This past week we started at the Vista Lake viewpoint trailhead (Highway 93, Banff National Park) and completed a 21.8-km (13.5-mi) round-trip dayhike to Gibbon Pass, en route passing Vista, Arnica, Upper Twin, and Lower Twin lakes. Trail conditions are perfect. No snow, even at the pass. The entire day we encountered only one other party: three people who were camped at Upper Twin Lake. Theirs was the only tent in the campground. If you’re wondering where to dayhike now in the Canadian Rockies, this is an excellent choice. We urge you to start early and continue to Gibbon Pass, where the view extends far south—beyond the basins clasping Shadow, Mummy, Scarab, Egypt, and Natalko lakes—all the way to the Matterhorn of the Rockies: Mount Assiniboine. For a complete description of the Twin Lakes / Gibbon Pass dayhike, read Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies, the Opinionated Hiking Guide. It’s Trip 41 (page 169).

Last weekend, we hiked over Healy Pass to the Egypt Lake campground. The vast, glacier-lilly carpet on the southeast side of Healy Pass was spectacular. We encountered no snow, and the trail is in excellent condition. Extensive, recent maintenance is evident, particularly between Healy Pass and Egypt Lake. Thank you, Parks Canada. The next day, we toured Egypt, Scarab and Mummy lakes. Though the area derives its name from Egypt Lake, it’s the upper lakes — Scarab and Mummy— and the nearby passes — Healy and Whistling — that make this a premier backpacking destination. The footlogs that previously spanned the Scarab Lake outlet stream have been pushed aside by a torrent and are now useless, but hikers have improvised a tree-limb footbridge immediately downstream. It worked for us. We encountered snow on the ascent from Scarab to Mummy, but it posed no problem. (Scenery Alert: When rounding the east shore of Scarab Lake outlet stream, detour left / east to quickly attain an exciting, aerial view of Egypt Lake below. And immediately after crossing the Scarab Lake outlet stream, look left. You’ll see the stream is very short. Follow it downstream, and in one minute you’ll be standing on a precipice, peering directly down the cascade that plummets over the headwall into Egypt Lake.) Thick snowdrifts remain on the east shore of Mummy, but the lake is ice-free. It’s a gorgeous sight. From there, you can look north-northwest through Whistling Pass, whose south slope is now snow-free. We crossed a snowfield while ascending from Mummy Lake to Sphinx Pass, but the soft snow allowed easy kick-stepping. Sphinx Pass is snow-free. Descending southeast from the pass we were again on snow until reaching treeline. Below treeline, the snow is gone. The easiest descent route is directly down the groove beneath the pass, then beside the meltwater stream draining into Natalko Lake. At the lake’s outlet stream, we found the sign indicating the trail descending into Red Earth Pass. The trail initially descends beside the stream, then curves left (north) toward Egypt Lake. The trail (a former road that served the long-ago-abandoned talc mine near the lake) is in good condition, easy to follow. You’re thinking about backpacking to the Egypt Lake campground? Now’s the perfect time to go. But remember, the short detour from the campground to the namesake lake is just the beginning of a superb, half-day foray. Continue up to Scarab and Mummy Lakes, scramble above to Sphinx Pass, descend to Natalko Lake, then cruise back to Egypt Lake campground. The scramble to Sphinx Pass is short: easy bouldering, no exposure. Natalko Lake is surprisingly beautiful—not quite so impressive as Scarab and Mummy lakes but a much more rewarding sight than Egypt Lake. For full details, read Trip 85 (starting on page 298) in Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies, the Opinionated Hiking Guide.