We enjoyed three days of hot sunny weather on this great backpacking weekend and totally missed the violent storms that hit the Calgary area over the weekend. The skies were hazy with smoke, especially on Monday.

We set out from the Vista trailhead at 10am Saturday after dropping a vehicle at Sunshine parking lot. It was a hot trudge up to Arnica Lake with full packs, but we were all at the lake by shortly after 12. After a short stop to snack and cool off we set off again, stopping for lunch on the ridge between Arnica and Twin Lakes. The ridge was covered with flowers and just the beginning of the show we were to enjoy all weekend.

Flowers on ridge between Arnica and Twin Lakes

Lunch on ridge between Arnica and Twin Lakes

We carried on to the Twin Lakes and on up to Gibbon Pass. The trail from Lower Twin Lake to Gibbon Pass is quite a gentle climb and the pass is well worth a visit. We were greeted with meadows of wildflowers and larches, not to mention views all the way to Assiniboine.


Meadows of flowers at Gibbon Pass

Karen, Lupita at Gibbon Pass

From Gibbon Pass it was 3km downhill to Shadow Lake campground. The campground only has 5 sites and as we had booked 4 of them, we had the place to ourselves! There was a brief rainshower just after we tucked in for the night and that was all the precipitation we saw till we were driving back to Calgary on Monday.


Sitting around after dinner (Shadow Lake campground)

Sunday morning was clear and calm. Our first stop was Shadow Lake.


Shadow Lake

Then on to Ball Jct campground for a short break. From there it was on to Haiduk Lake at the base of Whistling Pass where we stopped for lunch.


Lake Haiduk

The four ladies (Lake Haiduk)

Elephant Head

After lunch, we headed up on to Whistling Pass to enjoy some great views.


Heading up Whistling Pass from Lake Haiduk

Lake Haiduk, Mount Ball from Whistling Pass

Egypt Lake side of Whistling Pass

We followed the steep rocky trail down into Egypt Lake where we camped Sunday night. The campground was more than full, but still a beautiful setting and with all the people, it was amazingly serene. We watched the nearly full moon rise into a completely clear sky on Sunday night before calling it a night.

We awoke to another clear calm day on Monday but as we climbed to Healy pass we noticed the smoke haze was much more pronounced and there was quite a strong smell of smoke in the air.

Smoke haze on Healy Pass

In the afternoon the wind picked up and clouds started to form, but still no rain. We arrived at the Sunshine parking lot at 2:30pm. After a couple of drivers picked up the other vehicle from the Vista parking lot, we headed into Canmore for well deserved protein and electrolyte replenishment.

Thanks to Jerome (photos), David, Sharon, Andy (photos), Lupita and Karen for their excellent company and a super backpacking trip. Brenda c/s/p