Sunshine to Mount Assiniboine

We flew into Calgary from Vancouver and met up with my father. Had dinner at Model Milk with some relatives after picking up some bear spray at MEC. The next morning, we headed off to Banff, a short drive west of the town we arrived at the Sunshine ski resort parking lot. We took the gondola up and began our hike. There was some pleasant meadows initially until you reach Citadel Pass. We reached our campsite, Howard Douglas just before the pass and set up the tent. We didn’t plan on getting very far on the first day as it was going to be someone of a late start driving in from Calgary. Unfortunately, the weather turned on us this evening and started to hail heavily throughout the night. No one slept all that well. The next day there is then somewhat of a descent into Golden Valley, we could see large areas on the side of the trail that have been dug up by a grizzly bears. The size of the holes provides a scary reminder that you don’t want to encounter these animals while hiking. You then pass through some forested areas followed by some rocky areas, near the continental divide. All very beautiful with great variation of scenery on this trek. We were slow going this day, my father was having some health issues we discovered later. His decision to take a backpack that is older than I am and a second 3-person tent didn’t help much either. The setting of the second campsite, Og Lake, was quite pretty on the side of the lake there was only three or four other tents nearby. The next day we started on an easier track towards Mount Assiniboine. We could certainly see why it was called the ‘Matterhorn of the Rockies’ to me it is probably the most impressive single peak that I’ve seen in the Rockies. By this point we had diagnosed my father’s health condition and realized that we would have to make alternative plans. The hike out across Wonder pass was not very feasible for him. Thankfully there is a helicopter service scheduled a couple times a week. We took an extra night at Mount Assiniboine campground, enjoyed the food, and relaxed enjoying the scenery and then took a very pleasant and not too expensive helicopter ride/evacuation out of Mount Assiniboine. It was actually a very scenic ride. The setting of the lodge is quite spectacular and I would certainly like to return here someday perhaps in the winter to do some cross-country skiing. With all that was going on we took it easy in terms of the side trips from Mount Assiniboine a couple of these that I’d like to return for as well.

We topped the trip off with a stay at Fairmont Lake Louise trying their fondue restaurant and the views out towards the lake followed by a night at the Moraine Lake Lodge. The day hike around the lodge with the surrounding peaks is also quite an impressive one and doable for those who aren’t too keen on going into the backcountry. The lake itself was teaming with tour buses during the day (another reason to do the day hike). The food at the restaurant and the lodge was somewhat subpar for the setting/price of the accommodation in my opinion. The rooms themselves were however quite nice. Stopped off for some relaxation and a massage at Fairmont Banff Springs, huge water area is the highlight. The best meal we had was at the Post Hotel with some classic hearty dining and an exceptional wine cellar. If I return to the area for some resort skiing this would probably be my accommodation of choice over Fairmont Lake Louise.

I had visited Banff National Park many times as a child on summer road trips with the family but now returned after many international hiking and travel experiences behind me. It remains a spectacular setting. It is unfortunately getting very crowded but if you can plan on getting into the backcountry this is much less of an issue.

Dad has recovered and gone on a couple more hikes with us since