Last year’s trips to Kootenay (Rockwall) and Yoho (Iceline and Whaleback) National Parks gave me an itch for more of the Canadian Rockies.
After considering possibilities, I chose the lesser travelled routes of Sawback Ridge in Banff National Park (a lollipop east of the famous Sawback Circuit), followed by as much of the GDT Section E as I could fit in over the White Goats Wilderness administered by the province of Alberta.
There’s nothing like fresh snow the first night to get in the spirit with Lake Louise getting its first accumulation that day since the spring. Crisp temperatures and overcast skies proved perfect weather for a tune up hike the following day up Sentinel Pass followed by an exploration of the Neil Colgan Hut route at Moraine Lake. Hard blowing snow aborted any attempt to explore Mount Temple. August in the Rockies!
The shuttle driver (no cars allowed) shared how “crazy kids” were skiing in August down the snow ribbon in the 3rd picture following. Telling my son about this later, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by his response: “Ya, that was us”.
My solo 5 day backpack around the Sawback and Ridge started the next day with an easy ford of Johnston Creek at Ink Pots where the bridge was knocked out. The route would include the highlights of Mystic Pass, Rainbow Lake, Badger Pass, a Pulsatilla Pass out and back & Luellen Lake.
The overnight freeze and forecasted rain made the trails quiet, but conditions turned out near ideal. My preferred temperatures are between 5 and 10C and this cold snap didn’t disappoint.
A look back after the Mystic Pass provided a nice view of the Sawbacks.
In not the first bit of good fortune, I came on a large section of blowdown that trail crews had cleared just a few weeks earlier. This was a small sampler and the lot may have been near impassible in July.
Following the blowdown, and getting later in the day I came across the first person since Ink Pots when rounding a blind corner at Mystic Valley camp where I surprised a fellow hiker who greeted me with
“Ah! Let me pull up my pants!”
She hadn’t seen a single person all day, a theme of the week. A visitor from Washington, we had a pleasant 30 minute chat about the GDT and other Rockies trails, both with our pants on.
Mystic Junction was the first night’s stop with the overnight low dipping below the freezing mark and wake-up temps hovering near. The combination of Brynje, Octa, AD120 and sun shirt for some wind block worked out well.
Not the smartest time to wash my gloves in the deeply cold 40 mile creek, ten minutes were spent reactivating my fingers while my only camp mate Jordan shared his plans to traverse North Fork Pass & get a view of the Panther River Valley and possibly see some of the growing population of bison reintroduced to Banff National Park in ’17.
Hmm, one day in and I was already planning ’27’s trip.
Next day featured a climb through the forest up 40 Mile Creek. A shared horse path where careful foot placement proved the main hazard.
My planned climb up Sira Peak was aborted when I found its trail consumed by the thick forest. Instead, I took a side trip with a climb up the Rainbow Trail and was rewarded with beautiful Rainbow Lake for a private lunch.
The trail out was a nice ridge walk with a view back to the Mystics, one of many pleasant surprises this trip.
The next night’s stop was Flint’s Park with well spaced pads and great views. I had this one all to myself and as it turned out wouldn’t see a soul from Mystic Junction all the way to my site 2 nights later at Badger Pass.
As the sun set, I followed local tradition and the pants came off for a freezing but welcome jump into Stoney Creek.
Next day’s route would feature the highlight of the loop, Badger Pass. En route I discovered an abandoned horse camp off trail that would make an excellent random camp:
Soon enough came the climb up Badger Pass. A tough slog, the year’s training paid off with no fatigue or weakness and the heart rate decently low but I was unexpectedly gulping for air like a fish out of water, a new sensation I’d never experienced before. It was worth every step.  Cold, windy, weather exposed and well above the permanent snow line, I took lunch and stayed as long as I could until needing to get moving to warm back up.
Chirping badgers and picas provided the background music to the next night’s stop at Badger Pass camp. Another beauty with excellent views and well spaced sites.
The next day featured an out and back over the Pulsatilla pass, the traditional Sawback route between Banff and Lake Louise. Out and back as it was in the opposite direction of my next camp and adds climbing the Pass twice, but this was easier than Badger and well worth it. The meadow flowers on the climb up were popping!
After a climb down and time to explore Pulsatilla Lake, dark clouds started forming so it was double time to Luellen Lake.
The Durston Xmid’s fly-first pitch saved me as I dove under it just in time as the rain started coming down. The rain lifted long enough to dine with my one fellow camper, “Nicho”, a bright young man on a 3 week solo trip through the Rockies. He proved excellent company & we hiked out together the next day
Leg 2 of the trip was next, and I met up with my son Nick and resupplied in Golden, BC.
Our plan was 4 days over the White Goats Wilderness between Banff NP and Jasper NP on the GDT E route starting from Owen Creek then out Nigel pass after exploring the Cline Pass near Mount Willis. Owen’s Creek is reputedly a notorious mess with much of the trail blown out by spring floods, but with so much blowdown it might not matter.
That day’s weather forecast featured constant rain, with daytime temperatures at elevation hovering near freezing. Assessing the risks, the time required and the threshold between type 2 and type 3 fun, we switched gears and instead day hiked the Egypt Lake Triangle up to the falls, which turned out to be a blast. We then headed back to Nick’s warm apartment, replanned our route and and ordered a hard won pizza.
Our new route was to head up Sunset Pass, visit Pinto Lake, cross the GDT E route of the Cataract Pass then dive into the White Goats Wilderness to explore the Cline Pass near Mt. Willis before exiting the final day through Nigel Pass where our second car waited.
Sunset Pass proved a pretty easy climb with the payoff of bright late summer meadows and a great view down the valley holding Pinto Lake.
After Pinto Lake you enter the White Goats Wilderness and sign a log book where we read Nick’s entry from his ’23 GDT trek. Not a heavily used route! After an easy Ford of the Cline River, we were on our way down Cataract Pass (“my feet are freezing, take the picture!!”).
Nick lives for climbing and a large boulder off trail caught his interest. A peak on the hidden side opposite the trail revealed a special treat, old indigenous petroglyphs.
We then made our way and set up our first random camp on Cataract Creek, waking to a beautiful sunrise off the mountains.
This trip we brought the Durston Xdome 2 and it proved to be an easy to set up palace with ample storage. We never felt cramped with our two 25″ pads.
The second day was our hike down the GDT rout next to Cataract Creek toward Nigel Pass.
The trail featured consistent blowdown and I felt fortunate the rain held off as my poncho would have been made a mess off. Note to self. Luckily we both have long inseams and made pretty quick work of it all.
We set up random camp near the Nigel Pass ascent then had lunch and outfitted to explore the Cline Pass. This was another beautiful site with pretty views.
The Cline Pass area proved to be stunning and I hope next year to try and link it with the Brazeau Loop for a long multi-day through. It took all my powers of persuasion to convince Nick to not attempt a late day shot at climbing Mt. Willis!
Our last day was the exit through Nigel Pass. Some easy boulders to slip through and another cold but pretty pass.
On exiting the White Goats I commented that despite its name, no goats. Less than a minute later we rounded some boulders and were greeted up close up by a small group of sheep. The trail provides!
Such beautiful country! Let the ’27 planning begin!
