There's another blast in forecast on Tue, then drastic temp drop so this ain't going away till spring. Here's this evening pic looking at snowbound Collembola/Allan/Lougheed Towers south of Bow Valley, and this is already considered Foothills. Clouds are nice though




Might try though to make it to Skoki later this week, lakes are still not frozen & should be some nice photo ops if I can make my way through snow

First day of Autumn '21


Annual return to one of "big 3" larch hikes I like to do every year. Forecast was calling for bluebird, but Great Divide creates its own weather and it was mix of sun/cloud. Road walk had extra km (at least, each way) as they are doing parking upgrade at end of Sunshine road. After reaching upper Terminal went right on trail that eventually drops on other side to Simpson Pass, then on Wava junction had delightful alpine walk to Standish chairlift and then onto classic loop around Rock Isle, Grizzly and Larix lakes. Total solitude entire day & very peaceful moment at Larix lake as late afternoon sun broke through the clouds behind Monarch. Couple of pics:



[One of several rest benches on Simpson trail hiking up to Wava/Standish junction]



[Bench at Wava junction looking west towards Healy / Egypt area, with lots of clouds on Horizon]



[Hiking over that gorgeous alpine meadow below Twin Cairns towards Standish chairlift / viewpoint]



[Classic pano of "Lakes District" from Standish Viewpoint, unfortunately light conditions were bad for nice photo this time]



[Very posterized and overexposed pano of Rock Isle lake, but I kinda strangely like it]



[Early evening solitude at Larix lake; colony of ducks was frolicking on the far side]


Larches are near or at their prime right now, so come and get because it won't last long.

Stunning photos as per usual!

Beautiful! We will have to go out and get early next week.

Stunning captured!! Beautiful eyes clicks beautiful !


Thanks for sharing

Early Oct '22

Last of "Big 3" larch hikes I do every fall. All 3 (Skoki, O'Hara, Sunshine) involve degree of road walking; O'Hara the longest, Sunshine most elev. gain. This year we had mostly smoke free summer in Rockies, but 2nd half of September brought lots of haze that is sticking into October. Knowing how beautiful Sunshine Meadows are I waited with fairly big objective (Fatigue Mtn) in mind, but as larches are getting out of their prime & early next week storm is likely to shake remainder off while depositing 10cm+ of white stuff, I figured I'd go anyhow with less ambitious objective.

Road walk was specially tedious this year; can't remember nearly as many trucks going up/down leaving me to swallow dust as they pass. Initially I thought I'd just walk to Quartz Hill then loop back via Rock Isle Lake, but as it was even more hazy in meadows than anticipated I abandoned the idea and after having lunch (in solitude) by Rock Isle Lake headed up to Standish Viewpoint and across meadows to Twin Cairns / Monarch Viewpoint junction. At this point I usually head down to upper village and back down the road, but really didn't want to finish the hike so early. So I figured I'd hike over to Simpson Pass and return via Healy trail; this leg was something I have never done so there was factor of "new" to keep interest. It is 5-6km (estimate) from Monarch Viewpoint to Simpson Pass; trail initially descends gradually through subalpine crossing several nice valleys along the way, then settles for long-ish march below treeline contouring Twin Cairns ridge on north side. Eventually it comes to Simpson Pass which was now familiar territory I explored couple of years back doing Eohippus / Monarch Ramparts loop. Photo story:


[Trail above Rock Isle lake; really photogenic when air is crisp and not hazy]



[Standish trail below Twin Cairns, always super scenic even with less than ideal conditions]



[Standish / Simpson trail junction, looking east. Upper sunshine terminal is just over a km down the trail; I turned the other way towards signed Monarch Viewpoint then down towards Simpson Pass]



[Northerly Pano as Simpson trail starts descent below Monarch Viewpoint]



[Trail descending below subalpine and crossing several semi-open meadows with views of Mt. Bourgeau]



[Typical section of Simpson trail below treeline, still fairly nice and colorful]




[Entire trail section is hovering around BC/Alberta provincial border and there are several stone markers along the way, including on Simpson Pass itself]



[BC Parks table at Simpson Pass; Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park border]


Turning right at the Pass I hiked down the forest to Healy trail and then ~5.5km back to Parking. Didn't take GPS, estimate total distance somewhere between 20-24km for this loop, incl. road walk. Monarch Viewpoint / Simpson Pass connector is nice enough but I am not sure about practical use: Anyone heading over to Healy Pass / Egypt lakes will surely not go this way, while Mt. Assiniboine backpackers will hike up the road, not Healy trail. Interesting enough it appeared maintained as several deadfall areas have been freshly cleared.

Glad you posted this, as I wondered if it was feasible to go from Healy to Simpson and up to Sunshine, then blitzing the road on the way down. But it looks like a rather long route. We don't get up to Sunshine because we really don't like road walks, but will have to do it one of these days.

I am not exactly fan of road walking either. But there are some terrific meadows & lakes up there and if you go in midweek you can have it all to yourself. I've hiked all the way towards Assiniboine over Quartz Hill and Howard Douglas lake to Citadel Pass & scrambled Citadel Peak one year; that area is over the top, if you can hit it right. At other side of Citadel Pass is Fatigue Peak, just a talus bash & that was plan for this year, but not with this haze.


Should you go to Sunshine via Healy - Simpson, it would takeat least 3 hrs while road can be walked in 1.5hrs. It's a chore agreed, I always have earbuds on & listen to music.


Btw I heard cycling Sunshine road is not prohibited, but you can't have it in upper village, so you'd have to leave it somewhere in the woods before end of road. Talk about stupid rules. But cycling that road is not good idea anyways as it's steep and there would be pushing most of the way up.

I am convinced, will have to endure the road next season and explore the area.