Rock Isle Lake

Elevation: 2280 m
Elevation Gain: 120 m (270 m cummulative gain for loop via Monarch Viewpoint)
Rock Isle Lake is the official name for a small but beautiful lake near the Sunshine Village ski resort. Like nearby Larix and Grizzly Lakes, Rock Isle Lake occupies a glacier-scoured basin. Curiously, the glacier spared a small promotory which is the "rock isle" today.
My Ascents:
July 15 2018
Trailhead: Sunshine Gondola Parking

Some days are just too beautiful not to hike! With crystal-clear skies forecast, we therefore made arrangements to meet Grandma and Grandpa for a family hike in beautiful Banff National Park.

With 2 little ones along for the hike, we decided that we didn’t want to "waste" the beautiful day below treeline. To that end, the Sunshine Village gondola provided a cheeky way to vault ourselves 500 vertical meters into the alpine!

From the upper gondola station at Sunshine Village, Brianne and Mera set the pace up “Rock Isle Road” towards our first destination: Rock Isle Lake.

After an easy 120 vertical meter ascent, “Rock Isle Road” crested the Continental Divide and delivered us up into the scenic Sunshine Meadows. Thanks to the Meadows’ open alpine terrain, we were treated to views for miles in every direction, prompting smiles all around (photo courtesy Grandpa Gord).

Trail junctions were very well-marked making it hard to get lost up here! At this particular fork in the road, we continued right (southwest) towards Rock Isle Lake instead of following the smaller path southeast towards more distant Citadel Pass/Peak (photo courtesy Grandpa Gord).

With Sunshine’s gondola now operating in both winter and summer, the whole Sunshine Meadows area is subject to an off-trail hiking ban (as eloquently demonstrated by these frequent signs which litter the landscape). While this limitation is disappointing for avid backcountry users, it is sadly necessary to preserve the beautiful meadows from the hordes that Sunshine’s gondola now delivers.

Parks Canada appears to have even wired the area for sound lest hikers even discuss going off-trail!

Fine views southwest towards the Mitchell Range.

Muppet-like white pasqueflowers abound in the alpine.

Happy hikers enjoying the BC side of Sunshine Meadows.

Mera pauses to soak in the view of the many peaks surrounding Sunshine Meadows (from left to right: Little Fatigue, Fatigue Mountain, Nasswald Peak, Golden Mountain and Quartz Hill).

Following a short 1.8 km hike, we reached aptly named Rock Isle Lake. Click to see the beautiful lake in more detail.

Lakeside cuddles with my ‘Baby Bear.’ To the west, the Monarch rises skywards.

While the rest of us enjoyed the view of Rock Isle Lake, Mera amused herself by balancing atop benches and smearing peanut butter and jam all over her face. After we’d all had enough of the lake, we decided that we weren’t ready to be done hiking and opted to continue north towards the Monarch Viewpoint before returning to Sunshine Village via the Meadow Park trail. This loop is about 7.5 km long and makes a great addition for anyone who finds the beautiful hike to Rock Isle Lake too brief.

Grandma and Grandpa pose with Rock Isle Lake as we continue north towards the Monarch viewpoint. Although the hike to Rock Isle Lake from Sunshine Village is easy, most visitors opt to ride the Standish chairlift up Standish Bump so that they can walk down to the lake. We, therefore, felt like salmon swimming upstream as we attempted to hike in the opposite direction of these masses. Fortunately, once past the chairlift, the crowd almost entirely dispersed.

Pasqueflowers dance in the wind near Rock Isle Lake (photo courtesy Grandpa Gord).

The Simpson River Valley bares the scars of last year’s massive Verdant Wildfire.

The Monarch peeks over the shoulder of Twin Cairns. Ironically, the view of the Monarch from here is actually better than it is from the Monarch Viewpoint; fortunately, the viewpoint features awesome views towards many other peaks!

Cresting the Continental Divide once more (this time returning to Alberta).

Back in Alberta, this alpine stream’s waters are destined to reach Hudson Bay. Beyond the stream, Black Brett, Wawa Ridge, Mount Bourgeau and Massive Mountain separate Sunshine Meadows from the Bow Valley.

Eagle Mountain, Mount Howard Douglas, Lookout Mountain and Brewster Rock rise to the east beyond a small tarn.

While the valleys to the southwest bare the scars of wildfire, those to the northeast bare the equally horrific scars of ski resort operation. So much for Parks Canada’s mandate to protect the ecological integrity of our beautiful mountain parks…

Twin Cairns would make for an enticing hiking objective were it not for Parks Canada’s blanket ban on off-trail travel in the area. Again, one has to wonder how much impact a few off-trail hikers would have versus the 6,500 skiers per day that Parks has licensed Sunshine Village to accommodate! But I digress (mostly since I too was lazy and rode the gondola up)!

Family photo at the Monarch Viewpoint.

Hiking to the viewpoint involves going about 250 m west in the wrong direction and then back again (despite signs that claim that the distance is only 60 – 100 m). Nevertheless, the small extra distance is worth covering to enjoy this panorama of the Ball Range beyond Simpson Pass! Note that the Monarch itself (far left) is ironically harder to see from here than it was from Rock Isle Lake! Click to see larger.

Distant Mount Whitetail is a stunning peak along BC’s Vermilion Range.

Haiduk Peak (left), Pharaoh Peaks (center left) and massive Mount Ball (center right) rise up beyond Healy Pass Peak (center right).

Storm Mountain (right) highlights the view to the northwest.

A day too beautiful not to hike with these beauties!

After snapping some photos at the Monarch Viewpoint, we set off to return to Sunshine Village via the “Meadow Park” trail/ski-run. Although we could have stayed up in the Sunshine Meadows for hours and hours, our little ones were beginning to grow antsy so we reluctantly tore ourselves away from the beautiful alpine vistas and began our descent.

As we descended to Sunshine Village, we were treated to wonderful views of majestic Mount Assiniboine.

Back in the Village, we discovered that we’d arrived just in time for Happy Hour!!!

Finding that the Happy Hour liquor specials were not to her liking, Mera instead opted for ice cream.

❤ Sharing sisters ❤

Mera, Penny and Brianne enjoy a rapid descent via gondola. A fun way to end another spectacular day in the hills!