Bike-Packing into Point Campground in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
At the start of this year, my husband took on shift work. His new schedule flips back and forth between nights and days (often making us a little dizzy!), but it’s been perfect for spontaneous mid-week adventures.
The night before a couple of his days off, the weather forecast was looking sunny and warm (which is not always the case in “monsoon June”). I searched up availability at Point campground in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, and booked our family a campsite for the following evening. We quickly packed up our backpacks (thanks to this handy packing list!), stuffed them in the vehicle and loaded up our mountain bikes with the front-rider bike seats for the next day’s adventure.
At a Glance:
Trailhead: North Interlakes Day Use in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
Distance: 3.4 kilometres one-way
Accessibility: Hiking, biking and boating
Amenities: Pit/vault toilets, secure food storage and fire pits
Reservations at: Alberta Parks
We decided to hit up the recreation centre pool in the morning before the 1 hour and 15 minute trip to the North Interlakes Day Use area in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, in order to facilitate car naps on the drive out and hit the trail fresh.
We started biking at around 1:30 p.m., on what began as a wide trail along the shores of Upper Kananaskis Lake. Shortly after, the trail splits into a hiking trail (lower) and a biking trail (upper). We continued along the biking trail, until we reached the turn-off to Point campground, which is clearly labelled. At this point, the trail becomes more rocky and technical. We had to dismount our bikes and hike them down a few sketchy sections on our way to the campground. Although it got sporty, I still do not regret biking in, as we were able to cover way more distance with our 3- and a 1.5-year-olds happily sitting on their bike seats.
We arrived at the (very much empty!) campground at around 3:00 p.m., locked our bikes to the bike rack, set up our tent and stored our attractants in the bear storage lockers, before hitting up the shores of Upper Kananaskis Lakes. The beach was very rocky, so I wish I had packed another pair of shoes (maybe some quick-drying Keen sandals?) for the kids to comfortably walk in and out of the water while they played. However, we frolicked, dipped and splashed for hours, and the kids were having a blast in the little pools that had formed as the lake water levels dropped.
At around 6:00 p.m., we started making dinner in one of the two group cooking areas at the campground. There were a number of picnic tables available, as well as a group gathering area nearby with a fire pit and benches… and no one around! We filtered our water, ate our dinner and played with the toys we’d packed in Indy’s little backpack.
At 7:30 p.m., we started making moves for bedtime, which shockingly went incredibly smooth despite it being the first camping trip of the season!
We got both kids dressed in their Wee Woollies baselayers, Patagonia fleece layers and thick socks, then zipped them in their Morrison Outdoors sleeping bags. I find that regulating their temperatures while camping in the Rockies is so tricky, since it’s still so warm at bedtime but it cools off dramatically once the sun goes down. But I’ve found a trick!: After getting them dressed in all three layers, I like opening the bottom zipper of the sleeping bag to create airflow while it’s still hot. Then, once it begins to get cold later in the night, I can quickly zip it down without disturbing them in their sleep.
Anyways, back to bedtime: Once they finished wrestling in their Morrison Outdoors sleeping bags, we lied down, turned on the portable white noise machine and read some books (these books are indestructible and lightweight, so they work perfectly for backcountry camping!). Chris cuddled Indy and they quietly chatted about their day, while I nursed Eden… Then tah-dah!, they were both asleep by 8:30 p.m. Their exhausted little selves slept straight till 7:00 a.m. and I was shocked!
The next morning, we returned to the group cooking area for some breakfast. It was pretty chilly, so I was glad I packed their down jackets to replaced their Morrison Outdoors sleeping bags! We had some commitments later that afternoon, so we decided to pack up and start our trek back to the trailhead after breakfast.
As on the way in, the way from the campsite back to the main trail was rocky, so we walked and pushed our bikes up a few sections. Once we rejoined the trail, it was all smooth-sailing and downhill back to the trailhead. The kids were “yahoo”-ing all the way!
