Sunshine Village to Porcupine campgrounds

We woke up on day 7 of our trip to an less than ideal forecast, overcast with the chance of rain. So we took our time checking out and getting to the trailhead. A late start wasn’t too much of a worry since we had decided to pay for the gondola ride at Sunshine Village making our hike for the day just under 9 miles. We finally left Canmore after eating an early lunch and arriving at Sunshine Village around 11 am.

trail information

We left our car in the large parking area at Sunshine Village and proceeded to the buy a day pass ticket to ride the gondola, it was CAD$40 each. It would have allowed us to return if we were only doing a day hike. Fortunately for an outbound couple hiking out from Assiniboine and finishing at Sunshine, our tickets saved them a few bucks.

Should you want to save the cost of the gondola ride, there is a 4 mile (6.5 km) dirt road that you can hike up gaining 1722 ft (525 m) taking 2 to 3 hours (assiniboinelodge.com).

It took us 20 minutes to ride the gondola to Sunshine Lodge. There is a bathroom and water fountain you can use at the lodge.

We could have started our hike from the lodge, but our day passes also allowed us to access the lift to the top of Mt. Standish. So we thought we might as well head up.

The area around Mt. Standish was a popular spot for day hikers and tourists as plenty were hanging around the viewpoint. Laryx Lake and Rock Isle Lake can bee seen from here and so can Mt. Assiniboine in the distance.

There are a few loops and trails in the area,

but we headed directly toward the trail to Mt. Assiniboine. It was about 1 mile from Standish Viewing Deck starting with the trail to Twin Cairns Junction and then Rock Isle Junction with 1/3 of a mile downhill at about -15.2%. There were plenty of novice hikers and tourists here, so some patience is needed.

Once we turned right onto the trail to Mt. Assiniboine, we were pretty much on our own crossing a large grassy area for just over a mile.

At the edge of the flat, we dipped down through some trees into another meadow before starting our climb back up toward Quartz Ridge. The uphills started about 2.75 miles into our hike. For the first quarter of a mile, we hiked uphills at about with the steepest incline at 21.6% grade through the forest accompanied by many wild flowers. Once we were through the forest, the trail mellowed out to about a 14.6% grade for a third of a mile in the open where we could see the meadows we came from.

On top of Quartz Ridge at the 3.4 miles mark, we came to an open view of the trail ahead of us. Immediately in front of us was the downhill was Howard Douglas Lake. Behind that is Citadel Peak, we would be heading to the left of it to through Citadel Pass. And ofcourse Mt. Assiniboine pokes out in the distance once again.

Heading down to Howard Douglas Lake was about 0.4 miles at a -17.4% grade. Here is one of campgrounds hikers use to breakup the hike into Mt. Assiniboine, The Howard Douglas Lake campgrounds (SU 8) managed by Banff National Park and requiring previous reservations (Parks Canada). This was at about 3.8 miles into the hike.

The next mile of the trail undulated through a patch of forest and meadows with plenty of wildflowers. Then for the mile after, the trail gained elevation at a mild 7.3% grade toward Citadel Pass.

Citadel Pass is a junction for several trails and the boundary of Banff National Park and Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park. This was at roughly 6 miles into our day and we continued by followed signs for Mt. Assiniboine here. Other trails here lead toward Fatigue Pass into the Fatigue Creek drainage and Brewster Creek trail or the Citadel Peak route.

The mile after Citadel Pass dropped us mildly (-5.9% grade) onto a bench with a couple of ponds and plenty of wildflowers. Mt Assiniboine made its appearance once again in the distance.

At the end of the bench, the steep downhills begin with a -16.7% grade over the next mile through the forest.

When we reached the junction at mile 8 for the Porcupine campgrounds, we turned right and began an even steeper drop to the valley floor. The steeper drop was at about a -23.5% grade just over a half mile.

After we reached the valley floor, it was only a few more steps until we reached Porcupine campgrounds. The campgrounds had a dedicated cooking area with a gray water drainage and bear box.

When we arrived just before 4pm, all the tent pads in the main area of the campgrounds were taken including some of the open areas. There were still some smaller open spaces left so we put our stuff down and did some more scouting of the campgrounds. It was fortunate we scouted a bit more because the best tent pad was hidden away from the main area across the stream just before the trail out of camp. So we had our private area area all to ourselves.

We set up camp and joined other campers at the food area for dinner. We turned in early just before hiker midnight since we wanted our pick of campsite at Magog Lake campgrounds the next day. We also wanted to leave the possibility of a day hike in the afternoon.

If you find the Porcupine campgrounds full, there is additional camping at Police Meadows about 1.3 miles further.

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trail information

Our last day of the hike would be the longest since we were hiking all the way out so we could have a zero day before our next backpacking trip. We also woke up the earliest since our shuttle pickup from White Mountain Adventures was scheduled for 4:30pm pickup. We were up at the buttcrack of dawn (5:30am).

We decided to walk back toward Assiniboine Lodge along the lakeshore and were treated with a fantastic view of Mt. Assiniboine reflected on the still Lake Magog. Not only that, we had the whole place to ourselves.

By the time we reached the far side of the lake after a mile, our last view of Mt. Assiniboine had turned from pink to orange with the sun inching closer to revealing itself. This was my favorite morning of our entire trip.

We returned to the Wonder Pass and Marvel Lake Trail to start up the 2 mile hike uphills at 7.1% grade to Wonder Pass. The trail were first on well maintained wood planks that went through the Naiset Cabin area, marshy fields, and crossing of Magog Creek.

Next the trail pass the still Gog Lake before turning into the forest.

We passed a small waterfall on Magog Creek about a 1/3 mile from the pass.

On our final stretch up the Wonder Pass, the sun finally eclipsed the mountainous horizon through the trees and among the wildflowers creating a serene mood.

Wonder Pass was sits at 7874 ft. (2400 m) was the highest point of our hike and making the border of Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park and Banff National Park. We reached the pass just before 8am and 3.4 miles into our hike on the day.

Mt. Assiniboine had long disappeared behind the immediate peaks of the Towers to the west of the pass. There is a junction here you can take to head up to Wonder Peak (explor8ion), something we’ll have to attempt the next time we are back.

There were plenty of flies swarming at Wonder Pass so we didn’t linger long and headed down into the bench of the other side. The descent through the bench was at a mild -7.1% grade over 1.2 miles. Shortly after we left the pass, we came to an unsigned junction. The trail to branching to the left seemed to dead end on my gps map, we decided to continue on and skip the extra mile roundtrip. However, I wish we had done so because it provides a much better view of Gloria Lake (campingcanucks) that our vantages points through the trees later on.

At the end of the bench, the view opened up more with a view of Marvel Lake. The lighting with the still low morning sun and fog created some of favorite pictures of the trip.

Over the next mile, we had the steepest drop of the day at about -17% grade zigzaging through the forest. As I mentioned earlier, we had glimpses through the trees of teal Lake Gloria, Lake Terrapin, and the surrounding mountains, but never an open view.

Once the trail flattens out, we an open section of scree giving us a open view Penny’s Peak and Mount Gloria.

Here is where we also come to the junction with the Marvel Pass trail, a less traveled alternative to reach Mt. Assiniboine (clubtread, backpackinglight). Next time, I’d like to explore this trail.

Over the next 2.8 miles, the trail continues at a very slight downhill on a ledge overlooking Marvel Lake with open views here and there. The view toward the end of the valley is of Penny’s Peak, Mount Gloria, and Aye Mountain.

The view down the valley weren’t as interesting as the morning sun and haze obscured much of the details. The hike along the ledge can be a bit draining with plenty of exposure from the sun.

8.3 miles into our day, we reached the junction splitting the trail toward Bryant Creek shelter/campground (BR 14) and the Marvel Lake campgrounds (BR 13). Since we weren’t camping at either, it didn’t matter which one we took.

I guessed Marvel Lake would provide for a nice place for a lunch break. Even though 10:30am was a bit early, we had been hiking for 4 hours and the open trail along the ledge took a bit out of us. Our decision was reward with an absolutely stunning view of Marvel Lake 0.4 miles from the junction.

There were some leftover equipment here along with a restriction of water based activities here due to Whirling Disease (Parks Canada).

After lunch here, we continued on the flat trail passing a small unnamed pond.

0.7 miles after Marvel Lake, we came to a bridge crossing Bryant Creek. On the other side was the Marvel Lake campgrounds (BR 13).

Another 0.4 miles from Bryant Creek and 9.5 mile mark on the day, we came to the junction with the Assiniboine Pass Trail. It was a wide fire road like trail and the beginning of the long slog to finishing out our hike.

It was 2.2 miles in a monotonous trail through the woods, though not thick enough to give us cover from the sun, until we reached Big Springs and Big Springs campgrounds (BR 9).

We fill up on water here and pushed on. It wasn’t another mile until we came to an opening and a view upon Bryant Creek. You wouldn’t know it, but Bryant Creek and the Assiniboine Trail trail were parallel with each other the entire time we are on it. I would have traded a couple more miles for an more interesting trail along the creek rather than the boring walk through the woods.

3/4 of a mile later and 13.3 miles on the day, we reached the next junction and took the right option toward the Mt. Shark trailhead.

This finally provided us with a brief change of scenery, by taking us across the rushing Bryant Creek

and then the head of the Spray Lake Reservoir.

The Watridge Lake Trail that we were now crossed into Spray Valley Provincial Park, back into Banff National Park, and then again into Spray Valley Provincial Park.

A few step further, we a bridge took us over the green Spray River with Cone Mountain looming downstream.

The half mile uphill that came next at 9.5% grade might have been the toughest for us mentally. We were approaching 15 miles and 7 hours on the day. The trees on either side of the wide dirt road provided no protection from the peak sun.

0.8 miles after to crested the hill, we came to our next junction which was a side trail to to Watridge Lake.

We wanted to push to the end, but recognized we needed a break. So we dropped our packs at the junction and headed down the few steps to Watridge Lake. It was well worth it.

It was good we did because the final 2.4 miles were brutally boring and draining under the hot afternoon sun on a cross country trail that seemed like a fire road surrounded by short trees. If you are taking this direction for a in and out, definitely bring a mountain bike to make quicker work of this terrible section.

The conclusion to our Mt. Assiniboine hike was my least favorite stretch of trail we encountered on the entirety of our trip. I can see why so many pony up the heavy fees of the helicopter ride.

We were extremely happy to see Mt. Shark trailhead after 17.6 miles and a bit over 8.5 hours, we reached our destination just before 3pm with 1.5 hours to spare for our shuttle back into town.

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return to Canmore

With some time to kill at the trailhead, we laid down our tarp and napped in the shade to waiting for the shuttle. It arrived just before 4pm and since all the hikers had arrived, we took off early. Fruit and juice boxes were the snacks provided, which were nice but not the chips I had hoped for.

The drive was a bumpy one rounding Spray Lake Reservoir before dropping down into the Canmore. Even though it was a dirt road, it seemed like a typical sedan would be fine driving on it.

We booked a night at Rundle Mountain Lodge (hotels.com) since it had laundry and I had some Hotels.com giftcards that I purchased for 20% discount (available on Newegg or Amazon at different times throughout the year). We had the shuttle drop Meg off at our hotel first since the ride to Canmore was cheaper and she can get started unpacking. I rode rest of the way to Sunshine Village to pick up the car. Banff was actually the last dropoff for the shuttle since it was the most difficult to navigate.

After a shower, it was burger time at Graze (trip advisor). They were one of the more memorable restaurants in Canmore, especially the portion size. After 18 miles and starving, it hit the spot well.

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final impressions

ratings

The rating below are based on an unevenly distributed scale of 1-5. For full description of the ratings and the categories, see the explanation here.

views/experience: 4. The highlight of the hike was indeed Mt. Assiniboine standing tall and majestic from our first glimpse at our start on Mt. Standish to our lake side view by Lake Magog.

I would recommend staying at least a couple of nights at Magog Lake campgrounds to full take in the magnificent basin, something we’ll have to do when we return. While we spent our time lounging along the shores of Lake Magog, there are several day hikes (infarawayland) to explore here such as the Nub/Nublet hike (hikebiketravel, peterlamphotography). In the future, I would like to hike up to Wonder Peak (explor8ion) for a better view of Gloria Lake and Mt. Assiniboine from the other side.

It seems like the Lake Magog basin is the primary reason for the provincial parks popularity and the helicopter transport makes it easy for everyone to access the valley. Most of the trail that we hiked into Lake Magog were a mixed bag with more mediocre sections than great and included the dullest portion of trail we experience on our trip. Since we spent most of this hike on these trails, it does take away from the experience as a whole.

My favorite trail section from on our way out from Wonderland Pass down to Marvel Lake. It didn’t hurt that we had the perfect morning for the hike.

This was followed by my least favorite portion of the hike on the boring dirt road that is Assiniboine Pass Trail through the woods and the Watridge Lake Trail, which was a cross country ski trail in the open without much views.

The trail on our way in from Sunshine Village was enjoyable enough, but not the most interesting. The best part was the many wildflowers that dotted the meadows we traversed.

difficulty: 2. Going in from Sunshine Village and heading out of Mt. Shark, we experienced more elevation drop than gain. The trails were never that difficult overall and we cruised on the well traveled trail. The most annoying portion was again the Assiniboine Pass Trail and the Watridge Lake Trail between Marvel Lake and Mt. Shark trailhead. It was very boring and the lack of cover through parts of it meant we were baking under the sun for long portions. That section was difficult enough for others to leave a colorful message at the Mt. Shark trailhead.

technical: 1. There were no specific navigation or other specialized knowledge beyond basic hiking skills that were needed for the hike. There was no scrambling or need to use our hands since the trail is very well managed. There was some slight exposure coming down from Wonderland Pass to Marvel Lake, but the trail was well managed once again.

useful links

• British Columbia Parks – Mount Assiniboine Reservation
• Parks Canada reservations
• Assiniboine Lodge
• White Mountain Adventures – Mt. Shark Shuttle Reservations
• besthike.com – Sunshine to Assiniboine Information (#5 top 10 hikes)
  • 2020 hike and heli report
• in a faraway land – guide to visit Mt. Assiniboine

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