Bow Peak

Hike Name: Bow Peak

Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 14.7km (RT)

Altitude: 2,879 m

Elevation Gain: 950m

Area: Banff (Icefields Parkway)

Crew: Travis, Zach

Time to Summit: 3 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: Maybe

Trailhead: ~500m south of the Crowfoot Glacier Viewpoint, there is a pullout on the southbound side of the road.

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head north on the Icefield Parkway (Hwy 93). Continue about 30 km. It may be best to go to the Crowfoot Glacier Viewpoint then turn around and backtrack 500m to the pullout.

Additional Info:

On the first day of the summer with 0% chance of rain in the forecast (note its AUGUST 21 and leaves are turning yellow..), we decided to head out to the Icefields Parkway. We settled on Bow Peak because we brought Travis' dog, Zach. This was an awesome hike, definitely worth even just going to Crowfoot pass. Once we hit the pass, we started heading left, up Bow Peak. There's some scrambling on boulders, then a nice ridge walk to the summit.

Note: You have to ford a creek early on in the hike. The water was mid-thigh height on me in the afternoon. 

 Bow peak (left) from the trailhead / Hwy 93

 View through the pass towards the mountains bordering Hwy 93. Temple is seen in the distance (middle)

 Hector lake

 Zach enjoying the view. And getting antsy to keep moving around! Mount Hector can be seen with the glacier in the middle background.

 Me trying to learn how a flag works (found in summit register!). Mount Balfour with the glacier in the background.

Heading down - Zach is ready to get a move-on again! You can see how far we hiked in, with Hwy 93 on the far right. The bottom of the closer lake is where we forded the creek.