Assiniboine Day-Hikes |
Getting There |
|
Arriving in Banff - Vermilion Lakes and Sulphur Mountain |
The classic photo of Banff township and Cascade Mountain |
Looking up the Spray River Valley |
The Bow River below Bow Falls |
|
|
View from Mt Shark heliport - bad weather in the direction of Assiniboine |
Our helicopter arrives for the flight into Assinboine |
|
Lifting high above Spray Lake |
Nello checking out the distance to the rock face |
Bird's eye view of Marvel Lake |
|
Mt Assiniboine (at least where it should be on a fine day) |
A first peek at the peak |
Pink sky at night - hope for the morning |
|
After the snow fall - our hut at Assiniboine (much better than a tent) |
|
Day 1 – Windy Ridge Hike (17km - 750m ascent – 750m descent) |
|
||
Mt Assiniboine - the "Matterhorn" of the Rockies |
Heading through the gap to snow-covered Windy Ridge |
The mountains had a heavy dusting of snow overnight |
|
||
Cloudy morning above Og Meadow and Mt Cautley |
|
|
|
Assiniboine framed by spruce |
Heading towards Og Pass |
|
|
Not a bad place for a break - admiring Og Mountain |
Looking down the Og Pass between Og and Cave Mountains |
|
||
A lone larch high on the slope |
The glorious skyline of 3618m Assiniboine and its neighbours |
Heading up to Windy Ridge |
Crossing the last vestiges of snow near the ridge top |
|
|
||
|
The scree slope of Og Mountain (2873m) |
|
|
Zooming into the rugged beauty .... |
.... of the peaks to the north |
Assiniboine's pyramid dominates the horizon
|
|
|
|
|
|
View back over Og Meadow - home to our blonde-haired grizzly bear |
The stream through O'Brien Meadow |
A reddish tinge to the meadow |
Shallow lake on the Bryant Creek Trail |
Magog Creek |
|
Beer o'clock on the verandah of Assinboine Lodge |
Late afternoon view from the Lodge verandah |
||
|
Day 2 - The Nublet and Lakes Hike (13km - 580m ascent – 580m descent) |
|
||
Alpenglow on Assiniboine |
From the Naiset Huts, we quickly headed back to Assiniboine Lodge as we did yesterday, but then changed direction to veer westward through the spruce forest and start a gentle climb. We were walking this circuit anti-clockwise to get the climbing over early and catch the views in the crisp morning light. |
Yet another perfect view |
|
|
The track up to The Niblet |
View of Sunburst Peak and Cerulean Lake from The Niblet |
|
Nello climbing The Nublet |
|
The route up from Niblet to Nublet |
|
||
Panorama from The Nublet of Magog and Sunburst Lakes and Assiniboine |
|
||
On top of the dome of The Nublet |
|
Descent from The Nublet - Cerulean Lake |
|
|
The emerald waters of Elizabeth Lake |
Waiting for the photographer |
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
Reflections in Sunburst Lake |
|
View over Cerulean Lake to Sunburst Peak |
|
||
The dark shadow wall of Sunburst Peak towering above Sunburst Lake |
Not again! - Assiniboine re-appears |
We pushed on through the forest, sidling round the lake and then following its outlet down. A few hundred metres later, we wandered through the camp-ground at Magog Lake (not bad with its covered cooking shelter but with only a few hardy campers) to pick up the track that followed the shoreline of this lake. Mt Assiniboine was now visible again in its full glory. |
Magog Lake from the north - backed by Naiset Point |
Afternoon coffee on the verandah of "Jonesy" the hut |
Nello and a fellow hiker |
The girls get stuck into bananagrams |
|
Day 3 - Wonder Pass Hike (9km - 380m ascent – 380m descent) |
|
|
|
||
Heading south across the boggy flats |
The Towers reflected in Gog Lake |
|
|
|
|
|
Wildflowers on Wonder Pass |
Wonder Peak from the pass |
||
|
View from Wonder Pass south to the Blue Mountains |
Panorama of Mt Gloria, Eon Mountain and Aye Mountain |
|
Gloria Lake and Eon Mountain (3338m) |
|
View across the fir and spruce to Marvel Peak |
Looking down on to Gloria Lake |
|
|
Gog Creek |
The meadows above Gog Lake |
Back home - the boardwalk near Naiset Huts |
|
|