A long anticipated hiking trip was approaching and so was a storm over the area we were going to in Jasper National Park. The first afternoon we started hiking into Tonquin Valley and didn’t make it to our campsite until it was pitch black around 9pm. Although we were tired from the steep elevation gain, all was fine so we set up our tent and went to sleep shortly after. It was the next morning that the weather’s shenanigans began!

     We woke up to a light rain but still almost everything was soaked. Fortunately we expected some precipitation and packed up to then set out to cover 16 km’s that day. Early into the hike we realized that the trail was pretty rough, due to all the horse tracks, and thanks to the mud, wet gear, and elevation gain our morning was a lot more difficult than I predicted. Regardless we carried on towards Maccarib Pass where we would have a great view of the valley we were heading to and it marked the quarter way mark.

     As we approached the pass the rain slowly turned into obnoxious snowflakes! It wasn’t just a light snow, I mean, you put four of these snowflakes together and you’d have a full on snowball! The rain we had prepared for but the quantity of snow that was falling was anything but a treat.

Come back next week to hear more about the hike and how the crazy quantity of unexpected snow affected our journey!