This 4-day backpacking trip had larches (6 larch hikes in 4 days), incredible views, endless mud, some very challenging weather, 1.75 bears, and 3 cases of very fortuitous luck. Approximately 60 km and 2750m elevation gain. It was a pleasure sharing the adventure with Evan and Jane!

Day 1:
Lucky moment #1 was grabbing the last somewhat-official parking spot at the Vista Lake trailhead!
Warm and sunny.
First break at Arnica Lake, then climbed to have lunch at the fantastic Arnica Summit ridge viewpoint.
Set up tents at Twin Lakes campgrounds and left for afternoon excursion with light packs.
Walked along shore of Lower Twin Lake to beautiful alpine meadow/rockslide ramp which led to lots of bog but not the pass. So endured an arduous, steep bushwhack to get back to main trail.
Huge larch forest at Gibbon Pass ranged from pale green to deep gold.
Easy climb to Gibbon Pass Peak/Little Copper and had the stunning views from the summit to ourselves.
Agreed without any discussion required to continue along the high ridge and bushwhack down to the trail.
Dinnertime entertainment provided by a northern hawk owl repeatedly zooming around and sparring with a huge raven.
Solo walk after supper to the far end of the lake, returning to tent in near darkness.

Arnica Lake - we're already SO happy to be here

Lunch on Arnica Summit

Lower Twin Lake

Starting the climb to Gibbon Pass through beautiful alpine meadows and rockfields

This is NOT how most people get to Gibbon Pass... but apparently Ramblers do

"We found the trail!"

Immersed in larches at Gibbon Pass

Looking up at our next stop: Gibbon Pass Peak (also called Little Copper)

Easy climb

The only photo from the 4 days with all of us

Heading down the ridge

Sublime ridge walking

Sadly we need to start heading back for dinner

Much easier going off-trail through larches than through spruce/fir

Northern Hawk Owl (we think)

Darkness comes at the lake

Night 1: Warm and calm. Weird hearing the train whistle from the Bow Valley.

Day 2:
Mostly warm but with cold wind and building cloud.
Back to Gibbon Pass (on the correct trail this time) for more larch sensory overload and over the other side to lunch at Shadow Lake.
Beautiful walk by Haiduk creek with orange and red birches.
Set up camp at Ball Pass Junction.
Hiked up to Ball Pass - gorgeous high alpine scenery and larches.
Rain started lightly at 19:30 and became harder at 20:00.

We didn't mind going to Gibbon Pass twice

Colours on the ground

Lovely birch meadows along Haiduk Creek; colourful Haiduk Peak in background

Ball Pass

Descending back to camp (Jane is tiny in this stunning landscape)

Night 2: Unforgettable! Steady hard rain until sometime past midnight, then a massive and very angry thunderstorm stalled right over us for over an hour. More hours of heavy rain that ended just before dawn. Snow up high.

Day 3:
Fortunately everyone turned up for breakfast with no catastrophic tent flooding.
Rain on climb to Whistling Pass (wow, must go back in better weather) turned to snow. That plus excessively strong winds made it an easy decision to not climb Greater Pharaoh peak.
Beautiful larches up high, then challenging descent on muddy rocks/roots to Egypt Lake campground. Still raining. On hindsight we should have gone to Mummy and Scarab lakes, but it was necessary to deal with the wet gear.
Lunch, then set up tents to try to dry them out. Cold and windy.
Decided to go to Pharaoh and Black Rock Lakes. 250m up the trail, came across black bear carcass on trail, partly covered with debris. First thought is oh no, cougar. Then see black bear approaching from 4m to right, looking right at me. Oh no! Fortunately bear didn’t charge (lucky moment #2). Gave it space and retreated, then posted warning note on signpost. (I have called this in to the Lake Louise trails office.)
Went to Egypt Lake instead. Cold wind but at least sun was out (but didn’t provide much warmth).
Back at camp, discovered 5m-long heavy dead snag had fallen on top of Jane’s tent. Lucky moment #3 that she wasn’t in it and that it wasn’t night. Moved tent and checked Evan's site for safety (my tent was in the open).
Cold, raining, and still super strong winds as we retreated into the tents at 19:30.

Leaving Ball Pass Junction campground with very wet tents after the storm

Gorgeous Haiduk Lake

The waterfalls feeding Haiduk Lake

Lots of larches on both sides of the Whistling Pass

Looking back at a false hope of blue sky

It's snowing and very cold & windy

Starting the descent from Whistling Pass

It's not just the larches that are colourful

Historical signposts

Our pants were constantly muddy

The dead leader that fell on Jane's tent... fortunately no damage was done

My tent at Egypt Lake, far from dead trees but fully exposed to the wind

Night 3: Huge winds and huge gusts with intermittent rain. Heard trees cracking and falling all over, including many close to us. The wind through Whistling Pass was howling all night.

Day 4:
Not as cold as we expected - no frost at the campground, but snow at Healy Pass and on the mountains.
Left camp at 8:30 and had beautiful Healy Pass larches mostly to ourselves. But cloudy/cold/windy so didn't linger.
Fast exit on good (but muddy) trail; passed at least 100 people heading up.
Home to air out gear and shower!

Warden cabin, built in 1942

Some fresh snow at Healy Pass

Participants: Jane, Evan, Ingrid (coordinator)