Of Moose and Mountains: Rummel Pass

Last year, one of our favourite hiking persona "finds" was the route to Rummel Lake & Rummel Pass. That was the day we saw 3 moose. Saturday was nearly the perfect hiking day, so we chose to get up high by going back to Rummel. And along the way, we saw... a moose.




Last year when we tried Rummel the first time, we ran into a bus load of Japanese tourists, so headed elsewhere. This time, just as we were about to start, up pulled a convoy of 7 cars, with +35 members of some hiking club. So it wasn't a terribly quiet day, but at least these folks were well prepared (unlike the folks climbing Ha Ling).

The perfect blue sky made for fantastic views of Mt. Birdwood, Commonwealth Peak and the lake itself.




The lake is nice,, but for me the best part of the hike are the upper meadows, with the endless views back to the Commonwealth Peaks.




The various tarns are also very cool, especially at this time of the year when the snow is still around in dribs and drabs.




It's so windy up here that the snow (and maybe even the rocks) are carved into cool shapes.


I come here for the million dollar view down to Lost Lake and the Galatea Valley, which today was even more spectacular courtesy of the perfect blue sky day.


There weren't a lot of critters around today. Columbian ground squirrels up high (in the meadows) and down low (at Spray Lakes road)...




...and a golden mantled ground squirrel in the middle.



The 100 mile visibility and the perfect temps made this to be a perfect day to be in the mountains.