All in all, I think a very successful hiking/camping trip,

Sunday - Parker Ridge - some forest fire haze
We left town in two cars shortly after 8 and met up at the Parker Ridge trailhead a little before noon. None of us had actually done this easy hike before. The trigger for me was that it's one of the few "Premium" day hikes from "Don't Waste Your Time in the Rockies" guidebook that I hadn't already done. And I wouldn't argue with their assessment. Starting so high up, the casual hiker is up above tree line within 30 minutes of leaving the car. We wandered along the ridge to the high point a little east of the maintained trail.

Glenda on Parker Ridge (Mt Castleguard and the Saskatchewan glacier at left)

And then wandered a way up and west, not quite as far as Bob Spirko's track.


Damian, Glenda and Carl on Parker Ridge (Mt Atabasca in bkg)

Continuing along Parker Ridge

Roughly 10 km with 500 m of climb. From there we headed to the Whistlers campground, a few km from Jasper town site. This has recently been rebuilt and the facilities are four star. We were within a 100 m of deluxe washroom facilities with showers, dish/clothes washing sinks, and even lockable phone charging station. Two of us went in to Jasper for dinner while the other cooked at the site.

Monday - Indian Ridge - to the summit and along the ridge to the north peak and back - some forest fire haze
On Monday we elected to take the Whistler tram (discounted price early in the day) and hike past the tourist crowds that go to Whistler Summit to Indian Ridge.


Carl, Glenda and Damian at the Whistler Summit with Indian Ridge in the background

The climb to the summit was almost all a beaten trail with a very short section that one might call OT5 (I would like to refer to these areas as TL5).


The trickiest part of the ascent to Indian Ridge

We were at the summit of Indian Ridge (which is at the nearer south end) after about 2 1/2 hours. We then walked along the broad ridge to the north summit.


Walking along the broad Indian Ridge

Kane's description describes a tricky drop off the ridge and around, to make for a loop. We elected to stay on the fabulous ridge and return the way we came. We were back well before our reserved return tram and were able to book an earlier return within 20 minutes or so. 14 km, with about 900 m of ascent. We all went in to town for dinner.

Tuesday - Geraldine Lakes - to the third lake - some rain
It rained a bit over night and was forecast to rain some more. Glenda had never been to Jasper, so she elected to make it an easy day exploring the area and hiked the fabulous Maligne Canyon trail. Damian and Carl thought about doing Cinquefoil Mtn but worried about possible thunderstorms and elected to hike Geraldine Lakes which had been recommended to Carl by a couple of Ramblers. There is an official trail to a campsite at the far end of the second lake. However, while at the start one could easily walk three abreast, pretty soon it gets pretty rooty. Around the first lake it's quite wet. The first lovely cascade is at the far end of the first lake.



Cascade above the first Geraldine Lake

Between the lakes there is quite a bit of boulder hopping where there is no "trail". Just a few cairns every 100 m or so.


Between the first and second Geraldine Lakes

As we were hiking in there was quite a bit of helicopter activity. Flight one - bringing staff in, flight two - flying in three empty poo barrels and flying out three full ones, flight three picking up the staff. We were at the campsite when they picked up the staff. We did proceed to the third lake but it was a chore. It had rained a little and we were completely soaked from quite a bit of bushbashing through shoulder high willow. Traveling on to the fourth lake would have required a tricky ford, so we returned. It ended up taking us a little over 7 hours to do 16 km with only 600 m of climb. All three went in to town for dinner again.

Wednesday - Wilcox Ridge - to the shoulder of the peak - brilliant weather
On our way back we first stopped at Athabasca Falls


Glenda and Damian at Athabasca Falls

It is well worth checking out. And we then drove to the Wilcox trailhead. Wilcox Pass is in my opinion the finest easy hike in the Rockies (only 300 m of ascent, half of that above tree line). We continued on up to the Wilcox Ridge for the views down to the Icefield Centre and the Columbia Icefield. Damian and I continued on up to what I would call the "Shoulder" of Wilcox Peak.


Climbing above Wilcox Ridge (Parker Ridge in middle bkg)

There is a well worn OT4 route to this point. We did not bother to continue on to the scarmble to the peak. We had actually done that together on a previous Rambler hike 10 years ago.


Carl and Damian on the shoulder of Wilcox Peak (scramble starts at right)

Roughly 13 km with 650 m of climb.

We were back in town before 6 pm.

Many thanks to Glenda and Damian for joining me, Carl (C/S).