Sat, Aug 27 2011 - Mount Niles (View Original Event Details)
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While Mount Niles has a long approach, it was definitely well worth the effort with the views that are rewarded at the summit. Having said that, the approach itself had many great views on its own along with plenty of waterfalls to enjoy on the way.
By leaving Calgary at 6:00am, we would not have had too much pressure to get back to our cars quickly should something happen. However, with construction on the Trans Canada Highway between Castle Junction and the Alberta-BC border, we were stopped a couple of times due to alternating traffic (so long that many cars had turned off their ignition while waiting). The trip started at 9:00am. We made good time heading up to the summit by moving along quite well on the trail with a few strategically placed breaks. At one point, we caught a good glimpse of the mountain goats on the cliffs of Mount Niles as we approached the col. With a very fit and energetic group, we reached the summit at 1:30pm, spending an hour at the summit with plenty of photo opportunities and lunch.
It was too bad the skies were not entirely clear of clouds when we were on the summit, but we certainly enjoyed the glimpse of the Waputik Icefield, Mount Daly, Mount Temple and Cathedral Mountain amongst other peaks. We could also hear Takakkaw Falls down in Yoho Valley, where we could only see the water source for this.
Our trip back was quite quick, but when we reached Sherbrooke Lake, many of the folks had ran out of water even though they had carried the minimum 3L. We were back to our cars by 5:45pm, which considering the distance and elevation gain done was quite quick.
We all had headed to Bill Peyto's Cafe at the hostel in Lake Louise for dinner and beer before heading back to Calgary, where we enjoyed more discussions. We all made it back to Calgary well before 10:00pm and I'm quite sure we had all enjoyed this trip, many of which indicated they'd have no problem doing this one again. I'd say that this would be my favourite trip to date for 2011. How nice that we are so close to all the possibilities that the Canadian Rockies has to offer!
Thanks to Kali and Stephan for the driving duties for this trip and thanks to everyone for such a great group dynamic. Hope to see you all again soon!
Derek