north for a visit.

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Well, when we had to abort our Icefields/Jasper leg of the trip, we diverted to Edmonton for the night (back via Banff/Calgary/Red Deer), and unfortunately since Edmonton was not on the original agenda I didn't have any cache listings with me. So, of course you know where in town we ended up for that morning/early afternoon (take one guess!). It turned out to be a beautiful day (Sat 10/18) and I wished I'd had a few cache targets with me..in fact, I commented to my buddy/travel partner that I'm sure we would have discovered some Edmonton hidden treasures (in terms of neat parks/locations) like we did in Calgary, if only we'd had some cache targets printed out for there. Alas, it was not to be.

 

I'm sure I'll be back again one day, though...I had originally visited the area back in '97 on business and always vowed to come back; all of Alberta is so beautiful, and sure enough 6 years later I found a way. Hopefully it will be less than another 6 years before I get back again.

 

Be sure to drop me a line if any of y'all ever happen to visit the beautiful Miss. Gulf Coast.

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, Miss., USA

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