Wilcox Pass

The veil of fog has finally lifted and underneath lies a princess. We awoke this morning to blue sky spotted with nimbus clouds and all around mountains. Yesterday, to look up you never would have known that around us here are the toes of two huge glaciers, The Athabasca and the Dome. Both of these cascade down from one of the largest icefields in Canada, the Columbia Icefield. And while it was raining relentlessly down here, it was snowing up there. The mountains today are all striped with white.

We headed out at 9:30 a.m. for the Wilcox Pass. If there was only one hike we could do in this entire park, I would choose the Wilcox Pass. The trailhead leads immediately into a 400 year old forest - a scene out of Hanzel and Gretel, and emerges on the ridge of a meadowed mountain to overlook the mountains. From there the scenery keeps getting better. Framed on all sides by snow streaked ridges and pointy peaks, the trail meanders past running streams from underground springs, through the reds, blues and yellows of lush meadow wild flowers, in and out of lichen spotted rocks and on to an amphitheater of silence. At times, the only sound was that of clouds brushing across the sky.

The picture taking on the pass was extraordinary. I can't wait to get our creations back so I can relive this spectacular hike.