Banff NP (BNP) - Canadian Rockies

2023-10-07

Wenkchemna Pass

Wenkchemna Pass, situated in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, offers hikers a challenging ascent leading to unparalleled vistas. From the pass’s pinnacle, one stands atop the Continental Divide. On the Alberta side, the iconic Ten Peaks rise majestically: Mounts Babel, Fay, Little, Bowlen, Tonsa, Perren, Allen, Tuzo, Deltaform Mountain, and Neptuak Mountain. Over on the British Columbia side, the towering summits of Mount Goodsir, Chancellor Peak, Mount Vaux, Mount Des Poilus, and Yoho Peak add to the grandeur. The […]

2023-10-06

Bow Glacier Falls (angles)

Bow Glacier Falls, situated in Banff National Park, cascades from a height of approximately 150 meters (492 feet). It’s the runoff from the Bow Glacier and plunges into the scenic Bow Lake, surrounded by prominent peaks like Mount Thompson, Crowfoot Mountain, and Portal Peak. While Indigenous peoples have known this region for millennia, European explorers and settlers began to map and appreciate the park’s natural wonders in the late 19th century. Today, Bow Glacier Falls stands as a testament to […]

2023-09-10

Mount Rundle (Waskahigan Watchi)

This is the second one of the three monsters promoted as scramble routes by Parks Canada for tourists. The 1st one (the easiest) is Cascade, the most difficult of them is Temple in Lake Louise. As much as we liked Cascade, and I did it twice so far – first with my wife, and then with my son-in-law, this one I would not do again. Fun it is, but long climb with loose rocks, steep, windy, – overall in my […]

2023-08-13

Larch Valley to Paradise Creek via Sentinel Pass

This year Parks Canada closed Moraine Lake Road for private vehicles and the only way to get to the lake and its amazing trail system is their shuttle (as a local, I am not considering other overpriced options like taxi or commercial shuttles, leaving them exclusively for tourists). The first shuttle departs from Lake Louise Ski Resort at 6:30 AM (so in the fall you even can catch the iconic sunrise on Moraine Lake), the last return bus from Moraine […]

2023-08-01

Lake Helen (angles)

Cirque Peak is a 2,993-metre (9,820-foot) peak located directly west of Dolomite Pass in the Bow River valley of Banff National Park, in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. The scrambling route (rated easy) begins just beyond Helen Lake which can be reached by following the Helen Lake/Dolomite Pass trail 6 km from the trail head beside the Icefields Parkway. From the lake, follow the trail into Dolomite Pass and then choose a line up the peak (Wikipedia). Here are […]

2023-08-01

Lake Louise

Lake Louise is a glacial lake within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Situated 11 km (6.8 mi) east of the border with British Columbia, Lake Louise is located 5 km (3.1 mi) west of the hamlet of Lake Louise and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). Lake Louise is named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 […]

2023-07-28

Mount Temple

Mount Temple is a mountain in Banff National Park of the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Bow River Valley between Paradise Creek and Moraine Creek and is the highest peak in the Lake Louise area. The peak dominates the western landscape along the Trans-Canada Highway from Castle Junction to Lake Louise. The mountain was named by George Mercer Dawson in 1884 after Sir Richard Temple who visited the Canadian Rockies that same year. Mt. Temple […]

2023-07-26

Castle Mountain and Rockbound Lake

Castle Mountain is located within Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, approximately halfway between Banff and Lake Louise. It is the easternmost mountain of the Main Ranges in the Bow Valley and sits astride the Castle Mountain Fault which has thrust older sedimentary and metamorphic rocks forming the upper part of the mountain over the younger rocks forming its base. The mountain’s castellated, or castle-like, appearance is a result of erosive processes acting at different rates on the peak’s […]

2023-07-23

Bow Lake

Bow Lake is a small lake in western Alberta, Canada. It is located on the Bow River, in the Canadian Rockies, at an altitude of 1920 m. The lake lies south of the Bow Summit, east of the Waputik Range and west of the Dolomite Pass, Dolomite Peak and Cirque Peak (Wikipedia). Here are the photos of Bow Lake from different perspectives and times we took on our hikes.

2023-07-22

Mount Jimmy Simpson

Mount Jimmy Simpson is a 2,966-metre (9,731-foot) summit located 3 km (1.9 miles) northwest of Bow Lake in Banff National Park, in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta, Canada. It is a member of the Waputik Mountains, and is situated east of the Wapta Icefield and west of the Bow River valley. Mount Jimmy Simpson can be seen from the Icefields Parkway at Bow Lake. Mount Jimmy Simpson is named for Jimmy Simpson (1877–1972) who was a respected outfitter in the […]

Wenkchemna Pass

Bow Glacier Falls (angles)

Mount Rundle (Waskahigan Watchi)

Larch Valley to Paradise Creek via Sentinel Pass

Lake Helen (angles)

Lake Louise

Mount Temple

Castle Mountain and Rockbound Lake

Bow Lake

Mount Jimmy Simpson

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