Hiking Mount Temple | Banff National Park, AB

Distance (out & back): 18 km • Elevation gain (total): 1740 m • Max elevation: 3500 m
We summited Mount Temple during the Labour Day long weekend, 2 September 2023. We camped the night before at the Lake Louise soft-sided campground, and were excited to tackle this iconic hike on a clear-ish day amidst the worst wildfire season in Canada's recorded history.
One of the biggest challenges we encountered was catching an early shuttle to Moraine Lake and making it back before 7:30 pm to catch the last bus. Making a small error with the ride going there set us back by an hour and we started the hike at 8 AM, almost an hour later than planned. At the end we made it back to the bus stop with less than an hour spare.
The views throughout the trail were mind-blowing. The path was also straightforward up to Sentinel Pass. However, from there it became less obvious and some path finding was required. We initially followed the route given by AllTrails, then decided to follow a group of people who had the Canada Parks map but still went up the wrong scramble (a massive gully). One of them caused a rockfall and we're thankful that everyone around was wearing a helmet, as that would have undoubtedly caused some serious injury otherwise. The correct path was to the right of where we scrambled (see video at • Hiking Mount Temple | ... ), but it’s not visible until you turn the corner. Our suggestion would be to look out for the orange markers or cairns so you don’t end up doing a difficult/dangerous scramble like we did. And just as importantly, WEAR A HELMET.
We felt out of breath and light headed as we neared the summit. Even though we’ve been doing alpine hikes every week and completed Cascade Mountain - roughly 3000m elevation - the weekend before (see • Cascade Mountain | Ban... ), the extra 500m ascent to the summit of Mount Temple felt exponentially more difficult. Every few steps up the steep scree slope were followed by a few seconds of pause to take deeper breaths.
Take your time, while being mindful of your plan and leaving enough buffer for your return back. If you're an experienced adventurer this is an epic hike that is worth every ounce of effort and is sure to give you a great sense of accomplishment.
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