One of my earliest backpacking trips was the Rain Lake trail in Algonquin Provincial Park and it was a near disaster.

I definitely overpacked by carrying a 3 person mountaineering tent for myself along with enough food to last a week. To make things worse, I greatly underestimated the terrain so my friends and I ended up camping on a viewpoint/lookout since there was no way we were making it to our campground. We turned back the next day and agreed never to talk about this trip ever again.

Since then, I’ve completed countless backpacking trips from the West Coast trail in BC to the Tombstone range in the Yukon along with almost all of the popular trails in the Canadian Rockies.

These days, I prefer canoe camping due to the reduced stress on my body and joints but thanks to some ultralight gear, I’m beginning to rediscover the joys on backpacking. It’s just too bad I didn’t come to this epiphany while I was still living in Alberta!