Home»All Photographs»2017 Hikes»Big Bend Peak 09-02-17

Named for the hairpin switchback in the adjacent highway, Big Bend Peak is big on scenery. We saw five of the Rockies 11,000-ers from the summit. It is located in the northern portion of Banff National Park, near the border with Jasper National Park.
Fall was in the air on this one, with changing foliage and fresh air (thankfully the summer-long smoke show abated for today).
Even the testy weather in this area played along today. Mother Nature just sat back and said "Here you go".
The trailhead was more entertaining than most. The powerful North Saskatchewan River plummets into a narrow canyon RIGHT next to where we parked.
The ascent was thoroughly enjoyable with Clayton and his son, Eric, providing good conversation along with the ever-improving view.
The ridge is just a steep hike, but any rocks knocked down on the approach to the false summit will pick up speed quickly, as we noted below us.
The summit view is quite a dramatic scene. Glaciated Mt. Saskatchewan, Mt. Bryce, Mt. Columbia, Mt. Andromeda and Mt. Athabasca (all 11,000-ers), form a ring to the northwest, while the untamed expanse of the White Goat Wilderness Area stretches out to the east, beyond the national park boundary.
Upon descent, we elected to take an alternate route down to the river, through a steep-ish gully with loose scree. We donned the helmets and made a quick, but fun descent down to the rivers edge, where we enjoyed our last break of the day.