Bow-Yoho Traverse

Feb 9-12 2025

Day 1 – Bow Lake to Bow Hut (7km 490m)

Knowing we had a short approach we started off in the afternoon by Bow Lake. The wind ripped across the lake and through my softshell, making me question whether the views would be worth the forecasted -30 lows.

The approach was straightforward and the Bow Hut is very nice and well maintained (you can book all huts through the ACC website). It has a lot of space, but we were lucky to have it to ourselves. We cooked up a hearty dinner of spaghetti carbonara, and spent the long winter evening playing cards, reading, and drinking hot chocolate.

Bow Hut Amenities

• Electrical & Propane Lighting
• Propane Stoves + Cookware/utensils
• Wood stove heating + well insulated
• USB Charging
• Mattresses

Day 2 – Bow Hut to Guy Hut (10.5km 630m)

To take advantage of the warmth of the day, we left Bow Hut at 10am. We broke trail across the glacier. The snow was very cold and the skis slid very poorly across it, making the low angle glacier descents painfully slow and awkward. Sometimes we resorted to skinning downhill.

Otherwise, the day was spectacular. Absolutely blue bird, and more importantly, no wind. The views surrounding the Wapta icefield were stunning. I felt fortunate to have such stunning visibility in the middle of winter.

We roped up for the broken section of glacier north of Mount Collie. This was the only section on the traverse where we travelled close to visibly open crevasses.

Heading down to the hut, we followed the tongue of the glacier to the SE of Mount Collie a little too far. If you gain the ridgeline north of the hut instead, you can reduce your avalanche exposure.

Guy Hut was our favourite of the trip. It is modern and well built, but more importantly it is spectacularly situated with 360 degree views. The propane heaters did a great job of warming the hut, but we had to head back out in the evening the enjoy the stunning evening glow. Another hearty dinner, and we laughed out the evening reading Ski Bum (A poetry collection by Brad Roach). Definitely look for this inconspicuous little book that is stashed away in the cabin.

Guy Hut Amenities

• Propane heating + well insulated
• Electrical & Propane Lights
• Propane Stove + Cookware/utenstils
• Mattresses

Day 3 – Guy Hut to Stanley Mitchell Hut (7.1 km 300m)

We skied down to the the tongue of Des Pollius glacier and its lake. The skiing was wind affected and variable. Here we found a stunning ice cave with wild formations of hoar on the ceiling.

Afterwards we headed to Isolation Col. Here you must skin up a fairly steep ramp to gain the col. Note that the route by Isolation goes through a fair bit of steeper avalanche terrain. In periods of higher hazard, I understand that the whaleback route is preferable.

After some boot-top powder turns down from Isolation (the best turns of the trip!), we arrived to the 80 year old log cabin that is the Stanley Mitchell Hut. The wood stove here is encased in a beautiful rock chimney. We found the stove struggled to heat the place in the frigid temperatures. The cold stone chimney seemed to block the heat of the stove. Pictured is an indoor thermometer after running the stove for an hour (-18C). We never got the interior temp above -12C.

We spent the evening stoking the fire and huddling close to the fire while wrapped up in all of our layers. Another hearty dinner and a moderate amount of chocolate helped keep us warm through the night.

Stanley Mitchell Hut Amenities

• Wood fire heat + poorly insulated/drafty
• Propane lighting
• Propane stove + cookware/utensils
• Mattresses

Day 4 – Stanley Mitchell Hut to Emerald Lake (16.4km 390m)

We took the Iceline exit on the way out to Emerald Lake. It offered stunning views as we skinned underneath a surreal sun dog. Taking this exit was slower than expected with all the trail breaking. But the views were definitely worth it.

We were very lucky to have our friend Ethan pick us up at the Emerald Lake trailhead and drive us back to the car at Bow Lake. Hitchhiking in the cold temps after the traverse would have been a rough way to end the trip.