A perfect day weather wise to do what in my opinion is the best off trail hike in Banff National Park. Our group of 10 left the parking lot at 9:30 am and headed around Bow Lake. Seven of the ten had not done The onion before and one other had not done the Iceberg Lake portion of the loop. The chock stone has become very smooth over the years of use, so a helping hand was provided to a few to get them up to the first foothold.

Crossing the chock stone over the canyon

Once over, we proceeded up the trail to the upper section of the valley.


The Onion from the Bow Hut trail

There was no problem crossing the stream at the upper end of the valley, leading to the trail below the hut. At the hut we had a leisurely lunch.


Lunch at Bow Hut

The availability of a clean indoor biffy was an added bonus. The group headed up the trail behind the hut towards the Onion, with the views getting better and better every minute.


Glacial tarn above Bow Hut

Yolande heading up the Onion

We followed the cairns through the rock section, crossed the small flat snow field above the rocks, and then walked the gentle slope up to the summit cairn.


Iceberg lake and Bow Lake from the top of the Onion

Looking Northwest across the icefield towards Rhonda and Baker

Ramblers on the summit of the Onion

The 360 degree views from the top of The Onion are some of the best in Banff National Park, with glaciated peaks, icefields, alpine lakes all around you. After a long lunch, we convened for a discussion on the Iceberg Lake portion and each individual's comfort level at crossing a fast moving creek at the end of that part of the trip. Every person stated that they wanted to do the Iceberg Lake section and that they were not concerned with the creek crossing. So with that decided we headed back down to Bow Hut, retracing our ascent route.


Heading back down to Bow Hut

Coming back down the rocky section of the Onion

Optical illusion of walking on Bow Glacier

At the hut we were greeted by two nanny goats and a baby feeding right beside the hut.


Mountain goats at Bow Hut

At the base of the valley we contoured left, traversing easy under the base of The Onion until we reached the grassy slopes leading to the lateral moraine above Iceberg Lake.


Iceberg Lake

After another rest break to take in the views, we headed right over the shoulder and followed the trail down the lateral moraine, then the steep trail through the trees to the wide ledge leading to the lower moraine.
Once at Bow Creek, the group decided to instead cross the Bow Falls Creek which is wider and therefore potentially shallower.


Phyllis, Jane and Nancy crossing Bow Falls Creek

It took us a while to find a shallow enough route which would allow for a safe crossing. After thawing out our feet, we hiked back around Bow Lake, arriving back at the vehicles at 7 PM.
It was a great group of co-adventurers to spend a special day with. My thanks to Yolande,Nancy,Phyllis,Teresa,Jane,John,Ingrid,Toshiko,Marianne for their companionship and for sharing the day with me Kevin (C/S). Thanks to Teresa and Ingrid for the photos.

total distance 18 km
elevation gain 900 m
time 9.5 hrs