72 km. at least for four of us and 5 summits can't be considered shabby for a two day weekend.

It was an early rise of 5:15am to be at the trailhead at 6:30am. We were on the trail by 6:40 am. The first part of the trail is an old road that went to an old YWCA camp likely been gone for years. It passes through aspen forest and basically goes toward the lake from the Chief Mountain Highway. Once at the old camp area the trail passes through more forest and open areas.

Meadows below Vimy Peak

In the meadows below Vimy Peak

The first major obstacle is the crossing of Sofa Creek.


Chau crossing Sofa Creek

Most took off their boots but some of us got across using a log over the deepest section. From here it was onto the Vimy trail junction. Beyond the junction, the trail climbs through very lush vegetation often draped over the trail up towards the Lion's Head, a prominent rock outcropping that looks like, well, a lion's head. It actually goes behind it, but we didn't bother to go to the top as it had already been passed and we wanted to make time.


Trail to the bowl below Vimy Peak

The trail continues in a steady climb to meadows


Bowl below Vimy Peak

below the summit. The route actually does a rising traverse to the southeast ridge where it more or less disappears into multi tracks to the summit. The summit gives a good view of most of the townsite and the Waterton Lakes.


Jeannine and Sim on Vimy Peak

The ridge traverse over to the next peak looked interesting

Heading out from Vimy Peak

but proved to be straight forward. Here we stopped for a break before continuing onto the next bump. This section proved a little more interesting and this is why I upped the trip rating to a Scramble 5. Following the ridgetop meant mild exposure in a few places but it could be avoided by dropping to the east side usually. In a number places the ridge was hiking. The "rabid" scramblers in the group of course took the ridge full on, the full distance. Eventually we reached the summit of Vimy Ridge


Summit of Vimy Ridge

where we had a view of a peak at the end of this ridge which is higher than either Vimy Peak or Vimy Ridge.


Unnamed Summit (Vimo?) from Vimy Ridge

As we were here, the group decided to go for it, since it was only 600' above the col. To do this summit one could either take the ridge of this summit direct for more aggressive scrambling or cut to the right for easier scrambling. We all summitted


On the summit of Unnamed Peak (Vimo?)

and had great views into Glacier National Park (USA) from this point.


Descending from unnamed summit (Vimo?)

As there was only snow patches here and there on our descent slope to the now defunct Crypt Lake campground it was possible to do the traverse as originally planned.

Crypt Lake from Vimy Ridge

Crypt Falls

We were able to find a route through a short cliffband to take us to the meadows and trees below. Once in the trees, there were patches of snow to negotiate to get to the Crypt Lake trail. Another break was held at the former campground and water was gathered for the return trip. It had been a fairly hot day especially when off the ridge.

The hike down the Crypt Lake trail is quite scenic, at least the upper section.

Waterfall - Lower Crypt Valley

We made Crypt Landing about 5 minutes before the boat was to arrive. After much discussion and some indecision, Sim and Jeannine decided to take the boat to Waterton. Sim had not been feeling well since the morning and we felt that she should take it easy to be more refreshed for the Sunday trip. Jeannine accompanied her for moral support and safety. They would have to hitch hike back to their car and we would pick them up if they were unsuccessful. The group of four guys continued along the lakeshore trail to the Bosporus. This trail is extremely rough and seems to be almost unused by hikers. Just beyond the Bosporus the trail improved considerably, likely due to the fact that mountain bikes are allowed on this section. As the evening progressed the bugs made their presence known. In the evening they seemed to swarm around us, even with bug spray. We didn't waste much time crossing Sofa Creek and the last 5.5km had most of us waving our hats to keep the bugs away from our heads while walking as fast as we could. The four of us were out by 9:05pm. The campsite was a welcome site where we replenished our liquids. Meanwhile, Jeannine and Sim had stopped in town for ice-cream("lived the life of Reilly") and had gotten a ride back to the campsite in very quick order. They had already finished supper and had their showers. The four guys had supper in the cookshelter to avoid the bugs and showers and were back in the tents by 11-11:30pm.

Sunday dawned clear again with some wind. We were up around 6:30 am for the Avion Ridge trip. A quick pack up allowed us to get to the trail head by 8:30am. The first part of this trip is along the Snowshoe trail to the campground. From here one takes the the trail past Lost Lake to the Continental Divide. The trail up to Avion Ridge is marked and actually quite decent although Gemtrek shows it as a route. We lunched shortly after noon at the last trees. The wind seemed to howl above these trees as we ate lunch and I was concerned that we would literally be blown up or off the ridge as we went up the last open section. However, once on the ridge the wind wasn't as much of a factor as I thought it would be and was generally passable except for the occasional gust. It is a walkup to the summit

On the Summit of Avion Ridge

and a good trail continues down it and along the side of an outlier to the high col above Goat Lake.


Beyond the Summit of Avion Ridge

Jeannine and Sim who had a little more energy due to the shorter distance on Saturday decided to climb up the treadmill scree to this summit and then traverse this ridgeline. The boys waited at the high col for them to join us.


The boys waiting at the Goat Lake Col

Since Newman Peak was only 600' above the col we all motored up to its summit also. Once down from Newman Peak the trail


Col above Goat Lake

was followed down to Goat Lake. A highlight of this section was a large section of the trail covered by trees taken out by what appeared to be a rather massive avalanche from last winter.


Major avalanche across Goat Lake trail

With the hot weather, another water and snack break was convened at Goat Lake Campground. Then it was off down the trail to the Snowshoe trail. For those that haven't done the Goat Lake trail, I highly recommend it. It goes along a steep treeless slope with great views. The final plod on the Snowshoe trail got us back to the cars at 5:15pm. We took some time to soak our feet in Red Rock Canyon then it was off to Waterton for refreshments and junk food. We had a further de-stiffening stop at Pincher Creek for ice-cream.

Summit Tally: Vimy Peak, Vimy Ridge, Unnamed(now named Vimo by Sim), Avion Ridge and Newman Peak.

Participants Jeannine, Sim, John, James, Chau and Bob Coordinator and Scribe had a fantastic weekend - although fairly tiring with great weather.