Sulphur Skyline

My parents took me hiking when I was a kid, and I remember loving it. However, as I got older, with summer jobs, university, and full time jobs, I fell out of doing it as a young adult. I got older, moved to Alberta, went to the mountains, and fell in love with hiking all over again in 2013. Now I am fully back to my nature loving roots. Back to the same person who used to play out in the woods for hours. So I want to talk a little bit about some of the hiking trails that I love, starting with the one that made me fall back in love with hiking.

Sulphur Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park. 

A few quick facts about the trail: Sulphur Skyline is a pretty popular trail in Jasper. The trailhead is in the Miette Hotsprings parking lot. It is an 8km round trip, with 800m of elevation gain. Parks Canada's website lists is as "difficult" and estimates total hiking time of 4-6 hours.

Me on the steepest section

A few quick facts about me: I am a current healthcare technician, previous retail manager, and generally sort of undecided on career goals. I am not an outdoor professional. In addition to hiking, love taking pictures, reading, bouldering. I don't consider myself an overly athletic person. I am of somewhat average fitness, and moderate hiking speed. I stop a lot for pictures, and am relatively slow on steep sections of hikes. I am not a person who focuses on conquering the next big peak, but prefer to hike my own hike.

So about this trail. I have hiked it 4 times, and somehow it feels like I have done it both more and less times. Each one was extremely rewarding and memorable for a number of reasons. It is also one of the trails that I have hiked more often with other people, and only once alone. Oddly, the solo trip was the first one.

You always need a trailhead picture

So the trail starts off pretty gentle, with a paved trail giving way to gravel, and eventually into the rocky, dirt paths that are most associated with hiking. It involves absolutely no route finding, and has clear signage at any junctions. It is not particularly accessible for anyone with mobility issues.

Some of the views on the way up

The trail proceeds through relatively forested areas, a lot of switchbacks, and a pretty gradual uphill for the first half. Eventually, you do get more views of the valley, and the trail gets steeper as you get closer to the top. One of my favourite spots on the trail is in this section, with a gorgeous view. 

Amazing views

The trail gets steeper and rockier after this. If you are like me and struggle a bit more on elevation gains and with altitude, this will be where it starts getting harder. I didn't notice as much when I hiked it alone, or with people of similar fitness, but when I hiked this one last year with a group that included a few people much fitter than me, I noticed this was where I started slowing down a bit. 

Just a little farther

The trail opens up to an absolutely beautiful alpine meadow, one of my favourite views I have seen in Jasper, and you aren't even at the top yet. I have also seen bighorn sheep in this meadow a few times, which is pretty cool. Always a spot I stop for pictures and a snack before the final push to the top.

Some of the locals

The last push up is the hardest part, but it isn't too long. Definitely easier for me with trekking poles (both up and down). A bit of a steady grind up, the you are rewarded with the incredible views that make this hike so popular. It can be pretty windy at the top, but there are usually semi-sheltered spots to sit and have a celebration snack. There are often some pretty bold chipmunks around searching for leftovers. Please try not to feed them though.

I would say it usually takes 2-2.5ish hours to hike up, and a bit less to hike back down (although go slow to protect your knees where needed). I have always set, out between 8-9am so you can be done in the early afternoon and stay clear of thunderstorms.

There are a few reasons why I love this hike. It is challenging, but not ridiculously hard. It's actually pretty short, although there is a decent elevation gain. It has super rewarding views. It is the right balance of difficulty and reward to have reaffirmed my love of hiking. I have hiked it alone, with one person, with a group, and with my parents. Each time was special. I would like to try to hike it again in the fall at some point. 

I can't possibly hope to capture the magic of the summit in words since I also can never capture it in photos as well as I want to, but I hope that everyone else feels that same magic when they stand up there.