Best places to hike in Canada

Canada, just like the United States, is home to some of the most well regarded, pristine national parks in the world. While Canada's national park system isn't as well developed or as extensive as America's, it's still on par with America's in terms of the sheer quality and beauty of the parks. I personally have only hiked twice in Canada, so my experience with the parks there isn't as comprehensive. Both of my Canadian hiking experiences took place in Alberta at Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. My dad is from Calgary so my family and I have visited Banff National Park and the main attraction there Lake Louise many times before. Prior to the summer of 2014 we had only viewed and taken pictures of the dazzling, iridescent lake while at Banff, but never done any extensive hiking. We decided to do a hiking and camping trip at the two parks and the first hike we took while at Banff was directly adjacent to Lake Louise. The trail was a narrow, loose dirt trail that gradually ascended up the mountainside, climbing roughly 300-400 feet over the course of 1.5 miles. The trail ended at the top of a ridge overlooking the stunning lake and lake Louise hotel. In terms of the trail difficulty the lake Louise hike was moderately challenging and popular amongst a wide variety of people. Moving onto Jasper national park, which is a 15 mile drive directly north of Banff, and arguably the most pristine, least developed park I've ever been to. I remember seeing a grizzly bear mother with her three cubs eating on the side of the road on our first day in Jasper national park. Just like at Banff national park we hiked around a lake, known as Annette lake, which was equally as serene and placid as lake Louise. Unlike the hike near lake Louise, the trail around Annette lake had only a minimal amount of elevation gain, but still featured a plethora of aromatically pleasing vegetation. While I have only ever hiked at Banff and Jasper national park in Canada, I know there is some truly terrific hiking in British Columbia and around Vancouver. One of the more well known spots in the Vancouver area is Whistler mountain resort which is more highly regarded as a skiing destination but boasts one of the most extensive, appealing trail networks in all of Canada. Other great places to hike in British Columbia include Squamish and Yoho national park which both feature well developed trail systems and diverse topography. Eastern Canada also has some phenomenal hiking but since I don't have any experience hiking there, I don't know of any particular places.

Best Places to hike in the United States

The United States is littered with great places to hike and is internationally recognized for having one of the best national park systems in the world. Besides the national parks there are many other state parks and forested conservation land that offer hiking. The national park and state park systems have insured that some of the most pristine, beautiful natural land will remain intact and preserved for future generations. Almost all of the national parks in the United States offer some kind of hiking whether it be limited in scope or more comprehensive, which makes hiking a really convenient activity wherever you live. All of the hikes that I've done have been day hikes and most of my favorite ones have taken place in New England. For any true hiking aficionado hiking up the tallest mountains in New Hampshire and Maine, Mt. Washington and Mt. Katahdin respectively, is a true rite of passage. Those two hikes have been the most memorable and enjoyable hikes I've ever done. What makes those two hikes so special is the fact that they require a bit more planning than your normal day hike at a nature preserve. You have to camp overnight to be able to wake up at four or five the next morning to complete the hike in one day. Both hikes are also more technically challenging which forces you to be more engaged and alert on the trail. The trails itself are both very beautiful with varying topographies and changing scenery as you make your farther up. The best part of both hikes though is when you reach the summit and are rewarded with spanning vistas that go on for miles on a clear day. Unfortunately the summit of Mt. Washington is almost always enshrouded in clouds and is notorious for having some of the worst weather in New England. You'll be proud though after you conquer the beast by hiking up it instead of driving up it and putting on one of those "This car climbed Mt. Washington!" stickers. Moving on to the western United States where I have less hiking experience but where some of the best hiking in the world is found. My first time hiking in the West was when I was ten or eleven out in Yosemite national park with my family. I didn't get to hike any of the challenging, famous hikes since I was too young but hope to do so someday. The second time hiking out west was more memorable and rewarding as my family and I along with my uncle and cousins all went down to the Grand Canyon and hiked three quarters of the way down before turning around due to a lack of daylight. The Grand Canyon is a world class attraction that annually has over five million visitors. People from around the world flock to the treasured site for it's unique, otherworldly landscape and breathtaking views. Most of the visitors though don't end up hiking down the canyon and instead take pictures near the rim. The hike itself is pretty long and unless you start it early in the morning it will take longer than a day. The challenge level of the hike is surprisingly easy for a natural feature as immense and expansive as the grand canyon. All along the meandering trail are log steps that have been built into the trail to make hiking the trail easier and more accessible for people. While one of the upsides of the hike is it's easier skill level and greater accessibility it can become monotonous overtime as there's no variation in scenery or vegetation. Another issue with the hike is the fact that the only reward you get is from making it down to the bottom which is obviously a lot different from the reward you get for making it to the top of a mountain. The last place in the west that I've had the fortune to hike in is Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana. Yellowstone national park is one of the most popular tourist attractions and for good reason. It has one of the most spectacular assortments of natural wonders in the world with geysers and super heated, rainbow colored pools. For most people walking around and taking pictures of the natural wonders is the most they'll do while at the park. For a small minority of visitors though exploring the pristine natural surroundings through camping and hiking is undertaken. The hiking experience at Yellowstone was, for me, a bit underwhelming, especially compared to some of the other hiking experiences I've had. The trails that we went on were somewhat bland and boring but I'd still highly recommend visiting Yellowstone national park if you haven't yet.

  

Hiking Essentials and types of hiking

Hiking can be a very enjoyable and relaxing activity, but you need to be properly outfitted and prepared to insure the best possible outcome. One of the most obvious pieces of gear that any hiker will need is a pair of athletic shoes either sneakers or hiking boots depending on the rigor and type of hike. I personally have only hiked in sneakers even on more strenuous trails while most of the other hikers were wearing bulky hiking boots. If you're in moderately decent shape and don't need any ankle support I'd recommend just wearing sneakers for most of your hikes. For hikes that'll last for more than a day, usually longer than 20 miles, wearing hiking boots is advised due to their greater durability and protective qualities. For me personally the longest hike I've ever been on took eight hours so I've never had to wear hiking boots. Other pieces of essential gear are the clothes you choose to wear. For any hike that you choose to pursue you want to make sure your wearing the proper clothes. Any kind of clothing that is moisture wicking is usually the best choice since hiking is a physical activity. For summer hiking I tend to wear just a polyester t-shirt and a pair of polyester shorts. If your hiking in cooler weather or climbing a lot of elevation I recommend wearing a long sleeve polyester shirt and convertible nylon pants with zip off bottoms. Some other pieces of gear that people like to use but aren't completely necessary are hiking poles and camelbaks. I personally have never used either, but whenever you go on a hike you'll see at least a couple people using them. For older adults who need a little assistance with their balance and keeping upright hiking poles are a nice insurance. For water carrying some people like to use a camelbak which is a large plastic bag that you fill up with water and carry on your back. I personally prefer just using a plain old nalgene to carry my water. For the different types of hiking the one that a majority of people partake in is day hikes. For the casual hiker day hikes of a couple hours in length are ideal. Most people just want to take a day off from work and enjoy nature for a couple of hours which day hikes are perfectly catered to. The great thing about day hikes, and any type of hike in general, is that they can range from really easy to really difficult depending on the terrain and topography. Over the course of my life I've been lucky enough to hike local, easy trails at Audubon sanctuaries as well as challenging trails up Mt. Katahdin, all while enjoying the stunning natural beauty that comes along with each hike. For more adventurous and daring hikers backpack hiking is another option. Backpack hiking is much more involved and intensive as you end up hiking for many consecutive days and need to carry all your supplies, usually over 50 pounds of gear and equipment, on your back. Backpack hiking can be more rewarding though than day hikes as you get to experience the full extent of the nature surrounding you. I hope to someday go backpacking, maybe in college.