Over the Moon!

Ever since reaching the  summit of Mt. Saint Piran last October, I knew I wanted to return but wanted the second time to occur on a gorgeous summer day!  Today was to be that day!    This day was also my last chance to share time with Ms D No Stopping Me who is moving away and for this reason, I secretly hoped for a day where both of us could feel "on top of the world!"

The hike/scramble starts at Lake Louise.  This view always takes my breath away, even after seeing it for probably the hundredth time or so, I've lost count.  We headed up the trail to Mirror Lake, then on to Lake Agnes, then on to the Little Beehive, then began our ascent up the Mt. Saint Piran trail.

Once through the first portion of trees and bushes, the balance of the trail is wide open, with long switchback after switchback making it an easy ascent.  As we reached the end of each switchback, I wondered what would be around the corner!  The higher we got, the more of Lake Louise we could see down below.  

At one point when the sky was clear blue and I could see the summit and the moon, I turned around and said to my friend "this is going to be one of those days, today is going to be over the moon" to which I got a very quick and affirmative reply.

After the switchbacks and just before the rocky section to the summit, we had a view to the northwest where we spotted the Waputik Icefield and also Hector Lake.   I love being able to see forever!

In a surprisingly short period of time, we covered over 900 meters of elevation and we were on the summit of Mt. Saint Piran at an elevation level of 2650 meters (8692 feet).  When I saw this view of Mount Temple, Mount Victoria, Mt. Whyte and Mt. Niblock all at the same time, this was an "over the moon" moment! 

For our dining spot, we choose to sit out in the open and deal with the cold air and breeze instead of taking cover in the shelter.  Capturing our summit experience was next on the agenda.  I lined up to be directly in front of Mt. Lefroy, Abbot Pass and Mt. Victoria. 

The close up view of Mt. Victoria shows the recent new snow cover!

Not only are we looking like we are "on top of the world" but we are feeling like we are "over the moon"!  Ms D No Stopping Me lines her arm directly with the slope of Mt. Temple.

Before starting our trek back, we explored down the slope in front of us a short distance.  I read that if you did you would have a view of Lake Agnes.  I was able to capture Lake Louise, the gazebo on the edge of the Big Beehive, Lake Agnes, the switchbacks up the side to the Big Beehive, Mt. Fairview with Mt. Temple towering behind it.

The experience to this point far exceeded my hopes and expectations!  How much more "over the moon" could today get!  On our decent, I recognized a face coming towards me but not sure where from but have learned there is no harm in acknowledging and questioning!  I acknowledged, we questioned, we exchanged names.  I follow Kathy and Craig's blog and so far own three of their books Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies, Where Locals Hike in The Canadian Rockies and WOW Utah Canyon Country.   Check out the Copelands website!  I was proud to be able to pull out my well used photocopied trail description to show them for Trip 26 Mt. Saint Piran from "Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies". They took some time and chatted with us about different hiking related topics and they asked for our opinion on something new they would like to try with their books.  I asked for a photo together and was told I could do what I like with the photo, so I would like to share this with those who visit me here.

Thank you for making this day extraordinary!

I always post the recorded details from my 60 CSX at the end of every hike, but being so far "over the moon" today, I accidently hit delete instead of save so have no numbers to share but I  do know roughly we covered 1000 meters of total elevation and about 15 km in distance and we were out in our playground for around 8 hours.

Thank you Ms D No Stopping Me for sharing today with me! 

I wish you much success, happiness and adventuring in your new playground!  

Only the sky is your limit!