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Backpacking Banff’s remote Front Ranges

Molar Pass, Banff National Park

Sunny skies with light smoke haze bode well for the backpack as Jim Shipley and his party climbed to Molar Pass on the first day of a backpack through Banff Park’s Front Ranges to the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch beyond the park’s eastern boundary. Dubbed the “Banff DRY” expedition, it did turn into a very dry, demanding journey through country seldom visited by backpackers.

Each summer, Calgary hiker Jim Shipley organizes a multi-day backpacking trip into the remote valleys and passes of Banff or Jasper Park, exploring country that he and his buddies haven’t visited before.

While Jim contacts us for pre-trip tips, we always receive more information than we provide. Following his trek, he composes a detailed report with photos and sends it along for use in this blog—reports that always provide revisions for subsequent editions of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide and this website’s “Trail Updates” page. See Banff National Park: 9 days in the backcountry (Oct 31, 2014) and Jasper’s South Boundary Trail revisited (Nov 4, 2015).

While many of these trips follow more traditional routes, this summer’s itinerary was very creative. Dubbed “Banff DRY” (Direct Route to Ya Ha Tinda), it would start from Mosquito Creek on Banff’s Icefields Parkway on August 26 and, after traversing Molar Pass to the Pipestone River, follow a more-or-less easterly course across the park’s Front Ranges to the historic Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in the Foothills on September 4. Six passes would be traversed—Molar (2340m), Cotton Grass (2200m), Pulsatilla (2345m), Badger (2545m), North Fork (2425m), and Snow Creek (2255m).

Since the first four nights of the journey utilized designated campsites with strict quotas, the eight-member Banff DRY party had to get creative. They split into two parties of four, with Jim and his three companions following a day behind the lead party for the first four nights. After crossing Badger Pass, the highest point on the journey, Jim’s group caught up with the advance party at Flint’s Park. From this point onwards, the random-camping section of Banff Park, there was no concern about partly size or campgrounds.

When Jim sent his final trip report a couple weeks ago, I was amazed how little had changed in the past 30 years. The section on the Pipestone and up to Red Deer Lakes is still a wet, sloppy slog; no reasonable track has been established down upper Baker Creek to Wildflower Creek; and a lot of crucial trail junctions are still poorly marked.

 

Banff Front Ranges trip report

I’m not suggesting that Banff DRY is a trip you should do, especially the North Fork Pass-Upper Panther River section. But Jim’s account is certainly entertaining and informative, and the photos display some remarkable landscapes and more sunny, blue skies than anyone is ever likely to see on any 10-day backpack.

Check out Jim Shipley’s full report:

Banff DRY trip 2017 FINAL

 

7 Comments

  1. Molly

    Link to DRY trip is dead, alas.

    Reply
    • Brian

      Sorry about that. It’s a big file. Hopefully this works.

  2. Molly

    Fabulous — a great read! No chance of posting the whole file of the 2014 trip report, is there?
    Thanks for all the great blog entries.

    Reply
    • Brian

      I’ve added Jim’s full report at the end of the “Banff National Park: 9 Days in the Backcountry” (October 31, 2014). Happy reading!

  3. Gavin Fitch

    Great trip! In 1992 I did a front ranges trip not dissimilar to yours, only we started at Ya-Ha Tinda and walked into the park along the Red Deer. When we got to Divide Creek we went north over the pass into the Clearwater, then up the Clearwater into the Pipestone, down and then up (as you ruefully observed) to Red Deer Lakes and back out along the Red Deer. Epic trip of 160 kms or so. I read your post because we are doing another front ranges trip this year. Starting at Norquay, we’re going to Flint’s Park via the Mystic Lake Junction. Then over North Fork Pass to the Panther and Windy Warden Station. Then over Snow Creek Summit to the Red Deer, which we’ll follow upstream to the Skoki area, to finish at Lake Louise. Your section on North Fork Pass should be helpful in hopefully avoiding your fate of getting lost in the dreaded willows! And also to find that random camping site before entering the restricted area. Hope to see some bison.

    Reply
  4. Gavin Fitch

    Hi Brian, as per my comment on June 22 we did a Front Ranges trip a couple of weeks ago. As I said in June, our plan was to go over North Fork Pass into the Panther valley and hopefully see some bison. Alas we learned about a week before we left that the Panther has been closed to hikers by Parks Canada because of the bison. So we had to modify our trip and it became a sort of extended version of the Sawback Trail. We started at Norquay and spent the first night at Mystic Pass Junction. The first junction with the Elk Lake trail is not signed and easy to miss–we sailed by it, crossed the bridge and got as far as the Cascade Amphitheatre trail. What idiots. Anyway, not only is the junction not signed, the “connector trail” that runs along the south bank of Forty Mile is pretty rough–I’m guessing the old trail must have been washed out in a flood. From the bridge crossing on, you’re back on the horse trail and everything is straightforward. From Mystic Pass Junction we carried on up to Forty Mile Summit and took the trail to Rainbow Lake, which splits from the main trail not far after reaching the summit. It’s an extra 100m or so of elevation gain but so worth it. The lake is gorgeous, set in a larch-filled bowl at the base of a classic Front Ranges peak. The walk down from the lake to Flint’s Park is also very cool, as it tracks the edge of an escarpment, affording great views north across the Sawback valley. We spent two nights at Flint’s Park and absolutely loved it. What a great campsite, in that broad and open confluence of four three valleys–and it’s a good place to find a little solitude: we had it all to ourselves. Did a day hike on Day 3 up to North Fork Pass. We found the trail to be easy to follow, though there are 3 fords along the way that are difficult to get across without getting your boots wet. The view from the pass down into the Panther valley is pretty awesome–a precipitous drop into a very remote and lonely-looking valley. On Day 4 we headed west over Badger Pass. Now that’s a serious climb. We lucked out with the weather as it was sunny and glorious at the pass. We were pretty beat from the climb and really looking forward to making camp that night. Where the Badger Pass trail meets the Sawback trail a sign says the campsite is 0.5 km. But beware! Another unsigned junction–once again we sailed past it and walked an extra km or so up the trail. Turns out there are two trails running up the Johnston Creek valley in that area: the one we were on, which is farther from the creek (east) and more in the trees; and the other which runs through the open meadow. The campground (Badger Pass Junction) is between the two trails but the sign for the campsite is not on the trail. Oh well. The climb over Pulsatilla Pass the next day was short (we followed the trail by the creek in the centre of the meadows) and we had a wonderful lunch at Pulsatilla Lake on the other side of the pass. What a gorgeous spot. From there we carried on to Wildflower campground, which we really liked. The name had us thinking it would be in meadows, but actually it’s in a small clearing in an old growth forest–tall trees and Wildflower Creek roaring by. Very zen. Day 6 we carried on to Skoki and Merlin Meadows. Somehow we missed the junction (you see a pattern emerging here) with the trail that cuts around the north flank of Fossil Mountain to go to Skoki, and instead ended up at the second junction, on the south flank of Skoki Mountain. Afternoon tea (read: beer) at the lodge made up for that faux pas. Our final day, Day 7, we did the classic walk out to Lake Louise over Deception Pass. It was a wonderful hike. We all agreed that from Rainbow Lake on Day 2 to Merlin Meadows on Day 6 the scenery was pretty fantastic the whole way. Including the day hike to North Fork Pass, we clocked it in at about 115 km. Gavin. PS, happy to post a photo or two.

    Reply
    • Jim Shipley

      Hey Gavin, Jim here – don’t blame yourself on missing those junctions, I have a real beef about Parks Canada being negligent on signage. Really, there’s not that many junctions, and they need to get some signs up. Hell of a good trip you had, and I think I need to see Rainbow lake one of these days. I also sailed right by Badger Pass Campground, and if it wasn’t for my buddies seeing that old white sign in the trees, like a hundred yards off the trail, who knows where I might be today. Gotta love these big journeys, there’s just nothing quite like them, we are blessed here in Western Canada to have a wealth of them.

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