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HomeHelena Ridge
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Helena Ridge |
| Elevation 2862m Height
Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent
Ascent |
Access is via
the official Rockbound Lake hiking trail. From Banff head west on
Highway 1 to Castle Junction. Go north to Highway 1A and make a right. Park in the parking lot on the north side
of the road on Highway 1A, 200m east of Castle Junction intersection. The 7.7km hike into Tower Lake is easy hiking through sub-alpine forest. If you have no interest in flora and fauna this 2 hour walk is nothing less than dreadful. As you approach the lake, the limestone cliffs of Castle Mountain spring to view. At the far end of the lake, the trail climbs rapidly up a headwall towards Rockbound Lake. On reaching Rockbound Lake, the Helena Ridge uplift flanks the north-east side. The summit objective is at the north end, characterized by a orange-brown layer near the top. Circle the lake to the right to a wide talus slope just before the last finger of forest drops towards the lake. Clamber up rubble to a grassy bench, then follow the trail left which in short order zigzags its way to the top of a plateau. From this point head up the gully on the south side of the summit massif. As you ascend the gully, note the different color and texture of the rubble on either side. Erosion of dissimilar material from slopes on your left and right have created a perfect bisection of the gully. You'll find the coarser terrain on the right easier going. At the col above the gully, a short stint of scree scrambling completes the trek. From the summit, numerous distant peaks are visible. Mt. Temple is directly west, while Mts Babel, Fay, and Quadra are slightly south. Although these mountains are all over 10,000 feet, you'll have to resort to checking out just their summits, as the lengthy Castle Mountain massif obscures much of their lower slopes. Prominent peaks to the south and southeast are Copper Mountain and Pilot Mountain. The near-vertical strata of the Sawback Range fills the eastern vista.
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