Are you a fan of dramatic mountains? How about alpine lakes, rivers, and waterfalls? Do sketchy ridge lines with epic views make your day? Well, I have the day hike for you. I’m talking about the Northover Ridge Loop in Kananaskis Country, Alberta, a beautiful loop with a dramatic traverse of Northover Ridge. This loop hike is around 23 miles with 5100 ft of elevation gain.

We had previously planned do the loop in 2 days, to spending a night at either Three Isle or Aster Lake, but with no campsite availability opted to hammer through the entire loop in a day.

We slept near the trailhead and got started around 7am, skirting the edge of Upper Kananskis lake before cutting through the trees around Hidden Lake. It's worth noting, we started at the more southern parking and went around the south side of the lake. I think you might cut a little bit of distance by starting at the north lot, and going around the lake counter-clockwise to start – this means you'll spend less time traversing around the lake at the end of the day.

After reaching Aster Lake, the weather went south, fast. The rain, wind, and hail made for a tough approach to the pass. Pay attention to the route around here. The trail actually "disappeared" for a bit in the drainage above the lake, and we ended up adding some extra elevation gain by accidentally summiting an unnamed high point and then glissading back down to the actual trail.

There’s something satisfying about hiking on a day where the mountain is trying to beat you down. No sunny skies or puffy white clouds here. Every step was a battle against the wind and rain.

After climbing for 10 miles, 5,000 ft and 2 “detours”, we finally reached the top of Northover Ridge, a several kilometer stretch of ridge line that straddles British Columbia and Alberta. The trail stays right on the ridge, and while the drop on either side might not kill you, it's still a good idea not to slip.

The sketchiest part of the ridge is a 25 ft portion of trail about a foot and a half wide with a severe drop on each side. If it came down to it, it’s something one could crawl across, but we timed our crossings with breaks in the wind and made it across just fine.

After coming off the ridge with a ridiculous mountain high, we jogged down the snowbanks and scree to Three Isle Lake. Although the rest of our day was mostly downhill, we still had 13 knee-killing miles to cover.

23 miles and many hours later, we were back at the car just in time for sunset. Saying this is the ‘Worlds greatest day hike’ might be hyperbole, but I’ll say that this is one of the best day hikes I’ve ever done. The Canadian Rockies are uniquely incredible, and I can’t wait to go back and explore more.

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