Alberta Trip - Day 1 - Bow Valley Provincial Park

Middle Lake, Bow Valley Provincial Park, Alberta.

My friends and I took a trip out west to Alberta to see the Rockies. Our plan was to stay 10 days and do a combination of backcountry camping, car camping and staying at motels and lodges.

We flew into Calgary on the morning of the 27th of June. Emily borrowed her brother's SUV and picked me up at Peter's place (where I had spent the night). We then picked up Gabe and headed to the airport Park'N Fly. The plan was to park there for one night and have Emily's mom pick up the vehicle the next day when she returned from out of town.

The flight was uneventful. I slept most of the way (which I usually do). I didn't sit with the others since we all checked in early online. I took whatever seat they assigned me.

Upon arrival at YYC we met up with Peter's wife, Yvonne, and nephew, Lewis. They had come from Hong Kong, via Vancouver.

Emily and I took the Allied Limousine van service into town to pick up our minivan which I had reserved from Enterprise. They were supposed to drop us off at a nearby hotel, but the lady driver was nice enough to drop us off right at the car rental place.

After doing the required paperwork we took the Chrysler Town & Country van to the airport and loaded everyone up. It was surprisingly roomy fitting all our luggage and camping gear and all six passengers in. We had a lot of stuff.

We headed into town to grab supplies at the local MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) before grabbing lunch at the burger joint across the street (I believe it was the Holy Grill). We ate inside because it was too hot and sunny outside.

After lunch we hit the road taking Highway 1 out of Calgary to our campsite at Bow Valley Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country some 80 kilometres away.

We had two places to set up our three tents. Technically we were only supposed to have one tent per place. So they charged us and extra $27 or so.

We then spent the rest of the day hiking the trails of the park. Most were relatively short and flat. A good warm up for the rest of the trip.