Welcome to A Crock of Schmidt. Here you will find campground reviews from all my camping adventures over the years. I also share cool attractions and destinations we’ve been to, great hikes we’ve done, and some insights on our hobbies. Once in awhile, I toss in some ramblings on whatever nonsense moves me at the moment. Thanks for coming by and I hope you find something that helps and/or entertains. If you do, kindly tell a friend about this place.
Two Jack Lakeside Campground – Banff National Park – review
January 11, 2021
Remember 1999? Amidst the anticipation of the coming new millennium and the growing Y2K panic, George Lucas gave millions of now-grown-up Star Wars fans the first of three prequels to his legendary space opera. The hype was unsurprisingly intense and the reviews, perhaps equally unsurprising, were mixed. I landed firmly in the disappointed camp and
Two Jack Main Campground – Banff National Park – review
January 4, 2021
So, this is … umm … well, this is embarrassing. Prior this past summer, I … uhh … I’d never been to Lake Minnewanka. Truth be told, I’d never heard of Lake Minnewanka. Seriously. I had no clue. None. And if I ever did hear of it, that knowledge certainly never took up any semblance
Marble Canyon Campground – Kootenay National Park – review
November 25, 2020
Here’s an interesting tidbit. Kootenay National Park was a bribe. It’s true. A century ago, a deal was in place for the federal government to build a road from Banff to the Alberta/BC border at Vermilion Pass. The BC provincial government would build a road from Windermere to the pass thereby opening up the region
Fort Steele Campground – review
September 23, 2020
Nothing piques my interest in a campground more than a terrible review. In particular, I love a bad review bemoaning the strictness of management. I say this in dead seriousness and with full recognition of my hypocrisy relative to my younger days, but if you’re pissed off that a campground won’t let you have “fun”
Woolford Provincial Park – review
September 4, 2020
As my catalogue of campground reviews has grown, I’ve started to question my rating system. Oh, sure, the baby dill pickle shtick is cute and all, but it’s hardly rigorous. My judgments rely more on my whims at the moment of writing than anything scientifically valid. The appeal of a campground can change, sometimes dramatically,
Police Outpost Provincial Park – review
August 16, 2020
I thought I’d found heaven, man. Then people showed up and my paradise was lost. Forget the brown acid, self-absorption is the bad drug. And generators. God, how I hate generators. If you need an Instapot for cooking during a two night camping trip, stay home. Seriously. To hell with generators. That, unfortunately, is the
Big Knife Provincial Park – review
August 9, 2020
If it’s fair to say Alberta’s economy is all too reliant on oil and gas, then it’s also fair to say Albertan’s camping habits are all too focused on the mountains. At least that was my thinking when I went hunting for something east of our home rather than west. I ended up finding Big
Cataract Creek Provincial Recreation Area – review
August 7, 2020
I almost camped at Cataract Creek Provincial Recreation Area. I’d heard the name plenty from the mouths of friends who camp there each summer. Usually it was followed with some form of, “if there are spots left” since Cataract Creek is first come, first serve only. Unlike these acquaintances, I’m no gambler when it comes
Etherington Creek Provincial Recreation Area – review
August 5, 2020
2020 has been an abnormal, difficult year. A long, strange trip, if there ever was. From the pandemic, and its ongoing fallout, to the uncertainty of the provincial government’s plan to dramatically change the status of nearly 200 properties in the parks system, a dark cloud has hovered over Alberta campers this summer. Here’s my
Livingstone Falls Provincial Recreation Area – review
August 4, 2020
Timing is everything. In the case of Livingstone Falls Provincial Recreation Area that means two things. One, use it while you can. As one of the 164 properties the current provincial government is slated to remove from the parks system, 2020 was (likely) the last summer for camping here (it will remain a day use