Spectacular views from the summit.

Trailhead
At the end of the parking area, walk past three orange metal posts blocking access to a gravel road. Head up the road for 80 metres until it intersects with another gravel road. (This is the old railway bed.) Turn right on this road and follow it for 140 metres until you reach the Glacier House monument and ruins. The trail begins on the left side, just before the stone monument. You can follow the signs from here.

Trail
The trail follows the valley bottom until it crosses Asulkan Creek on a raised bridge at 1.2 km. Just past the bridge, the Glacier Crest trail splits off to the left and starts climbing through the forest. [read more]

Once you break out of the forest, the trail traverses and climbs a hillside sprinkled with shattered rock. There are a number of braids here, but they all go to the same place. Eventually, the faint old trail will be blocked by a set of piled rocks, and the new trail climbs steeply up the hillside. (This is why I now carry a hiking stick: to descend pitches like this.) At the lip of the hill, head right and climb to the ridge. From here, it is a short scramble across shattered rock to the summit cairn.

On a clear day, the view is hard to beat, and you’ll want to save time for just sitting and soaking it in. Below you to the east is the Illecillewaet Glacier, and above that the Neve. But what really gets your attention here is the looming presence of Sir Donald.

On the other side is the Asulkan Glacier. Mts. Swanzy and Bonney make up the row behind, while Mt. Dawson looms above Asulkan Pass. This is a very special place.

Cautions

Keep an eye on the weather. It can change very quickly.
Stay off the snow cornices.

From the junction of Highway 95 and Highway 1 in Golden, drive west on the Trans Canada Highway for 81 kilometres to the summit of Rogers Pass. Drive past the Rogers Pass centre and head down the steep hill on the west side of the pass. When the highway becomes twinned in a 50 kilometre zone, get ready to turn left into the Illecillewaet campground at 83.4 km. Drive past the campground and park in the paved parking area.