Visiting the Yukon has been, for years, a bucket list trip for me. Driven not only by my love for glaciers and bears (spoiler: I didn’t actually get to see either on this trip) but my personal goal to visit every Canadian Provence and territory and the Yukon was the final on that list I was elated with Yukon Wild reached out to me and invited me to explore the territory. My trip was fifteen days total - the first and last being travel days - and it was nothing like I imagined it would be, even after visiting both of Canada’s other norther territories. The landscape is vast, the mountains are tall and yet, somehow its capital city is located in a near desert climate.

Nicknamed Patagonia of the North, Tombstone Territorial Park is 2,200km² of protected alpine terrain located between kilometre 50 and 120 along the Dempster Highway in central Yukon. The area's Hän name Ddhäl Ch'èl Cha Nän means "ragged mountain land." The park is a legacy of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Land Claim Agreement and lies within their Traditional Territory. The park boasts unique wilderness of rugged peaks, permafrost landforms and abundant wildlife which is popular among photographers, hikers and hunters (August 1st until October 31st) alike.

For adventure enthusiasts I can’t imagine a better year-round Canadian destination, with world class surfing (wave dependant), mountain biking, hiking, trail running, sea kayaking… and more passive activities such as whale and bird watching as well as walks with coffee on a seemingly endless maze of trails that are extremely well maintained there isn’t too terribly much that you can not do in Tofino. With just shy of 2,000 permanent residents, Tofino is located on the tip of the Esowista Peninsula at the southern edge of Clayoquot Sound. It is situated in the traditional territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations.

The town of Jordan River, is a small settlement on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, located approximately 70 km (43 mi) west of Victoria. Originally founded as a logging camp it is now home to Vancouver Island’s second largest hydro-electric plant. The town itself is easy to miss, home to only 100 permanent residents with no cell phone service (there are a few points where you can pick up US service from the San Juan Islands across the strait). The settlement is most known among outdoor enthusiasts for winter surfing (although locals are known to be EXTRA territorial of their waves) and the Juan de Fuca trail - a 47 kilometre/ 29 mile long wilderness hiking trail located within Juan de Fuca Provincial Park.

My first backcountry camping trip was a half dozen or so years ago with my mom. We spent a few nights at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with two guides and a few friends learning everything from packing a bag to pooping in the woods (glamorous I know). She had to talk me into going on the trip initially (primarily because it was expensive and I was living right at the edge of my means at that point in time particle because vacations days were hard to come by) - but I am glad we did. Over the years backcountry camping has decreased in interest for her and effectively consumed my life. When the opportunity to return to the desert with my mom presented it’s self I did not hesitate. We stayed a little but more comfortably this time (with beds and running water and wifi) but there is something very special about the desert that will always bring me back to my first night sleeping under the stars.

I woke up long before the sun on my first morning at WhiteCap Alpine Lodge and peered out my window to a sky filled with starts and a layer of fog filling the valley floor. After a few weeks in the city the silence felt almost deafening. I crept down the stairs in the WoodHall building where I slept, out the front door and down the path toward the soft glow of the main lodge. This is where Ron, the patriarch of WhiteCap sat beside a wood burning fireplace with a fresh cup of coffee in hand, a pot on the stove. It is moments like these, quiet conversations around a fire dozens of miles from cell phone towers, cars and any other conscious human, that remind you of what is important in life. A story of a baby born on a set of stairs wrapped in newspaper, tales of children learning to ski in the backcountry and the indirect route that life (more often than not) takes.

I spent twelve days this summer with Golden, BC as my basecamp and on my drive home I caught myself looking at real estate listings online as I am not certain even a lifetime living in this small mountain town would be nearly enough to experience all it has to offer. With great food and coffee as well as a seemingly endless supply of year-round outdoor activities it was overwhelming narrowing it down to a week and a half and still hoping to have time to sleep and eat somewhere in-between. In the end I settled on a little bit of sleep, a lot of coffee and seven bucket list worthy adventures.

I spent a month earlier this year, cooped up in my house putting pins on a map of all of the off-the-beaten-path places that I wanted to explore if the rain ever stopped falling. When I took a moment to zoom out and gain some perspective I realized that at the apex of so many was the town of Golden, BC. Home to a few thousand full time residents who all seem to love the summer, live for the winter and excel at every activity that brings them outside of a building and under the sun I knew that I needed to spend some quality time across the Alberta-BC border. First on the list was this traverse…

One of my favourite towns in the world, under an hour and a half from downtown Calgary and a five minute drive from Banff National Park east gate, Canmore has the heart of a small town with nearly every outdoor activity to offer as well as amazing food and great local shops .