Back Country Mountain Hike – Healy Pass Trail in Banff National Park

Summer 2019 – the year we made our foray into back-country hiking. Billy was enthusiastic and excited. I was … pensive and a bit nervous. Thankfully, Billy’s enthusiasm is fed by research and my nerves are soothed by preparedness. Research + preparedness = good times in nature.

We started with a ‘practice trip’ of a back-country overnight at Elk Island National Park. This worked out a lot of little things we missed in our packing list, introduced to a couple ‘worst-case’ scenarios like boggy trails, and we found out our homemade trail food is delicious. In hindsight, it was the toughest hike of the whole summer and everything seemed easy after that one overnight trip.

Our plan for Healy Pass was this:

• 3 friends (Hayley, Craig, and Kyle)
• 4 days, 3 nights in July
• 40.4 cumulative kilometers
• Total Elevation Gain 1803 m
• Total Elevation Loss 1826 m
• Camping list spreadsheets
  • One for Food
  • One for Gear (calculated on body weight percentage. Don’t go over 20%)
• Research
  • Don’t Waste Your Time in the Rocky Mountains by Kathy and Craig Copeland
  • The Backpacker’s Field Manual by Rick Curtis

Day 1: Vista Lake Trailhead

First, we met our friends at the Sunshine Ski Resort parking lot. We left one car there and drove to the Vista Lake Trailhead on Highway 93 together. That way, we could carpool together to pick up the other car at the end of our hike.

The trail was through the forest, with a bit of up and down, and we saw all sorts of wildflowers and new tree growth. We passed some creeks and two lakes (Vista Lake and Arnica Lake). Our first night was spent at Twin Lakes campsite. It has a nice, clear creek to fill our gravity water filter bag and a good cooking area. There was a glacier at the lake beside the campground and at night we could hear it cracking!

One thing to keep in mind for July hiking is that the mosquitoes will be in full force. We went through an entire 100 mL bottle of Deet mosquito repellent in four days between the two of us.

Day 2: Ball Pass Junction

This day was a 12 km hike from Twin Lakes campsite to Ball Pass Junction. It was a beautiful trail (and hard work on the feet). Once I got to camp and we set up our tent, I had a power nap and then I was good to go.

The highlight of this day was Gibbons Pass, a beautiful mountain meadow at a 2300 m elevation surrounded by mountains. We also stopped at Shadow Lake for a light snack and views. Once we reached Ball Pass Junction and got settled, we had time to do a light hike where a creek ran beside the trail. I enjoyed this campground as the creek burbled and lulled me to sleep (and it was my best sleep of the trip).

Day 3: Egypt Lake

Day 3 was a bit of a shemozzle in the morning. We accidentally lit the plastic part of our camping stove on fire (melting it quickly and completely) but no one got burned! Then, I went to get some water for our gravity bag and both my feet slipped off a log and I fell into the creek. Luckily, in the research, Billy found out that the best way to deal with that unfortunate situation is to dry your feet, put on fresh socks, then put plastic bags over your dry feet, and then stuff them into your somewhat dried off hiking shoes. I hiked for 3 hours with plastic bags on my feet and then my shoes were dry. No harm done to my feet. Pfew!

My favourite stop was Haiduk Lake and Whistling Pass. While hiking up Whistling Pass (named for the marmots that live there and ‘whistle’ at you) we encountered snow! This hike was quite steep and required some concentrated footwork.

Egypt Lake is a really busy campground and sometimes people will show up who don’t have back-country park passes. We were given a tip to arrive there as early as we could. It was a good thing too since by 2 PM there were only 3-4 spots left (and we needed 3 tent sites). This was our least favourite campground of the hiking trip and the outhouses were… disgusting.

On the flip side, it was also our favourite hiking day as the landscape was so varied and gorgeous.

Day 4: Healy Pass

The longest day of our itinerary, I was mentally prepped for a 13 kilometer hike out. Healy Pass is 2330 meters elevation so the mountain vista views promised to be amazing. On the way there, we had a fairly substantial incline but were rewarded with many wildflowers and burbling creeks.

The 360 degree views at the top of Healy Pass were simply beautiful. The sun was shining, the forests were emerald green; it was stunning.

Then the very long descent began. I can’t lie to you – the descent is my least favourite part of hiking and I find it very hard on my feet. So this part of the day was enjoyable until there was about 4 kilometers left, which was a bit of a gruel for me.

I survived! My feet didn’t fall off and Billy and I rewarded ourselves with a stay in Canmore at a hotel before heading back to Edmonton the next day.

It was a super journey and I was feeling proud that I did it (with the research and planning of Billy and our friends). A previous version of myself would have never considered even taking on a hike like this. Huzzah! Here’s to more hikes and more confidence in my physical capabilities.