![\"15-09-27](\"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/15-09-27-BLOG-the-peak.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI chose Mt. Assini\u00adboine, a hand\u00adsome 3,618m peak in the south-cen\u00adtral Rock\u00adies, in BC<\/span> but close to the Alber\u00adta bound\u00adary. The area around it is well pro\u00adtect\u00aded. No roads are allowed in the 4,000ha region around it. Access is lim\u00adit\u00aded to hik\u00ading in or out on foot, or heli\u00adcopter. There are a lim\u00adit\u00aded num\u00adber of camp\u00ading places, and envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal pro\u00adtec\u00adtion is strict. All sup\u00adplies must be car\u00adried in, and noth\u00ading, not even a gum rap\u00adper, should be left behind. This area is in turn sur\u00adround\u00aded on all sides by larg\u00ader nation\u00adal and provin\u00adcial parks with less strin\u00adgent pro\u00adtec\u00adtion, but still kept wild. The Kanasask\u00adis Range, pro\u00adtect\u00ading its east\u00adern flank, puts it into a dif\u00adfer\u00adent world from the ski resorts and tourist trail of Banff and Jasper. From the Alber\u00adta side, it\u2019s rather like The Wall in Game of Thrones<\/em>.<\/p>\n Our plan was to meet at a hos\u00adtel in Cal\u00adgary, then take a bus the next day to Can\u00admore, Alber\u00adta, a ski and rid\u00ading resort in the Bow Val\u00adley. We overnight\u00aded there, which gave us an evening to explore the town, climb\u00ading up to some hoodoos that over\u00adlooked the town, and amus\u00ading our\u00adselves look\u00ading at the absurd abun\u00addance of wild rab\u00adbits hop\u00adping around the town. Almost as numer\u00adous were Ford 550 cab trucks. The local library was equipped with a climb\u00ading wall \u2014 not some\u00adthing you expect in a library in Toron\u00adto. Its exten\u00adsive local his\u00adto\u00adry col\u00adlec\u00adtion revealed that Can\u00admore was orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly a coal min\u00ading town, first set\u00adtled by dour-look\u00ading immi\u00adgrant Finns of such prodi\u00adgious fer\u00adtil\u00adi\u00adty that they would have inspired the envy of the rab\u00adbits. The present pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion is the usu\u00adal mul\u00adti-racial, mul\u00adti-lin\u00adgual Cana\u00addi\u00adan mix\u00adture, with a notice\u00adable pres\u00adence of local Black\u00adfoot, Sarcee, and Cree.<\/p>\n In Can\u00admore, we faced the first strate\u00adgic uncer\u00adtain\u00adty in our plans. To reach Mt. Assini\u00adboine, we would hike 28km from the trail\u00adhead, going over Assini\u00adboine Pass to a small log cab\u00adin near Lake Magog, where we would stay for three nights. This entry hike was sup\u00adposed to take between sev\u00aden and ten hours. Overnight\u00ading on the trail was not encour\u00adaged, since it\u2019s griz\u00adzly coun\u00adtry. So we would have to start rea\u00adson\u00adably ear\u00adly. But to get to the trail\u00adhead at Mt. Shark, we need\u00aded to go through the nar\u00adrow pass between Mt. Run\u00addle and Ha Ling Peak, then fol\u00adlow a 40km grav\u00adel road. There is no pub\u00adlic trans\u00adporta\u00adtion along this road, so we had no choice but to get up ear\u00adly and hope that we could hitch-hike to the trail\u00adhead and get there with a suf\u00adfi\u00adcient win\u00addow of day\u00adlight. For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, we got a ride with\u00adin half an hour, with a charm\u00ading woman who knew the moun\u00adtains and trails.<\/p>\n Me at the trail\u00adhead near Mt. Shark.<\/p><\/div>\n The sec\u00adond uncer\u00adtain\u00adty was our phys\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00addi\u00adtion. Both of us had leg injuries. I had an as-yet unhealed stress frac\u00adture in my left leg, that was still occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly painful, and Fil\u00adip has some kind of ongo\u00ading plan\u00adtar prob\u00adlem. Fil\u00adip is a big, mus\u00adcu\u00adlar guy, much more ath\u00adlet\u00adic than I am. I\u2019m a pudgy lit\u00adtle guy, nobody\u2019s visu\u00adal image of an out\u00addoors\u00adman. Though I have a long his\u00adto\u00adry of out\u00addoor activ\u00adi\u00adties, in recent years I\u2019ve been pret\u00adty urban. My last hike on this scale \u2014 a long uphill grind in the moun\u00adtains of Tran\u00adsyl\u00adva\u00adnia in 2007 \u2014 left me par\u00ada\u00adlyzed with exhaus\u00adtion, unable to walk the last klik to my goal. A short hike up Mont du Lac des Cygnes in Que\u00adbec, last spring, was easy enough, but didn\u2019t indi\u00adcate any great degree of spry\u00adness. Frankly, I had no idea if I would be able to do this. It\u2019s cus\u00adtom\u00adary for peo\u00adple to heli\u00adcopter in to the moun\u00adtain, then hike out over the pass, mak\u00ading most of the trip down\u00adhill. I had pur\u00adpose\u00adly arranged things in reverse, so that the test of our met\u00adtle would be at the start. The 28km hike would be uphill most of the way, start\u00ading with a 65m descent to the Upper Spray Riv\u00ader, then a 650m rise to Assini\u00adboine Pass.<\/p>\n Anoth\u00ader uncer\u00adtain\u00adty was the weath\u00ader, always a gam\u00adble in the Rock\u00adies. We hiked under a grey, over\u00adcast sky. We were both resigned to the pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty that rain\u00adstorms or even snow\u00adfall might sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly reduce both vis\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty and com\u00adfort. In fact, the woman who gave us the ride had informed us that Lake Magog\u2019s alpine val\u00adley was snow\u00adbound that morn\u00ading, but was expect\u00aded to melt off by the time we got there. While there was a gen\u00ader\u00adal pre\u00addic\u00adtion of clear\u00ading weath\u00ader in the next few days, moun\u00adtains tend to chop up such pre\u00addic\u00adtions into micro-weath\u00ader, with large vari\u00ada\u00adtions between dif\u00adfer\u00adent enclaves.<\/p>\n Fil\u00adip behind me (as usu\u00adal) near the start of Assini\u00adboine Pass \u2014 snow start\u00ading to appear on the trail.<\/p><\/div>\n As it turned out, the cool, grey weath\u00ader was a bless\u00ading. The upward trek was not near\u00adly as dif\u00adfi\u00adcult as I had feared, and we made rapid progress with\u00adout work\u00ading up a sweat. After only a few hours, we came upon a bull-moose. This was some\u00adwhat unusu\u00adal, as moose are noc\u00adtur\u00adnal. I have had a lot expe\u00adri\u00adence with this charm\u00ading\u00adly stu\u00adpid ani\u00admal. This one was a young male, with a rack of antlers raw red from either fight\u00ading or scratch\u00ading. I wasn\u2019t sure if it was rut\u00adting sea\u00adson here, but I knew it was so back in Ontario. Moose can be dan\u00adger\u00adous, if you get too close to them, espe\u00adcial\u00adly rut\u00adting males, and we had turned a cor\u00adner that brought us quite close to him. But he looked at us with bored dis\u00addain and walked away. This was to be our only encounter with a large ani\u00admal. We had pur\u00adchased a can of bear spray in Cal\u00adgary, since it is more or less required, because there are numer\u00adous griz\u00adzlies in the area. How\u00adev\u00ader, griz\u00adzly-human encoun\u00adters are rare. Usu\u00adal\u00adly, they hear the noise of humans from far off, or smell them in the air and avoid them. We met two par\u00adties of peo\u00adple mak\u00ading the more pop\u00adu\u00adlar down\u00adward trip. At approx\u00adi\u00admate\u00adly the half-way point, the val\u00adley we fol\u00adlowed climbed out of the for\u00adest and opened up into alpine mead\u00adow, hemmed in by spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar cliffs. Only the last por\u00adtion, where the trail had become mud\u00addy and nar\u00adrow, and the climb over Assini\u00adboine pass, rather steep, bro\u00adken up, and still snowy, was any sort of challenge.<\/p>\n We made it to the cab\u00adin in good time. The snow had most\u00adly melt\u00aded, but Mt. Assini\u00adboine was still invis\u00adi\u00adble, hid\u00adden behind a mist of clouds. We were tired, but not exhaust\u00aded. There was already a fire in the stove, and we met our cab\u00adin mates. We could not have been luck\u00adi\u00ader. They were a charm\u00ading fam\u00adi\u00adly of M\u00e9tis back\u00adground: a hus\u00adband and wife, a teenage daugh\u00adter by an ear\u00adli\u00ader mar\u00adriage, and a dig\u00adni\u00adfied elder\u00adly aunt. The hus\u00adband had once been a ranger at Assini\u00adboine, and knew the place by heart. Two sons were with them, but were tent\u00ading in the bush, rather than stay\u00ading in the cab\u00adin. They all had the qui\u00adet, soft-spo\u00adken calm and con\u00adfi\u00addence that would make them an ide\u00adal\u00adized sam\u00adple of exem\u00adp\u00adlo famil\u00adia canaden\u00adsis<\/em>. I had expect\u00aded to share the cab\u00adin with the inevitable Aus\u00adtralians on walk\u00ada\u00adbout, or some noisy macho types. This fam\u00adi\u00adly was a bless\u00ading to us, mak\u00ading the whole expe\u00adri\u00adence sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly bet\u00adter than expected.<\/p>\n The fol\u00adlow\u00ading day was still over\u00adcast, and Mt. Assini\u00adboine still remained hid\u00adden. The Lakes around the moun\u00adtain are charm\u00ading\u00adly named: Gog, Magog, Og, Sun\u00adburst, Cerulean, Mar\u00advel, Glo\u00adria and Ter\u00adrapin. Each is strik\u00ading\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent in appear\u00adance. Giv\u00aden the weath\u00ader, we decid\u00aded to spend the next day walk\u00ading the most\u00adly lev\u00adel and unde\u00admand\u00ading trail to Og Lake, which turned out to be slight\u00adly creepy-look\u00ading and des\u00ado\u00adlate, sur\u00adround\u00aded by bare rock and a wide beach of peb\u00adbles. By the time we returned to the cab\u00adin, my leg was act\u00ading up. I passed on a sec\u00adond hike, and spent time relax\u00ading around the camp, while Fil\u00adip head\u00aded up to Won\u00adder Pass. He returned just as it was get\u00adting dark. He had actu\u00adal\u00adly crossed the pass and was able to look down at Mar\u00advel, Glo\u00adria and Ter\u00adrapin lakes, but Mt. Assini\u00adboine remained shroud\u00aded in cloud. We bunked down for the evening. I had wor\u00adried that my chron\u00adic snor\u00ading would be a social prob\u00adlem, but it turned out that every\u00adbody snored. In the mid\u00addle of the night, I woke and went out to pee. The sky had cleared and stars come out. The North\u00adern Lights were shin\u00ading. Not a spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar dis\u00adplay, with mul\u00adti-coloured cur\u00adtains, but at least a vivid glow and flick\u00ader. I told Fil\u00adip about it, and he went out for a look, then the young girl came out as well.<\/p>\n The next day was clear and sun\u00adny. Mt. Assini\u00adboine emerged ful\u00adly and grand\u00adly. With it\u2019s Mat\u00adter\u00adhon-like shape, it dom\u00adi\u00adnates every\u00adthing. The ice-bound pyra\u00admi\u00addal peak, even in a clear sky, leaves a smoke-like white plume of ice par\u00adti\u00adcles as the wind swirls past it. That\u2019s why it\u2019s named Assini\u00adboine. The Assini\u00adboine are a plains tribe who nev\u00ader lived any\u00adwhere near it. But George Daw\u00adson, Canada\u2019s emi\u00adnent 19th<\/sup> cen\u00adtu\u00adry geol\u00ado\u00adgist and explor\u00ader (author of Geol\u00ado\u00adgy and Resources of the Region in the Vicin\u00adi\u00adty of the 49th par\u00adal\u00adlel from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Moun\u00adtains, with Lists of Plants and Ani\u00admals Col\u00adlect\u00aded, and Notes on the Fos\u00adsils from the Kil\u00adladeer Bad\u00adlands<\/em>) thought it resem\u00adbled an Assini\u00adboine teepee with smoke emerg\u00ading from it\u2019s top.<\/p>\n On the edge of the boul\u00adder fields.<\/p><\/div>\n This was our big day. The weath\u00ader was per\u00adfect. Sun\u00adny, but nev\u00ader too hot. The air was as clear as crys\u00adtal. All around were spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar moun\u00adtains, cliffs, gorges, forests, glac\u00adi\u00aders, lakes, rocky wastes, moun\u00adtain mead\u00adows, bogs, rivers, and giant boul\u00adders that might have been tossed by the gods play\u00ading mar\u00adbles. But Assini\u00adboine loomed over them all, like a moth\u00ader sur\u00adround\u00aded by her chil\u00addren. First, we walked around lake Magog to the foot of the great boul\u00adder field that descends from the glac\u00adi\u00aders. Fil\u00adip took a dip in the frigid lake, while I more ratio\u00adnal\u00adly soaked up the sun in the moun\u00adtain mead\u00adows, men\u00adtal\u00adly play\u00ading Mahler\u2019s fifth sym\u00adpho\u00adny in my head. I test\u00aded out the boul\u00adder field, but deter\u00admined that it was far too unsta\u00adble and crevace-filled to safe\u00adly spend much time on. One boul\u00adder was about the size of a small house and looked like it had been lobbed to its place by a giant cat\u00ada\u00adpult. Every few min\u00adutes you could hear some\u00adthing falling off the moun\u00adtain, the noise echo\u00ading on the sur\u00adface of the lake. The area was so beau\u00adti\u00adful, it was dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to force our\u00adselves to move on, but we found and fol\u00adlowed the trail that would take us around the north\u00adern flank of the moun\u00adtain and past Sun\u00adburst Peak to a chain of three lakes, Sun\u00adburst, Cerulean and Eliz\u00ada\u00adbeth. Each of these lakes has a dif\u00adfer\u00adent char\u00adac\u00adter. Cerulean nes\u00adtles against the gigan\u00adtic, jagged wall of Sun\u00adburst Peak. This wall looks like a huge moun\u00adtain, loom\u00ading over the lake splen\u00addid\u00adly, but it is actu\u00adal\u00adly noth\u00ading more than an out\u00adly\u00ading arm of Assini\u00adboine, dwarfed by the lat\u00ader. Eliz\u00ada\u00adbeth Lake is named after Eliz\u00ada\u00adbeth von Rum\u00admel, a Bavar\u00adi\u00adan aris\u00adto\u00adcrat whose fam\u00adi\u00adly was dis\u00adpos\u00adsessed and impov\u00ader\u00adished by the out\u00adbreak of World War I, and fled to Cana\u00adda to work as ranch hands. Eliz\u00ada\u00adbeth grew up to be the \u201cBaroness of the Rock\u00adies\u201d, an expert moun\u00adtaineer and nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist, utter\u00adly devot\u00aded to Assini\u00adboine. We found her cab\u00adin, hard\u00adly any big\u00adger than the one we were sleep\u00ading in, where she lived until her death in 1980.<\/p>\n Some steep climbing.<\/p><\/div>\n Fil\u00adip still behind, but get\u00adting higher.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Again, my leg start\u00aded act\u00ading up, and I rest\u00aded while Fil\u00adip climbed a ridge that gave a view of Nestor Peak and some more val\u00adleys to the north and west. Fil\u00adip point\u00aded out that my ten\u00adden\u00adcy to take a faster pace prob\u00ada\u00adbly brought on the pain. Usu\u00adal\u00adly, I pulled ahead of him on the trail while he kept to a slow\u00ader pace, but in the end, he was often able to climb where I couldn\u2019t. But forc\u00ading myself to slow down was dif\u00adfi\u00adcult. After see\u00ading the three lakes, we start\u00aded up the switch\u00adback trail that led to high ridges called the Niblet, the Nublet, and the Nub. By this time, our beau\u00adty-expe\u00adri\u00adenc\u00ading cir\u00adcuits were over\u00adloaded, but every time we climbed high\u00ader and the for\u00adest momen\u00adtary opened up for a view, there was anoth\u00ader jolt of it. Final\u00adly, we came to this:<\/p>\n Tired, but hap\u00adpy, we made our way down to the cab\u00adin. After anoth\u00ader night\u2019s rest, we climbed up again to the Nublet. Fil\u00adip made a try at the high\u00ader van\u00adtage of the Nub, but gave up. We came back in time to pack up and ready for the heli\u00adcopter. The pilot took us up, but took a less direct path in order to search for a hik\u00ader report\u00aded injured some\u00adwhere. Some\u00adtimes we seemed to be mak\u00ading close approach\u00ades to peaks and ridges. From above we could see range after range of moun\u00adtains, into the infi\u00adnite dis\u00adtance, for this was a great ocean of moun\u00adtains, into which you could throw a dozen Switzer\u00adlands and lose them. We had seen but a tiny, insignif\u00adi\u00adcant cor\u00adner of it. And that was too big for us to grasp, too beau\u00adti\u00adful to find words for.<\/p>\n I am pro\u00adfound\u00adly grate\u00adful that I was born, grew up, and live in this coun\u00adtry, which has giv\u00aden me a wealth of beau\u00adty and a feel\u00ading of free\u00addom that not even ver\u00admin like Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Harp\u00ader can take away from me.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>This is what we had been seek\u00ading, and we had found it. A place that would express, not only our friend\u00adship, but the best things with\u00adin us. When you are at such a place, you real\u00adize the insipid\u00adness of most human pre\u00adten\u00adsions to wis\u00addom. The silli\u00adness of orga\u00adnized reli\u00adgion and ide\u00adolo\u00adgies, and the pathet\u00adic, child\u00adish squab\u00adbles and squalid obses\u00adsions that we find our\u00adselves enslaved to, all become noth\u00ading in the cold, pure air around these hun\u00addred thou\u00adsand cathe\u00addrals of nature. When some fatu\u00adous ass claims to be able to know all about God\u2019s com\u00admand\u00adments, or the infal\u00adli\u00adble Mar\u00adket, or the pre\u00addes\u00adti\u00adna\u00adtion of the Dialec\u00adtic, or what\u00adev\u00ader else the march\u00ading morons are ped\u00addling this week or next, I will always have this scene in my head to keep me sane and unswindled.<\/p>\n