A Western Canada Road Trip – Day 17
Folding Mountain is a 15.1 km out-and-back trail. The elevation gain is 1,125m and is considered a challenging route.
If you make it to the top of Folding Mountain, and take a picture, Folding Mountain Brewery will give you a free beer.
Today Callum (my boyfriend) and I met up with a friend just outside of Jasper National Park to attempt the Folding Mountain Hike.
We got up early, made breakfast, and drove about 40 minutes from Jasper to meet our friend north to the trailhead of Folding Mountain.
Conquering Folding Mountain
Folding Mountain has become one of my favourite hikes in the area, and I don’t think we would have known about it without our local friend recommending it.
The start of the trail is quite steep, but I was able to keep a good pace now that I have hiking poles.
I wish I had hiking poles earlier on. It made a huge difference. Part of it was maybe my confidence in my own step after I had them, but part of it might be that they actually worked. I was proud of myself, and shocked by how much hiking poles actually helped.
The Folding Mountain hike actually has a couple of false summits with beautiful views. You could say the landscape was folding, and it was very golden and green out there. We eventually made it to the top, (or a false top), but at least to a point that is acceptable for the free beer.
There was a scramble at the very top, so we decided to do it. Callum and our friend made it all the way up. I made it about halfway, and stopped to adjust my hiking poles as Callum and our friend continued up the scramble.
Trouble on Folding Mountain
Since I over-adjusted my hiking pole, it got stuck to a point that I basically broke it. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there as some trail runners ran up the scramble no problem. I tried fixing the pole, but it just wasn’t working so I just stood there until Callum and our friend came back down.
Callum tried to help me fix the pole, but no dice. I was scared to walk down the scramble. I had no grip, and I was afraid of falling.
Then I saw the trail runners just go down on their bums so I decided to try that. This worked, but I did rip a hole in my leggings. No regrets though, and I am glad I tried the scramble. Maybe if my hiking pole didn’t break I would have made it to the top! We’ll never know.
At least I was able to use my one functional pole on the descent down Folding Mountain. This has been my easiest descent on a legit mountain yet!
Folding Mountain Brewery
When we got to the bottom, we were hungry and looking forward to our free beer from Folding Mountain Brewery.
We sat on the patio and had a nice time. Callum even bought a cool beer glass to bring home!
Back to Jasper
We parted ways with our friend, and started driving back to Jasper. As the sun was setting, we saw a lot of elk rutting on the side of the road. What a scene.
We actually booked a private room at Jasper Downtown Hostel in town before we left for our trip. Figured we might want a real shower, and real bed for a night. What a treat this was after basically surviving off of dry shampoo and towelette showers. I’m not usually a hostel person, but the hotels were just wild prices. Even the hostel was $153 CAD. This was a nice hostel, and we had a private room anyways.
All and all it was a great day.
Tomorrow we drive back down the Icefields Parkway. We don’t know where we are staying. We are heading to Drumheller in a couple of days (I like dinosaurs and this is a place where there were dinosaurs), but we don’t have any more accommodations booked.
Prepare for your Trip
Learn
A few books, documentaries, and podcasts I recommend consuming before or during your trip to Canada 🇨🇦. Evolving Pop Culture Guide to Canada.
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