Bow Peak

[simage=3817,200,n,left,]Following a week of rain in Calgary, the weekend weather forecast was stellar, so we planned a car campling trip to do a couple of premier day hikes in the Rockies north of Lake Louise – Peyto Glacier and this hike – Bow peak.

The hike is not an official trail, but is popular with those in the know as it is not too busy and is a great opportunity to climb a peak – something that is not easy to do in the Rockies given the size of the mountains. The hike starts from the Icefields Parkway, just south of the Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint. The hike is not difficult, but a key reason that the hike is not swamped is that after the first kilometre the trail reaches the outlet of Bow Lake and you have to ford the stream – boots off and trousers/pants rolled up. It might be a challenge earlier in the year when water levels would be higher. Bow lake is beautiful from this viewpoint.

From here, the trail climbs through nice forest up through the Crowfoot Pass between Bow Peak and Crowfoot Mountain. After all the rain, the sky was so clear the visibility was amazing. At the same time, there was a dusting of snow at this elevation from Friday evening’s weather. Unfortunaltely, Gill was not feeling too well, so she decided to wait in the pass while Andy made a bid for Bow Peak summit. The snow made the scramble up the boulder field slopes more challenging and slow going; otherwise, this would be a fun climb. The summit is about 0.5 km along a broad ridge – no danger at all on this summit. The 360 degree view from the summit is spectacular – especially looking at the Waputik Icefield, Mount Daly, and Bow Lake.

Check out the video from the summit.

Gill was wondering where I was, given the time I’d taken to head up and down. We dropped down to the lake, forded the river again and headed to Mosquito creek campsite for a BBQ and some mulled wine.
[salbumphotos=126,64,6,n,n,picasa_order,center,]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.