Hiking Trails - Mt. Assiniboine - Day 3 of 11

Day 3 can be a rest day or used for hiking trails in the surrounding area. If one elects to stay for a few days at the Mt. Assiniboine Lodge, there will be a guide for different levels of hiking trips and returning at night. A plus in staying even two nights are home cooked gourmet meals and hot showers to invigorate a hiker on the next part of their journey; as well as having a guide for the more advanced hiking areas that are listed below. A link to Mt. Assiniboine Lodge is on the sidebar under CONSERVATION and NATURE.

[1-Mt. Assiniboine Lodge]




[2-Lake Magog and Mt. Assiniboine]



The mountain was named in 1885 by George Dawson who first saw it from Copper Mountin on the south side of the Bow Valley west of Banff. According to Ken Jones, the first warden at Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, when Dr. Dawson first saw the peak from Copper Mountain there was, as is often the case, a plume of cloud trailing from the summit. This reminded him of the plumes of smoke that he had seen from the teepees of the Assiniboine Indians and this led to his choice of the name Mount Assiniboine.


[3-Mt. Assiniboine]



In 1893 Tom Wilson led the first group to the base of Mount Assiniboine. Robert L. Barrett was the client and he undoubtedly was hoping to make the first ascent but no attempt was made to climb the mountain probably because the trip was undertaken late in the season. In a letter to Tom Wilson some years later after visiting the Himalayas, Barrett wrote, “K2 at 28,000 feet didn’t look as high and imposing and terrible as Assiniboine….”

In 1895 Barrett returned to the Mount Assiniboine area with Walter Wilcox, J.F. Porter, and guide Bill Peyto. Wilcox wrote that, “Great interest had aroused tourists in the summer of 1895 by reports of a remarkable peak south of Banff named Mt. Assiniboine. According to current accounts it was the highest mountain so far discovered between the international boundary and the regions of Mount Brown and Mount Hooker. Besides its great altitude, it was said to be exceedingly steep on all sides, and surrounded by charming valleys dotted with beautiful lakes.” After reaching the base of the mountain, they decided to circumnavigate the immense mountain in order to view its hidden southern slopes. According to Wilcox, the trip was “attended by considerable hardship,” as it became a 46 hour, 51 mile struggle involving travelling over downed timber, at times ten feet off the ground, through burned out forests that turned them, “black as coal heavers,” and a 500 foot slope that, “appeared nearly vertical.”


There is a campground located at the north end of Og Lake, approximately 5 km from Lake Magog. This campground is equipped with 7 tent pads, an outhouse, and a central cooking area with food storage lockers and a grey water pit. A fee of $5 per person per night is charged. Water is available from Og Lake.

The Naiset Huts, Magog Rim, Og Lake and Mitchell Meadows campgrounds have had several upgrades in the last several years: new cooking shelters, new picnic tables, every tent pad has new cribbing and fresh gravel, new outhouses, and trail improvements (probably bridges as most washout every spring).


There are three informal day-hike "routes" heading out from the core area of the park that have evolved over the years. For the most part, these routes are without trails, but they do offer tremendous opportunities to view the park. It is recommended that only hikers with good bushwacking and compass-reading skills attempt these hikes.

Sunburst Valley: From Nublet to the Nub, descend the ridge leading down to Elizabeth Lake. From here there are several options: 1} continue to Sunburst Lake via trail; 2}walk Chuck's Ridge and connect with Ferro Pass Trail and then to Cerulean and Sunburst Lakes; 3} follow Elizabeth Lake Trail to Ferro Pass Trail and complete the circuit via Cerulean and Sunburst Lakes.


[4-View From Nublet]






[5-Chuck's Ridge]



[6-Chuck's Ridge looking west]






[7-Wedgewood Peak and Cerulean Lake]




[8-Sunburst Lake]















Og Valley (East): Follow the trail to Og Pass and then continue along the trail to Windy Ridge, descending from the ridge via the smooth rock slope to the north end of Og Lake, then following the trail back to your starting point.

[9-View from Og Pass trail]




[10-Windy Ridge has sheer drops on both sides]



The hiker will descend from Windy Ridge down a hanging valley to a halfway hut.

Og Valley (West): Follow the trail to Og Lake, branch off and head for either: 1} the pass between Jones Hill and Nub, or 2} the ridge at the eastern toe of Jones Hill. Either route brings you out into Nub Basin. From here pick a route down through to the main valley.


[11- Og Lake]





Continued

Research: wikipedia, Parks Canada, BCParks, peakfinder.com.

Photo Credits: [1][2][4][9][10]-totten CC=nc-nd-flickr, [5][6]-jgriswold, [3][7][8][11]-meganpru CC=nc-flickr.