The six of us left the Moraine Lake trailhead at about 10:30, and were immediately inundated by a busload of tourists. This may have been the crux of the trip, but we all survived without having to resort to using pepper spray.

Rather than doing the Kane route, we continued along the Consolation Lakes trail for about 1 km, and then turned left and crossed the Babel Creek Bridge at the sign to Taylor Lake. We left the trail and hiked up through relatively open Larch trees towards the ridge. The bushwacking was minimal so we gained the ridge quickly just above treeline.

This is a spectacular ridge walk, with views across Consolation Valley to Babel Tower, Fay, Bident, and Quadra. To the north, Temple was in the clouds, but it made its appearance later in the day. The cobalt blue lakes, 800 meters below, sparkled in the sun against the backdrop of the heavily crevassed glacier below Mount Quadra.

The scramble along the ridge to the North summit was straight forward; although wet lichen covered rock most of the way required a certain degree of caution. We all reached the North summit of Panorama Ridge, and then enjoyed basking in the sunshine for over an hour, before descending down a rubble/scree gulley to the lakes. After another leisurely break, we followed the un-maintained trail down the east side of the lake, and crossed the outlet creek on slippery logs. One member got a boot soaked on the crossing, and another got completely wet after sliding into the creek. No one was hurt, but a change of clothes was in order. We arrived back at the cars at 5:30 after enjoying a great day in one of the most spectacular areas in the Rockies.

Thanks to Francisco (Coordinator) for a great trip. Jeannine, Peter, Dee, Susan, David (scribe)