After picking up a permit we left the Fish Creek parking lot around 10:30 am up the Temple lodge access road. After Temple lodge the road becomes a tree shaded trail where we started to encounter a skiff of snow. We had lunch at the Halfway Hut just after midday. We dragged a bench out of the hut to sit outside and enjoy the crisp, clear fall air, the gold of the larches and the shiny white snow sprinkling the peaks. The afternoon remained clear and bright so the walk to the Merlin Meadows campground was very nice with the excellent views this above treeline trip offers. We could have picked any camp site as none were occupied. We picked a couple with little snow under some big trees - many of the sites had a couple of inches of snow. After supper Dee made a nice fire despite the challenge of little and poor wet wood amongst the snow.Around the fire the fun conversation continued. Throughout the weekend topics ranged from the evolution of the Canadian immigration system, metric measurement to the intellectual traits of geophysicists.Does anybody know how many furlongs it is to Skoki Lodge!!??

Sunday we got up to temperatures of -2 to -5 Celsius but a clear blue sky. We hiked to Skoki Lodge where they, helpfully, let us store our excess gear nearby. Then we set off up Skoki mountain. Ours were the first footprints since the snow had fallen as we headed up the initial trail section. Above treeline the trail peters out - though it was difficult to be sure under the increasing amounts of snow. Rather than try the frozen scree we thought it would be better to try and use the snow where possible. There were cairns scattered along this scree section of the route. We got to the summit, I think, just after midday and had lunch - topped of with Dee's Baklava. Picked out various mountains and terrain not often seen such as Molar, Douglas and the route to the Drummond icefield which lead to some tales of other trips in this scenic area.

After descending to Skoki lodge we went in for tea. This was my first look inside the historic lodge built in the 1930's as the first ski lodge in the Canadian Rockies. I enjoyed browsing the photos and memorabilia such as old skis and boots. Our mining engineer accurately picked out, before entry into the lodge, that coal was a fuel. I think we all enjoyed sitting in the comfortable lodge as it was 3:00 pm before we were on our way!For variety we hiked out over Packer's pass which is a little tougher route than the Deception pass route we had taken in. One short section involves a climb up a chimney in a cliff band. I would say scramble 5 as hands have to be used. It is n't very steep as the chimney runs at a reasonable angle slanting across the cliff face. We came across three or four Ptarmigan in the next section. This was just below Ptarmigan peak! The plumage was starting to turn white a sign I guess that winter is coming in the high country.

Back at the trail head around 8:00 pm. Thanks to Dee, Cornelis and David for a fun trip to one of my favourite areas in the Rockies - I think it is particularly nice in the fall when it is quieter and the golden larches are on display with no bugs! Scribe John.

Some photos from Cornelis:

Ptarmigan lake.

Camp at Merlin Meadows

Looking S from summit Skoki mountain

Skoki lakes and the Wall of Jericho