Notes: The bushwhacking is easy, but over 1000 m of elevation is gained before leaving treeline. Progress was slowed by complete failure of both of Dan’s shoes. This route will have been impacted by the Jasper Wildfire in 2024.
Trip Report
Mount Hardisty is a good choice for shoulder season or even winter, depending on conditions. 1000m of elevation is gained before leaving the trees – that’s 3 hrs before the first glimpse of surrounding views, 3 1/2 hrs before being fully out of the trees, one way! Judging by the hilarious account from Giant’s Gate, this peak is probably best avoided in mosquito season. Entries in the summit register indicated that a few parties have ascended starting from Horseshoe Lake. The entries boasted of a shorter and more pleasant ascent, but this is all of the information I gleaned.
Saturday morning we parked at the pullout recommended by Nearingburg and Coulthard and then headed in the direction of some braiding trails. It’s not immediately obvious which trail we wanted to be on and we looped around once before deciding on the correct trail. It’s not the far-right trail leading to the creek, nor is it the left trail leading to a clearing; it’s a trail leading right-ish.
The first 200 m of the trail isn’t very clear. We tried all of the options before settling on the correct path.Once past the first 200 m we were confidently on a trail and heading in the correct direction.We reached what looked like the toe of the ridge to Hardisty as Kerkeslin edged in at the right. Here we turned left off of the trail. We had to drag ourselves up a few meters of steep, loose dirt before gaining the easy ridge. The trees were sparse and the bushwhacking was very straightforward.We passed through a few small burnt patches, but they weren’t an obstacle. The larger obstacle turned out to be the hiking boots I’d picked up for Dan just before this trip. We changed the lacing to alleviate pressure points, but he still ended up with severe blisters.After 3 hrs of only seeing tree trunks, patches of rock started to appear among the trees.Our first glimpse of Mt Kerkeslin, but not our last glimpse of trees. The terrain alternates between narrow tree belts and short stretches of talus before the summit ridge.The tree belt ahead here really was the final one, at last, and we were finally out in the autumn sunshine.Most of the summit ridge was easy scrambling on talus like this. One or two blocky sections further on might be moderate scrambling, depending on one’s choice of footing.Smoky views of Mount Kerkeslin and distant Mount Fryatt. From this point, the terrain was a mix of broken talus interspersed with easy, cracked slab sections.Looking North at the eerily bare peaks around Jasper townsite including Whistler’s Peak (center) and Pyramid Mountain (right). We couldn’t recall ever seeing so little snow, particularly for October.Looking East at Evelyn Peak (right).I poke my head over the slab to make sure Dan is still following.There are a few blocky sections of the ridge and one or two moves of moderate scrambling left before the summit.Guess what? Corgi butt! These pink ammunition boxes delight me wherever I find them.Summit panorama.Surprise toy fight!Mount Hardisty provides a perfect vantage point over Skyline Trail. The peaks at the left are: Tekarra, Centre, Excelsior, and The Watchtower. The interesting peak just right of Dan doesn’t seem to have a name yet, surprisingly.Returning the way we came. I pick my way up this blocky section of the summit ridge.Some moderate scrambling moves, but nothing too exposed.Continuing down the summit ridge, back towards the trees.Dan’s sole had been gradually peeling back over the course of the day. By this point, one sole was flopping freely and the other was starting to peel too. His blisters had been worsening over the hike and were slowing him down significantly. He used some spare string to keep his shoes together as best he could and we continued on our way.One last view of sunny Mount Kerkeslin before returning to the trees.Our shoe-related delays meant that we finished the day bushwhacking as the Sun set. I earned a couple of nice scratches on my shins, trying to step over logs in the dark. Dan never wore those hiking boots again. They had looked brand new when purchased second-hand online, and seemed in pristine condition before we set out, but fell apart as though they had been the subject of a bad resole job.
Thankfully we were staying only minutes away at our favourite spot in Jasper: HI Athabasca Falls. The hostel manager, Jeff, is a huge sweetheart and said it would be OK if Dan needed to stick around at the hostel the next day to rest his blistered feet while I hiked solo.
Peak Bliss 