Featured image: Cowgirls at Allenby Pass: Bev, Carolyn, Louise and Darcye 8,100 feet up in the Rocky Mountains

Five Lessons to Embrace Adventure in the Real Canadian Rockies

by Carolyn Ray

“Trust your horse,” Brooklyn repeats, as I watch rocks scatter below my feet. My chocolate brown quarterhorse, Latte, has stopped moving along a narrow trail on the side of a mountain, no doubt feeling my anxiety as I imagine us toppling into the valley far below. I readjust my weight so that I am sitting squarely on the saddle. Taking a deep breath, I look straight ahead, where Brooklyn, my guide, is waiting patiently for the eight of us (four women, four horses) to make our way across the steep, rocky incline leading up to  Allenby Pass, high in the Canadian Rockies.

“Okay, Latte, let’s do this,” I say and urge my horse forward, secretly wondering how I have found myself perched on the jagged edge of a rockslide. I like to think I’m adventurous – I’ve jumped down waterfalls, ziplined through jungles, mountain biked in forests and snowboarded through knee-deep powder. But this? On my third day of a six-day backcountry ride with Banff Trail Riders near Banff, Alberta, I am in new, uncharted territory. Do I have the courage to keep going? Or should I wimp out and ask to be airlifted back to civilization?

Having downsized most of my clothing, I don’t own boots with heels, so my first purchase is a pair of Ariat brown laced boots that I can wear again. I find two women’s cowboy shirts and a jean jacket at Value Village. I discover I can fit bike shorts under a favourite pair of well-loved, fairly seamless, black jeans. Instead of buying riding gloves, I opt to repurpose my old gardening mitts. My biggest challenge is finding a hat, and the day before I leave, I find the perfect Stetson at Bootmaster. I feel ready to be a cowgirl!

The Women of the Backcountry

I meet the three other women I’m riding with and my guide, Brooklyn, on a sunny Sunday morning at Warner Stables in Banff. Brooklyn is one of five female guides at Banff Trail Riders, the largest horse-riding outfit in Canada, with over 300 horses and mules.

Brooklyn competed with 240 people for her position when she was hired three years ago at age 18. She started leading the six-day trip this year, considered the most adventurous of BTR’s tours, under the mentorship of her manager, Erica, who taught her about the “mental drive” required to be in the wilderness.

“Being in the backcountry is a mental game – you have to manage uncertainty, anxiety and stress – of your guests and the horses,” says Brooklyn. “You can be your own boss – but you also take responsibility for the people and horses in your care, something I don’t take lightly.”

Established over 50 years ago, Banff Trail Riders is now co-owned by passionate horsewoman Julie Canning, who left her role as a corporate CEO to spend her days in the saddle.

“We hire for skills but we also look for what we can accomplish as a close-knit group,” says Julie Canning, Chief Cowgirl and Operating Partner at Banff Trail Riders. “When I took over the company in 2014, women weren’t in the backcountry, but now, we run it. We go in, have a shared experience together and come out stronger together.”

After hearing this, I feel like I’m in the right place.

The Real Canadian Rockies

 The Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain system in North America, stretching 3,000 miles across a long, narrow region from British Columbia into New Mexico. They were formed 80 to 55 million years ago, when plates began sliding underneath, creating sculpted rivers and valleys. The Canadian Rockies differ from the American Rockies both in appearance and geology, as they are heavily glaciated, resulting in sharply pointed mountains of limestone and shale, with valleys gouged by glaciers. The American Rockies are more rounded mountains of granite and gneiss. Together, I’m told the Canadian and US Rockies mark the edge of the continental shelf, where the ocean once was.

I’ve spent time in the Canadian Rockies, in Fernie, Kelowna and Whistler, but the backcountry is a new experience. ‘Backcountry’ means the area is not accessible by roads, as opposed to ‘front country.’ Even though we’re only a few kilometres outside of Banff, there is no cellular service, no wifi and no electricity. Once you cross into the backcountry, you are in the real Rockies. There are mystical, untouched forests where the moss covers the ground like a carpet. Massive avalanche paths and rockslides are reminiscent of scenes from Lord of the Rings, with trees and boulders from avalanches dotting the landscape, and fast-moving rivers.

Five Lessons From the Backcountry

Before the pandemic, breathing and travelling were one in the same for me. I was rarely home, discovering and exploring new places and learning new things. On this trip, I am reminded how exhausting it is to learn a new skill, something I haven’t done since learning to surf in Tofino, B.C.

The dynamic of horses brings a new element to the experience. It’s a little different from kayaking, surfing or hiking – there is an animal involved, with his own personality, preferences and behaviours.

2. Be ready for the unexpected

Trail riding is a strenuous physical sport. It’s not an activity where you sit passively and watch the world go by for hours on end. It requires awareness and focus – of the horse, of your body and of your surroundings. At any moment, a grouse can jump out of the bushes, startling the horse. There’s no such thing as a flat, hard-packed trail.

In the first two hours on a narrow trail, we come face to face with a fast-moving train of 10 mules roped together (called “packers’ because they move supplies and luggage between sites). Latte, being a social animal, decides to turn and follow them, causing a commotion of epic proportion. “Turn, turn, turn,” Brooklyn yells and somehow I untangle myself from the mules and rejoin my group.

4. Embrace the Unknown

I can’t imagine how the early explorers, many of whom were women, found the courage to break these trails 200 years ago, in the middle of this vast wilderness of peaks and valleys. In a nod to the traditional explorers, ‘mule trains’ bring materials in and out, including food, bedding, luggage and furniture. The mantra is ‘take back what you bring in;’ even the outhouses are cleaned out before the winter.

“As a guide, you can’t change people,” Brooklyn says. “You have to step out of your comfort zone and tell yourself ‘I want to do it! I want to try and ride and get that horse across water!’”

For Louise, who’s been taking horseback riding lessons for years, the trip was a way for her to reconnect with nature and push herself far out of her comfort zone.

“I worked in offices most of my working life and I wanted the freedom to try this experience,” she says. “It’s a different world out here. Just watching all these young people and all they do, so at ease, packing up the mules the way they did it 100 years ago, it’s to be admired. Allenby Pass was a big stretch for me. Sitting in the lichen and moss at the top, I almost couldn’t believe I could do it.“

Bev’s Tip: Be brave and do it. Be willing to be outside your comfort zone and your box, and embrace adventure. 

Connecting with Women

The backcountry is a place where women bond together in the wilderness, embrace honest conversations and overcome challenges together. This is my first tour with other women, and I’m surprised at how fast we are able to connect and form friendships, despite our incredibly varied backgrounds. In normal circumstances, none of us would have met, but here we are sharing an incredible experience, bound together by it.

“In many wild places, it is challenging or impossible to go alone, which is why it is so much safer (and fun!) to travel in a supportive group, especially of all women,” says Jennifer Haddow, CEO, Wild Women. “We hope that women will feel a new confidence that comes from growing their skills in the outdoors and take that transformation back into their daily lives to be healthier, stronger and more adventurous.”

“I’ve taken lots of horseback trips, been to lots of places, but I’ve never been to the backcountry in Banff, “ Bev says. “When Darcye had her accident, everybody was so level-headed – nobody lost their shit. It was pretty impressive. I will definitely travel again with Wild Women, and just with women. To travel and meet new people who are like-minded women is awesome.”

“I like travelling alone, I like travelling with others, but I also like travelling with other women – they are supportive and giving,” says Bev. “Almost always, the support of other women makes it special and I encourage women to try it, even if they are anxious and concerned about some aspect of the trip.”

After six days together, Latte and I have formed an understanding. I’ve learned to sit in the saddle properly, hold the reins in my left hand like an ice cream cone, and shift my weight when we go up and down hills. I’m now used to his constant head-whipping to detract horseflies and his sudden stops to nip the bugs off his legs. He’s still trying to munch on leaves but now I know to use both my voice and my body to calm him down.

“Latte, you’re such a good boy,” I say. “Thank you for keeping me safe, protecting me on the mountain and staying on the path.” When I dismount, Latte whinnies and hits me with his head, grinning his joy at being released.

 Disclaimer:  I was invited on this tour by Wild Women Expedition, but I covered my own transportation costs in and out of Calgary, including airfare and shuttle, as well as a gratuity for Banff Trail Riders. Wild Women did not review this article prior to publication; opinions are my own.  

To learn more about Wild Women Expeditions and the Banff Backcountry Riding Adventure visit here.  

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