Spectacular first and third days on Wilcox and Tangle, a snowstorm and very little visibility for Sunwapta.

Damian picked up Carl and Kevin in town and we met Bob at Laggan's in Lake Louise. We were then ready to start up the Wilcox Pass trail at around noon. It was a bluebird day and a perfect temperature.

Mount Wilcox from Wilcox Pass

There is a beaten trail almost all the way to the summit, but it has a few sketchy bits with some exposure that probably still warrant the SC6 rating.


Bob approaching the summit cairn

Nigel Peak and Wilcox Pass from the summit of Mt Wilcox

From the top were were able to scout the next day's destination (Sunwapta Peak) as well as Thursday's planned peak (Nigel Peak). Sunwapta had a lot of snow on it, but it is a gentle slope. Nigel looks like a challenging SC6 and also had a lot of snow. As well of course we were busy identifying the peaks of the Columbia Icefield. After a good break we headed down trying not to disturb a large herd of bighorn sheep that seem to be on display near Wilcox Pass full-time.


Wilcox Peak summit with Tangle Ridge and Sunwapta Peak to the left

Traversing back down the Wilcox summit ridge

Carl on the summit ridge of Wilcox Peak

Back at the car after a little over 5 hours (12 km, 880 m vertical). We had dinner in the dining room at the Icefields Centre and then proceeded to the Beauty Creek hostel.
The forecast for Wednesday had called for scattered showers and it had rained a bit before we got up. We couldn't see the top of Sunwapta Peak but thought that we'd give it a go anyway and hope for better weather by the time we got up. Well the good news is that except for light showers at the very end of the day, we didn't get rained on. The bad news was that we were in socked in almost all day, no long distance sights at all.


Sunwapta Peak from Tangle on the day after our snowy ascent

Ascending into the white void on Sunwapta Peak

It snowed for a good part of our ascent, at the top it was almost a blizzard. However, we "got" the summit.


Sunwapta Summit cairn in a snowy whiteout

And we had a short "sucker hole" that allowed us to get some nice photos near the top on our descent.


Heading down from the summit cairn

Carl descending the upper section of the summit ridge

Snowy outlier on the upper ridge of Sunwapta Peak

Bob had spent the previous month living it up at his cottage in Ontario and so was pretty bagged by the end of the day. We were eight hours round trip (12 km and 1750 m of vertical). We made dinner in the hostel that evening. The hostel was absolutely full with 20 guests representing a variety of nations (at least Canada, Newfoundland, Quebec, Germany, Switzerland, England, Mexico, and Spain).
The forecast had been good for Thursday all along and it did not disappoint. We had another bluebird day. We were concerned about the old and new snow on Nigel and so decided to go for Tangle Ridge instead. This worked out for one who already had a tick in his Kane book for Nigel (but not for Tangle). Bob decided that he wasn't feeling up to a third hike and headed home to Golden. Once again there was an excellent beaten and cairned trail all the way to the tree line. Above the tree line, there was a few inches of fresh snow that made the scenery even more spectacular and probably actually made the climb easier.


Heading up Tangle Ridge on a blue sky morning

Top of Mt Columbia from the summit of Tangle Ridge

Once on top, we decided to walk southeast along the ridge.


Enjoying the sun after descending from the high point of Tangle Ridge

A snow loaded Nigel Peak from Tangle Ridge

The views were much better than expected by the scribe.


Approaching the south end of Tangle Ridge

There is also a wild cornice on the northeast side of the ridge.


Looking back North along Tangle Ridge with Mt Alberta in the distance

We then descended had had some light bushwhacking to get back to the Wilcox Pass trail and back to the car. We were out 6 1/2 hours (14 km, 1200 m of vertical).
We drove home in the evening with a break at the Outpost in Lake Louise for dinner.

Many thanks to Damian for doing the driving for three of us, to Kevin (photos)and also Bob, for joining me, Carl (C/S).