TR: Canadian Rockies, Banff - Mount Assiniboine, 9/2 - 9/7 -2022

[michaelzim]

Great to have another fine photos trip report - especially as there has been somewhat of a drought in new ones to get lost in for a while. Looks like fabulous terrain up there in Canada land, though the size of the Grizzly scat is sobering! I guess it all boils down to familiarity and knowing when to wave, pet or pray.
Thanks for the time and effort putting this report in for us to enjoy - and hope others do too, as it is a long winter to get through yet and if few Sierra's reports come in far mountain regions of the world are fair game for vicarious living!

Michaelzim

[Harlen]

C9h13no3 writes:

Sorry Colorado, your Rockies are the worst Rockies.

Awesome report. Definitely the quality scenery I've come to expect from this region!

Thanks Sam. More of that quality scenery coming in a report I'll do on the strategy of day-tripping around Banff and Jasper. The area really lends itself to that kind of access, which I know you love too. Light and fast trips, and you don't have to lie awake in your tent, twitching with fear at every Grizzly little sound.
Also, it would be lovely to day-tour on skis, and then you get to subtract the freezing cold nights out, trading them for van life. .... I just know you're gonna call me a wuss. Go ahead, I can take it.

100_1851.JPG

This mountain, and many more like it in the "Valley of the Ten Peaks," is easily accessible from The TH at Moraine Lake.

100_1812.JPG

And this is Mt. Rundle, and as you can see, it would be an easy, yet spectacular climb along the edge of the ridge to the summit.... and back to town for a beer to celebrate.

[c9h13no3]

I just know you're gonna call me a wuss. Go ahead, I can take it.

Pshhh, I don’t snow camp. I barely even camp :-P. If sleeping in comfort makes one a wuss, then I’m president of the wusses!

Last time I was in Banff, it was more of a ski Lake Louise & eat some elk kind of a trip.

[Harlen]

I was curious to put the two "Matterhorns" together to see how similar they really are. When I was looking up at "The Matterhorn of the Rockies"-- Mt Assiniboine, I thought I did see a similarity between their respective north and east faces, and the famous "shoulder" found high on the Hörnli Ridge, seemed to have a counterpart high up on Assiniboine. Looks like the original has even more steepness and isolation.

L&N-Matterhorn-final-crop.jpg

Lizzie with our young son gazing at the Swiss Matterhorn for the first time-- it had been hidden in cloud for 3 days.

100_1698.JPG

Our first view of the Canadian Matterhorn. It appears far less sharp than the Swiss one from here, but a bit farther north, and it sharpens up nicely. One thing they do have in common is that they rise far above the peaks around them. And Assiniboine is more remote from hikers and climbers-- I met just one pair of climbers who were heading up Assiniboine, compared with ~25 climbers on the Swiss one-and there were only that few because another snowstorm was predicted on that day.

[wildhiker]

Great pictures and it looks like you had really good weather. My wife and I did a "tour" (mostly driving, with short day hikes) of some of the Canadian Rockies parks in early July. We had a lot of cloudiness and some rain. And the mountains were still quite snowy - seems they had greater than normal snowfall last winter.
-Phil

[Wandering Daisy]

Early July is generally rainy. Best chance of good weather in the Canadian Rockies is late August to early September. But with wildfires lately, the better weather window is often smoky.

Eons ago a friend and I planned a trip in early July to go into the Bugaboos (Selkirks- next range west of the Rockies). The rain was endless. Instead, we hopped from town to town and enjoying the local culture (playing pool, drinking beer, golfing during weather breaks) and driving back roads and staying in little motels (used to be quite cheap back then). The free highway ferry system is very unique and fun to ride. Highways just end at the shores, you get on a ferry, go across, and go on your way until the next one. Ferries instead of bridges! So even if goingt to hiking and backpacking, if weathered out, there is plenty of interesting stuff to do.

[LMBSGV]

My wife and I have long wanted to go to Banff and Jasper, but her hip replacement this year, put that in the maybe-in-two-years-if-we-can-afford-it category so your trip is a wonderful vicarious vacation.

Did you drive there? If so, how long was the trip? Did you stay in any of the drive-in campgrounds? I looked into taking the train and buses and combining it with camping, which is what we did in Denali. From the preliminary research, it’s a bit more complicated at Jasper and Banff than Denali so I’m curious to know more about your experience. You mentioned another report to come so I’m eager to see that. Thanks!

[Harlen]

LMBSGV writes:

My wife and I have long wanted to go to Banff and Jasper, but her hip replacement this year, put that in the maybe-in-two-years-if-we-can-afford-it category so your trip is a wonderful vicarious vacation.

Did you drive there? If so, how long was the trip? Did you stay in any of the drive-in campgrounds? I looked into taking the train and buses and combining it with camping, which is what we did in Denali. From the preliminary research, it’s a bit more complicated at Jasper and Banff than Denali so I’m curious to know more about your experience. You mentioned another report to come so I’m eager to see that. Thanks!

Hi L ,
First, best wishes for your wife's recovery, and high hopes that you two will soon get to do those travels to the north.
We did drive everywhere this summer! Cal. to Vermont to visit and help out our friends there, and from VT, west through the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan... and then Alberta and BC. In our own interest of "affording things," we practice "guerilla camping." That is, stealthily pulling into wayward dirt roads, truck stops, pullouts... any free spot. In Banff and Jasper, we were usually not alone, and never got into any trouble for it. We do a penance by cleaning up the areas in the morning, often coming up with full sacks of garbage. We did see a very nice drive-in CG as we hiked up to Wilcox Ridge, which is just above the giant Columbia Icefield Center. That would be the perfect base camp for the amazing day hiking up to either Wilcox Ridge, Peak, or Pass. I will work on that next TR today. Ian.