I came to the mountain and I walked up…slowly.
There is a great deal of satisfaction in making the journey to the top of the mountain, step-by-step.
Sulfur Mountain in Banff, Alberta, Canada is mildly famous in my family. We hiked it 7 years ago. My family has many competitive members and on that day, my daughter and husband “won” the hike to the top! The path is steep and the mountain is tall.
Sulfur Mountain’s elevation is 8, 041 feet. The trail goes up and up, in a series of switchbacks and gains elevation steadily. It is about 3.6 miles long. There is a gondola that whisks visitors right up to the peak in 8 minutes. We wave at it, as it swings by smoothly overhead.
I set-out to walk up Sulfur Mountain with my sons and husband on a beautiful morning last week. The sun was shining, the air was dry and temperatures were predicted to be in the 60s to low 70s — really nice hiking weather. I knew I’d be walking for awhile on this mountain, on this day. I have short legs, a busted knee and a painful foot. I planned to walk at a slow to moderate pace and to be careful — no need to trip, fall, or twist an ankle. Later that evening, in a local chocolate shop, the young man waiting on me asked me how I’d spent my day. When I replied that I had hiked up and then down Sulfur Mountain, he was incredulous. He said, “You know there’s a gondola that will take you to the top?” I replied, “But is the point to make the journey to the top, or just to be on the top?” He looked at me like I was an alien. He responded,”OH! To be on the top and drink a beer!” To each there own.
We each carried a small backpack with water, snacks, jackets and hats. We knew that walking up we’d get quite warm, but once on top the wind would be chilly. My husband and older son, Andrew, took off. They were out of sight quickly. Sam, my younger son, chose to walk with me, even though he’s got long, strong legs and could stride up the mountain in record time. We walked steadily and when I paused, Sam paused. We’d take a drink of water, take in the view and catch our breath. Sam entertained me with scientific facts about oxygen and the atmosphere. He compared me to a rocket ship. He told me, that like a rocket, I was burning more fuel in a denser atmosphere and that I would burn less fuel as I ascended into a less dense atmosphere. Or another way to think about it: the change in difficulty of a step taken decreases as altitude increases! The analogy was a little off, but he had me laughing breathlessly!
It took me (us) 2 hours, 27 minutes and 21 seconds to ascend the Sulfur Mountain trail. Sam stuck by me and our efforts were met with stunning 360 degree views of the Canadian Rockies as our heads peeked over the top at the very end of the trail.
The gondola is a fun ride to the top of the mountain. I rode it up years ago, but the rewards of making it to the top of Sulfur Mountain, step-by-step can’t be matched.
