- Length – 7.7 Km
- Elevation – 649m
- Difficulty – Moderate
We ended up hiking Sulphur Skyline Trail on the first day of summer. Of course, this means nothing in Alberta and mother nature decided we needed a good snow fall to start the summer out. Undeterred, we drove 4 hours from Edmonton to get to the trail.
The trail head starts past the Miette Hotsprings. The parking lot is large but even on a weekday after a large snowfall it was half full. There was a black bear walking around the parking lot being stalked by tourists. Please please don’t do this. This is how you sentence wild animals to death. People were getting within 10 feet of the bear and this is a recipe for disaster. I’ve said this before but i’ll say it again, regardless of what kind of animals you encounter on your hikes, please leave a very healthy and respectful distance between you and them.
Having said that, the beginning of the trail is paved and has a few small wooden bridges to cross over creeks that one could easily step over. The first 1/3rd of the hike is a relatively easy assent.
You will come to an intersection, left goes to Mystery lake. Originally we had planned to hike to Mystery Lake and then Sulphur Skyline. We made it about 200 meters in to the Mystery Lake portion before turning around as the snow was up to our hips.
Right is Sulphur Skyline trail and this is where the switch backs begin. They aren’t particularly daunting and offer some terrific views. This is also where the crowds really begin to thin out.
Above the treeline the real fun began. The switch backs stop and instead you just hike straight up to the top. This is the most difficult and exhausting part of the trail (even more so because the snow was above our knees).
I’d love to say that this trail was worth all the trouble but unfortunately the mountain was completely blanketed by fog. Having looked at pictures of this trail in the past I know that there should be an endless sea of mountains behind me. We couldn’t even find an outline. Such is the way with mountains though. You have to be a sucker for punishment as you aren’t always rewarded with fantastic views and instagram worthy pictures. We will be back for redemption and when we are I will make a new post.
We did manage to luck out on one thing though, at the very top we came across some wild flowers poking through the snow. It’s the little things. So to recap. Busy parking lot with chance of bear sightings (bring bear spray). The first 2/3rds are heavily tree’d and in the summer months you can expect bugs (mosquitoes, ticks, deer flies) so bring bug spray!! This is a busy and easy mountain hike with no real technical spots. I’d say its a very good beginner mountain hike. Happy Hiking!