we are so excited uh I guess we've got to start the video first hey
yeah gotta welcome to peeps what's going on YouTube welcome back to our channel
today we are very very very excited to be hiking into Egypt Lake in Banff National Park we do a
lot of hiking in the Canadian Rockies and this is one of our very very favorite hikes
so we actually cannot wait to show it to you guys because from the moment we left last time
we've been talking about coming back it's just that amazing and be sure to stay tuned until the
end because we're gonna share five of our favorite backcountry items that we don't go camping without
for those of you who don't know us I'm Cayleigh I'm David and we ran a Travel and Adventure Vlog
called made to explore we are passionate about activities that get you outside and
off the beating path we've got a ton of van life content and a lot of hiking Cayleigh and I first
through this hike about two years ago yeah two or three years ago and we loved it the views are
phenomenal it starts off by Sunshine Village which is just inside Banff National Park just
outside of Banff if you already noticed we're in a gondola so there are two options to start this
hike one you can hike up Healy Creek Trail from the sunshine parking lot this route is
13 kilometers and 890 meters of elevation gain number two you can cheat a little bit and pay
$41 each to ride up the gondola to the Sunshine Village which is honestly pretty steep but you
do save a lot in elevation which is the hardest part of hiking especially when you have a
40 pound pack yes hopefully there's no snow on those types too fingers crossed so after this 1070
meter boost from the sunshine Gondola you're going to want to take a hard right and begin hiking
towards Simpson pass one of the best parts about this hike and in particular taking the gondola up
to the base of Sunshine Village and then hiking up Wawa for people who are like that's a weird word
to say Wawa is the name of the chair at sunshine and that's what I call it because this is like
the ski part is the fact that you spend so much time up in the Alpine with the flowers In bloom
hopefully if you come in July it's just beautiful and the views are phenomenal whereas on most
hikes you would start in the forest and Hike along creeks and the views don't get good until the top
but this hike is honestly there's views almost the whole way which is so nice in total this
hike from the top of the gondola to Egypt Lake Campground is 12.4 kilometers with 585 meters of
elevation gain this is a Friday and we left after work AKA we better get a move on we got a set of
camp and nobody likes setting up camp in the dark I think we might be setting up camp in the dark
this is Cayleigh and I's first overnight hike of the year together last weekend I did Ribbon
Lake on my own earlier this week actually like in the middle of the week she hiked into Glacier
Lake with a friend and both of those hikes are also on the Canadian Rockies guide also
on Tuesday Cayleigh hiked into Mist Mountain Hot springs and
saw a mama bear and 4 cubs on the way out it was so cool
so that's in the Highwood pass and that place is known for not only Grizzlies but lots of Wildlife
and only set of hot springs in Kananaskis and they just look out over the mountain they're
like on the side of a mountain and that's also in the Rockies guide so what I am trying to get at is
think about checking out our Rockies guide we'll link it below and at the end of this video our
Rockies guide is 98 pages long and it includes all of our favorite day hikes backpacking trips lakes
waterfalls activities viewpoints and natural hot springs in the Rockies it covers BanffJasper Yoho
Kootenay and Kananaskis and we just updated it for the 2023 season so we cannot wait to share it
with you the views from the top of Simpson pass are incredible and then we began the downhill
journey to meet up with Healey Creek Trail there is one million fallen trees along this pathway so
just beware the fallen tree is really slowed us down in this section they were honestly pretty
brutal until we got down to the meadow from there we hiked uphill to Healy Pass and had a snack
where we were able to enjoy the sunset and the beautiful views it is about 9 30. we just made it
to Healy Pass and we have about 3K to go which is not too bad the bugs are brutal last time we hiked
in here we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes too you can see the Sun is setting behind us and
it's beautiful we just stopped and took a bunch of photos but you can see the waterfall and then
below the waterfall there is Egypt Lake so it's all kind of downhill from here and yeah hopefully
we get there pretty soon set up camp and get out of these bugs pretty much is the plan so
good morning we got to camp at about 11:30 11:15. yeah but then went directly to bed
yeah a couple things we need to fill you guys in on this campsite is it's not located in the
best spot it's not right on the lake it's not right on the creek it's kind of in between so
your water source is a little bit far away they've located the eating area and the lockers like quite
far away from the camping area which is good to be bear aware and stuff but it's kind of it's kind of
annoying not all camp back country campgrounds are like that so there was also a lot of
fallen trees which really slowed us down
like big trees you have to like climb over go under so today what peak are we hiking there's
so many hikes to do around here it's crazy yeah decisions decisions but first breakfast
cheers
all right breakfast is oatmeal we make our little packets beforehand and just makes it super easy
put like cinnamon peanut butter pumpkin seeds raisin really anything you want inside finished
breakfast packed up and we are heading up to Pharaoh Peak it's a couple kilometers
to Egypt Lake and then we're gonna hike up towards Scarab Lake and then from there we're gonna go
up to Pharaoh Peak I think it's going to be about eight kilometers round trip and about
700 meters of elevation gain that yeah that is Pharaoh Peak it looks really intimidating
super intimidating but we can do it we can do it last time we were here we hiked up to the Sphinx
which actually begins on the same Trail as we are taking today it branches off at Scarab Lake
and from the top you have impressive views over Mummy and Scarab Lakes this hike is 7.8
kilometers round trip from the campground with 500 meters of elevation gain so it is a little
bit easier than the hike to Pharaoh Peak Okay so we got to this viewpoint which
we remember being fairly short into the hike last time this trail is very
overgrown like there's trees falling all over
the path it's kind of hard to follow was not like that last time we came
um would you recommend coming right now probably not but Parks Canada is just super behind on their
maintenance because they've been so short staffed and I don't know it's just uh it's hard to be mad
about it because everyone struggled the last couple years but uh yeah I would probably wait
a little while it is 2022 so I would probably wait until August 2023 at least to do this hike
Yeah hopefully its cleaned up by then because its honestly
it's taking like twice as long as it should to do anything because we're spending so much time
climbing over and under trees it's not just a small for some reference it's just not a small
tree that's come down across the trail it's like stuff like this and there's hundreds yeah
but it's so pretty and literally we're the only people on the trail so pros and cons pros and
cons so after arriving at Scarab Lake which this section of the hike is 2.5 kilometers
and 230 meters of elevation gain we took a quick detour to one of our all-time favorite spots in
the Rockies so from the shore of Scarab Lake there is a small trail that follows a creek to your left
this will take you to the top of Scarab Falls and you guys it is wild here from here you can
see down over the falls to Egypt Lake and it is just spectacular I hope this goes without
saying but be super careful here the waterfall is very powerful so don't go in the water and
you definitely want to keep your distance from the edge after that we backtrack just a few hundred
meters to find the trail that goes out to Pharaoh Peak in the last 1.4 kilometers to get up to the
top you gain about 460 meters of elevation it is all on loose rock and it is a grind
you guys so make sure to bring poles snacks water electrolytes if it's hot and take lots of breaks
as you need them once you get to the top it is all worth the effort you can see Egypt Scarab
and Mummy Lakes from up there and oh it's just got to be one of our all-time favorite views in all of
Banff it is so beautiful okay so it was quite cold at the top of pharaoh Peak but on the way
down the sun came back out and we were like dying so we made our way to the lake we're going in
[Music]
all right so what time is it actually yeah it's 8:55 that's reasonable okay we're in the tent
it's 8 55. We hiked a ton today we went over so many logs Pharaoh Peak kicked our butts then we
went swimming in Scarab Lake which was painfully cold personally just like such a quick recap of
our day and now we're chilling in the tent after having a bite to eat down at the picnic tables
because the mosquitoes are so pretty bad so we're just gonna play a little bit of crib and enjoy
a drink and then a little bit and then go to bed we'll see you guys in the morning night night bye
all right pack out day the mosquitoes are brutal they're so bad and uh yeah so there's
nothing you can do they will get you they don't seem to be able to get through the rain jackets
yeah bring like a raincoat because they can't really get through that and good bug spray so this
is our campsite it's pretty nice actually all the campsites here are honestly pretty nice yeah so
so we've got three kilometers of uphill pretty bad like trees falling it's steep then the rest of the
way down should be okay yeah we're going out Healy Creek all the way back to Sunshine Village so time
to move on look at these you can like see them they're like swarming we need to get a move on
getting out of here if you want to try to escape the bugs come down to this creek this is where you
can kind of do dishes fill up your water all that stuff but there's a bit of a breeze that kind of
comes through here since there's less trees and it tends to keep the bugs away a bit better so
little tip and it's pretty so from the Egypt Lake Campground we hiked back the way we came through
Healy pass but we branched off at Healy Creek Trail this takes you all the way back to your
vehicle without having to take the gondola and it's downhill the whole way from Healy pass in
total this hike is 13 kilometers with 350 meters of elevation gain we made it all the way back
we are so close to the parking lot and we're both pretty tired so wouldn't recommend this hike for
people just getting into Back Country camping probably the Healy Creek Trail on the way back
is quite a slog there's not a lot of views it's just right along the creek bottom if you want to
break up that hike though there is a campground that you can go to that's about halfway between
Sunshine Village parking lot and Healy pass at the top there without further Ado our five items that
we don't go into the back country without these are not like 10 essential items like you always
need to make sure you have shelter water like all these things these are just things that yeah make
our trips better yeah number one is going to be a jet boil so we've had our jetboil for probably
like four or five years now actually and it's held up super well it boils water very quickly
it's very fuel efficient number two is gonna be the fillo it's about 40 to 50 bucks they come in
different sizes but what it is is a pillow that you can fill with air like a regular backcountry
pillow but it has memory foam on top which makes it much more comfortable much more quiet it packs
down fairly lightweight it is worth the money you sleep so much better it's like a noticeably
better sleep yeah next up is our water filter so we use a Hydro Blue Water Filter just recently
got it last year it's a 10 liter bag it packs down super small uh we've gone through a couple
different kinds of water filters and this is probably the easiest one to use and good quality
Next on the list is a hammock we bring a hammock in every time we go into the backcountry David
doesn't always use it but I always use it while I'm
fishing Cayleigh chilling in the hammock reading a book yeah it's just so nice to have somewhere like
a lot of people bring in chairs we don't usually bring in chairs we just bring in a hammock and
you can hang out in there it's great number five on the list we just got really excited because we
could see the parking lot quickly number five on the list is a washcloth it's just really nice to
have in the mornings and at night to wash your face and your hands we just boil a little bit
of water and it actually like makes our night better before we go to bed all you need is a
small microfiber towel we'll link it below they dry out really quick inside the tent or outside
the tent that wraps it up that wraps it up thanks for watching guys hope you uh like the Egypt Lake
hike if you like this video don't forget to like it subscribe to the channel we would love
to have you around for more of our adventures and check out our Canadian Rockies guide if you
haven't already yeah we will link that below see you in the next one see you next week