Solo on the Jasper Skyline trail
Tent: Durston X-Mid 1P Solid
Pack: Arc’teryx Aerios 30
Sleeping Bag: MEC Delphinus -9C Women’s Sleeping Bag
Water Filter: Grayl
Skyline has been on my to-hike list since the minute we decided we were moving to Alberta — which is good, because most of the weekend camp sites were booked up within minutes of the booking window opening last February. That said, the trail was absolutely worth any time I spent with my mouse hovering over the “reserve” button. The scenery was 16/10 level stunning, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a real mix of forests, alpine meadows, and ridge walks along the mountain tops.
Skyline is a 44km point to point hike with about 1410 m gain— or a little more if you camp at Curator or Watchtower, both of which are a little ways off the main trail. It is usually pitched as a 2-3 day hike, although I met several people planning multi-day hikes as well as several trail runners covering the distance in a single day. For strong hikers, I would recommend 2 days which allows for a good mix of forest walking and spectacular views on both days. The three-day version would probably result in two days dominated by forest walks and one day of spectacular scenery in the middle. Most of the trail was also super runnable, and I will definitely be back to tackle it as a single day adventure next summer.
Elevation profile and campsites along the Skyline trail.
I hiked in late August which was perfect timing — the trail isn’t usually accessible until late July, while in September, just a couple of weeks after I hiked, the nearby Chetamon wildfire forced Jasper had to close most of the park to tourists. I lucked out and had perfect weather — warm and sunny with a nice breeze during the day and chilly but not freezing over night. I heard from other folks hiking the trail that snow is possible just about anytime on the trail, so plan accordingly.
Day 1
I parked at the Signal Mountain Trailhead — the typical end point of the hike — and took the Maligne Adventures shuttle (pre-booked) to the starting point of the trail. As a solo hiker this worked really well as there were plenty of other people starting the hike — and making lots of noise — as I hiked through the early forested sections of the trail. I saw a little bit of bear scat coming through this area, so it was nice to have other hikers within sight. I saw plenty of people on the trail until the Little Shovel Camp where several groups decided to stop for lunch.
I’m not one to stop for lunch on the trail (I can eat chocolate bars on the go!), so I checked my bear spray and carried on solo from there until near Curator camp when I started catching up with the groups who had started their day at one of the earlier campsites.
Coming out of the trees into the first alpine meadow is a truly spectacular experience - especially when you are the only person in the entire valley. I also saw my first marmot within just a few minutes of leaving the trees behind. From there the trail wound up and down through a series of valleys and past the Snowbowl camp before finally climbing up to Shovel Pass where the scenery abruptly changes from lush meadow to dusty rocky terrain.
I was moving pretty fast - and with my campsite at Curator within view and only a couple of kilometres away, I decided to climb up the short but steep pass leading towards the Watchtower trail and camp. The view from the top was spectacular in either direction, but I didn’t envy those who were using Watertower as their mid-point campground — on top of being a fairly substantial detour, it looked like it added quite a bit of extra climbing.
Strange triple toilets in the Jasper backcountry
I made it to camp at Curator around 3PM after 22km and about 5 hours on the trail. The campground is well set up with bear boxes, picnic tables, and several numbered tent pads. The camp also has the typical (for Jasper) but completely bizarre triple backcountry toilets. While conceptually they are fairly similar to the backcountry toilets in Ontario Parks, I don’t fully understand the Jasper logic of grouping them in sets of three. By this point in the season these toilets also badly needed to be emptied.
My new Durston X-Mid 1P trekking pole tent was much easier to set up than anticipated!
One of the things that made it possible to go fast and light for this trail was the Shovel Pass Lodge. Specifically, being able to eat dinner at the lodge which is only a few hundred meters away from the Curator camp. While usually reserved for those who are staying at the lodge, they can occasionally accommodate hikers who make arrangements in advance. In this case I lucked out as a solo hiker and benefited from a warm meal, coffee, a slice of pie and some company. Not 5* cuisine, but very comfy, and the warm meal was better than anything I was likely to get out of a freeze dried bag. The lodge also looks like a great place to stay for those who are keen to hike the trail in two days without camping.
Having dinner arranged at the lodge also allowed me to leave my stove at home — a huge space saver in my pack. Knowing that I wasn’t going to need large quantities of cooking water, I chose my Grayl as my main water filter for this trip. On the Rockwall trail a week prior, I found both our gravity filter and its associated hand pump annoyingly slow. While the Grayl is heavier than most water filters, it is about the same size as my trail running flasks, so I was able to filter, refill my flask, and filter again in just a minute or two using the Grayl as my second waterbottle. I would probably recommend the larger sized Grayl Geopress over my smaller Grayl Ultrapress, but since I was gifted my Grayl at the Fjallraven Classic USA I can’t really complain.
One important tip for Skyline — pack your sunscreen for this one folks! After a warm hike on Rockwall the previous weekend, I had elected to swap my hiking tights for a pair of lightweight running shorts. While I was thrilled not to be sweaty, I forgot that with elevation comes an increased risk of sunburn, and, after walking with the sun at my back for five hours, the back of my legs got absolutely toasted.
Day 2
I started my day alongside many of the folks I had eaten dinner with the night before - and it was nice to have the company as we headed straight up out of the Curator camp valley and towards the mountain pass known as the Notch. This climb was the only part of the trail that felt at all technical, but, without snow to contend with, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I was expecting. Just steep.
Looking backwards from the Notch
We all stopped for photos at the top of the Notch, and to admire the totally contrasting scenery on both sides of the pass. From the Notch it looked like there was a not terribly difficult scramble up to the peak, but not one that was going to attempt solo. Instead, I turned onwards to possibly the most fun part of the trail — several kilometres of easy but exposed ridge walking along the top of the mountains with stunning 360 views. From here you could see layers on layers of mountains stretching into the distance, as well as landmarks like the Marmot Basin ski area. This section reminded me of hiking in Colorado - although it felt much more remote than the area we covered for Fjallraven in 2019. Thankfully, in Jasper you can get these views at 2500m in elevation (8200 ft) rather than dealing with the inconveniences of being up above 12,000 ft in Colorado.
Of note - from Curator until the Tekarra valley there is nowhere to refill water and nowhere private to go to the toilet - plan accordingly!
Forward from the Notch and on to the ridges!
There is a fun set of switchbacks heading down into the valley, and another lovely meadow heading towards the Tekarra camp. Heading down the switchback was the last time I saw anyone until I arrived back at the parking lot several hours later. From Tekarra Camp you cross the river on stepping stones before one last climb that skirts the edge of Signal mountain and passes through one more lovely alpine meadow with views down to the highway through Jasper.
The last 8km are on fire access road, and in addition to being the most boring section of the hike, these 8km were the most disconcerting re: bears. Since I had long ago outpaced the folks I started the day with, I was on my own with plenty of bear signs coming down the gravel road. I spent the last hour keeping a close watch on the trees and loudly singing Stan Rogers songs, but it was ultimately a bit of a relief to get back to the car.
Overall, the trail is one I plan to do again, and again, and again. I have big plans to come back for trail running, for backpacking trips, and maybe to drag my relatives into the backcountry with a stay at the lodge too.
