Mount Bell is an incredibly scenic scramble just South of Lake Louise. Being situated beside the continental divide you get great views of big peaks nearby. The 3 lakes you pass by on the approach are gorgeous. Boom Lake which you see from the summit ridge is also very beautiful. It is well described in "Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies" by Alan Kane.
For my 3rd day of scrambling, I wanted something scenic but not too long. I chose Mount Bell since I haven't been up anything nearby it yet. I started early in order to get to the summit before the clouds rolled in. Unfortunately, I woke up 45 minutes late as my alarm failed to wake me up. But luckily the cold temperatures woke me up instead. I made it to Taylor Lake in about 2.5 hours. The lighting was excellent and I got great photos of the lake. I arrived at O'Brien Lake less than an hour later. Again, the lighting was excellent for photos. The trail around the lake was very boggy, but fortunately the bugs were not that bad. I followed the approach trail past a couple beautiful alpine tarns to a moraine. The big rocks were a bit slow and awkward to pass over. The ascent gully was mostly snow free which meant that I didn't need my crampons or my ice axe.
Once at the col the view was spectacular. Boom Lake was beautiful as well as the cool peaks rising above it to the West. I ascended up the ridge scrambling on the fun big rocks. I arrived at the summit with hardly any clouds in the sky. I couldn't have asked for a better day. All the peaks on the continental divide were awesome. The North faces of Mount Ball and Mount Stanley were very impressive. Mount Temple had some nice snow on it to add to its beauty. The Boom Glacier looked very cool.
After staying on the summit for awhile I managed to pry myself away and head down. The descent along the ridge was pretty straight forward and pleasant. Lots of scree runs and scree traverses to follow back to the col. Once at the col, I had another fun scree run back down to the moraine. The big rocks at the moraine slowed me down again. The remainder of the return hike was straight forward and uneventful. The lakes were still very nice, although the lighting wasn't as good for photos. It was definitely a premier scramble that all scramblers should try at some point

Click on the play button in the top left to start the slideshow or click on any picture to enlarge it. Use the icons on the top left to navigate.

Please send me any comments, suggestions or mountain/flora identifications ecoulthard@gmail.com

All Content © Eric Coulthard. All rights reserved - Commercial use without express written permission of the copyright holder is expressly forbidden.