A brilliant but challenging day.
Day 1 July 30th, 2025, Sunshine Village to Og Lake Campground, 21.6 km, 693 m ascent, 823 m descent, 7 hrs 35 min.
I picked up Bent the day before the hike from the airport and he slept overnight in our camping trailer just as he had done last year. We had a fairly big day as we had to get to the base of the Sunshine Gondola, get a ride up the to Sunshine Village then the hike. Spencer’s wife Amanda drove the three of us in their mini van to the base of the gondola. It was a gorgeous blue bird day and it was a super fun and relaxing ride in. Arriving at the gondola base I texted our ride and they turned up in just a few minutes to shuttle us up the hill.
Once we got our boots on the ground we were quickly ready to begin our adventure. It was quite something to think we were starting the hike at Sunshine Village one of the most highly developed area of the Banff National Park. Yet in a few days we would go over Palliser Pass one of the least visited areas of the park.
We headed up the trail from Sunshine Village just before 9:40 am. The trail was a wide crushed gravel path immaculately maintained to encourage the non hikers flocking to up the gondola to hike up to Sunshine Meadows. It was actually a pretty decent climb out of Sunshine Village and you knew right away that this was a serious hike.
I have been lucky enough to stay at Howard Douglas CG on two occasions. I really like the little campground and we have always had memorable after dinner conversations on our visits. The first time at the campground was with Siobhan and Links in 2017. At the dinner table three women from the Biosphere Institute in Canmore politely asked Siobhan and I how we knew each other! That was the first of the three times people have asked in one way or another if we were a couple!
The second time at the campground was with Micah in 2020 when we hiked Section C of the Great Divide Trail. That evening a group of older hikers from Banff, one who was a town councilor, regaled us stories of hiking across Baffin Island and dodgy stream crossings. I remember at some point during the evening the guy broke his whiskey flask so he enlisted my help to drink the whiskey before it leaked out. Micah made fun of me being a little tipsy during the evening.
Unfortunately I was not to have fond memories of this visit. After passing through the campground we stopped at the outlet creek to refill our water and have a snack. Just was we were digging into our packs two young women hiking the other way came by and stopped to get water. I pulled out my daily latte bar and bit in expecting to enjoy one of my favourite on trail snacks. The latte bar tasted OK at first but it soon became apparent I had not done a good job of removing the salt I had mistakenly poured into the mixing bowl (see the intro page to the hike for details of my baking mishap). As I chewed the taste of salt became overwhelming. I really wanted to spit out the latte bar but the women were standing right beside us refilling their water so I just kept chewing. I drank lots of water in an effort to wash the salty tasting latte bars down my throat. I was able to finish the latte bar and after a last hearty drink figured that everything would be fine. We stayed at the lake for about 10 minutes. We decided we would have lunch near the summit of Citadel Pass before doing our big descent for the day.
Fun trail fact the lake was named after Howard Douglas (1850–1929). In 1897, Douglas was the Dominion of Canada superintendent of parks later he was the first commissioner of national parks from 1908 to 1911. There is also a creek and mountain named in his honour. I feel it was not the most inspiring choice for a name for such a lovely lake.
Immediately after leaving Howard Douglas Lake I was not feeling good. I had lead the hike from Sunshine Village to our break at the lake but after my salty latte bars I had lost all the pep in my step and it was hard work just keep Spencer in sight. I was struggling alone in my thoughts when I came around a corner and Bent was setting up under a tree for lunch. It had just been 40 minutes since we had the lake but the trees were starting to thin so this was probably one of the last places to stop for lunch with any shade.
I had a great deal of difficulty eating my lunch of cheese, chips and salami in a wrap. My body just did not want any more salt. I was constantly drinking and already I was getting down on my water. I knew from past experience once over to the other side of Citadel Pass there would be no water until Og Lake.
As we were relaxing a couple of young hikers went by and shortly after a mother/son team came by and stopped to chat about the great trip they were just finishing.
I was doing my best to smile but I was lacking any energy as we got up to leave lunch after about 25 minutes in the shade.
The section of trail we were about to embark on is notoriously dry. There is some running water at the Citadel Pass and a small pond just before the big ascent. The small pond is the last available water until Og Lake. I knew all this from having hiked this section with Micah on our Great Divide Trail Section C trip back in 2020. In order to not slow down the group I made the decision to not refill with water as we passed by the small pond. I was already fading back and having a difficult time keeping up with Spencer and Bent, and I did not want to be a pain by stopping to refill. I cannot say what a huge error in judgement that was. Stopping for water is never an bad idea.
After passing the pond our decent started in earnest. We would lose 420 m in a little under 3 km. On the plus side the descent had excellent shade offered by the trees lining the trail. On the downside the trees prevent much in the way of views.
The valley at the bottom of the climb contains the headwaters of the Simpson River. The area in the picture above is known officially as Police Meadows and is home to Porcupine Campground. I have never been to Porcupine Campground. It is utilized as an overflow campground to Mt Assiniboine or to shorten the hike from Sunshine to Mt. Assinboine. I can safely say that Porcupine Campground is not a destination campground. There is a rustic cabin that you can stay at located in Police Meadows. Bookings for the cabin are done through the Lodge at Mt Assiniboine. As we head to the left (south) into the valley the name of the valley changes to Golden Valley. The name Golden is attributed to a local mountain. Very unfortunately from my point of view is that while all the names are official British Columbia Geographical Names, they are all lack any naming history. The entry for each name reads “Work in Progress: Origin Notes for this name have not yet been transferred from paper records and maps to the website.”
I was really suffering as we came down from the pass. I was drinking water non stop and knew that there was no way my water was going to last until Og Lake.
At this point I stated that I was out of water and asked if anyone had any extra to share. Bent was running a little low but Spencer gave me about a half a litre. While it must have been obvious I was having difficulty on the hike I still had not mentioned anything about the way I was feeling.
The next section we hiked has the descriptive name Valley of the Rocks. The trail bobs and weaves around numerous rocky boulders and outcrops as we close in on Og Lake.
Out of water I stopped and sat on a log trying to recover. I carry my bear spray in a pocket on the side of my pants and it must of fallen out at this point. I got up not realizing I had dropped my bear spray and went in pursuit of Spencer who acting as my carrot leading me down the trail.
We arrived at Og Lake Campground just after 5 pm, seven and half hours since we had left Sunshine Village. After dropping my pack I rushed down to the lake to drink some water. I use a water bladder with an inline water filter. This way I can just scoop up water from a stream or lake and just start drinking. I sat by the lake for about 20 minutes drinking steadily before heading back to camp to set up the tent.
I was really not hungry at dinner but I had confessed to Bent and Spencer what was going on and what was the root cause of troubles was, salt! Dinner was quite pleasant as there were two other groups at camp who were both quite chatty. I was completely uninterested in eating. Spencer kept encouraging me to eat as I spent the better part of an hour trying to eat one hydrated meal. At one point with Spencer reminding me to eat I started to call him Dad. I really tried my best to eat but I just had no appetite. After Bent and Spencer left having finished their own meals long ago I was left alone in the eating area. I could honestly not stomach even looking at my dinner. I finally had to spit out a mouthful of food and conceded failure on my attempt to finish dinner.
Even though I still was not feeling great as the setting sun lit up Mt Assiniboine in gorgeous shades of red and orange I knew I had to take some photos. I spent the better part of 30 minutes running around Og Lake trying to line up photos of Mt Assiniboine reflecting in the water. For those 30 minutes I never thought about how I was feeling.
Going back to the tent marked the end of one of my toughest days on trail. I was hoping a good night’s sleep would have me back to normal in the morning. Good night from Og Lake.
Day 2 – Mountain Magic Group Hike 2025