The ACMG recently completed a three-day hiking trip (June 21-23) in Jasper National Park. This trip was part of the Assistant Hiking Guide exam.
Students travelled in the vicinity of the Watchtower Creek trail, and into the drainage north of the Watchtower Basin.
As such, the group was off the standard route for a portion of the trip.

Variable snow patches above 2300m are generally good for boot packing and not isothermal.
There is some evidence of wolverine activity in alpine camps around The Watchtower.
We observed some older deep slabs in Watchtower Basin and another large slide in the north drainage (S aspect) that damaged vegetation into the valley bottom.
Wildflowers were in full bloom, mosquitoes were minimal in the alpine, and with only scattered showers, the weather was good for this trip.

Watchtower trail to Parks Canada backcountry campsite

• Bridge missing on Maligne river crossing.
• Some down trees down along trail.
• 2 small log bridges in poor repair within first 2km.
• From parking lot to about 1600m of elevation the forest is burnt.
• Watchtower Creek crossing to Parks Canada campground at 2000m would likely be a boots off crossing.
• The trail is generally poor and wet with overgrown bush. From roughly kilometers 6-9, the trail is braided and extremely muddy.

Instructors:
Matt Reynolds MG
Steve Ludwig HG SG
Glenn Reisenhofer HG
Peter Amann MG