Skip to main content

Where Gumbo Was #13. Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, British Columbia

001 WITW 13
This beautiful mountain, with its dramatic hanging glacier, proved yet again to be just a small challenge to the TG travel detectives.  Member Andredeya was the first to identify this peak correctly (from her Romanian home nearly half a globe away!)  Congratulations Andredeya -- you've earned bragging rights this time around!  Member Jonathan L, who had spent a year in lovely Canmore, Alberta, recognized it as a peak close to this small city but did not spell out the final answer.

I think the Canadian Rocky Mountains are magical and feel lucky to be living just an hour's drive from them.  When I go on a day hike in the summer this is the area I always head to; how can you go wrong going for a walk in one of the most beautiful places in the world?  It's easy for me to understand why the entire Canadian Rocky Mountains ecosystem is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

002 WITW 13 Mt Assiniboine Park, Lake Magog

(Mt. Assiniboine and Lake Magog)

003 WITW 13 Mt Assiniboine Park, Lake Magog
(Mt. Assiniboine and Lake Magog)


The Rocky Mountains are, for the most part, still a wilderness area.  It's not easy to get to Mt. Assiniboine.  There's no roads anywhere nearby so you have one of three choices:  1)  Hike there in a day (20 mi, 30 km one way), or make a backpacking trip out of it with at least one overnight stop going in and out.  2)  Cross-country ski there in the winter (same 20 mile distance).  3)  Take a helicopter ride in (expensive, but fast and very beautiful trip). 

 

005 WITW 13 Mt Assiniboine Park, Lake Magog


Mt. Assiniboine, at 3,618 m (11,870 ft), is the highest peak in the southern Canadian Rockies.  It rises almost 1525 m (5000 ft) above Lake Magog.  Its distinctive pyramidal shape, which member GarryRF alluded to, has given rise to the nickname "Matterhorn of North America".

About 10 years ago I visited Mt. Assiniboine as part of a Rocky Mountain backpacking trip that lasted a week, starting near Sunshine Meadows and ending near Canmore.  We spent 3 nights (two days) here and camped beside the lake at the base of the glacier, Lake Magog.  It was one of the grandest places I've ever camped.  Best of all was to watch the clouds swirl around the peak and to see and hear the glacier calve off pieces of ice, which rumbled down the hill and splashed into the lake.  There's a lodge at the lake, reserved well in advance and mostly used by those who helicopter in, so don't just show up expecting to get a room; be sure to reserve it in advance.  You can go horseback riding, cross country skiing and ski touring, fishing, and of course hiking.  There are also climbing opportunities, although there's a lot of loose rock in the Canadian Rockies making them not the best of climbing mountains. 

 

I think all lovers of nature should see the Canadian Rockies at least once in their life if at all possible.  And if you can make it, go see Mt. Assiniboine.
  

004 WITW 13 Mt Assiniboine Park,

Attachments

Images (5)
  • Mt. Assiniboine, British Columbia
  • Mt. Assiniboine and Lake Magog, British Columbia
  • Mt. Assiniboine and Lake Magog, British Columbia
  • Mt. Assiniboine, British Columbia
  • Mt. Assiniboine, British Columbia

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

Add Comment

Comments (3)

Newest · Oldest · Popular
Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×