Onion Peak (Banff National Park)

3 July 2021 

Onion Peak, 2620 m, 20.5 km, +900 m, 11 hours. 

What a day it was! We hit a fantastic weather and experienced a wonderful time together. 

It all started the previous evening however. Our Chief Priestess, Bozena, reached for her secret, but always working, potion, known in some circles as "pikusie."

After experiencing a few of those, Marcin, our new acquaintance from Ontario, fell in love with our club and begged to be "pulled on the member." (Błagał, by wciągnąć go na członka klubu.) A fine person as he is, we look forward to spend more time with him in the mountains. 

At the same time, "pikusie" inspired Barbara to try some climbing, her vertigo being a long forgotten music of the past. 

So wonderfully integrated, we met the next day at Bow Lake. Notice how big our trips have become - this one was attended by 14 people! 

Our objective for the day - Onion Peak - was visible from afar. By the way, if anyone will ever create a brochure to describe this hike, Beata's photo should go on the cover!

We hit the trail without much delay (only 30 minutes). After a relatively flat terrain along the lake ...

... we shortly encountered "schody" (steps) and ...

... the first technical problem - a big boulder - that required a bit of scrambling. 

More difficulty was caused by these fields of boulders along the creek. We had to cross three of them, which slowed some of us considerably. 

Shortly thereafter we split into two groups - Avantgarde (Sturm Team) and Ariergarde (Support Team).

 Avantgarde moved forward speedily and fearlessly, crossing a few creeks. 

At the same time, feeling it is not our day, with Jarek we were just satisfied enjoying the beauty of our surroundings and ... 

... some goddesses in deep meditation! 

Sturm Team shortly reached the famous Bow Hut ...

... and waved to us, far, far, below. 

After a short break ...

... they persevered toward the summit ...

... encountering wonders such as this little lake high on the mountain. 

Shortly before the summit, they discovered these strange rock formations ...

... that gave Onion Peak its name. 

 

They reached the summit after 5.5 hours of action and covering over 10 km. 

Happy summiteers: (from the left) Boris (Trip Leader), Barbara, Malgosia, Asia, Luka and Andrzej. Front row: Beata and Roman. 

So started some frivolities:

while Roman was "exciting" Andrzej to get off the highest point on the mountain ...

... Lukasz has become the darling of the ladies. Now, I understand why Marta hesitated to stay behind. Ladies from our club are known for their ferocious sexual appetites!

In the meantime Marta, who experienced some pain in her right foot, and thus abandoned her summit aspirations ...

... reconnected with the Support Team. 

We started descending ahead of the Sturm Team so they didn't have to wait for us. I have to admit I was greatly impressed by how high Ela, Bozena and Mike got on the mountain, and how brave and careful they were on the way down. 

Sturm Team also started their descent, regretfully leaving behind the majestic landscape near Onion Peak. 

They still had a few creeks to cross. While Beata didn't have much difficulty, always able to count on Andrzej's assistance, Roman, reportedly, made one very dangerous jump over a creek. Though he didn't hurt himself, he created a "karmic debt" which he had to pay the next day. (Read the photostory from Helen Lake Trip).

While the Support Team was already enjoying well deserved elk burgers and beer in Peyto Restaurant (Lake Louise Alpine Hostel), the brave members of the Sturm Team were only approaching the parking. However, their satisfaction from summitting Onion Peak was unparalleled!  

Almost 11 hours of the action, covering over 20 km and 900 meters of altitude gain - this was quite a day for them! Congratulations!

(PR)

P.S. That is not all. Wait for the film from this trip, which will be posted ... here!