I hope you all have enjoyed my posts about our trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I have photos from one last mountain hiketo share.After spending the night at the Miette Hot Springs Resort, we rose early on Day 7 to hike the 5-mile (8-km) Sulphur Skyline Trail, which begins at the Miette Hot Springs parking lot. The first few minutes were easy, but then the climb began, and we quickly realized that this hike was not for the faint of heart.
The trip to the top, an elevation gain of 2,300 feet (700 meters), took about 2.5 hours. I’ll admit we had to stop for quite a few water breaks. The last 30 minutes were the most difficult, as the trail became quite steep and rocky. It was a rough journey, but the 360-degree view from the top was beyond incredible.
We spent about 30 minutes up there, eating a snack and soaking in our last day in the mountains.
The top is a gravely plateau, and the view from each side is different.
The trails we hiked on our trip gave us a wonderful “survey” of the Canadian Rockies. We saw a little bit of everything! Jasper National Park and Banff National Park have their own unique views, so we were grateful to be able to tour both.
The Sulphur Skyline Trail was the perfect end to a perfect trip.
And just when we thought the excitement was over, we were treated to one last surprise when we finished the hike. As we rested at the picnic tables near the parking lot and campground, a herd of female bighorn sheep arrived.
There were several other people in the immediate area, but these sheep had no fear. We didn’t stalk of feed them, but we enjoyed watching them graze. (All my photos were taken using the zoom on my camera. We did not approach any of the sheep.)
If you look closely in this picture, you’ll notice that one of the sheep has her head down, as she has just head-butted another.
If you wish to look back at my previous posts, here are all the links.
Canadian Rockies Day 1
Canadian Rockies Day 2
Canadian Rockies Day 3
Canadian Rockies Day 4
Lake Louise
Moraine Lake
Canadian Rockies Day 5
Icefields Parkway Part 1
Athabasca Glacier
Canadian Rockies Day 6
Icefields Parkway Part 2
Jasper