Rave<\/a> in Canmore on the way to trailhead along the Icefields Parkway. \u00a0We started hiking at 1:30 pm in glorious sunshine – at about 28 degrees Celsius it was hot! The trail up to Nigel Pass is easy hiking up through forest and into the interesting and rocky Nigel pass. \u00a0Big mountains tower around the pass and there is a fascinating canyon off to the east where the south Brazeau River emerges. \u00a0We crossed the river and dropped down into the south Brazeau River valley, passing some glorious wet meadows and braided sections of the river. \u00a0It took us about 4 hrs 15 mins to arrive at the pleasant Four Point campground, set in the trees next to the river. \u00a0We ate dinner at the river enjoying the breeze to keep the bugs away. \u00a0Later we joined the handful of other hikers at the fire pit for an evening of sharing hiking stories. We’d see the same few hikers for the next four days on the trail and at the campgrounds. \u00a0Brazeau attracts the best people!<\/p>\nDistance 14 km. Elevation gain & loss: +335m \/ -275m.<\/p>\n
Day 2 – Four Point to Brazeau Lake along the south arm of the Brazeau River\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
This is a pleasant day hiking through forests and wet meadows along the South Brazeau River. \u00a0We expected to see Wolverine Camp after 7 km and were worried we were hiking really slow. \u00a0We eventually realised Wolverine is no longer accessible since the trail stays on the west side of the river due to a bridge wash out. \u00a0The new (and hastily routed) trail is quite hard hiking – a bit soft underfoot and the route is more undulating than necessary. We were happy to reach the Main Brazeau River and hike up to the great campsite next to the large Brazeau Lake. \u00a0A walk along the shore reveals the impressive size of the lake. \u00a0A quick swim\/splash and we were ready for dinner and another campfire.<\/p>\n
Distance 19 km. Elevation gain & loss: +90m \/ -150m.<\/p>\n
Day 3 – Brazeau Lake to Jonas Cutoff via Poboktan Pass<\/b><\/p>\n
This day sees the climb up into the alpine from Brazeau Lake up the John-John Creek Valley. Unfortunately there is no killer view of Brazeau Lake, but the valley climb passing John-John campsite is really good and we eventually emerged into Pobokan Pass where we indulged in a lunch in the meadow that included getting the stove out for a nice brew. \u00a0Amazingly this was a sachet of bandrek we’d been taking on hikes since Indonesia. \u00a0We arrived at Jonas Cutoff campsite just below the alpine and quickly understood the bug problem that other hikers had mentioned. \u00a0Crazy amounts of mosquitoes. \u00a0A quick wash in the stream led to a frenzy of biting. We needed our bug nets for the first time in years.<\/p>\n
Distance 16km. Elevation gain & loss: +490m \/ -180m<\/p>\n
Day 4. – Jonas Cutoff to Four Point along Jonas Pass<\/b><\/p>\n
We got up early for the premier day of the hike through Jonas Pass. \u00a0The early start was also a (futile) attempt to eat breakfast and break camp before the temperatures warmed up enough for the bugs. From Jonas Cutoff, the trail quickly enters the alpine with great views of Le Grand Brazeau – a stocky mountain with a glacier that feeds Brazeau lake. \u00a0It’s also easy to see from this area that there are are great mountains close to 3000m high that are easily attainable day hikes from Jonas Cutoff.<\/p>\n
The hike became spectacular as we reached Jonas shoulder (2400m), the route over a large lateral moraine from a long gone glacier to Jonas shoulder gives jaw-dropping views down the Jonas Pass valley. \u00a0One amazing aspect is the pink hue of the mountains due to the sandstone. \u00a0Apparently nameless peaks with glaciers hang over the valley with a fabulous river meadow valley. \u00a0And the best thing is that you can see that you have 7-8 km of fabulous hiking dropping into the valley and through the pass. \u00a0We had another long lunch break in the pass and a cup of coffee. \u00a0The drop down into Four Point is a short trudge through fire damaged forest. The loop is then done! We spent another fine evening having dinner by the river watching our fellow hikers drift into the campsite.<\/p>\n
Distance 19 km. Elevation gain & loss: +350m \/ -555m<\/p>\n
Day 5 – Four Point to parking lot over Nigel Pass<\/b><\/p>\n
Our luck with the weather apparently turned. \u00a0Heavy rain in the early morning. \u00a0We got up and appreciated that one new group of hikers entering the loop had a tarp to cook breakfast under. \u00a0However, it stopped raining and brightened up as we hiked out at a great pace – our packs light by now because we’d eaten most of our food. \u00a0 We made it out in under 3hrs 45 mins. Some great views again over Nigel Pass – which looked different in the morning light.<\/p>\n
A great hike. Feels remote and epic. \u00a0Highly recommended.<\/p>\n
Distance 14km. Elevation gain & loss: +280m \/ -335m<\/p>\n
Closing thoughts<\/b><\/p>\n
Five days is the only real option for this hike if you want to do the loop. The inaccessibility of Wolverine campsite due to a bridge washout means you can’t really shave a day off, even if you are a strong hiker.<\/p>\n
A good alternative trip would be to hike into Jonas Cutoff following one night at Four Point. You could spend two or three nights here and explore the unnamed mountains on either side of the Poboktan Pass – they look superb and easy to climb. This would be our choice if we come back in the future.<\/p>\n
Check out our Google Photos!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brazeau Loop is a five day 80 km trek into the high alpine passes and forested river valleys of Jasper National Park. It is a fantastic hike – there are a few days of the loop spent in the forest, and we did those days first, hiking the loop anti-clockwise. We’d recommend this because, following the superb hike into the loop over Nigel Pass, the scenery builds and you get a real WOW as you emerge over Jonas Shoulder on day 4 and look south down Jonas Pass. Amazing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-andy","4":"has-excerpt","5":"post-1247","7":"format-standard","8":"has-post-thumbnail","9":"category-hiking"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1961,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deangeomatics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}