Ha Ling Peak overlooks Canmore. The hike takes about 2 to 3 hours with roughly 2300 ft elevation gain, about 6km. Hiking poles recommended for the descent. This hike is a favorite among the locals, many trail runners train here. Try to start early. Take a raincoat. As with any mountain, the weather can change quickly. All in all this is a fun hike, and a great one to do if you don’t have a ton of time. At the same time, it’s a moderate hike, I wouldn’t say it’s really easy. Take breaks or nibble appropriately if you need to. You’ll need approach or hiking shoes for this one.
The trail
This is roughly where the trail goes.
The View
Here’s the view from the top in various directions 🙂 Fullscreen view is available by clicking “Go fullscreen” in the top right corner below. Don’t forget to mouse over the picture in fullscreen view to view the caption.
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- Just can’t get enough of that view.
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- Spray lakes visible in the distance. Also, storm inbound. We had about 15 minutes before strong winds and and icy cold rain forced us off the mountain.
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- 46 degree incline of scree that consists of marbles, billiard balls and ball bearing sized rocks.
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- Canmore and Highway 1 snaking back eastwards.
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- Goat creek and goat pond as viewed from Ha Ling.
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- Grassi lakes (zoomed view) as viewed from Ha Ling peak. Amazing how the details in the water can still be seen even from 2300 feet above the lake.
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- This is the ascent side viewed from the top. Scree slopes above the tree line.
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- Canmore reservoir, just below the falls at Grassi lakes, fed primarily from Whiteman’s pond.
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- The view is truly breathtaking.
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- Just peeking over the cliff face at down to Canmore.
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- It appears to be a popular hike 🙂
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- A chipmunk bravely poses for a picture.
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- The view looking east, with Canmore on the left and Lac des Arcs visible between the mountains in the distance.
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- This is roughly where the trail goes.
