Lake Minnewanka Backpack

This was my first solo backpacking trip. I decided to do an easy hike that was fairly popular in case I ran into trouble. I would also recommend this trip to first time backpackers. I met some people on the trail carrying in a cooler and a wheeled suitcase... I didn't see them make it to camp, but I met some people then next day who had seen them leaving, so they must have made it quite late that night.

I had a friend whose flight got delayed, so my one overnight turned into two, so I could properly enjoy the solo time and not be frazzled. I got some serious work done on a friendship bracelet.

I did this hike on May 1st, so it was also my first camping trip in Canada of the season.

Day 1: I started out from the Lake Minnewanka Trailhead at 4:50pm and arrived at LM8 at 6:48pm. It had rained the whole way to the campsite, but luckily stopped about 10 minutes before I arrived. I quickly set up my tent and cooked my dinner. It started raining again just as I was getting ready to pack up. So I quickly scooted into my tent and spent the night reading. The trail to the campsite is 7.8km without a significant amount of elevation gain. It is along the lake shore the entire walk, which is quite beautiful.

Day 2: I hiked from LM8 to Aylmer Lookout. I then hiked up to the trail a bit to LM9. In total it was about 11km round trip and approximately 3 hours (I spent a bunch of time at the Lookout playing with my new tripod). I got back very early in the day and spent it hanging out with other people who had arrived that morning and were camping also. I took a lot of photos along the lake.

Day 3: Spent the morning playing frisbee with my new friends, then hiked the 7.8km back to the parking lot. Again, an easy hike without much elevation.

This trip really made me feel comfortable as a solo backpacker. This trip, on May 1, was also freezing... I wore all my outer layers to bed.