We did this hike on May 18, 2015. There was Sandy, Chris, Curtis ( 😊 ) and I.

This hike was hard. There were no real flat parts. It was all a steady climb. Right from the dried creek bed to to helicopter pad; straight up.

There was a fair bit of us on the trail since it had snowed a few days before; this made it slippery in sections but nothing too serious. When the trees broke, the view was amazing. Canmore was sprawled below and the emerald lakes and reservoir above; all enclosed with tall snowy mountains. Our mountain, and any to the east, were bare of all snow; we were liking the no snow for a change.

Once we got up to the helicopter pad, the hike became a bit more daunting. The trail led straight up loose rock and gravel. There were plenty of times you were near 75 degrees. It was quite difficult. Most times you would take 2 or 3 steps up and slide 1 down. There were a lot of rations where you had to be careful because it would drop off the sides or become deadly.

Once we made it up the top, we hung around for a bit. There were lots of people who came up after us; so we didn’t have the place to ourselves. The true summit is along a ridge that isn’t big enough for an actual trail. For half of it, you have to hold on to the ridge and use your toe grips on your boots to move along the ridge. But don’t slip because it’s a long way down. The best part of this last trek was holding on to the ridge and looking over, seeing it drop significantly, then looking down below you and seeing it drop. You were holding on to the top most ridge of the mountain.

The way down was easier but because of the grade, your legs became very tired, fast.

In Summary:

It’s rated intermediate and I would leave it as such but it was a very tiring hike. Be prepared to climb and bring a light pack. You don’t need a heavy one. If you do the summit and don’t stop at the false summit, watch your footing. The last half you have to find small toe holds and ridges to get an inch of your foot on. Don’t sneeze!