| Beginning of August, 2008 a friend of mine and I visited Jasper National Park to backpack into Amethyst Lakes in the Tonquin Valley. It had been on my "to do" list for about 20 years. The trail head is just before reaching Mt. Edith Cavell and Angel Glacier, so as warm-up, the day before the start of our backpacking trip we located the trail head and explored the Mt. Edith Cavell area. This included a hike up Cavell Meadows with good views across the valley to Angel Glacier. Unfortunately the wildflowers were no where near as spectacular as I have seen them on previous (or subsequent) trips. We then dropped back down to the lake, one end of which is filled with glacier and walked up to an ice cave which we were able to enter. | |
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Cavell Lake and Cavell Glacier from below Mt. Edit Cavell and Angel Glacier |
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The next day we backpacked into Amthyst Lakes and camped at Suprise Pt. campground at the southern end, under "The Ramparts". The hike began with a long wooded hike up the Astoria River valley with generally pleasant weather. We then climbed a long series of switchbacks to gain the shoulder of a mountain overlooking the Tonquin Valley and the Ramparts. Just as we crested the shoulder and the views started to open up, the weather deteriorated and started raining. However, at every step more spectacular views appeared, larger and larger glaciers and snowfields provided a breathtaking view tinged with wonder and distant mystery. We then descended to our camp site, only to be swarmed by the inevitable swarms of mosquitos. This was Grizzly country, so food was hung far from the cooking area which in turn was far from the camping sites. The view shown here up the Eremite Valley promised interesting scenery for our planned day hike the following day. |
| The next day we embarked on a rather long day hike up into Eremite Valley. The first long part was in the bottom of a broad valley causing us to keep a careful eye out for bears but eventually the trail climbed fairly steeply. We finally came to the end of the trail, both in reality and as shown on the map, high above Arrowhead Lake with some pretty spectacular views. We stopped and had lunch, but the map showed one more lake further up the valley and it looked like probably pretty easy going, above tree line, once we crossed a few snow patches and lines of low shrub (note the flip-flops with ice axe and gloves). |  |
| Crossing a snow field near the top of Eremite Valley in flip flops |
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Passing those we clambered up some easy grassy slopes and out onto a barren field and stood stunned at the most spectacular sights we had ever seen! |
| Last lake in Eremite Valley |
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| 270 degree view of Eremite Valley |
| I have travelled the world, explored some of the most spectacular backcountry
regions of the world, and what I saw here was beyond anything I had ever even
imagined. If someone had asked me to sketch the most amazing mountain scene I
could imagine, it would not have compared to the reality that confronted us.
We stood in awestruck silence for a while, just gasping in amazement, sitting, letting the beauty, the spendor, the magnificent isolation soak in, then standing again, turning around to take it all in, and again sitting, listening to the distant roar of running water. |
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Finally it was time to start back to camp. And that is when it really struck me: This was a peak experience. Based on a lifetime exploring spectacular backcountry, the chance that I would again see something this awesome in person was pretty slim. And I had to turn and walk away from it. Talk about bittersweet: Truly, amazingly, wonderfully exhilarating and awesome, but also disappointing that I had to leave it behind.
It was a long hike back to camp, dinner, a bit of exploring around and an early bed-time. The next morning I was up first, crawled out of the tent to find ... snow! First week of August! Ah well, breakfast, hiking sandals instead of flip-flops for the first part of the hike out. Shoulder our backs and hit the trail. Interesting, as I get older, I seem to have more stamina - we just chugged along and left a number of parties in our dust. For a bit more on this, read my little note on Tough Old Guys.
| I returned to the Tonquin Valley and Eremite Valley in early
July, 2023. On this trip I was joined by my 20-something kids,
Akilah and Kiernan, and Akilah's significant other, Andy. Instead
of staying at Surprise Point Campground, we stayed at the Alpine
Club of Canada (ACC) Wates-Gibson Hut. The trail to Surprise Point Campground is a well maintained hikers highway. However, the trail to the ACC hut splits off about 1/3 of the way to the hut and becomes a dedicated but horrible trail to the hut. The hut register contained comments from the previous year that someone had counted 63 downed trees across the path, plus more from a late winter storm this year, plus lots of mud holes, etc. But once there, the hut provided a welcome refuge from the mosquitos and a nice backcountry base. |
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| Kiernan, Jack, Akilah, Andy in front of Wates-Gibson hut | |
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| Akilah, Andy, Kiernan, Jack at end of Eremite Valley |
| I was surprised reading the hut register at how few people
even tried Eremite Valley. It seemed most people were on a loop
or out and back hike with no side trips planned. Of the few
entries which spoke of trying Eremite Valley, most seemed to turn
back at the broken bridge about 1/2 mile up the valley. We just
forded the river & kept on. One of the things which we realized on our way up to the hut was that for us, the challenge, and yes, the pain, discomfort, and danger are part of what makes this place special. It would not be the same if you could drive up to it. This place in particular calls to me, part because I discovered it (yes, others have been here before but there are essentially no descriptions). Some maps show a trail in Eremite Valley, others do not. The ones that do, have it in the wrong place. But in 2008, Andrew & I went "beyond" the end of the trail, up over the snowbank to find the spectacular scenery. Similarly this time we had told a couple in the hut about Eremite and they decided to do it, leaving a few minutes before us. Sure enough, we found them having lunch at "the end of the trail". I just said, "follow me" up over the last snow bank to the real spectacular scenery. |
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On another day, we took a short hike on a trail heading uphill from the hut to Icefall Lake in the Fraser Glacier Valley between Bennington and Parapet Peaks. Icefall Lake was beautiful and then we scrambled up into the land of ice and rock between Bennington and Parapet Peaks. |