Sunset Pass

Earlier this week I had the chance to go for a short day hike in Banff National Park with a friend of mine. He phoned me the night before to see if I wanted to go up to "Sunset Pass", which is about 15kms North of "The Crossing" on the Icefields Parkway. Seeing as I had no other plans, other than to sit in front of my computer all day... I gladly accepted the invite!


We left town just after 6am, and were on the trail by 8:15. The initial few meters of the trail is fine, nice and mellow, but after about 10 minutes, you start to climb steeply uphill, for about 2.9km.


After 2.9km, you can either head left, to Sunset Lookout, and gain anther 300m (approx.) over a short 1.6km trail. Or you can continue straight, and gain almost as much elevation, and you end up in Sunset Meadows, near Norman Creek Campground.


We ended up going in both directions. First we headed left to the lookout, from which you get the view above. Absolutely spectacular. It wasn't the most beautiful day, but that view alone would be good on any day. I think from the trailhead to the lookout, which is 4.5km, with approx. 650m of elevation gain, we got there in just under 2 hours. And within the first 45 minutes I had blisters on my heels the size of a loonie, that I am still nursing four days later...Ouch!


After the lookout we headed back down the where the trail split, then continued on to the Meadows and Norman Campground. It's only a small campground, with 3 or 4 sites, but what a nice spot! Mountains all around, Norman Creek right there, huge open meadows. I think I'll head back here this summer for a small photo trip. One side of the meadow would get great sunrise light, the other would get awesome sunset light.


After a quick lunch at the campground, and a quick lesson on how to actually "properly" use a compass from Chris, we headed off into the meadow to see if we could make it to the top of the pass. Which we didn't make it to. We got about 1/2 way to the top of the pass, and my feet were so sore, I couldn't take anymore elevation gain. So we turned around, and after a few snack stops, we were back at the truck by 2pm. It was a great day, even with the blisters, and I'm definitely planning a trip back here with the wife and dog sometime this summer!


Photos: Nikon D90, 17-55mm f/2.8, 10.5mm f/2.8