EEOR (East end of Rundle)
I’m not sure that there is a hike in the Bow Valley that is talked about more than EEOR . Located just west of Canmore and immediately west of the Spray Lakes road in the Canadian Rockies. Mount Rundle occupies the space between Canmore and Banff on the southwest side of the Trans-Canada Highway. This is a hike that offers a big bang for your buck. It has everything, pitchy climbs, lose rock, amazing views and a bit of scree to navigate to reach the very top.
My watch died in the last little bit but looking at All Trails and other folks routes, it’s round 5.3 - 5.5kms with around 900 meters of elevation. Don’t let this hike fool you, the distance is not an indicator of how tough the hike is. And by tough, I mean a quad burner!
You have the option to stop above the tree line and relax, have snacks and hydrate without going to the very top. The last pitch is where you’ll do a bit of navigating the scree and this is a great place to have a helmet just in case a few rocks go lose from someone above you.
The scree at the top of EEOR!
You can see the Town of Canmore below. A great spot to snack and hydrate!
How can you prepare yourself for this hike?
You need a Kananaskis parking pass to park in K-Country. Once you have this, you can park anywhere and access all the trails.
You can have dogs on leash.
There is limited cell reception throughout the hike.
Recommended to have hiking poles for the descent.
Recommended to have a helmet for the top as you approach the scree. It can be loose and with it being a popular hike, someone may knock some rock down.
Expect the unexpected with the weather. Ensure you have a buff, rain jacket, gloves are helpful with the scree.
Snacks and hydration are key. Granola bars, wraps, nuts and seeds. Since this hike is on average 3-5 hours with breaks, I went with Nuun endurance.
This is a rewarding and easy hike (according to Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies). I would say from a scramble/scree perspective it’s easy but from a leg burner and intensity in climbing, it’s more on the moderate side. I would highly recommend purchasing the Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies book as it’s very descriptive and can be used to cross reference with the comments in All Trails.
