Alexandra River

The Alexandra River. I can’t tell how many times I have dreamed about it since I was there last time in September. While walking along the river back then, the only thing I could think of was how fun it would be to paddle it down. I will admit that this place was the main reason why I bought a packraft. The original plan was a crazy route that would involve a glacier crossing and the descent of the Castleguard River, a tributary of the Alexandra River. But snow was still present at higher elevation and this route will now be attempted later this summer under better conditions. For now, I would be joined by Martin Bélanger (Marty Up North) and we would hike the trail to the confluence of these two rivers and packraft all the way to a pull-out spot on the North Saskatchewan River. Marty’s video of our trip is at the bottom of the page.

Martin and I had paddled the Bow River the week before to test our rafts with our heavy backpacks. Here are both our videos of this day on the water:

We left early on Saturday morning and got there quite early. Having both hiked the trail in the past it was no secret to us that the first 6KM of the Alexandra Trail are brutal (deadfall after deadfall…). We entertained the idea of skipping them by packrafting the North Saskatchewan until near the confluence with the Alexandra. We were both relieved to see how navigable the North Saskatchewan looked.

We pulled in into the Coleman Creek day use area and inflated our packrafts and off we went for what would be our first backcountry packrafting adventure.

We ended up paddling for around 3KM until the map showed that the trail was less than 200 meters from the river banks. We proceeded with the deflation process: unstrap the backpack from the packraft, deflate the raft, roll it, store it on the backpack, secure everything and make sure the backpack is well balanced for hiking. All in all, it’s a 15 to 20 minutes process that I am sure will take us less time as we get used to it. But with such a view, what’s the rush?

It turned out we didn’t even need to bushwack to find the trail. We walked on a game trail only for a few minutes when we reached the Alexandra River trail, almost at the point where it turns west to follow the Alexandra. Marty and I were in a good mood. We had managed to skip the worst section of the trip, and most importantly, everything was dry around us. And staying try in this valley is quite rare.

In no time we were walking along the Alexandra and yet again, the water level seemed perfect for our packrafting plans. It was surely flowing fast in its main channel, but nothing to make us doubtful. I was smiling while walking, thinking about my first time here. I already felt like it would be hard for me not to come to this place again.

The difference with last time was that I was now able to admire the Alexandra Glacier in front of me as the valley was fogless. And toward this glacier was our destination: the confluence of the Alexandra and Castleguard Rivers.

The first river crossing was a short, calm and shallow one, but was it ever cold!

The advantage of already knowing the way gave us the opportunity to forgo a section in the woods in favor of the river flats.

Terrace Creek was very fast and while we both crossed it somewhat easily, the water temperature was so cold that it numbed my feet. But we had already decided to stop at the primitive campsite on the other side of the creek, and the sun helped us to quickly forget the coldness of the water. Lunch was consumed and off we were for the last stretch for the day.

The perfect example of a braided river.

Instead of staying at the Castleguard Cabin, we diverted our way around it to find a place to pitch our tents for the night near the river. Although our site lacked the direct views of Mount Alexandra, let’s say we couldn’t complain with what we had!

And just in time, we were able to set up our shelters before the rain came in.

I made sure to position my tent (Deschutes Zero-G from Six Moon Designs) facing east to enjoy the sunset from my bed.

Martin and I were so excited to see the confluence of both rivers that we braved the rain and went on to hike the half-kilometer that separated us from this place.

Just as we walked along the river, Marty said “bear!” and a medium-size black bear was eating in front of us. We both stared at him for a few seconds but when I stepped on a branch, the cracking noise raised his attention and after looking at us briefly, he bolted into the woods. That was exciting! My first bear encounter in the backcountry!

Can you see the black bear?

Looking downstream of the Alexandra River.

This is the view that I wanted to see for months: Mount Alexandra and its glaciers in the background, and Alexandra and Castleguard Rivers becoming one in the foreground.

We really wished we could have gone further up along the river to see the Alexandra Glaciers but the river was too fast and at this point, inflating the rafts to do this would have been silly. So we turned around and went back to our camp while thinking about how we should do this next time.

The rain stopped just as we got back after an hour (or two) or wandering. The sun even came out for the rest of the evening. The fire was burning slowly and we ate while chatting about life, gear and of course, past trips.

I carefully chose our bathroom area for the night. Not too shabby!

Occasional clouds moved in at the end of the evening, and as we went to bed at around 11PM, the rain came back and stayed for a few hours into the night.

I woke up at exactly 4:18AM. And this is the view I had while opening the door of my tent. How can you go back to bed with this stunning sunrise? I had a good night of sleep and while I was sore from the hiking, I hadn’t been cold at all. Surprisingly, the rain had never turned into snow and the temperature had stayed above freezing.

I went for a walk for more than an hour. I couldn’t stay still, I was too excited to start the packrafting adventure down the river.

Martin woke up and we both agreed not to rush things in the morning. We made a small fire to boil water for our morning coffee and tea. We then packed up our backpacks, inflate our rafts, and started our paddling session.

The very first section was quite fast but how exciting it was! To make things a little more fun, the rain started again. The rain and the paddles dripping made for a cold morning. Being only a little more than a kilometer from the glacier, it had to be the coldest water I ever stepped into. Both our rafts became quite soft with the cold water contracting the air into them. We were back on the water after stopping on a small island to top up the air into our boats.

The fast water flow allowed us to make good progress. Packrafting fast but not too choppy water is fun and the learning curve is not steep at all. The main challenge was to read the river properly. Faced with sometimes a few channels to choose from, we had only a few seconds to make up our mind as to which one to navigate. Most of the time, the wider main channel was the way to go, but if an obstacle (tree, rock, shallow bottom…) was in the way, then a fast decision was required. It kept us focused!

Stopping here and there became the routine. First to warm up a little bit and second to stretch our legs. Packrafting is an upper-body activity and having our legs straight with glacial water dripping on them and our toes soaking wet was hard on the body after a few hours.

As we reached the North Saskatchewan River, I felt so happy. I had just accomplished something I had dreamed about for so long. And it was even better than what I had imagined. Martin and I had successfully packrafted the Alexandra River from the confluence to its mouth. But at this point I was also starving and it’s at the foot of a little cliff that we stopped for a quick bite.

We pushed on for a little while on the North Saskatchewan until we found a safe place to get out of the water. There was a pull-over area on the side of the highway and it was perfect for us.

Just as we pulled our rafts out of the water, the sun started to shine. LOL

Here are two happy but really tired guys!

From now on, every time I will drive on the highway in Banff National Park along the North Saskatchewan River, I will think of this trip. I kept telling Martin that I now lived in my happy place after moving to Alberta a few weeks ago. This place is where I belong. I have a ton of adventures lined up for the next few years and I hope I will meet a ton of adventurers like me and Martin who are willing to push their limits to accomplish something they had in mind for a while.