Maritime Outdoor Family has had lots of fun outdoors in 2016 both here at home in the Maritimes and travelling beyond. Here are our top 5 outdoor moments!
1. Stanley Glacier, Kootenay National Park, British Columbia
Up 8.4km of talus slopes to our first family glacier hike! This one was our favourite of the year and the most challenging! It was a cold, rainy day and we were so proud of our 5-year-old kiddo's hiking!
2. Cape Split, Nova Scotia
As posted here, we are so proud of our kiddo for her new longest hike of 13km!
3. Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park, Alberta
While Johnston Canyon is a major tourist attraction, it was well worth the visit. Also, many of the tourists don't venture beyond the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls, so the second half of the trek was less crowded. Over a course of 5.2km, we ventured across narrow catwalks down in the canyon, saw numerous waterfalls with beautiful shades of turquoise blue water, entered a cave and had a waterfall splash on us we were so close to it.
4. Bluff Trail, Pot Lake Loop, Nova Scotia
This is a hike I have done many times (and even wrote about it here before), but I had not yet brought the kiddo out to this boulderous, barren haven. While this loop is not an easy hike, my 5-year-old loved all of its 9km! She even brought her journal to make notes of all the wildlife she saw and decidedly pronounced herself the leader of the hike!
5. Backcountry Camping at Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia
We've camped at Keji lots in the past (see here and here), but this was was a highlight for us because we went with friends who also have a 5-year-old. We don't often get to enjoy wilderness camping with friends with we kiddos. The two had a great time and upon discovering a beetle chrysalis made this fantastic sign to mark the beetle's territory. During the calm October weekend, we hiked the lovely 5km Hemlocks and Hardwoods Trail, spotted a couple of playful red-headed woodpeckers, and even saw over a dozen red-spotted newts when fetching our water from the lake.
We are so grateful to have had so many amazing wilderness experiences this year on each of the coasts of this vast and beautiful country. We are looking forward to more outdoor explorations in 2017!
Happy adventuring!
We've camped at Keji lots in the past (see here and here), but this was was a highlight for us because we went with friends who also have a 5-year-old. We don't often get to enjoy wilderness camping with friends with we kiddos. The two had a great time and upon discovering a beetle chrysalis made this fantastic sign to mark the beetle's territory. During the calm October weekend, we hiked the lovely 5km Hemlocks and Hardwoods Trail, spotted a couple of playful red-headed woodpeckers, and even saw over a dozen red-spotted newts when fetching our water from the lake.
We are so grateful to have had so many amazing wilderness experiences this year on each of the coasts of this vast and beautiful country. We are looking forward to more outdoor explorations in 2017!
Happy adventuring!
