Tam McTavish

Lasqueti Island is a beautiful island that covers about 75 square kilometres.  It is one of the drier islands in the strait, and has some of the warmest waters too. The shores are dotted with arbutus trees, and feral sheep run wild through the woods. The lack of car ferry and direct utilities keep this island a little more disconnected from the main island, and mainland giving Lasqueti a sereni...

I'm probably not qualified to give a thorough description of this route having only done it once, but with the guidebook out of print there isn't a ton of information out there. If possible I would encourage you to find the original guidebook, rather than use this post as a source. Banff Library, and the Banff Centre Library should have the old edition you can photocopy. Getting to the route re...

The Grand Sentinel has two routs on it. While it is hard to access it is a modern classic with bolted anchors, and Cardia Arete is a Sport climbing route. While I could offer my take on this classic,  Chris Perry' Banff Rock is a far better resource than I. To access the climb park at Moraine Lake lot near lake Louise. In recent years it has become basically impossible to get a spot past 8 30am...

Mt Matier is an excellent mountaineering route for newer mountaineers with glacier travel experience, and a lot of scrambling experience. In good condition the glacier is manageable with fairly straight forward route finding. The Trailhead is a hard to find dirt outcrop on the side of the Duffy Lake Road. There is no signage. The pin in the description is accurate. The trail drops down to a log...

Mt Tupper is an alpine rock climb. This means that while graded technically easy this can be a challenging on committing route and feels much harder then the 5.5 grade it receives. There is a good deal of difficult exposed scrambling. The ridge has nowhere to bail except the direction you came, and bad weather moves in incredibly fast. The route is also lichen covered quartzite which when wet i...

From the TransCanada highway, take the second exit into Canmore (from either direction), and head uphill on Elk Run Boulevard. At the top of the hill, across from the Iron Goat restaurant, there is a three way intersection, head right across the bridge and take an immediate left into the parking lot.The walk to the crags is between 15 - 30 minutes depending on which area you are heading for. Th...

Mt Hector's main route requires a ski mountaineering ascent. It moves through a lot of complex avalanche terrain, across glaciers, and through many terrain traps. Most people will do this route in spring, aiming to be off the mountain before noon.  This route should be attempted only by very fit parties parties with experience in glacier travel. It is a route the requires constant movement. Thi...

The route is access fairly easily from Sorayapampa. You follow the trail to the west of town, towards the lake. as you work your way up the gully you get to south western trail. Take this upwards. You can follow the trail up to the Incan Cross, itself a marvelous view point. From the Incan cross there is a summit to a col.From this trail it's an easy jaunt up moderately stable rock to the summit. 

The back country skiing in riding in Rogers Pass is top notch. The snow quality and quantity is some of the best in North America with easy access to some very steep terrain.  What to Know Rogers Pass is known for it's avalanches. The whole pass stretches for quite some distance and due to the steepness is carefully monitored by the Glacier National Park Safety team. They work with the Canadian...

The Mosquito creek trailhead is on the east side of the Icefield parkway road just across from the Mosquito Creek Hostel. You park in front of the hostel, and hop across the road to begin the trek.The trail winds up the Mosquito Valley, occasionally popping into a clearing where you get good views of the river and Noseeum Mountain. Around 4km you come across the first campground. This is a perf...

Lady Macdonalds South East ridge is a route that has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to it's proximity to Canmore, intro level alpine climbing, and wonderful views. The Rockies Central Guidebook has the best images and descriptions of this specific climb This route starts in Cougar Creek parking lot. This is the same lot used for Cougar Creek, and Lady Mac.  Proceed up the creek, mov...

The Kumano Kodo's Nakahechi route is the most common way to travel. It follows the original Imperial Route as the best marked of all the variations. It also never wanders too far from civilization allowing frequent snack and drink stops, and lodgings the whole length of the route.  Getting There To get to the start of the route from Kyoto or Osaka, take the JR West to Kuroshio and get off at Ki...

From the trailhead on the Duffey Lake Road you follow the well-marked summer trail up the Cerise Creek. The trail heads south after the bridge and heads up onto the lower flanks of Joffre and onto a logging road. Eventually the road forks, and the main trail follows the right fork uphill. The logging road ends, diving back into the woods on heavily rooted but well-maintained trail. The trail ta...

This Alberta classic start just a few minutes off the Trans Canada. The trail begins gently through forests of Aspen. In spring and fall these are particularly lovely. Steadily the trail heads upwards bringing you to a three-way junction. Head right, and follow the trail Eastwards, as it zigs into open terrain giving you stellar views of the Rockies foothills, before zagging back westwards towa...

The trail head is located between the Rogers Pass Discovery Center and the Tupper. It's a good idea to head into the Discovery Center first and book the campsites as they do require pre-booking to use, and the fines can be steep. Campfires are banned at this campsite as it is a fragile alpine ecosystem, so if you are hoping for a fire I would recommend staying in the valley.  The trail starts o...

This trip can be done as big day trip, or broken up over two days if you bring a tent. It makes for a great weekend trip from Vancouver. So good in fact Arc'teryx made a whole movie about it. Just beyond the ever popular Joffre Lakes turn off by about 20km is a unmarked extended shoulder, with a large line of old growth trees that end. If you get to the corner with the marvelous view of the Ann...