Big Bend Peak

Big Bend Peak
Banff National Park, Alberta
August 4, 2018
Distance: 12.1 km (7.5 mi)
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1227 m (4026 ft)

Rising above a bend on the Icefields Parkway is a mountain of scree, Big Bend Peak. The climb begins on a good trail but becomes mostly an offtrail hike as it ascends the northeast ridge to the summit.

The trip involves some routefinding, and that includes finding the hidden trailhead. Driving north on Highway 93 North, it’s best to turn around in a parking lot at the bend and double back about a kilometre. Look for a short, dirt road on the right at the edge of trees. It goes down to a bridge over the North Saskatchewan River.

After parking and walking across the bridge, there are two trails to start from. The lower path, starting immediately after the bridge, drops down and disappears in the gravel flats lining the shore, but you can access the upper trail 400 m farther along at a low point. The upper trail, beginning another dozen metres after the bridge, runs high along the bank. Zora, Jonathan, Dinah and I started on the lower trail but finished the trip on the upper trail.

The trail leads to a road that crosses a meadow and climbs over a treed rise. At the bottom of the rise, the trail passes an open, steep slope below a cliff face. We left the trail and hiked up the wretched scree and vegetated slope. (Alternatively, you can leave the trail sooner, before dropping down, but I heard that the bushwhacking is daunting.) Once on the ridge, however, travel became pleasant. We found a trail in the trees, albeit one that fades in and out, so we had to fill in the blanks. Eventually, the trail vanished altogether, but we found corridors in the trees that led to the bottom of a scree slope. After climbing up to an alpine plateau, we faced the false summit. Only a broken cliff band interrupts an expanse of scree.

We headed to a weakness in the cliff band, but scrambling up wasn't as easy as it looked. Loose dirt and stones covered the rocks making it treacherous. Jonathan worked at clearing debris so he and Zora could climb up, but Dinah and I traversed a short distance and walked up scree in a break.

After reading reports about the loose scree, we were expecting an uphill battle all the way to the top of the false summit. Not so. Except for one short section, we found good traction and reached the false summit quicker than expected. There we had good views, albeit hazy, and we looked forward to reaching the summit for even better scenery. After dropping down a dozen metres to a col, we followed the ridge to the top. This was an easy climb that kept left of any obstacles and was often aided by a trail in the scree. We were soon relishing the vistas on the top. After getting an eyeful, we headed back down.

Granted the three-hour drive from Calgary is a deterrent, but given the great scenery and relative ease of the ascent, I think Big Bend Peak should see more scramblers.

KML and GPX Tracks

Big Bend Peak from the trailhead. The summit is barely visible behind the pyramid-shaped false summit.