Backcountry Base Hike. Mount Assiniboine/ Wonder Pass Circuit (7/14/2022)

A booking for 3 tent pads has been confirmed for both Thursday (July 14) and Friday (July 15). Please contact Mark to confirm once you sign up to the waitlist (see email address above).

Everyone must bring good hiking boots, poles, and a backpack that will double as a daypack.

Trip Plan:
We will be beginning our hike at the Mt. Shark trailhead in Kananaskis Country, within Spray Valley Provincial Park just after noon on Thursday . Mt Shark is accessed from the Smith-Dorrien Trail road (Hwy 742), 36 km south of Canmore. We’ll begin by hiking on the Watridge Lake trail in Spray River Provincial Park. After descending to, and crossing, the Spray River, we’ll enter Banff National Park after hiking about 5.5 km on relatively easy terrain. Continuing along the Bryant Creek trail, we will pass through forested terrain, reaching the Bryant Creek/ Marvel Lake area after hiking a further 8.3 km (total distance, 13.8 km from the trailhead). Over this 8.3 km distance there is about 150 m of elevation gain. Along the way to the campsite we’ll pass the Big Springs backcountry campground (9.6 km from Mt Shark trailhead). I'm anticipating that the time to reach the shelter will be about 4 hours including break stops.

Although we will be staying at a base camp, as a group we will need to carry most of the gear that would normally be required for a backpacking trip, including stoves and fuel, food, water filters, sleeping bags and sleeping pads. An outhouse/pit toilet is located near the campsite. We will have bear hangers there for our food and other supplies.

Mount Assiniboine (the "Matterhorn of the Canadian Rockies") up close.We will hike past the Alberta/BC border at Assiniboine Pass, where Mount Assiniboine will come into view (about 10 km from the shelter). We'll continue for 2.1 km further towards Mount Assiniboine Lodge, where we'll get a closer view of Mount Assiniboine from the top of a bluff overlooking Lake Magog (a lake at the base of Mount Assiniboine) - this will be about a 30 km approximate return day hike via Wonder Pass to make it a circuit hike (More if we stop at Lake Magog for lunch).
There is gradual elevation gain along the route for the first several 5 kilometres past the Bryant Creek Shelter. As Assiniboine Pass is approached, the trail begins to rise more sharply. In total there is about 350 m of elevation gain between the shelter and Assiniboine Pass. There is only a slight decrease in elevation over the last 2.1 km between Assiniboine Pass and Assiniboine Lodge. There will be a further 350 meter approximate elevation gain on our second climb up Wonder pass on the other side of the lodge after lunch. Please be aware that this hike requires very good physical conditioning. The scenery on this route is spectacular. From Assiniboine Lodge, hike past the Naiset Huts (0.5 km) and along Gog Creek. Shortly after crossing the creek (1.1 km) you will reach Gog Lake. In 1983, great blue herons nested Gog Lake- the highest nesting elevation recorded for this species. From here the trail climbs through larch forests and open meadows filled with wildflowers to Wonder Pass (3.1 km). At Wonder Pass, the trail continues into Banff National Park in subalpine terrain. After the first view of Marvel Lake the trail steadily descends in a series of switchbacks.

There will also be other options for shorter day hiking options during the weekend (e.g. on Thursday after arrival at the shelter, or on Saturday on the way back to the trailhead), such as hikes to the shoreline of Owl Lake, or Karst Spring/Watridge Lake.

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