Wilcox Pass

On August 27th Margarit and I decided to do the hike up to Wilcox Pass.  We left the cottage about 10:00AM, and it was 11:30 when we got to the Trailhead.  When we entered Banff National Park at Saskatchewan Crossing I was planning to purchase an annual pass to the parks.  But the booth was closed and there was a sign taped to the window that said Please Proceed... so we did.  I guess I will have to buy a new pass next time we come to the park as the one I got last year expired earlier this summer.

Wilcox Pass is beyond Banff, in Jasper National Park, just across the valley from the Columbia Icefields.  As it was a Sunday, and a beautiful day, the park was very busy, and the parking area at the trailhead was full.  We managed to find a spot to park the truck, along the side of the road.

The trail starts out in a dense forest of douglas fir, lodgepole pine and engleman spruce.  It climbs quickly and soon it breaks out above the treeline.  From here the Icefields across the valley and the Visitor Center are clearly visible.  Then it is a long steep push up a rocky slope into the pass itself.  I took my 4x5 view camera along, but lightened the load considerably from what I usually carry.  This time I only brought ReadyLoad film packets and no film holders.  I also limited myself to only four lenses.

The pass itself is very barren and tundra like with Mount Wilcox rising abruptly on the north side.  There is a small lake in the saddle from which a small stream runs down, through a narrow gorge and on into the valley bottom.  This will eventually join up with the Athabasca River and find its way into the Arctic Ocean.

When we got up into the pass some other hikers warned us that some bears had been spotted nearby.  We didn't see them until we were on our way down.  A Mama Grizzly with two cubs was paralleling our route down the trail.  They were on the opposite side of the narrow gorge, and no immediate threat to us.  Once we got further down, there was a spot where a trail crossed over to our side of the stream, and we a little concerned that they appeared to be heading in that direction.  But it seemed they were more interested in hunting ground squirrels and eventually changed directions and headed off back across the slope away from us.  They never really got any closer than about 250 yards from us.

It was a long and strenuous hike, particularly carrying the big camera.  My knees and hips were very tired and sore by the time we made it back down to the truck.  Most of the other hikers, and there were quite a few of them on this day, had left by the time we got down.  The Health App on my phone said that we did  13,184 steps, 5.1 miles round trip.  It also indicated an elevation gain of 79 floors.  The sign at the trailhead said that this was 1000 feet.