Rimwall and Windtower are gorgeous hikes overlooking Spray Lakes. The routes were a bit busier than I prefer, but the well-worn trails made for easy travel. We set out planning to only do Rimwall, but we had so much time left that we tagged on Windtower while there. Most of the day was hiking on trail, except for one short cliff on Rimwall and a brief section of bushwhacking between routes. The cliff had juggy, positive holds with flat ground below.
The trailhead is shared with West Wind Pass Trail. The pull-out across from the trailhead only has space for a dozen vehicles and is usually full. It’s common to see few dozen more vehicles parallel parked along the highway. A distinct branch leaves the main trail about 0.5 km from the trailhead and heads up toward Rimwall Summit.
The trail begins at the drainage seen below. The trail rises above the drainage and continues along its shoulder.We took the left turn at roughly 0.5 km onto a steeper trail and continued up through the trees as views opened up over Spray Lakes.Rising above the trees and looking to the right (east). The large gravel slope in the foreground is Windtower Summit with the dazzling peaks of Mount Lougheed above it.Looking down at our ascent line. There are decent trails to follow through the scree and travel is fairly easy.Looking ahead, the trail to the peak is obvious. One of the cliff bands ahead will be scrambled, but the rest are bypassed.We arrived at the peak in 2 hrs. Another party is leaving the peak behind Dan and a third party is relaxing at the summit (out of view).Summit panorama.Rimwall Summit offers excellent views of the iconic Three Sisters, to the west. Pictured from left to right: Big Sister (Faith), Middle Sister (Charity), and Little Sister (Hope).Making our way back down one of the cliff bands below the summit. The step-stair nature of the scrambling is apparent here – route finding is not difficult, and most of the moves are easy.A shot of the moderate cliff band on the way down (pretzel moves optional). This is the only real scrambling of the day. The cliff is nicely angled and offers good holds.Walking back along the ridge of Rimwall Summit. Ahead (southeast) are Windtower Summit (left), Mount Lougheed (center), and Mount Sparrowhawk (right).Looking back (west) to Rimwall Summit.Another scrambly-looking section on the return from Rimwall summit. A trail winds through the rocks and its not as bad as it looks.On descent we bushwhacked through the trees to meet up with the main trail further in (the main trail runs to a col between Rimwall and Windtower). It took some patience and a bit of scouting to find a way through bare slab cliffs hiding in the trees, but once we found the main trail we followed it almost to the col.From the main trail, we turned right just before the Windtower-Rimwall col and started hiking up toward Windtower. A good portion of the hikers on this trail went only this far. Evidently the views from the col alone are worthy of a trip.This objective isn’t specifically in the book, but there was never any doubt as to which way to go.Mount Nestor (center) and Goat Mountain (right) stand above Spray Lakes.Gazing at the mighty north face of Mount Lougheed from Windtower Summit.Dan takes in the vertical drop below. Rimwall Summit can be seen in the background.The vertical drop, from Dan’s vantage point. This bowl lies between Rimwall and Windtower.Grassi Knob sits to the northwest, behind which lies the Town of Canmore.One final pause to take in the view of Spray Lakes from Rimwall Summit before beginning our return trip. On descent we simply followed the main trail back out.
We arrived back at our vehicle in 7 1/2 hrs feeling satisfied with a well-spent summer solstice. We’d had some challenges getting started in the morning, even once the rain let up. A grizzly turned us back from our original objective and we had to go to a back-up plan. I stubbornly wanted a bigger objective for the solstice, but nothing was in-season in June and everything was still wet. We finally settled on Rimwall. Sometimes a beautiful, but easy objective can make for a very fulfilling day.
Peak Bliss 
One thought on “Rimwall Summit (2700 m) and Windtower Summit (2688 m)”