- Sulphur Mntn, Mt Rundle, Cascade Mntn, Mt Bourgeau.

The trails:

- about 70 km, with a total ascent of 17,700 feet up

One can meet a lot of strange characters on a Saturday night in Banff. On this particular Saturday night, there are two scruffy-looking characters soaking in the upper hot springs pool at 10:30 PM. Why is one of them wearing band-aids on his nipples? And who is this third guy hanging around outside the pool, getting dressed in bizarre layers of clothing, including a wide-brimmed red hat and a headlamp? Is he a demented fireman about to dive into the pool with his headlamp on? There is also a fourth guy, sleeping in his car in the parking lot.

Is this a convention of lunatics, or what? Not exactly. It/s actually the start of an Alpine Club trip to climb four peaks in twenty-four hours! The guy with the fashionable band-aid bikini is Istvan, coordinator of this dubious event. The other scruffy guy in the pool is yours truly, the official trip journalist, recording this historic event for you. The demented fireman is actually Eric, our official trip photographer. And Sleeping Beauty is Kim, legal counsel for this event, who can think of no better way to celebrate his 43rd birthday than by running up and down mountains for 24 hours!

The pool closes at 11:00 PM, and by 11:30 PM on August 1st, 1998, the four of us have donned our headlamps and start the trek up Sulphur Mountain. Our intrepid support person, Nancy, who/s only mildly insane, gets to hang around, drink coffee, and read a book.

The hike up Sulphur mountain by the bobbing headlamps was a little surreal, but the weather was pleasant. It was a warm night and I soon worked up a sweat in my shorts and T-shirt. We had been worried on our drive into Banff that evening because the mountains looked pretty sopped-in, and Calgary had been cloudy and rainy for the previous 24 hours.

We reached the gondola platform at the top of Sulphur Mountain at 12:40 AM, and surprised a group of people camped-out in a tent. They told us that they met someone yesterday who was doing three peaks in a day: Sulphur, Rundle, and Cascade. Apparently it/s becoming quite a popular thing to do, ever since a group did it last year and had a story written up in the newspaper. In fact, that/s how Istvan came up with the idea for this trip: three peaks in a day is too easy -- let/s add Bourgeau and make it four peaks in 24 hours!

After climbing over the railing, we took the tourist walk up to the old hut, and hung out for a while. (7,449 ft -- ascent of 2,200 feet.) The half moon made its appearance through the clouds, just as it was setting in the west. The clouds were breaking up and the threat of rain had vanished. It was going to be a great night! The lights of Banff shone in the valley below. Most people were in bed by then, but we were just getting warmed up.

Jogging down Sulphur Mountain by the light of headlamps was fun. We arrived back at the parking lot at 2:00 AM. Nancy was happy to see our headlamps emerge from the woods, because a car load of drunken teenagers had just pulled up. We scared them off.

We had some food to eat, we drank some coffee to wake us up, we repacked for the scramble up Mount Rundle, and then we drove down to the golf course where the trail started. It was 3:00 AM, pitch black, and misty when we started hiking. The scene had a dreamlike feel to it, as our headlamps beamed through the mist. My body was trying to tell me something -- shouldn/t I be getting to bed soon?

On one of the switchbacks, we came out into the open and stopped to switch off our headlamps. The mist was now gone, and the sky was clear -- a starry moonless night. We could even see the Milky Way. What made the night even more spectacular was that the entire valley had filled up with a low-lying cloud cover, and we were above it! The glowing lights of Banff were deeply embedded in the fog, and caused it to glow like cotton fluff in a Christmas display. The whole effect was almost magical.

Our plan was to wear runners until we came to the scree, and then switch into hiking boots. I had my hiking boots inside my pack, and Eric has his tied to the outside of his pack. At one point we stopped for water and Eric realized that one of his boots was missing! Oh, no!

The three of us hung out and looked at the stars while Eric went back down the trail looking for his wayward boot. Unfortunately, the batteries in his headlamp were running low. As his light got dimmer and dimmer, he realized with dismay what a spooky place the woods can be when you/re alone in the dark. He gave up the search and came back bootless. I loaned Eric a spare flashlight I was carrying in my pack.

At around 5:00 AM, it started to get light, just as we were coming out into the open scree. Perfect timing. It was three steps forwards and two steps back for Eric with his runners on the scree.

We reached the summit of Mount Rundle (9,673 ft -- an ascent of 5,150 feet) at 6:20 AM, just as the sun was rising. It was a glorious day! A clear blue sky above, and completely undercast with low cloud below. It was like being in an airplane flying above the clouds. The Bow River valley to the north and the Spray River valley to the south, as far as the eye could see, looked like they were filled with cotton candy. Mt Assiniboine was protruding on the horizon, as if to say *climb me*.

The whole scene was so breathtaking that we stayed much longer than our fearless leader Istvan had planned on. He started down without us. He had a schedule to keep. Four peaks in 24 hours. I caught up to Istvan on the scree. I/m a wild man going down scree. Yee-haw! Almost as much fun as skiing!

Back on the tourist trail, we changed again into runners and started jogging. It was a nice easy jog down the mountain. We kept our eyes open for Eric/s errant hiking boot, but it was nowhere to be seen.

As we descended into the cloud bank, we realized how lucky we were to be up on top of the peak in the sunshine. Down here it was a dull grey overcast day. Just like winter in Vancouver. The poor townsfolk in Banff didn/t know what they were missing!

We reached the van at 8:40 AM. Lo and behold! There on the hood of the van was Eric/s missing boot! Nancy had found it a mere 10 feet from the van!

Nancy was looking refreshed after having caught a few hours of sleep in Canmore, and she greeted us with a most welcome thermos of coffee. We met a friendly park warden and told her what we were up to. She said she thought we looked like we were up to something serious, what with all our gear and stuff. I was thinking, *serious? Naw... we/re just having fun!*

After having something to eat, changing, and repacking, we drove up to the Mt Norquay parking lot, where the trail to Cascade Mntn starts. It was going to be a hot day. I brought three water bottles and a filter for collecting more water if necessary. I also brought warm clothes, just in case. You never know what/s going to happen in the mountains. In the summer of 1995 I had climbed Cascade and was hit with a blizzard. I guess I travel heavy. Not quite as heavy as Eric, though, with his two litres of Coke and his big old 35 mm camera. Istvan just had a small pack, and Kim had only a hip pack to carry his water bottles and some light clothes. Kim is fast and travels light.

It was a long hot climb and I was sweating buckets. We stopped to rest on the slope above the Cascade amphitheatre. There was a group of young marmots playing friskily among the rocks. Two of them stood up on their hind legs and it looked like they were dancing with each other!

When we reached the scree, I changed into my hiking boots, left my runners by a cairn, and weighted them down with rocks so they wouldn/t be blown away or carried off by an animal.

Istvan, Kim, and I reached the summit of Cascade (9,833 ft -- an ascent of 4,350 feet) at about 1:35 PM. Cumulus clouds had started to form and one was lazily bumping about the peak. We had the peak to ourselves, as we had passed a few groups on the way up, and we were the first ones to arrive. Ten minutes later, Eric showed up, cursing Istvan. Istvan has a long history of pushing Eric to the limits. For some reason, Eric has a very short memory for near-death experiences, and keeps coming back for more. The pain of exhaustion usually brings his memory back, at which point he starts cursing Istvan. (Actually, they are very well suited for each other. Eric has been known to sleep in culverts on long bicycle trips, and Istvan has been known to sleep in an outhouse during a rain storm.)

We started back down the mountain. Eric cursed us all, after following a rock band too far , and having to climb back up to the trail. By this time the heat and sleep deprivation were starting to affect us. A process in my brain was trying to get my attention. Something about runners. Oh yeah, time to change out of my hiking boots and back into my runners. I stopped and searched through my pack for my runners. They weren/t there.

*I can/t find my runners,* I grumbled to the other guys.

*You left them by a cairn. Remember?*

*Oh yeah! Duh!*

*The sleep deprivation must be getting to you!*

*Yeah. So where is this cairn? I hope it/s not back up the mountain...*

*It must be down in that slab slope we have to cross.*

We traversed the steep field of slab, and I looked at every cairn. No runners. By the time we reached the tree line, I realized that I had left my runners way up the mountain, past the slab slopes, where the serious scree began. Too late to go back and get them That would take a couple of hours. I had to abandon my poor runners. They are probably still there.

Once we hit the runnable trail, Istvan and Kim took off like jackrabbits. I tried to keep up, but my toes were slamming into the front of my hiking boots, and I rubbed a big blister into the ball of my right foot. My feet felt like they were on fire. I had to stop and walk. By this time, I had run out of water and felt I was dying of thirst. There was no water on Cascade, except for Forty Mile Creek, down at the bottom of the valley. Even the snow on the summit was all gone. I was suffering, I had to reach the creek.

Meanwhile, Eric had been left behind again, and was cursing Istvan. At one point he saw a group of people ahead of him, thought it was us, and called out *You bastards!* When he realized it wasn/t us, he felt so sheepish that he had to hide in the woods for five minutes!

Finally, I reached Forty Mile Creek, filtered a litre of water, drank it down, filtered another litre of water and started drinking it, and then Eric showed up.

The two of us made the long slow climb from the creek up to the parking lot, arriving at 4:50 PM, about 20 minutes later than Istvan and Kim. We were exhausted. Istvan, Eric, and I lied down in the parking lot and didn/t want to move. Kim, however, was looking as fresh as a daisy. Nancy gave us some fresh coffee, but it had no effect. We were too far gone. She then started kicking us and saying, *Come on guys! One more mountain to climb!*

By this time the cumulus had built-up into cumulonimbus and thunder was rumbling ominously. I got out the moleskin and dealt with my blisters. The others were going to go up Mount Bourgeau in running shoes only, because the scree isn/t bad. I would never be able to keep up in hiking boots! Istvan had a spare pair of runners, but they were too small for me. Kim also had a spare pair of runners, and fortunately they fit me fine. Thank you Kim!

We drove to the Bourgeau parking lot. Nancy decided to come up Mount Bourgeau with us. We were all worn out and she was full of energy. She was going to enjoy this! I got out and lay down on the asphalt, eating an apple. I was tired. I hadn/t had time to eat yet. They started hiking around 6:00 PM, without me. I thought, *maybe I/ll just go to sleep and forget about this crazy scheme of Istvan/s.* However, insanity prevailed, and I started up the trail, munching on carrots.

Man, was I tired! My feet still felt like they were on fire. After a few kilometres, I came across Eric sitting by the edge of the trail. He looked as bad as I felt. We regrouped with the others at a bridge. Nancy took the lead, and Kim kept right up with her, chatting as if they were on a Sunday stroll. Meanwhile, my speech centres were shutting down. I concentrated on keeping my feet moving.

As we reached Bourgeau Lake, storm clouds were gathering on the peaks, and thunder was rumbling all around. Eric asked where Mount Bourgeau was. We pointed to the massive rock face towering 2,600 vertical feet above the lake.

*You/re kidding... aren/t you?*, Eric asked.

*Nope.*

*But how do we get up there?*

We pointed across the valley to Harvey Pass. It seemed like a very long way away. And it was even further from Harvey Pass up to the summit of Bourgeau.

*What about that lightning? Don/t you think we should turn back?* Eric asked hopefully.

*Nah...* we all replied.

And so we carried on up the trail. It followed a waterfall up to a lovely tarn nestled in a beautiful cirque. I would have enjoyed it a lot more after a rest and a good night/s sleep. I passed Eric and thought, *Geez, he looks as bad as I feel!*

Eric looked at me and thought, *Geez, he looks as bad as I feel!*

I reached Harvey Lake where Nancy was waiting at the pass, to point out the way. Istvan and Kim had gone on ahead. Nancy said she/d wait for Eric, and I started the long scramble up to the summit.

The clouds were dramatically piled up on the nearby mountains, but the summit was still clear. The setting sun came out underneath the clouds and shone on the peak as we were going up the final ridge. The clouds were glowing a beautiful red colour and lightning was flashing here and there. Given that sound travels at 5 seconds per mile, the lightning never got closer than 3 miles from us. Kim thought it was a most triumphant way to celebrate his birthday!

Kim reached the summit of Mount Bourgeau at 9:10 PM, Istvan reached the summit at 9:20 PM, and I reached the summit at 9:30 PM (9,614 ft -- an ascent of 4,920 feet). We had done it!! We had climbed the four peaks within 24 hours!!! We could relax now! It didn/t matter what time we got back down to the van.

Actually, we didn/t relax too much, due to the lightning flashing all around, and none of us stayed on the summit longer than a minute or so.

It was getting dark by the time Istvan and I were descending from the peak. Headlamps are okay on trails, but not so good on exposed rock with cliffs on both sides. Fortunately, Nancy and Eric were shining a bright flashlight up at us from Harvey Pass, showing us which way to go. That kept us from walking off a cliff.

We all regrouped at Harvey Pass. By this time the heavy rain had started, making the trail down to Bourgeau Lake muddy and treacherous. The trail was on a steep cliff above the waterfall. We all slipped and fell on our butts at least once, but nobody fell off the cliff.

The trail from Bourgeau Lake back down to the parking lot seemed endless. Kim was happily chatting with Nancy, but my speech centres had completely shut down. It took everything I had just to keep moving. My back hurt. My feet hurt. My legs hurt. I thought perhaps I had died and gone to hell, and I would spend eternity trudging down an endless trail in the dark with only a headlamp to light my way, thinking the bottom must be around the next corner, but never actually reaching it.

Finally, we reached the parking lot and sweet relief after midnight. We had made it! Istvan/s altimeter watch was showing an accumulated elevation gain of 17,700 feet.

We had some of Kim/s birthday cake and celebrated in the parking lot. A most excellent adventure!