Jasper National Park:Wilcox Pass

Dad had the alarm set to wakeup us up at an absurdly early hour as we would be driving about two hours south to hike Wilcox Pass which is near the Athabasca Glacier. I am NOT a morning person and it was very difficult to drag myself out of bed.

The stepmother was once again not joining us on this hike for whatever reason, no complaints from me!

It was a beautiful drive to the hiking trail, the sun was coming up and there was a lovely misty fog settled around the mountains.

We were the first hikers at the trail that morning thanks to dad's insistence of an early wakeup. I was grateful for that as we were able to get a good ways up the trail before more accomplished hikers showed up and started to pass us due to my slow hiking speed.

This trail has a steady elevation gain, there were not too many steep slopes to scramble up which made it more enjoyable.

The hike starts out in the woods and you gradually climb above the treeline and are greeted with fantastic views of the Athabasca glacier and the other glaciers that surround it as they all come down from the Columbia Icefields.

Athabasca Glacier

Once out of the treeline you are hiking out in the open with the view of the glaciers to your left.

You eventually reach a large valley that appears to stretch on forever. Dad says you could continue walking through the valley for hours but we did not have time for that. Instead we decided to climb up a bit higher and find a good lunch spot.

View from our lunch spot. It was VERY cold up there. Dad says it is because the air is blowing over the glaciers which cools it. It is also because we were on an exposed hilltop. If you ever hike this trail make sure to pack a warm sweater or fleece! 

Wilcox Pass is well known for the Mountain Sheep that frequent the valley. On the way up Dad and I did not see any and so thought we were out of luck. However, on our way back down another hiker pointed one out to us. Up where Dad and I had been eating our lunch there was now a Mountain Sheep! We could barely see it as we were so far away but Dad was able to get some pictures thanks to his zoom.