GROUP 8
Updated March 1, 2020
Departure: Sunday, September 20 (early - 6:00 am appx.)
Bus Number: TBA
Return: Saturday, September 25 (after dinner)
Departure: Sunday, September 20 (early - 6:00 am appx.)
Bus Number: TBA
Return: Saturday, September 25 (after dinner)
LAKE O'HARA PLANNING ITINERARY: SUBJECT TO CHANGES - YOUR CHAPERONE WILL CONFIRM ALL ROUTES
Egypt Lakes - Group 8
Day 1 - Sunday - Lake Louise Campground: Meet your group in the OKM parking lot bright and early to board your assigned bus. Gear will be stored in chaperone support vehicles and you will only need your jacket and bagged lunch on the bus. First stop will be a bathroom break in Sicamous. From there we will travel to the Roger’s Pass Visitor Information Center for a safety presentation. From here it is approximately 2 hours to the Lake Louise Campground on Hwy 1. After arriving at Lake Louise, you will set up your camp, enjoy your car camping meal and prepare to set off on your through hike tomorrow morning. If you have time, your group can night hike up to Lake Louise via the Louise Creek Trail (6km return).
Day 2 - Monday - Red Earth Creek to Pharoah Creek Campground (14.7 km/423 m elevation gain - moderate): Up early and on your assigned bus by 8:00 am. Your bus will be dropping off your group, along with another group at Red Earth Creek - approximately 10 km from the Castle Mountain Junction (Hwy 1 and Hwy 93). You will be hiking to Pharaoh Campground tonight. From Red Earth you will hike with another group to the Red Earth junction. Your trail departs the east end of the parking area, joining a former fire road in 300 meters (328 yards). Ascend generally southwest up the moderately steep road, high above the southeast bank of Redearth Creek. At 6.9 km cross a bridge over Redearth Creek to the northwest bank and you will find the Lost Horse Creek Campground (Re6). This might be a great spot to enjoy lunch with your ‘sister’ group. Continue to the Red Earth Creek Junction (3.6 km) and when the trail forks, your group will be going left towards Pharaoh Creek. You should see the Red Earth Warden Cabin shortly after the fork in the trail. Be mentally prepared for some switchbacks here. Pharaoh Creek Campground is 4.2 km past the junction. You will set up camp here for the night.
Day 3: Tuesday - Pharoah Creek Campground to Egypt Lake Hut (4 km - easy): From Pharaoh, you will be hiking to the Egypt Lake Hut today. This is an easy hike, so have a leisurely breakfast and take your time packing up camp. Once you arrive at the Egypt Lake Campground, you can set yourself up in the hut for the night, but don’t call it a day as there are plenty of great places to check out here!
Day 4 - Wednesday - Egypt Lake Hut to Shadow Lake Campground (11 km/365 m elevation gain - moderate): Today you are going to travel to Shadow Lake Campground through the Whistling Pass. It will be an exceptional day of hiking, but a long one so get going early! It will start with a series of steep switchbacks all the way up to Whistling Pass. This will be a grunt! If it has been rainy, prepare for slippery conditions. Enjoy a snack with exceptional views from the top before descending to Haiduk Lake, which might be a great spot for lunch. Ball Pass Junction is a fairly short and flat hike from Haiduk Lake - you will say goodbye to group 10 here. Shadow Lake is an additional 4.3 km of easy hiking. Get water before arriving at the campground as the water source can be questionable.
Day 5 - Thursday - Shadow Lake Campground to Twin Lakes Campground (6.8 km/462 m elevation gain - moderate): From Shadow Lake, your trail starts north through subalpine forest and larch-fringed meadowland to the treeless summit of the pass. The hike to this pass is a steep ascent through dense forest. The pass is an exceptional viewpoint for this area of the Rockies because there are no nearby mountains to block the view to either the north or south. As a result of this, views extend from Mount Hector near Lake Louise to Mount Assiniboine. At the summit drop your backs and scramble up Little Copper Mountain. This is a scree slope with established off trail routes. Look for a trail to the trees to find your way through the alpine to the summit of this little mountain. The views are amazing and definitely worth the side trip. Average hiker will be able to complete this side hike in 40-50 minutes. After you return to your packs, you will come across a Junction at Lower Twin Lake, stay left. Beyond the junction, you will hike a steady ascent through the forest to the Upper Twin Lake Campground (TW7) where you will spend the night. There are campsites on the left and the right of the trail.
Day 6 - Friday - Twin Lakes Campground to Vista Lake Viewpoint (7.2 km/347 m elevation gain - moderate): Get up early (5:30am!) to hike out to the Hwy #93 on the Arnica Lake Trail past Arnica and Vista Lakes. Your goal is to be at the highway by 10:00 am Alberta time (The entire collection of groups is depending on you so don't be late!). You will hike a steady uphill until you come to Arnica Lake (4.0 km). The trail is level after Arnica Lake until you come to a steady descent which takes you to a small unnamed pond (3.8 km). The next part of the hike is a steady descent for about a half hour or less until you reach the end of the unburned forest (4.0 km). You will probably be able to see and hear the highway from here. You then have a steady, steep descent until you come to a Junction (5.4 km). The trail then descends by trailing down the lower slopes of Storm Mountain. You will then come across an outlet bridge at the end of Vista Lake (6.6 km). The last part of the hike is a steadily ascending trail to the viewpoint. After the viewpoint the trail descends 600 m to the shores of Vista Lake and then ascending over a steady 100 m. Once you have reached the Highway #93, load all your gear onto the support vehicle that is in the parking area and wait for the Bus to pick you up. The bus will be there around 10:00 am.
We will rendezvous at Roger’s Pass Monument (Time TBA) with all the other groups. A group picture will be taken here. Then we will proceed to Revelstoke for a lunch break at the fast food strip on the left-hand side of the highway at the main intersection.
Let your parents know once you have an idea when you will be home so they can arrange for you to be picked up (usually around dinner time).
Egypt Lakes - Group 8
Day 1 - Sunday - Lake Louise Campground: Meet your group in the OKM parking lot bright and early to board your assigned bus. Gear will be stored in chaperone support vehicles and you will only need your jacket and bagged lunch on the bus. First stop will be a bathroom break in Sicamous. From there we will travel to the Roger’s Pass Visitor Information Center for a safety presentation. From here it is approximately 2 hours to the Lake Louise Campground on Hwy 1. After arriving at Lake Louise, you will set up your camp, enjoy your car camping meal and prepare to set off on your through hike tomorrow morning. If you have time, your group can night hike up to Lake Louise via the Louise Creek Trail (6km return).
Day 2 - Monday - Red Earth Creek to Pharoah Creek Campground (14.7 km/423 m elevation gain - moderate): Up early and on your assigned bus by 8:00 am. Your bus will be dropping off your group, along with another group at Red Earth Creek - approximately 10 km from the Castle Mountain Junction (Hwy 1 and Hwy 93). You will be hiking to Pharaoh Campground tonight. From Red Earth you will hike with another group to the Red Earth junction. Your trail departs the east end of the parking area, joining a former fire road in 300 meters (328 yards). Ascend generally southwest up the moderately steep road, high above the southeast bank of Redearth Creek. At 6.9 km cross a bridge over Redearth Creek to the northwest bank and you will find the Lost Horse Creek Campground (Re6). This might be a great spot to enjoy lunch with your ‘sister’ group. Continue to the Red Earth Creek Junction (3.6 km) and when the trail forks, your group will be going left towards Pharaoh Creek. You should see the Red Earth Warden Cabin shortly after the fork in the trail. Be mentally prepared for some switchbacks here. Pharaoh Creek Campground is 4.2 km past the junction. You will set up camp here for the night.
Day 3: Tuesday - Pharoah Creek Campground to Egypt Lake Hut (4 km - easy): From Pharaoh, you will be hiking to the Egypt Lake Hut today. This is an easy hike, so have a leisurely breakfast and take your time packing up camp. Once you arrive at the Egypt Lake Campground, you can set yourself up in the hut for the night, but don’t call it a day as there are plenty of great places to check out here!
- Explore Egypt Lake, Scarab Lake and Mummy Lake.
- Head north on Pharaoh Creek Trail and turn west (left) towards Pharaoh Lake. Explore this lake and then move on to discover Black Rock Lake. If you are feeling up for it try to continue the exploration to find Sphinx Lake another 1.4 kms from Black Rock Lake.
- Cross the river to hike up to Healy Pass and back to camp
Day 4 - Wednesday - Egypt Lake Hut to Shadow Lake Campground (11 km/365 m elevation gain - moderate): Today you are going to travel to Shadow Lake Campground through the Whistling Pass. It will be an exceptional day of hiking, but a long one so get going early! It will start with a series of steep switchbacks all the way up to Whistling Pass. This will be a grunt! If it has been rainy, prepare for slippery conditions. Enjoy a snack with exceptional views from the top before descending to Haiduk Lake, which might be a great spot for lunch. Ball Pass Junction is a fairly short and flat hike from Haiduk Lake - you will say goodbye to group 10 here. Shadow Lake is an additional 4.3 km of easy hiking. Get water before arriving at the campground as the water source can be questionable.
Day 5 - Thursday - Shadow Lake Campground to Twin Lakes Campground (6.8 km/462 m elevation gain - moderate): From Shadow Lake, your trail starts north through subalpine forest and larch-fringed meadowland to the treeless summit of the pass. The hike to this pass is a steep ascent through dense forest. The pass is an exceptional viewpoint for this area of the Rockies because there are no nearby mountains to block the view to either the north or south. As a result of this, views extend from Mount Hector near Lake Louise to Mount Assiniboine. At the summit drop your backs and scramble up Little Copper Mountain. This is a scree slope with established off trail routes. Look for a trail to the trees to find your way through the alpine to the summit of this little mountain. The views are amazing and definitely worth the side trip. Average hiker will be able to complete this side hike in 40-50 minutes. After you return to your packs, you will come across a Junction at Lower Twin Lake, stay left. Beyond the junction, you will hike a steady ascent through the forest to the Upper Twin Lake Campground (TW7) where you will spend the night. There are campsites on the left and the right of the trail.
Day 6 - Friday - Twin Lakes Campground to Vista Lake Viewpoint (7.2 km/347 m elevation gain - moderate): Get up early (5:30am!) to hike out to the Hwy #93 on the Arnica Lake Trail past Arnica and Vista Lakes. Your goal is to be at the highway by 10:00 am Alberta time (The entire collection of groups is depending on you so don't be late!). You will hike a steady uphill until you come to Arnica Lake (4.0 km). The trail is level after Arnica Lake until you come to a steady descent which takes you to a small unnamed pond (3.8 km). The next part of the hike is a steady descent for about a half hour or less until you reach the end of the unburned forest (4.0 km). You will probably be able to see and hear the highway from here. You then have a steady, steep descent until you come to a Junction (5.4 km). The trail then descends by trailing down the lower slopes of Storm Mountain. You will then come across an outlet bridge at the end of Vista Lake (6.6 km). The last part of the hike is a steadily ascending trail to the viewpoint. After the viewpoint the trail descends 600 m to the shores of Vista Lake and then ascending over a steady 100 m. Once you have reached the Highway #93, load all your gear onto the support vehicle that is in the parking area and wait for the Bus to pick you up. The bus will be there around 10:00 am.
We will rendezvous at Roger’s Pass Monument (Time TBA) with all the other groups. A group picture will be taken here. Then we will proceed to Revelstoke for a lunch break at the fast food strip on the left-hand side of the highway at the main intersection.
Let your parents know once you have an idea when you will be home so they can arrange for you to be picked up (usually around dinner time).