This sparkling gem kicked my ass several times over but was worth every grunt of persperation from first to last step. As one of Roger's Pass' most impressive hiking opportunities I have developed a certain love for the top of this mighty climb.
I've been hiking almost annually near Revelstoke for several years now. In my humble opinion the Selkirk range is home to the most impressive mountains in the Canadian Rockies. If you are looking for steep hikes and insanely impressive views forget about Jasper or Banff, Roger's Pass put them to shame.
In 2019, Perley Rock was the only major hike of the Illecillewaet area in Glacier National Park I had yet to complete. (The Canadian Glacier National Park, don't accidently go to Montana looking for this hike!) I knew going in that Perley stands with Mount Sir Donald as one of the hardest "developed" hikes in the country. I had completed Sir Donald several years earlier fondly remembering the gruelling climb. With this in mind, I approached Perley with more humility than I normally do only bringing along a day pack and my GoPro.
The first 60% of the hike is familiar to me as it shares a path with that aforementioned Sir Donald Trail before branching westward towards the Illecillewaet glacier. The hike begins on the valley floor and for the first kilometer or so is easy as if it is taunting you into a false sense of confidence. Don't worry, though, easy quickly transforms to grueling when the trail suddenly veers up the side of the mountain and through massive debris fields littered with boulders.
I then spend the next hour or so fighting my way up steep switch backs and even steeper sections which probably should have been switch backs. Good thing I brought my friend Michael along who had never really done any real hiking before. His continuously renewing sense of wonder every five steps does miracles for my determination to keep going. This section of the hike, while brutal, is particularily beautiful as you are essentially low-key scaling the cliff face right beside the beginning of the Illecillewaet River which thunders through the park before joining into the Columbia River in Revelstoke. Every few hundred feet we are greated by yet another impressive waterfall. It is a daunting paradise.
Once we reach the fork and head towards Perley nothing really changes in terms of difficulty but the scenery begins to change as we climb above the treeline. To our left the iconic and foreboding black peak of Sir Donald towers above us like a titan in the sky. As we come around a large bend the dark orange granite of Perley Rock reveals itself. The first glance at Perley is quite staggering because its orange and black color is completely different than any other part of the valley.
Perley Rock is impressive, even from well below and my state of wonder was only tapered by the realization that the trail ends on top of the damned thing. We still have a long way to go. According to my GPS we are at about 2,200m (7,200 feet) which thanks to some very simple math lets me figure out that we still have another ~260m to climb to the peak of the trail.
As we approach 2,300m we are very much starting to feel the thinness of the air. Exhaustion is setting in and lightheadedness is constently threatening. I had been up around 2,550m before on Sir Donald but don't remember feeling like this in the past. Sure, it is a far cry away from the almost 9,000m of monsters like Everest but we are up into the realm where our bodies are not acclimatized. So far we have hiked the equivalent of Everest Icefall to Camp 2 in terms of elevation change. Not nearly as difficult as a Nepalese giant but still plenty of effort for a day's work.
With a renewed focus on ensuring careful foot placement and balance we continue along towards Perley. It is slow going but we eventually reach the top of the Holy Grail of Roger's Pass. Exhausted, we bask in the beauty of our arrival. From the top of Perley we have a commanding view down the entire range. It is bloody well euphoric.
Behind us is the Illecillewaet Glacier. I have been near glaciers before countless times and usually the edge of the glacier is just a sheet of snow that slowly dwindles to nothingness. Beautiful but simple. Illecillewaet has resolved to be something different entirely. The edge of the Illecillewaet glacier is a mighty icewall standing at least three or four stories tall and spreading well over a kilometre is length. For a moment I wonder if we have accidently walked into Westeros and should expect Jon Snow to meander by.
Exhausted but giddy we head towards the glacier to begin exploring and spend the next hour in awe of our discovery. We are on top of the world exploring a wall of snow and ice pocketed with caves. I am in heaven. It even tastes like heaven. (Yes, I had to drink water melting directly off the glacier, wouldn't you? Yes, it was spectacularily quenching!)
After exploring the glacier for too long and realizing that the day is waining we quickly head back to the trail to descend. At which point my knees decide that have had enough and I somehow manage to blow them both within 100m of the summit which leads to a very painful and brutally slow descent.
We manage to get down just as the sun is touching the horizon, the last few km are a painful mad-dash and I manage to completely destroy a perfectly nice set of trekking poles which had the honor of taking the downward force of every single step down the mountain.
Exhausted yet exhilirated we begin the hour drive back to our campsite in Revelstoke.
