Hiking up Pyramid Mountain in Jasper, Canada

Hello Steemians!

A few years back my cousin Luke and I made the trek up Pyramid Mountain just outside of Jasper in Alberta, Canada. This is a popular hike because it's only a few minutes outside the town proper but it is quite difficult to reach the summit so the trail gets pretty empty towards the top as people often turn back before reaching the summit. This hike is a great one because it starts out on a fire road so you can get the first 12km finished on a mountain bike before making the final 8km on foot up the side of the mountain. It offers spectacular views of the town of Jasper and the surrounding mountains in a way that only the Rocky mountains can provide. We had a blast but we also had a few sketchy moments which left me with a new respect for hiking and scrambling in the mountains.

A snowman in the middle of summer!

Getting There

From Jasper you just have to head up the road that leads to Patricia Lake and follow it to the end right out front of the Pyramid Lake villas, the road ends and you can park anywhere off to the side. We got there just after 7am and unpacked our bikes for the long slog up the fire road (a fire road is a cut line designed to stop a wild fire from spreading by removing the fuel source, they are about 5-6m wide usually and rocky). It took us the better part of three hours to get to the end of the road and lock our bikes to a tree, this part of the hike is punishing partly because its all uphill at a 9-10% grade and also because you are surrounded by tall trees and can't see the mountains. But we made it safe and sound and ready to keep going.

Finally, a little reward for the slog up on the bikes

GoPro selfie at the bottom

The Scramble

This hike is actually classified as a scramble (reaching the summit of a mountain without a trail or any technical climbing) so we started out slowly to get a feel for the best way to the top of the mountain without getting hurt and also causing the least amount of damage to the minimal plant life. We made it to the top of the ridge in about 45 minutes then we had to follow the ridge line up the side of the mountain to the top. The ridge is mostly flat for a few hundred meters then it climbs quite quickly and is littered by boulders of varying sizes that you have to climb up and find the easiest way through. We had a great time navigating these rocks; hopping, jumping, and climbing our way to the top as quick as we could and we arrived about 2.5 hours after reaching the ridge and were rewarded with spectacular views.

Unbelievable views up here

We built this little guy up there with the snow that stays up there all year round, but let me tell you, it is COLD!

My cousin Luke and the snowman!

There is a large slab of concrete at the top where a radio tower sat long ago and we had a little visitor when we were up there!

The Trouble

After we spent an hour or so exploring the summit it was time to head back down to the bikes and we should have went the way we came but Luke wanted to go a different way and I relented. This was a mistake. At this point in my life I had done many hikes and scrambles and I had (and still do) a healthy fear of mountains and the risks of going to far off the beaten path. So instead of going back we went down the main face of the mountain that was covered with snow. We made it about 100m before the snow got so deep we couldn't walk and made the (terrible) decision to slide on our bags down the snow for a few hundred meters and continue making our way down. Luke went first and just barely stopped himself before hitting a rock outcrop and stood waiting for me to go next. I mustered up my courage and hit the snow and sped down about 300m to Luke but I couldn't stop and he literally grabbed my arm just in time to catch me and I am so thankful he was there for that. It was one of the craziest experiences of my life but it was one I will not forget.

You can see our trails in the snow from the slide

Luke made it!

After the mess in the snow we very slowly made our way down the rest of the mountain on one of the most uncomfortable routes I have ever taken on a mountain. It took us more that 5 hours to make it back to the bikes but we eventually made it and were rewarded with a smooth ride down the fire road and back to the car. We went right to the brewpub where he worked and feasted on burgers and beer after a day of exercise and eating dry fruit and nuts. I learned a lot that day and I hope you learned something from this too.

This was the reason Luke wanted to head down a different way, to see this lake, it was impressive but it wasn't worth the risk

I hope you enjoyed my story, check out my page for more stories like this one, Thanks for Reading!