This is an epic adventure but be warned it is a LONG day. Completing this trip during larch season makes it even more spectacular. However, any time in the summer the view would be out of this world. Finn (my dog) joined me on this trip and I would say it's dog friendly if your dog is capable of a long day and steep rocky terrain.
Greater Pharaoh Peak is located near Egypt Lake which is a backcountry campground. I had always wanted to stay there and my plan would have been to scramble up to Pharaoh Peak as a day trip from the campground. However, my plans to camp in the area had been cancelled earlier in the summer due to a rogue wolf sneaking into peoples tents. I knew I had one more opportunity to complete this hike and it would have to be a day trip. When the idea of doing it in larch season became an opportunity that I couldn’t pass it up.
I camped in Lake Louise the night before so that I would get to the trailhead as early as possible. The initial hike up to Healy Pass starts out forested and ends up opening up to incredible larches once reaching the higher elevations. There was a small layer of fresh snow in the morning and the views were insane!
It’s 700m elevation gain up to Healy Pass and once up there you have to head straight back down the other side of the pass into the valley which is where the Egypt Lake campground and hut is situated. When doing this hike as a day trip it feels a little bit discouraging to go up and then down as you know that you will have to do all of this again on the way out. Heading down to Egypt Lake I met Alex who had the same ambitious goal of climbing Greater Pharaoh peak as me. I was calculating the time and distance Finn and I had left to hike and by my calculations, I would be getting back to the car in the dark. While chatting to Alex he gave me a good solid pep talk and encouraged me to continue heading to the peak. I remember him saying something along the lines of ‘You’ve come this far don't turn around now.' We decided that we would all head up the peak together. We headed up the switchbacks towards Scarab lake until we could see what looked like a slightly worn down trail up to the peak. There were a few people on the scree slope so we knew where we needed to head.
It’s a steep slog up to the ridgeline but the views just keep getting better. More alpine lakes keep on appearing the higher you reach. The view is incredible once you get up there and it makes every burning step worth it. Alex hikes with a fancy camera so we did a photo shoot on the summit. It was getting cold so Finn and I started heading down to have a snack out of the cold.
We then retraced our steps back up over to Healy Pass (gaining another 400ms), once we hit Healy Pass it was golden hour and the larches were truly glowing. At this hour there was no one else on the trail. I was so happy to have a new friend hiking out in the dark with me.
For some truly beautiful photos and a detailed trip description, check out one of the best adventure blogs out there, Explor8ion.
This was Finn’s longest hike and he didn’t seem bothered by it at all. Here are our Strava stats from the day.
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