Rundle Mountain, 2949m, Aug 9th, 2008

After doing Cascade by a warm and sunny day of 2007, I start having Rundle as my next goal. Every day taking the gondola to get to work I look at this mountain and I felt this mountain was unclimbable and taught standing on top of Rundle could be a good way to let down my fair. All summer long Dalton and I try to reach this mountain but something came along the way all the time. So, at around 13h-14h PM on a perfect blue sky day we left home and attack this amazing piece of rock of 12km long to a summit of 2949 meters above sea level. It's was so warm and sunny that Dalton decide to bring an umbella in order to take a picture with it on top of Rundle, but by doing so he upset ''mother nature'' really deeply. At about 3/4 up the perfect blue sky changed into a bit of darkness, but since we did that much up already nothing on earth could make us turn back down. Arrived at the summit, the views were good but not impressive since most mountains were hidden by the dark blue sky making his triumphal entrance trought the Rockies. We took a few pictures and decide to skip our lunch on top of Rundle in order to reach back the tree line before the rain start and then Dalton said to me '' too late''. Hell yeah! Mother nature was angry in a few minutes the clouds reached the summit, we couldnt see anything 6 feets in front of us, the thunder and lighting were shaking the ground at any moment and the rain was falling on us like if we were in a shower. I was kind of scared but Dalton was so happy with the outcome I start to be less scared, but not enough to appreciate the change in weather. We were so soak that after reaching the tree line we spend around 2 hrs in a cave making a fire and warm up our self. It was a perfect hiking boost day and today even with the outcome I'm so glad I did Rundle with such weather. When I look at Rundle now, it's reminding me how great and unpredictable the rockies are. Welcome to the Canadian Rockies. Welcome to Banff, Alberta!











Hiking time: 6-8 hrs (allow a full day)

Difficulty: Difficult: the scramble part is long and feel endless. However, one of the easiest scrambles in the area. Will be easy for a person used to reach summit, but will be hard for an hiker use to Sulphur or Tunnel mountain. Having said that, any person that loves hiking can reach this summit with effort.

Best time: July/August. Avoid hiking Rundle if the weather is over 25 degrees or brings ton's of water because it's a really dry mountain.