The Passionate Hiker: Munro Bagging in the Rockies!

Fri. 26 July: Mount St. Piran

Above the clouds and above Lake Louise

Back in the

, Munro bagging is a popular pastime. The Munros are Scottish hills over 3,000 feet high, and there are about 280 of them, so it’s enough to keep most people busy for many years. During my short time in

Scotland

I bagged about twenty of them. I came to realize that it takes a good effort to climb even the easiest Munro. Some of them equal the peaks of the Canadian Rockies for difficulty. And it rains a lot more in

Scotland

than it does in Alberta!

Mount St. Piran would rate as fairly easy, thanks to the excellent trail, which climbs to the summit ridge in a series of gentle switchbacks across the steep mountainside. Of course, although the height gain is just over 3,000 feet, you are starting at well over 5,000 feet and ending up at 8,692 feet above sea level on an exposed rocky summit. So it’s not as easy as it may sound, especially in anything but perfect weather.

Luckily the weather today was as close to perfect as it ever gets. To reach the sunshine I had to climb above the clouds. Down in the Bow Valley, the early morning skies were overcast. Even up at Lake Louise, where my hike started, there was cloud hanging around overhead. But as I gained height on the Lake Agnes trail, I found myself climbing through the cloud up into bright sunshine and clear blue skies. The view down across the wide Bow Valley, onto a sea of cloud, was breathtaking. The cloud filled the side valleys including the valley which holds Lake Louise. Gradually the cloud would dissipate, but it hung around long enough for me to get some really good photos from higher up the mountainside.

Mount St. Piran sits high above Lake Louise. To get there you climb up the most popular trail in the Canadian Rockies from the Chateau Lake Louise towards Lake Agnes. At the early hour of 6.30 a.m. there were just a handful of Japanese tourists out on the edge of the lake in front of the hotel. By the time I returned down the crowded trail, the place was overflowing with tourists. This is not surprising since Lake Louise delivers. It lives up to every expectation.

This morning I met nobody on the uphill route until I was quite high up the mountain where I was surprised to see a middle-aged couple about a half hour ahead of me, far above me up the switchbacks. I met them near the top as they were returning down. I met nobody else until I had dropped down the other side of the mountain.

It’s a classic hike. The mountain views are spectacular and the scenery along the trail very picturesque , with grassy slopes and larch trees. The final section requires a steep hike up the bare rocks to a generously sized summit with several rock cairns and a stone wind shelter wall. There was no need for any shelter today, in the warm breeze and under sunny skies. Here at the top I had all-round views of peaks and glaciers. Lake Louise and the Chateau lay over three thousand vertical feet below me.

There was a sea of peaks displayed before me, many over ten thousand feet high, and several over eleven thousand feet, including Mts. Temple (11,626 ft.), Victoria (11,365 ft.), and Lefroy (11,230 ft.). One grand spiky peak, called The Mitre (9,478 ft.) had snow plastered on its upper flanks looking like snow graffiti with a large CT clearly visible. I later told C that she should not go round graffiti-ing mountain peaks!

Instead of returning the same way, I continued down the ridge in a westerly direction, towards the huge wall of Mt. Niblock (9,764 ft.). The moon was just dropping below its summit. It was a fairly steep rocky route, but enough people had been this way to carve a route down the slopes. A lazy hoary marmot sat on a rock watching as I carefully dropped down the mountainside. At the last moment he disappeared behind a rock. The trail dropped down to the col below Mt. Niblock. This dangerous place is called Goat Pass, as only mountain goats would be comfortable up here.

To reach the valley below required a steep slide down the slippery mountainside, through several small cliff bands. The feet of many hikers had worn several “chutes” down the mountainside. I could have done with my MICROspikes for traction. On a couple of sections I bum-slid down, hanging onto the branches of some low, tough looking shrubs. I was glad to reach the valley floor.

Above me a waterfall streamed off a high cliff, forming a small brook which fed Lake Agnes. Here I met a young guy who had wandered up the trail from the lake. He was keen to try Mt. St. Piran. I suggested to him that he should use the much easier eastern ascent trail than the accident-prone route I had just come down. Now I started to run into the expected stream of tourists. Lake Agnes shone a bright green in the sunshine, its waters rippling in the breeze, and the scene set off perfectly by some larches above the lake. The teahouse was already busy with thirsty day trippers. From Mirror Lake I counted the number of people I passed on the trail. By the time I had raced downhill at a strong pace, I had counted up to 224.

Although the trails beside Lake Louise were busy with international tourists, I found a perfect bench and relaxed in the warm sunshine, looking up to the peak I had just “bagged” and wondering how I had managed it. It was a busy scene, but we were all united by the very “presence” of the mountain setting.

Not wishing to race home, I stopped beside the Vermilion Lakes in Banff and enjoyed a leisurely bike ride along the road past the three lakes. It was not too busy. A few people were sunbathing beside the waters, surrounded by the shapely peaks of Banff National Park, on a perfect summer’s day in the Rockies. And I had the added pleasure of having “bagged” a Canadian Munro!

Statistics:

Total Distance: 13.0 (hike)

Height Gain: 3,018 ft.

Max. Elev.: 8,692 ft.

Time on Trail: 5 hrs. 51 mins.

Dep. car park: 6.27 am

Mirror L: 7.14 am

Mt. St P Jn: 7.49 am

Summit: 9.17 am
Niblock Col : 10.10 am

Lake Agnes: 11.06 am

Lake Louise: 11.55 am

Ret. to car: 12.18 pm