The Dogtooth Range parallels the Columbia River to the east and is bordered by the Spillimacheen and Beaver rivers to the west. Although there are no built trails, the whole trip takes place above treeline on broad ridges and through endless alpine meadows. Ninety percent of this hike is along game trails, so the opportunities for wildlife sightings are likely.
Spending 5 days trekking across this stunning range is sure to be the experience of your summer. With a trail this popular, a full itinerary will be provided to participants on registration for the course so you can enjoy the hidden gems of the Purcells in peace. Over the course of the trek, the group will camp in the same location for two of the nights to ensure that time is taken to soak in and enjoy the unique experience of self-sufficiency in a wild and beautiful environment. An exploratory day trip will be organized for those with restless legs that day. The group will travel about 30 km with 3000 m of elevation change (~6-8 km and 600-700 m elevation gain per day). While all meals are provided on this trip, you are responsible for carrying it with you.
BOOKING INFORMATION
Date:
AUGSUT 8TH-12TH, 2024
Price: $1450 + TAX
MORE INFORMATION
Please try to register online before calling. If you are having issues please try to have your emergency contact information and course questionnaire filled out before calling.
OR Call: (403)-678-3200 ext 213
Hike, hike and hike! The aim of this trip is to experience pristine wilderness in the way of ridges, alpine lakes, and a seemingly endless array of wildflowers.
Day 0:
An online pre-trip meeting will be organized 10-20 days prior to the trip for all participants to talk about the itinerary and all trip details. The evening before the trip departure, the group will meet their guide(s) in Golden, BC, pending respective travel plans, for a trip briefing and to answer all last minute questions.
Day 1:
Meet your group at the tentative location of Bluebird Cafe in Golden, BC, to go over food distribution then convoy to the trailhead. Once at the trailhead, your guides will brief you on a few more things, such as bear spray use, Leave No Trace principles, and to help you adjust your pack before departure.
Once on the trail, the group will begin ascending towards the ridge, leaving civilization behind by going through forests and along creeks to reach an alpine basin for the night.
Days 2 – 4 (general itinerary):
All other days will follow the spine of the ridge, enjoying continuous views of the Bugaboos and Vowells to the West, and the Rockies to the East. At times, the group will drop through forests into open meadows, camping by creeks or small alpine lakes and going back up to the ridge for ease of walk and beautiful views.
Example daily timeline:
0700: Make breakfast, clean up camp (remember to leave no trace!), and pack your bags for another day of hiking.
0830: Departure! Depending on the plan for the day, the group may do a day trip or keep traversing the range in search of the next campsite.
1630: Return to camp or set-up camp in a new location
1800: Dinner time!
1930: Free time to journal, read, share stories or play a card game.
Day 5: The last day will be spent enjoying every minute of the same beautiful wilderness before slowly finding our way back to the trailhead and back down to the vehicles to complete the trek!
This camp is designed for novice multi-day hikers or strong day hikers.
While not there is nothing too technical about this traverse, it definitely warrants some prior experience in the backcountry. With ten back-to-back days of hiking and navigating scree slope’s, you should be an experienced hiker and have a pretty good fitness level going into the camp. We definitely recommend that you do a few hikes during the leading up to this camp, unless you’re looking for a grueling start to your season.
Please note that there should be four to five hours of hiking each day with approximately 8 to 10 km distance to travel. Some days there will be no elevation gain and our biggest day will be 750m. This traverse has been designed to provide lots of time to enjoy the landscape.
Food
All meals will be provided by PeakEats based in Canmore, AB. You will need to pack your own bowl, mug, utensils, and favourite adventure treats (if you want). While food is provided on this trip, you will be responsible for carrying it with you. Everyone is expected to help with cooking and clean up for the meals.
Since the group may camp in sparsely treed areas, we also have bear-proof food bags that can be borrowed as well.
The ACC will provide all fuel and stoves for cooking to make sure the group doesn’t carrying in too much extra supplies.
Accommodation
The Dogtooth Range will be hosting your accommodation this trip. If you do not have access to a backpacking tent, we have 5 three-person tents that we can lend to participants. Please not that theses are regular length tents, so they may be a little short for taller folks and are not ideal for this type of trip as they are a basecamp tent. Contact the Mountain Adventures Coordinator if you would like to borrow one.
We will not be setting up tent partners for this trip. However, if you have concerns about the sleeping arrangements please let us know.
Guiding
This camp is guided by Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) certified Hiking guides. Our maximum 8:1 guiding ratio will ensure that everyone gets the support they need to undertake this impressive trek.
Nathalie Drotar
Nathalie came to Western Canada from her native Switzerland for the first time as a nanny when she was young and fell in love with the people here – their humor and kindness – the pace of life and what seemed to be a country with limitless opportunities. She came to visit every 3 years or so before deciding to emigrate and actually doing so in 2008.
By then besides following a career in the office world, she had always been sportively active and was finding balance in running (Nat’s ran 4 marathons) and mountain biking in the summer and skate-skiing in the Jura mountains and in ski-touring the Alps in the winter. After arriving in Western Canada she got in touch with the ACC – Alpine Club Canada – Calgary section to meet people who would help her discover the Canadian Rockies.
Fast forward to 2019 when Nathalie is now Canadian citizen (dual Swiss-Canadian citizen), an ACMG – Association of Canadian Mountain Guides – Hiking Guide with over 10 years’ experience as a volunteer leading back-country trips for the ACC Calgary section. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Eric Brooks Leader Award – alongside her husband! – and in 2019 the Silver Rope for Leadership Award. Nathalie loves giving back to the community by mentoring young women to become trip leaders and pursues her outdoorsy, multi-sports lifestyle any time of the year: in the summer you will find her mountain or road biking, hiking or backpacking, rock climbing or mountaineering. In the winter, you can find her cross-country or skate skiing, ski touring or ice climbing.. all of this with her active husband, friends or ACC members.
We sell Tugo® Travel Insurance suitable for both ACC Adventures and personal trips:
INCLUDED WITH YOUR CAMP FEE
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