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Mount Aylmer
Banff National Park, Alberta
August 31, 2004

Distance: 31.6
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1800 m

The day before Dinah and I planned to climb Mount Aylmer, the highest peak in Banff National Park, we were warned not to attempt it. Dinah phoned Banff Park for the conditions, and a park interpreter told her there was too much snow on the mountain for an attempt. We went anyway.

First we had to bike 8.5 km of a stony trail along Lake Minnewanka to Aylmer campground. After stashing our bikes, we headed up the trail that runs to Aylmer Pass. Before reaching the pass, however, we left the trail and hiked up a gully. Although it wasn't in the forecast, it started raining. As we climbed higher, it turned to snow. It grew colder as we ascended, and we kept adding layers. At about 400 m below the summit, visibility was reduced to a few dozen metres, and we reached the first snow patches. We were also hit by strong winds. At this point, we doubted we could make the summit which was hidden in clouds: if the weather didn't stop us, snow on the summit might.

With 200 vertical metres to go, miraculously it ceased snowing, and the summit mist began to dissipate. Soon we were greeted with blue sky. The snow on the slope became more substantial and unavoidable, but it was soft. We easily kick-stepped up the final, steep, few-dozen metres to the top.

It was too cold to stay long on the summit, so we soon headed back down. From the summit back to our bikes, it took only 2 hours and 10 minutes, including a 20-minute break below the peak. As we quickly dropped nearly 1700 m, we shed layer after layer so that we were in shorts and T-shirts when we reached our bikes.

While cycling back, we encountered a park interpreter who stopped us. It turned to be the same one that Dinah had spoken to the day before. When the interpreter realized who we were, she immediately reprimanded us. She said she had cautioned Dinah about snow conditions on the mountain. But when Dinah explained we had in fact reached the summit, the interpreter quickly changed her tune. She exclaimed, "You have my complete respect!"

MOVIE

KML and GPX Tracks


Riding by Lake Minnewanka


Cycling through the trees


After stashing our bikes we set off up the trail


After leaving the trail we ascended this gully


We begun to get views as we climbed


The drainage becomes a walkway


We soon encountered water running down the gully


The junction where the two trails meet, one from the lookout


At the junction: the rock band is on the left and the summit is obscured by cloud. We chose to stay below the rock band rather than follow the crest and do the downclimb.


Traversing below the rock band


Looking back at the downclimb


Same spot looking ahead at the summit, 400 m above us


We could only see scree and mist


The view north cleared as we ascended the final few hundred metres


Endless scree all the way to the top


Looking back down the ridge


Below us, the alternate ridge trail from the lookout looks appealing although long


The summit cloud disappears as we near the summit


On the summit


Looking back at the summit now free of clouds


On the descent, the clouds lifted giving us a clear view of Lake Minnewanka


On the return, black scree next to the gully makes for a fast descent. Note the trail at the valley bottom that leads to the pass.


82 O/6 Lake Minnewanka

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