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Mount Coleman Scramble

Clearwater County, Alberta

Description

Added by Stephen Underhay

Distance: 13.6 miles (22 km) roundtrip. Elevation gain: 2,720 ft (1,700 m). Summit elevation: 10,286 ft (3,135 m). Advanced scrambling section. A view of at least 20 11,000ft peaks from the top!

This is an amazing hike takes you through the beautiful Sunset Meadows to a towering scramble of Mount Coleman. The 10,000ft peak offers up a challenging scrambling section for a rewarding view of Banff National Park.

The trailhead is at the Sunset Pass/Pinto Lake Trailhead. Follow Highway 93, Icefields Parkway, 10 miles (16 km) north of Saskatchewan River Crossing.

The hike begins with a well-groomed 2.9 mile (4.7 km) hike along the Sunset Pass to the Norman Lake Campground. Along this trail, you will gain an initial 1640 ft (500 m) of elevation. As you round a corner to the beautiful meadows, a towering Mount Coleman comes into view. This backcountry campground offers a great spot to stay for the evening if the approach seems too much for one day, but be sure to be bear safe as this is grizzly country!

From the campground, make your way toward Mount Coleman along the meadow. There are several places to cross the small creek, the most beautiful being Twin Falls (pictured). There are two obvious breaks to get through the treeline. Following the gap on the right will lead you up a small creek bed – easy climbing out of the trees.

Once above the trees, the route is clear. Follow the obvious Col, but while it may look small there is a 3000ft (900m) elevation gain from the meadow to this spot. Next, scramble up through the ridge as close to the north side of the mountain as possible. This offers up the easiest route to the false summit. The crux scrambling section is the last hurdle to overcome – carefully! From the false summit, an easy walk across the glacier saddle to the true summit will give you the opportunity to sign the registry along with some other impressive names!

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