2022-08-28, Day 2
A bright, yellow field of late-season asters adorns a sub-alpine meadow and affords a view of a trail-less route below Emigrants Mountain (8,376 ft; 2,553 m) and Elysium Pass, Victoria Cross Range, Jasper National Park, Alberta.
From the vantage of our first night's camp at the top of Elysium Pass, we could see Monarch Meadows in the distance, which was our intended route. Separating us from the Meadows was a ridge-line that was thickly forested on the lower slopes, and braided with meadows higher up. We couldn't see whether short cliffs or difficult rocks were on the other side of the meadows, but we decided to chance the upper route because we abhorred the thought of navigating through the thick forest with its attendant downed logs. Should the upper route prove impassable, we would just descend and loop down around the shoulder of the ridge and follow the path representing the appropriate compromise between safety and expediency.
Leaving camp in the morning, we discovered that thick trees crowded us toward the edge of a small, steep gully that was not apparent on the map (100 foot contour intervals can hide important details), and we could hear a creek gathering strength in the rocks below us. At length, we found a way down, crossed the creek, and made our way up to the meadows you see here in the foreground. I marveled that we would spend the next four days threading passes and valleys with no trails, and I was apprehensive about staying on course and being able to make the 8 miles per day that would be required.
We continued upward, pushing through a tight band of Subalpine Fir, and we found ourselves above a small cirque that was too steep to descend safely to Monarch Meadows below. However, there was another route that stayed high for a while and then lead to a slope down that was steep and vegetated but navigable. From where we stood, it appeared that although it was densely forested in places, Monarch Meadows contained enough interwoven patches of grasses and flowers to constitute a strikingly fine walk through the wilderness. We also noticed that climbing up to take the high route proved an excellent decision, as the forest we avoided in the valley was very dense with logs both vertical and horizontal. If only the clouds would stop providing each petal, blade, and leaf with such bounteous drops of foot-soaking water.
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