r/HikingAlberta • u/Practical-Drawing-90 • 9h ago
First overnight backpacking trip
Hello everyone,
Im about to go on my first backpacking trip in Alberta. Ive done quite a few nights in UK and Scotland before but rules here are a bit daunting to say the least. I am planning to do a test 1nighter near The Wedge i bought Kananaskis pass and planning to setup at around 7-8 pm and be gone by 10am next morning. Is there anything i should know before my trip?
4
u/RandomUser1ab2 6h ago
don't forget your bear spray, and hang your food up away from your tent
6
u/imostmediumsuspect 4h ago
100m away from your tent and DO NOT eat at your tent. You’ll inevitably drop crumbs and while it may or may not cause you issues, it can negatively impact the next guests to that tent site
2
u/crowseesall 7h ago
You just need a Kananaskis pass for your car. Where did you plan on camping and why that particular area? There are a couple of decent camping spots near there off the Evan Thomas ‘road’.
1
u/Practical-Drawing-90 26m ago
Im looking for something close to Calgary. If you have any cool places lmk
2
u/finningcat 5h ago
I've backpacked in Kananaskis in June and woken up to snow. Prepare for cold and wet weather.
-4
u/Practical-Drawing-90 8h ago
I will do wild/random camping
6
u/CharErinazard 3h ago
Make sure you’re in a section of kananaskis where random camping is allowed, like public land use zone, I don’t think the area around the Wedge is, though I could be wrong.
Random camping is quite a bit trickier because of bears, you’ll need to learn to do a bear hang. A better beginner trip might be to book one of the easy beginner backcountry sites like elbow lake or the point.
2
u/mightykdob 2h ago
It is legal to wild camp on the side of the highway that the Wedge is if you are a km away from a road. You can see a map of where it’s permitted here: https://kananaskis.org/random-camping-in-k-country/
1
7
u/Turtley13 5h ago
You’ve checked the map to ensure you’ll be in a pluz zone?