Getting to the sulfur skyline trail was an ordeal in itself. The night before, we were driving the Icefields Parkway… the sole road that runs north through the Canadian rockies. Having driven 2 hours from Banff, we were only 42 minutes away from our destination, the town of jasper, when we came upon a long line of stalled cars in traffic. To avoid wasting time we peeled off the road and went hiking at Sunwapta Falls, hoping the traffic would disappear by the time we finished. Instead, when we got back to the parkway fresh with mosquito bites, we found an even longer line of cars in bumper to bumper traffic.
At the southern gate in the park, the guard told us there was a horrid car crash up north, and it might take over a day to clear the roads. (A couple days later, we would drive by the accident site while traveling on the southbound lane: black skid marks and burn marks on the road the only remnant of the tragedy. A van carrying five members of a family from Louisiana was heading north when it collided head-on with a southbound vehicle carrying 4 restaurant workers from Banff. Six people died in the fiery wreckage). At this point, we had 2 options. Drive another hour south back to resort town Banff for accommodations and hope the roads would clear by the morning… or drive a 7.5 hour loop outside the park to get to our destination. Without assurance the original road would be cleared for passage, we decided to go for the sure thing, the 7.5 hour drive. As we headed south, we found the campsites were all filled. At one campsite, everyone was full of sympathy for us stranded unprepared travelers and we were even offered some random assortment of crackers and beef jerky. We debated sleeping in our car but decided to head further south to try to find a hotel.
We passed the Icefields Center and went in to charge phones and see if we could get reception to find the rest of our reunion party. Stranded Chinese tourists were setting up shop, blowing up air mattresses and laying down bedding. It was like they had prepared for this very random situation. We decided to keep driving on but started panicking when all the hotels we passed were full of visitors who couldn’t get past the traffic jam but were wise enough not to waste time at local trails waiting for the traffic to resolve. When we finally got to the town of Rocky Mountain Lodge, we had never been so happy to find and stay at a trashy motel.
On our way to Jasper the next day, I noticed signs for sulfur skyline. I had seen it in guidebooks as a highly rated trail, but I didn’t expect to hike it as it was north of jasper. After a couple calls to my cousins, only one, S and her kids decided to meet us. Instead of the hike, they would meet us at the Miette hot springs at the base of the mountain for a soak.
The trail up was a series of sweaty switchbacks through dense vegetation. The grueling beginning attracts travelers for its rewarding panoramic 360 degrees open views from the summit. The trail is only 5 miles roundtrip, but the elevation gain is 2050 feet in only 2.5 miles, so it is pretty challenging to summit. 1.5 miles in we got sporadic views of the valley below through clearings in the trees. Our shirt backs were completely soaked with sweat. After approximately two hours, we got above the tree line and emerged on the alpine meadow with a peculiar white large rock in the middle. You can enjoy beautiful views from here, but another strenuous scramble up a short rocky trail takes you up to the barren loose gravel and small rock slopes of the Sulphur Skyline summit. It was windy up there, but the panoramic views were incredible. The ridge to the east looked like the great wall of china. The sky was hazy orange from forest fires and the mountains were cloaked in smoke. I asked B if he liked it. He confessed the switchbacks were worth the view.
The best part of the return trip was the anticipation of soaking in the hottest hot springs in the Canadian Rockies, Miette Hotsprings. B and J met their cousins for a soak. They jumped from pools with really hot water into others that were cold. Over and over again, like manic frogs. The adults were content, just soaking in the warm water and resting tired muscles, the sunset disappearing into the trees over the pools.
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| accident scene |
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| sunwapta falls |
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| 42 minute drive becomes 7.5 hour odyssey |
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| sweat pikachu |
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| Great wall of china |
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