mountains – JeKo Adventures

Piper Pass via Elbow Lake

Aly Hiking August 11, 2019August 11, 2019elbow falls, elbow lake, fording, mountains, piper, piper pass, wildflowers 0 Comment

Length – 19.6 km
Elevation – 772 m
Difficulty – Moderate

Before I get into the nitty gritty of this hike, we did not complete the hike to the summit. Everything in this post is based off what we completed which was to the valley about 1 km from the end of the pass.

The moment you leave the parking lot you begin to gain elevation quite quickly until you reach Elbow Lake which is approximately a km from the parking lot. This is the busiest section of trail as there is back country camping sites at the lake.

The lake is a beautiful see through green, reminiscent of Grassi Lakes but without all the tourists.

After the lake the terrain evens out a bit and is a relatively flat and easy hike. This trail is also used as an equestrian trail and some of the paths are pretty ripped up. We were very thankful we were all in water proof boots as we navigated through the muck and pools on the trail. (Keep in mind, this is being written during a very wet and rainie summer).

I absolutely can not express the absolute beauty of this hike. The mountain to the right is Tombstone Mountain. I’ll have to climb that one day I think.

The Piper Pass portion of the hike is nothing more then a goat path and actually difficult to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. You should have your route mapped out before heading out. There was multiple times I second guessed myself as we were almost bushwacking in some spots.

There were 2 separate creek crossings. The first crossing, there’s no way around it you will be in the water. We took our boots off as the water was up to our knees. It was so cold that a few steps into the crossing our feet started to numb. However there is a large downed tree at the second crossing just up the creek a little ways. Its a much smaller crossing as well.

From the creek you will spend the next few km’s hiking through forrest. The path is well defined. There is a brief opening in the trees where you will start to see dense wild flowers. Then back in the trees you go.

The final ascent into the valley is a small and well warn path through wildflowers. If you are looking for wildflowers this is the hike for you. Its hard to tell in the picture but this entire field was littered with every wildflower imaginable. The path itself is indented almost a foot deep as to not wreck the surrounding flowers. Good job follow hikers!

It rained almost our entire hike and it was quite windy in the valley or we could of spent all day here. It was absolutely beautiful. Flowers, creeks, mountains and lots of mountain goats hanging around.

As I said before, we did not end up finishing this trail but you can see the end in this photo. Left of center is a small black peak, this is the end of the trail. I will update info when I’ve done the path in it’s entirety. With the rain we didn’t want to traverse a half km ascent of wet scree with a 4 and 10 year old.

So to recap, this is a moderate hike up to the valley. The path is well defined although you will have to know where you are going to take the correct turn to piper pass so map out your route ahead of time. We were very happy so have waterproof footwear navigating thick and wet brush. The trail is busy for the first km but after the turn off for piper pass we had the entire trail to ourselves. I would say this is and fabulous family hike and you can certainly take a leashed dog on this trail. This is bear territory and although the rain kept the mosquitoes away I can only imagine that it can get quite buggy. This is the perfect trail if you are looking to see/photograph wilfflowers. We went mid July and it was in full bloom.

Sulphur Skyline (Jasper)

Aly Hiking July 1, 2019July 1, 2019canadian rockies, fog, foggy mountains, jasper, miette, miette hotsprings, misty mountains, mountain, mountain flowers, mountains, rockies, skyline, sulphur skyline, wild flowers 0 Comment

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!