Beautiful trip Kane, thanks for sharing. I explored in that area a few years back with a couple of hikers which I know had more expertise than me….well at least in certain aspects. Your mention of seeing bighorn sheep and the image of the bear track reminded me of an experience we had on that trip. We walked through an alpine meadow through a large herd of sheep that more or less could have cared less that we were there. We stopped for a few minutes to drink some water and saw that the sheep were running up the side of the valley, and in the distance 4 large brown shapes running full tilt towards us. I soon realized these shapes included a momma grizzly and three 2 year old “cubs” which looked to me about the size of juvenile black bears. As soon as I said these were bears, I turned around towards my experienced hiker friends to see they were running away as fast as they could. I yelled at them to stop running but they took no heed. Fortunately, I had a bear banger and shot it off which caused the bears to stop, and look around before giving me time to shoot off another one. At this point they were maybe 100 meters away but if they had kept up running at full speed they would have covered that in no time. With the second bear banger the bears scattered and we never saw them again. I have no idea if the bears knew we were there (though there was a 100% clear sigh line between us) or if they were worked up in some hunting frenzy because of the sheep. So where I’m going with this, I thought my "experienced friends" would know what to do if we encountered bears, boy I was wrong. Now I know when I go hiking with others, to have a tailgate talk in what to do in situations like these. 😉
It's definitely wild back there. I was expecting to see more animals than the sheep! If you look at the gem trek maps they show a trail system through the valley and up paradise pass. I'm guessing that these days people only go places they see on instagram. Maps and guidebooks are a thing of the past.
That's a gorgeous backpacking trip. I used to work for AB Fish and Wildlife on the Sheep River near Sandy McNabb but that was a lifetime ago. I loved looking west up the river, I guess, from our trailer camp area to the ranges and imagined what it would be like in there. Awesome! Thank you for sharing your trip.
@@filmic1 I did a trip into the Junction Mtn drainage three weeks ago, right where you’re talking about. We went up exploring three of the four alpine cirques in the drainage beyond the popular waterfalls, including to the top of the Col above Picklejar. Great little adventure but didn’t make a video. I really like the lesser known areas that are hidden in plain sight.
@@KaneDoesOutdoors Just boss! Thanks for the insight. I see on Google Earth that there are several trailheads marked that I wasn't aware of in my time there. Cheers! Thanks for all your great video blogging..
Cool trip man! Probably my favorite WPP to play in and now I have more ideas of ways and places to explore. Thanks for sharing it, and the planning info!!!
Another great trip video Kane! Thanks for sharing; I for one enjoy watching & learning from them, and always look forward to them. Looks like quite the trek / adventure and the beaming face at the end showed it.
I'm surprised that it seems to get so little traffic. Piper pass is very accessible, and from such a popular access point. The canyon on the north side of the pass is no joke though, and the willow bog isn't exactly a casual walk either. Once you get into that section it feels very wild and isolated even though a highway is only 5 km away as the crow flies. Romulus and Tombstone are close as well...
Beautiful area. I’ve noticed you do more actual hiking and some informative videos as opposed to You Tube algorithm fluff videos. You seem genuine, whereas I’ve cut off watching other channels I feel don’t actually backpack for as many videos they make
I don’t make a video every time I go out. It’s probably 1 or 2 for every 5. Trip videos are the most work in terms of editing, and depending what the trip objective is they aren’t very interesting. Also depends who I’m with since not everyone wants to be on camera. I put together a video when it’s something that I want to document and remember. If some people appreciate it, great. Information videos get a lot more views for the amount of work they take to produce. I guess it’s a balance.
Wow looked like an adventure! Rocky creek drainage looked like hell. Looks like theres decent trail on the south side of paradise pass. Where do you think that comes from ? Or maybe it just doesn't take much traffic in those alpine areas to keep a trail open compared to the lush forests north of piper pass?
Romulus equestrian is an access point to the southern slope of paradise pass. There was some evidence of horse traffic, but very much. On the north side there’s a very well established outfitter’s camp close to the fire road. We saw sheep, and evidence of moose. Seems like an area that’s more popular with hunters than hikers.
We saw some bear sign but not much, mostly root digs. 12:01 is a good sized bear print. We all carry bear spray, mine is on my shoulder pocket. With 4 people, I don't think yelling and making noise is all that beneficial, we would on occasion if is seemed like particularly dense cover. Quite a lot of talking and noise from a larger group. I'm sure a few bears saw/heard us and we didn't see them. That's an Eddie Bauer Super Sevens Rain Jacket. It's ok, pretty light at
Hey Kane! What type of permit for an overnight do you get if you were camping in a remote area (such as the one you guys were), and not designated? I am planning on doing Piper Pass this weekend but I see no other campgrounds other than Tombstone... and it's fully booked... Thank you for all your great videos and insight, I am a big fan.
My understanding is that you just need your Kananaskis pass when you’re in an area that allows random camping. Outside of Kananaskis you need the annual permit for backcountry camping on provincial land.
