Egypt Lake

Over two months ago, Angie had proposed a backpacking trip to Egypt Lake. Aside from exploring the area in the summer, she also wanted to investigate how difficult it would be to ski in to the shelter in the winter.


Eventually, when it came time to organize the trip, Angie was not able to make it. However, I, along with Emily and Shawn, were still in, and we decided to stay at the shelter for two nights, from July 17th to 19th.

The trail starts to the right of the bottom gondola station at Sunshine ski resort. There were many construction vehicles on-site, but it wasn't clear exactly what they were working on. Contrary to my fears, the trail head and parking were marked very clearly, and we were off!

We had a beautiful, sunny day, and the trail was very mild in terms of steepness, but unfortunately, most of the first half of the trail goes through dense forest (similar to the ski-out), so we didn't get much in terms of views until we got to the meadows just prior to Healy Pass.

This meadow was a popular spot for day hikers to stop at, many of whom appeared to turn back at this point. There were a fair number of backpackers too, however, most of them heading to Egypt Lake.

Just a bit past the meadows was Healy Pass (2315m), from which a few good views can be had.

The peak is called The Monarch (2903m), and the ridge line along the right is called the Monarch Ramparts.

We got to the shelter around 3pm, and as it was too early to start preparing dinner, we decided to go for a little day hike in the afternoon.

We first visited Egypt Lake, which was quite close to the shelter, and then decided to head off a bit further to Scarab Lake. What we didn't realize was that the way up to Scarab Lake was steep with a few switchbacks, so a little more than we had bargained for. However, Scarab Lake was beautiful.

The formation on the left does not have a name, but the sharp peak on the right is Haiduk Peak (2919m). Between the two is Mummy Lake, but as we had already expended more energy than we were expecting to, we decided to forego that destination (more on that later), and head back to Egypt Lake, where I waited until sunset to grab this panorama.

If you look carefully, you can actually see the moon between Sugarloaf Mountain on the left and the unnamed ridge on the right (which is a part of the ridgeline leading up to Haiduk Peak).

The next day, our plan was to maximize our lakes-per-kilometre ratio by hiking past Pharaoh and Black Rock Lakes up to Sphinx Lake. Our map listed the trail to Sphinx Lake as unmaintained, so we figured it would be a longer day than the 10km round trip total would indicate.

Pharaoh Lake was quite nice, but the mosquitoes were eating us alive, so we didn't stick around too long.

In the end, Sphinx Lake wasn't much to behold, and it's curious that it was even named, given how small it was.

The large peak in the back is a part of the Pharaoh Peaks (2710m) range, although it wasn't immediately clear which peak was the highest. However, this one does look somewhat like a sphinx, so the naming of the lake seemed appropriate. A better view was had from Black Rock Lake.

Once we got back to the shelter, we realized that the hike to Sphinx Lake and back had taken a lot less time than expected, so after grabbing a quick nap, we decided to check out Whistling Pass and Mummy Lake (which we had foregone the previous day).

The hike to Whistling Pass, after the initial switchback that we were now doing for the second time, is very gradual and scenic. However, the view on the other side wasn't all that impressive.

We saw a few people hiking to Egypt Lake (where we were staying) from Shadow Lake (the other side of Whistling Pass, although I don't think you can see it in this photo).

We then headed back to Scarab Lake, on the way to Mummy Lake, and saw a couple of marmots.

Mummy Lake itself required a bit of a scrambly ascent to reach, but it was quite impressive, especially the glacier which was breaking off into the water.

That night, the storms came, and I learned to appreciate the luxury of a shelter (as opposed to a tent). I've decided that huts and shelters are a good thing, and plan on using them more in the future.

The third day was our time to leave, so I took a couple of parting shots of our temporary home.

I have a feeling we will be back in the winter, and it will be interesting to see the changes in scenery.

One more final shot of a stream near Healy Pass.

As we arrived back at the parking lot at Sunshine, it started pouring again, mixed with hail and lightning. Good timing!