Annual Hikers Gathering
🏕️ What This Event Is All About
Each year, we reserve a massive group campground in Bow Valley Provincial Park, split the cost, and create our own little weekend hiking village. 🏔️
Daytime is completely free-form — choose your own adventures, hikes, lazy mornings, or explorations. ☀️🥾
Evenings? That's when the magic happens. We all gather around a roaring communal campfire for stories, laughter, and reconnecting under the stars. 🔥🌌
📅 When
The gathering takes place over a Friday + Saturday night in early June — typically the first weekend, when the snow is mostly gone from the valley and the bugs aren't out in force yet. 🌿
Exact dates are confirmed in the fall of the previous year.
📍 Where
Grouse Group Campground in Bow Valley Provincial Park, Kananaskis — about an hour west of Calgary, right at the doorstep of the Rockies. 🏔️
It's a dedicated group-use site, which means we have the whole place to ourselves: room for tents, trailers, RVs, vans, and one big shared firepit. 🔥
💰 Cost
We split the campground fees published on the Grouse Group Campground page — per sleeping unit, not per person.
🐦 Early Birds vs. 🦋 Butterflies
Every gathering has its rhythm — and ours has two.
The Early Birds arrive first. In the quiet of fall, while the rest of the world is still folding up summer, they commit. They send word, they send funds, they hold the campground for the rest of us. They are the steady ones — the keepers of the nest, the reason there is a gathering at all. 🐦
And then there are the butterflies. 🦋
Butterflies don't plan in seasons; they plan in moments. They drift in when the wind feels right — sometimes a month before, sometimes the morning of. They might stay both nights, or just one, or only long enough to share a drink by the fire and slip back into the dark. They are weather-watchers, mood-followers, last-minute yes-sayers. They follow the warmth, the colours, the pull of the flame.
Both belong. The Early Birds build the gathering. The butterflies bring it to life. 💛
🎒 What to Bring
- 🛏️ Your sleeping setup — tent, sleeping bag, mattress, or whatever keeps you cozy
- 🍳 Your own food + drinks
- 🪵 A camp chair for fireside hangs
- 🥾 Hiking gear for whatever day-adventures you're planning
- 🌧️ Layers + rain gear + sun protection — Alberta weather can swing wildly in early June
- 🎵 Optional: an instrument, a bottle of something nice to share, a story to tell
📬 Interested?
Send a message to Sami and you'll be added to the group chat for that year's edition. 💬
📸 Photo Albums from Previous Years
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
📣 Where are the events posted?
On the Alberta Hikers Together Facebook group — specifically in the Events tab. 📅
To make sure you don't miss it, enable all notifications for the group. Here's a short video walkthrough on how to do that. 🔔
🥾 Is there a group hike?
Everyone plans their days the way they want — daytime is completely unstructured. That said, we usually do one group hike on the Saturday for those who want something on the easier side: more social, lower-stakes, and back at camp early enough to enjoy the fire. 🔥
Absolutely no pressure to join though — the official event is really about the time around the fire. 💛