Spectacular scramble in a spectacular setting. Do it!
Quick Stats
Distance: 18.9km
Height Gain: 1240m
Round Trip Time: 7h
Kane Ratting: Easy
Resources: More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies
The objective for today, Mount Jimmy Simpson seen here behind Bow Lake. The red building in the trees is the historic Num-Ti-jah lodge, which also happens to be right near the trailhead.The day starts with a hike along Bow Lake. This is a very popular trail that heads to Bow Falls.From the Bow Falls trail you can start to make out the route. Just before the falls, hang a right and traverse the cliff bands seen in the center of the photo. From there it is up to the col and on to the summit. Easy stuff! Looking back at Bow Falls after I hung a right off the official trail. View as I traverse along the cliff bands after leaving the Bow Lake Trail. The objective is the col seen here, then hang a right up to the summit. Even this early in the trip, the views are excellent and only get better. You can see the Num-Ti-jah lodge where I started and the lake that I traversed along. In a couple places the ledges get a bit narrow but it isn’t too bad. You can make out the faint trail on the ledge to the right.I had read that navigating this area could be tricky on the return journey as many of the ledges look similar. This is 100% true and it can be confusing. Bring a GPS device or know how to use your phone to navigate back. It looks very different going down compared to up. Still a long way to go. If you look carefully on the center left of the picture the dark black figure is a person. Gives you an idea of the scale of this place, it is huge. I also look forward to sliding down this snow field on descent. I kept finding these bright yellow rocks. Anybody know what they are made of? The only reasonable assumption is pure gold, worth a fortune! From the col, looking back down the route I had just ascended. I passed the people in the previous picture and took this picture of them heading up the final ridge to the summit. And on the summit! With a fancy rock sculpture. The views up here are unbelievable. Well worth the effort. I spent at least an hour plus just soaking it in and taking hundreds of pictures.Looking back down the famous Icefields parkway highway. The red lodge where my day started is visible in the lower left corner. No words will do this justice. Looking North. Distracted by the incredible scenery, I almost forgot. Traditional Summit Selfie! When your done soaking in the views, return is the reverse of the ascent.
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