Mt. Assiniboine Provinical Park

Dist: 83km   Elev: 2880m   Difficulty: 4/5

Day 1: 26km, 650m       Day 2: 29km, 1860m       Day 3: 28km, 370m

Byron and I try to prioritize one backpacking trip together each year. We have talked about exploring Assiniboine Provincial Park for a few summers but never committed due to the lengthy approach requiring at least three days total to do the area justice. We finally took the plunge and both booked a Friday off work for our first multi-night trip together. The beauty of this region, paired with nearly perfect weather, made for an incredible weekend!

DAY ONE: Lake Magog via Assiniboine Pass

Friday began with the long and uninspiring 26km approach from the Mt Shark parking lot in Kananskis to our campground at Lake Magog. Aside from a $200 one-way helicopter ride, this is the cover charge all visitors must pay for access to the Mt Assiniboine region. Even with our heavy packs we made good time and arrived after 6.5 hours from the vehicle. Aside from a few pleasant meadows, we really didn't see much worth photographing until the final half hour of the hike. This probably helped keep us moving at a good pace.

Arriving at the park at last, we were eager for a hot meal and to unload our packs and proceeded immediately to the Lake Magog campsite. We decided to eat dinner on the shore of nearby Cerulean Lake before an early bedtime given our long day and ambitious plan for Saturday.

Assiniboine Pass meadows. First "views" of the day.

Arriving at Assiniboine Park at last!

Lake Magog. Our campground is on the opposite shore.

Kitchen for the weekend.

Sunburst Lake en route to Cerulean Lake.

Cerulean Lake. This was our dinner view.

DAY TWO: Wonder-Cautley Traverse / Nub Peak

Hopes of enjoying an alpine sunrise had me out of our tent and on the shore of Lake Magog before my 5:30 alarm. The golden glow on Mt Assiniboine did not disappoint. Byron and I then met up for a coffee and hot breakfast before setting out for the big day ahead. 

Originally we had discussed tackling both Wonder Peak and The Towers summits, but decided once on the Wonder summit to continue along the extensive horseshoe-shaped ridge towards Mt Cautley to avoid unnecessary backtracking and elevation loss. This decision forced us to navigate some moderately difficult scrambling sections, but proved an excellent choice granting big views of the region from many different angles. After the 3-summit traverse (Wonder Peak, Ely's Dome, Mt Cautley) we departed the ridge for a pleasant off-trail meadow walk before rejoining the trail leading back to camp.

Sunrise over Lake Magog.

Heading back to camp for breakfast.

En route to our morning hike.

Reflections on meadow ponds.

Wonder Peak panorama.

Summit pose. Assiniboine hiding in cloud behind me.

Looking back at the downclimb from Wonder Peak.

Ely's Dome summit cairn.

Looking back at the ridge we just traversed.

Mt Cautley summit views.

Back at Lake Magog to refuel.

After a calorie-rich lunch and afternoon coffee, energy and morale were sufficiently restored to set out for our fourth summit of the day: Nub Peak. Known for excellent and unique vistas, this was the one hike I did not want to miss before leaving the area. Many hikers appear to stop at the "Nublet" subpeak to enjoy the views (arguably more impressive than from the true summit) without having to navigate the more technical ridge section, but we had no issue reaching the top in a few short hours. 

Scenery was excellent along this entire hike, but the view of Sunburst Peak with Assiniboine towering in the background was by far the most impressive. I was slightly disappointed by the arrival of some cool and cloudy weather (very minor considering the otherwise-prefect weekend conditions) hindering my hopes for some sunset colorful sunset photos, but it was pretty hard to be discontent after the day we had in such a beautiful natural playground. We returned to camp for a late supper and creek-chilled celebratory beverages before easily drifting off to sleep in preparation for the long trip home the following day.

Panorama from "Nublet" viewpoint.

Byron soaking it all in.

Nub Peak summit.

DAY THREE: Mt Shark Trailhead via Wonder/Marvel Pass

Sunday was another early morning as we took down camp and prepared our bags for the unavoidable 28km return trip (aka "death march" according to Byron). We intentionally saved the reportedly more scenic route through Wonder and Marvel passes in hopes of medicating some anticipated physical and psychological pain with a dose of natural beauty. In hindsight, this significantly more scenic trail would probably have been worth the few extra kilometers in both directions. 

Marvel Pass was especially beautiful as the trail followed the shore of the long and sapphire blue Marvel Lake. The final few hours through viewless forest, aided by interesting and honest conversation with a great friend, went by surprisingly fast and we arrived at the Mt. Shark parking lot in around 6 hours from camp. 

Departing for Wonder Pass, between the two mountains on the right.

Wonder Pass.

Marvel Lake glowing in the sunshine.

Final views of Marvel Pass before our final stretch in the trees.

Admittedly, I had high expectations for camping in Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park, and I was not in the least disappointed. I would recommend taking an extra day or two to break up the long approach if possible but even our three days were enough to understand why this place draws so many people from all over the world. Another successful backpacking trip in the books!