Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

July 9, 2012

2560m

Yoho National Park, BC

After finishing Mt. Norquay, Mt. Aylmer and Panorama Ridge in the past 3 days, I was very tired. Despite the good weather, my choices were limited. I was thinking about Mt. Field since it’s a relatively short ascent, but changed my mind to Paget Peak, an even shorter objective. With a mere 5 km distance one way and 1000 m elevation gain, this is probably the easiest ascent in Yoho National Park. The trail-head is located at the west end of Wapta Lake, and a good trail with lots of switchbacks leads up to Paget Lookout, a popular hiker’s destination.

As ascending on the trail, I noticed that some clouds were moving in from the west. By the time I got to the Lookout, the clouds were already getting close (around Mt. Stephen). Oh no…. I wanted blue sky!!! Anyway, the rest of the route was as straightforward as expected. What I needed was just following one of the several beaten paths, and then I’d stand on the summit half an hour later. There’s an option to continue on the ridge to two higher unnamed summits, but since the weather was moving in, I had to go down as soon as possible. The best view of the trip was towards the impressive Mt. Stephen, Mt. Niles and Cathedral Mountain.

The descent was uneventful although it did started to get tedious after what seemed like an endless switchbacking. I met 3 groups of hikers on their way up. Only one group’s destination was the peak.

Overall, I’d say Paget Peak is a good objective if you’re short on energy or time. I drove back to Banff for some well deserved food. Although the weather still held up nicely, I was too exhausted to do anything on the following day, so took a rest day break. But after the break, I’d have to bag another peak before going home…