Canadian Rockies Trail Guide

by Brian Patton & Bart Robinson and Summerthought Ltd.

Banff National Park

Healy Pass

Sunshine Parking Lot to Healy Pass - 9.2 km (5.7 miles)

Sunshine Parking lot to Egypt Lake Campground - 12.4 km (7.7 miles)

Elevation Gain: 655 metres (2,150 feet)

Elevation Loss: 335 metres (1,100 feet)

Maximum Elevation: 2330 metres (7,650 feet)]

Description:

While Healy Pass and its adjoining meadows make a worthy objective for any day hiker, it is the area beyond the pass, centered on Egypt Lake, that is the focal point for backpackers.

June 2004

This was my first actual overnight backpacking trip in several years that almost never happened. When applying for my backcountry permit, I was informed that Healy Pass was closed due to snow  and that I would have to take a longer route up to Egypt Lake. The guide book suggested that it should be a 3 day trip but I only had 2 days for the trip which I figured would be barely enough time with a full pack without tacking on an addition 6 miles or so.  But I decided that I drove here to go on an overnight trip and dammit, I was going on an overnight trip.

I had all my gear checked out in Calgary and replaced a couple of items and they taught me how to use my stove properly. At the campsite in town, I decided to try out the stove and make sure I really knew how to use it. I finally got it started and was playing around with it when a leak in the fuel bottle suddenly shot fuel directly into the stove flame. A few seconds later one-half of the picnic table was ablaze. As I stared at the fire thinking, "What am I going to do now, I definitely don't have enough water to put this out" I realized my truck keys were in the middle of the blaze.  I managed to knock them off the table with a stuff-sack and decided my best course of action was to separate the stove and the fuel bottle. Sticking my hands into the fire I managed to separate them and threw the bottle aside. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for completing this task until I heard a hissing behind me.  When I turned around, I saw that the bottle had turned into a mini flame thrower and a two-foot long flame was shooting out of the leak. I managed to solve that particular crisis and imagined the forest fire headlines in tomorrow's newspapers as I stared at the picnic table, still ablaze.  It eventually burned itself out and the table itself must have been fireproof as there wasn't a scratch on it.

I bought a fantastic hammock/tent a few years back http://www.hennessyhammock.com/ but never needed to use the fly before.  Of course, it started raining and I found out that the fly was about a foot too small to cover the entire hammock.

At this point I figured that the fates were against this hike and abandoned the idea of an overnight hike and figured I would go on a day-hike instead.  I didn't much feel like hiking the next morning but figured that I drove all this way to Banff and I was going hiking.  I picked out three likely hikes from the guidebook and headed to the ranger station to cancel my backcountry permit and found out which of the three hikes were the best.  All three were snowed out and I decided to forget the whole thing.  But, again, I couldn't justify the trip to Banff without at least a walk and decided to try a short little hike just outside town.

I picked out the trail and followed the directions to the trailhead.  I missed my turn because of construction in the area and by the time I made it back to the turn a car had smashed into a bus and was blocking the entire road. "OK god, I get it! No hiking for me."

I did see a black bear on the side of the highway as I drove to Edmonton.

On the way back I decided to give it another try and everything went smoothly.  It was an excellent beginner hike even though I started to design different ways of pulling the pack behind me at about mile 6.  At mile 7 I started to give serious consideration to dropping the pack and hiring someone at the campground to pick it up for me.

Here's the pics (Click on the picture to see full size):

These are low res pictures.  I can send you higher quality pictures if you want them