Mount Aylmer

Mount Aylmer
Banff National Park, Alberta
August 31, 2004
Distance: 31.6 km (19.6 mi)
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1800 m (5906 ft)

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!"

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.