Mount Temple: "The Ultimate Scramble"
- Ash Hashemi
- 16 hours ago
- 8 min read
Mount Temple is the 10th-highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, the 3rd-highest in Banff National Park, and the highest in the Lake Louise area. Back before we had AllTrails (or your app of choice), and generally the internet to plan our hikes, it was described as “the ultimate scramble” in Kane’s Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies guidebook. It was first brought to my attention in 2022 by a fellow photographer local to the area, who described it as a difficult hike. This stood out to me because this individual was among the fastest hikers I've seen in these mountains, so for him to describe it as a tough hike, it likely wasn't an exaggeration.
Over the years, as the hike grew more popular, I started to see more and more images of it pop up on social media. Every view looked breathtaking, and it quickly climbed to the top of my bucket list of hikes within the Canadian Rockies. The hike always presented some logistical challenges, though. I'd only want to go when the mountain was mostly free of snow and ice, meaning late July to early September, if we're being generous. But mid-August was probably the safest bet. On top of that, Moraine Lake (where the hike starts) has prohibited personal vehicles since 2023, so I'd have to book a shuttle to start the hike. All of this, along with less frequent travel on my part to the Rockies, put this hike on the back burner for a while.
Nonetheless, I finally planned a summer trip to the Rockies, with Temple being my highest priority. With August being wildfire season in the Rockies and mountain weather being generally unpredictable, selecting a date to take a shuttle to Moraine Lake is a gamble, but thankfully, I was mostly lucky with the date I picked. I chose Moraine Lake Bus Company for their early sunrise shuttles. My bus departed the Lake Louise Village area at about 5:05 AM and arrived at the Moraine Lake drop-off at about 5:35 AM. In retrospect, picking the earliest time slot (with about an hour earlier arrival) would have been a better bet. More on that later.
Upon arrival, most of the bus passengers started making their way to the Rockpile or the shores of Moraine Lake to secure their spot for sunrise pictures of the lake. Once I turned off the lakeshore trail and into the forest switchbacks, everything got pretty quiet. I only passed one other group that was headed to Temple. I thought I'd be hiking with many others headed toward Larch Valley or Sentinel Pass, but I didn't see any more hikers until I got to Larch Valley. It turns out that most of them had gotten the earliest shuttle. Once I got through the trees and into Larch Valley, I started to see the peaks and the alpenglow setting in.
Once you enter Larch Valley, you're surrounded by peaks. Behind you, you have the Ten Peaks towering over Moraine Lake; to your right, you have Mount Temple; and directly ahead, you have Eiffel Peak and Pinnacle Mountain. It's a spectacular 360-degree view, and if I didn't have so much hiking still ahead of me, I would've loved to stay in Larch Valley for a bit longer.
As I crossed Larch Valley, I passed Minnestimma Lake on my left and headed towards the switchbacks that would eventually lead to Sentinel Pass. The climb to Sentinel Pass is relatively short (compared to what's ahead), but the views from Sentinel Pass are beautiful in their own right, especially when considering the minimal effort it takes to get there.
At Sentinel Pass, there were a lot of hikers. Some were there at the top of their hike to enjoy the sunrise and head back, while others, like myself, were taking a short break to hydrate and put on helmets before continuing onto the trail towards Mount Temple. From this point forward, the pace slowed down dramatically. The grade became much steeper, climbing about 900 metres over the next 2 km. The trail also became much more technical and narrow, with loose rocks and scree covering the majority of the remaining climb.
From Sentinel Pass, I followed the worn scree trail leading toward Mount Temple. The route climbs steeply through loose terrain, with cairns marking the general route. I also had the GPX map for Temple from AllTrails downloaded onto my watch and was using it to navigate. However, the GPX isn't exact, and you'll find yourself looking for the path at times if you try to follow the map exactly. In these instances, I looked for the cairns or blue markings on the rocks for route-finding. Parks Canada recommends staying toward the left side of the broad gully, where the footing is generally more secure and exposure to rockfall from hikers above is reduced. Eventually, the route traverses diagonally toward the first major rock band.
The first major rock band marks the beginning of the more technical scrambling. The recommended line climbs the left side of a shallow gully, followed by a series of relatively short rock steps. This is not sustained scrambling, but you may be using your hands at times. The important thing here is route selection. There are paths that appear to traverse farther right. Parks Canada specifically warns against following these paths because they lead toward more difficult terrain. A useful habit is to constantly look behind yourself after figuring out the correct trail on the ascent. Mentally photograph it, or use your phone to take a picture. The route that looks obvious while ascending can look completely different from above when you're descending. This becomes increasingly important on Temple because there are numerous gullies and scree slopes that look like plausible descent routes but end up leading to some sketchy down-climbs, which happened to me on this day.
The second grey rock band contains two steep, blocky steps, approximately 5 m and 3 m, which Parks Canada identifies as the crux of the route. There is some exposure, and some of the holds near the start can be polished. A two-bolt anchor exists at the top of this section, providing a rope halfway down and helping with the second block. You'll still need to climb up the first section to get to the rope, but it's certainly helpful.
Above the crux, the route continues through another section of rock before reaching darker scree. The route climbs toward the ridge through a series of smaller rock steps and switchbacks.
As I climbed higher, the appearance of the terrain ahead gradually changed again. The summit ridge eventually comes into view. Again, It's important (especially in this section) to constantly look back and potentially take pictures with your phone of where you came from so that you make it back to the appropriate crux section with the rope. No matter which path you take on the way down, there will be down-climbing required, and it's best to do that with the rope. I made the mistake of following what seemed like the right path on my descent, but came to a much more exposed down-climb section without any assistance.
The upper mountain is somewhat exposed, so I followed the cairned trail toward the summit while staying well back from the ridge edge. But the “path” here seems to fade in and out due to all the scree, and I found hikers taking whichever way they could toward the summit. It’s steep and filled with loose rocks, so expect a slow ascent to reach the peak. Parks Canada warns that cornices can form along the climber’s right side of the summit ridge, and that the hazard can be difficult to recognize in poor visibility or fresh snow. This wasn’t the case during my hike, but it feels important to note.
Eventually, I arrived at the summit of Mount Temple: 3,543 m. Around the same time that I reached the summit, the cloud base started to form, blocking the entire view from the summit that faced Moraine Lake and the surrounding peaks. I heard that this was common in the late morning, making me realize that taking the earliest shuttle possible would’ve been the best bet. Still, the views of Paradise Valley, Pinnacle Mountain, Yukness Mountain, and Horseshoe Lake were breathtaking.
I tried to wait for the cloud base to dissipate a bit before my descent so I could see the other half of the summit views, but after almost two hours of waiting, it didn’t seem to budge. Waiting at the summit with minimal movement is also a cold endeavour, despite the many more layers I put on. Some darker clouds rolled in around 1 PM, so I decided to start my descent.
This sounds obvious, but one of the most important pieces of advice I could give for Mount Temple is to descend by the same route you used to ascend, unless you're well aware that you took the wrong way up. As mentioned before, the gullies and scree slopes can look dramatically different from above. An apparently easier descent line can lead toward cliffs, loose rock, or the wrong side of the mountain. I thought I was following the same path down and was often following a visible trail, but looking back on my recorded GPS path, much of my descent deviated from the ascent path I took. Most of the time, this was due to following larger hiking groups and the route they were taking, and most of the time, it didn't prove to be an issue. But I made this mistake when approaching the crux, and that proved to be risky.
The way down is still pretty slow for the most part, as appropriate route-finding (for some form of trail) and secure footing are required. After the crux, things get a bit quicker, and after Sentinel Pass, the hike to Moraine Lake becomes much faster. Right as I got to Sentinel Pass, it started to hail, and I was glad that I left the summit when I did. Don't every fully trust the forecast for mountain weather.
In total, the hike took me just over 10 hours, but only about 6 hours of it was moving time. I spent about 4 hours taking breaks and photos, with 2 hours of that being spent waiting at the summit. I got back to Moraine Lake much earlier than my scheduled shuttle departure time, but managed to get a spot on one of the earlier buses.
For this hike, I definitely recommend hiking poles, a climbing helmet, and footwear that you really trust on loose rocks and steep slopes. Packing layers and a shell jacket also came in handy. If you're planning to stay at the summit for a while like I did, gloves and a toque will be necessary. My nutrition for the day consisted of 2.2 L of water and about 2,000 calories' worth of snacks, and that seemed sufficient for how long I was up there.
Hope you found that helpful. Happy hiking!
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