Calgary

With 100 hikes, Calgary woman honours late father who 'lived for the mountains'

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share by Email

Ken Arthur, 65, died while scrambling down from Turquoise Lake last summer

To help deal with the death of her father, Larissa Arthur has been hiking in his memory. (Larissa Arthur)

Larissa Arthur is on a journey to commemorate her late father by completing 100 hikes.

Her father, 65-year-old Ken Arthur, died last summer while hiking a trail near Turquoise Lake, about 20 kilometres north of Lake Louise in the Rocky Mountains.

He fell about 100 metres while scrambling down, she said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It's just kind of a tribute to my dad. He died on a hike and he absolutely loved hiking. My best memories with him are from hiking," Arthur told the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday.

"It's what he loved. He lived for the mountains. It's the closest thing I will ever feel to him again."

Ken Arthur loved being outdoors and often went on solo hikes. (Larissa Arthur)

Arthur's father enjoyed hiking and camping in the backcountry with his four daughters and wife, but also liked to take solo trips. He'd go out for a few days, exploring the most stunning of Alberta's lakes and peaks.

"[He had] just big personality, thought he was invincible, thought he could do anything. That's kind of the best way to describe him.," Arthur said. "Still thought he was a 30-year-old."

Ken Arthur took this photo of Turquoise Lake on his final hiking trip, his daughter says. (Ken Arthur)

That July 2017 weekend, he went up to Turquoise Lake on a trail he'd hiked before. At the top, you can fish.

Rescuers found his camera, on which his daughter found a photo of the lake from that trip.

Ken Arthur, 65, on one of his hikes. (Larissa Arthur)

ADVERTISEMENT

"Sometimes it upsets me even more that I didn't do this, that I couldn't do this while he was here," Arthur said.

"I went with him a lot but then, you know, life happens, and you get busy and he asked me to go on the weekends and oh, I have a party or oh, I'm working.

"I didn't make it a priority and so it's just a lot of regret still."

Larissa Arthur has a list of hikes her father has done, including with her mother. (Larissa Arthur)

The 33-year-old is working through her long list of hikes starting with ones she did with her father and then moving to ones he did with her mother.

Turquoise Lake is on that list.

"I already got to the bottom there and buried some ashes but I want to get up there," she said.

Ken Arthur holding then-infant Larissa. (Larissa Arthur)

ADVERTISEMENT

She's hoping to do it this summer, now that she has some scrambling and rock climbing experience. The weather will be better this summer for the difficult hike, although she did complete an avalanche training course this winter.

Arthur just completed hike 37 in Hawaii. She's also into applying to have an unnamed mountain peak in the area named in his memory.

Listen to the full interview with Larissa Arthur about her commemorative hikes:

With files from Kathryn Marlow and the Calgary Eyeopener.