Thursday was a 10 out of 10 day to do a scenic off trail hike in Bow Lake area. Three Ramblers and one guest left the Helen Lake parking lot at 9:30 am and headed up the trail. After about 500 metres, we left the Helen Lake trail and headed uphill through widely spaced trees. Higher up we hit a good game trail which angled left. We followed the game trail to the base of a bouldered slope which we ascended on vegetated slopes on the right edge. We then followed a series of open meadows which took us to tree line. From there easy open slopes took the group up to the ridge. It took 2 hours from the parking lot to the top of the ridge, at a moderate pace.

Bow Lake from Crystal Ridge

Philip near the ridge top

Crowfoot Mountain from Crystal Ridge

After a rest break we decided to bypass subpeak 2 and head up to the higher subpeak 1 at the North end of the ridge. The 360 degree views from there were superb.


At the top of subpeak 1

Helen Lake from subpeak 1

Cirque Peak from subpeak 1 of Crystal Ridge

After another rest break, we headed back down and began the traverse South towards subpeaks 3 and 4. There was a steady moderate breeze up on the ridge, which made for very pleasant traveling conditions along the ridge.


Traversing the ridge towards subpeak 3

Carine on subpeak 3 with Dolomite Peak in the background

Once up on subpeak 4, it was time for another rest break to admire the great views.


Looking back North along Crystal Ridge from subpeak 4

Philip, Carine and Toshiko on subpeak 4

We retraced our steps to the the low point between subpeaks 3 and 4 and headed down to a bench. From there we angled North along the bench until we were able to find an easy route which took us back to treeline. Once at treeline we followed semi open slopes down through the trees, eventually hitting the Helen lake trail about 100 metres from where we left it in the morning. We were back at the vehicles at 5 PM.
Thanks to Philip,Toshiko and guest Carine Cleaz for their great company and for joining meKevin (S/C) on a fun day of off trail adventure in the Bow Lake area.

Net elevation gain 650 metres
Total elevation gain 825 metres
Total distance 9 km