Take a Hike with Meg August Newsletter 2024: Gut Feelings
Updated: May 4
Hello Intrepid Adventurers, I hope your summer has been full of excellent outings and that you’re all safe and well!
I have a story for you. A story about listening to the little voice in the back of your head and trusting what it might be trying to tell you before you take a hike.
Anticipated Plans
A friend and I were scheduled to hike along the Athabasca Pass trail July 22-23rd. I enjoy this trail a lot and have completed it once already. We planned to set out for the Whirlpool Campground: A nice, 7km jaunt into the back country behind Mt. Edith Cavell.
The trail is a historical fur trading route, and is roughly 49km . Hiking in the footsteps of an explorer’s ghost is an experience that seems to spin a thread through time, delicate and beautiful like a single gossamer fiber of silk. Through that thread, I can almost feel the struggles of David Thompson and his team... Broken snowshoes, ferocious mountain storms, long stretches of living off rations. All with the granite resolve to rival the heart of the Rockies…
I had one advantage over David Thompson and his team, and that’s the internet. Information about two fires in Jasper tingled my senses. One in Utopia area, and one at Needle Peak, southwest of Whirlpool and the Athabasca Pass. Sources stated those fires were under control... But my friend and I were compelled to follow through with our Plan B. We headed to the Nordegg area and car camped at Ram Falls Provincial Park
We had no idea how much our choice would affect us.
Shocking News of Jasper
Returning to cell service on Wednesday the 23rd, we discovered that Moab Lake and the Athabasca Pass trailhead were engulfed in flames. Edith Cavell’s eastern slopes were also consumed by the inferno. It was crystal clear we would have required air rescue if we had ventured into the valley.
I don’t know what compelled me to choose our Plan B trip. I badly wanted to backpack into Whirlpool and enjoy the area, sketching and hiking my way along the historic trail…
But safety and mitigating risk is something I always think about when planning trips, and I think when I considered the air quality—and how quickly a wildfire can change—I felt it wasn’t a good idea.
I am home safely now. I hope that Jasperites can also return to their homes very soon.
Many of us thrive off the thrill of a little danger. If that’s your jam, that’s perfectly fine. But trust your gut, be careful, and live to hike another day.
What close calls have you had? Share your story in the comments, or head over to the forum.
What’s going on with Take a Hike with Meg?
Now that I've shared my story, I can tell you what else has been going behind the scenes!
The blog has been quiet, but I’m working on some new pieces and my Alberta Parks series over the summer. I also hope to share a monthly newsletter like this. These letters are exclusive for subscribers! You'll get sneak peeks into what I've been working on, what's up and coming, and more stories about my own adventures and the things I learn!
The website is still a work in progress as always, with small updates here and there. I’m happy to introduce the new Take a Hike with Meg logo! A special thanks to designer Chelsea Chira for her hard work!
I am still working on getting prints up of my outdoorsy watercolors! I’m aiming to have them up by the end of summer at the latest.
Communication and Community Building
Get the content you want! Are there certain topics you’d like to read about? Want to chat about hiking or have a question?
Comment on the blog posts, send me a message at hike.w.meg@gmail.com or via Facebook messenger through the Take a Hike with Meg page or head to the forum!
Thanks for reading! Until next time, take a hike!
~ Meg
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