Day 103 - Glacier Canada

I started the day disappointed but finished the day elated. My planned visit to the most beautiful area in the Canadian Rockies, Lake O'hara, would have to wait until another trip as the buses were full and the weather too cloudy/gloomy to warrant the 12 mile hike in/out. So I drove two hours west to Glacier Canada.

I first secured a campsite near old railway spiral loop tressels.

Then I hiked the 10/10 boot rated Abbot Ridge trail, going steeply up a forested hillside then by a glacial lake then up and nicely-graded trail which opened to the craggy peaks of the Selkirk Range.

After an easy but still intense 200 foot sloped snowbank crossing (much easier with newly learned kick-step technique and mini crampons), I ascended to a meadow with a fire watch hut and water tank, then proceeded up the ridge.

The ridge winded around the other side of the mountain and concluded with breathtaking 360 degree views of multiple valleys and glaciers. Despite being late in the day, I scrambled higher up the ridge past the trail end.

And took a celebratory pic among the vast mountain range. I would drive west tomorrow out of the mountains, concluding a two week voyage through the most beautiful mountains my eyes have ever seen.

The sun painted the trail down the mountain like a master artisan paints his canvas. You can see why I ended the day elated.

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Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

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