Ha Ling Peak

Elevation: 2408 m
Elevation Gain: 800 m
Ha Ling Peak is a highly recognizable high point on the north-western edge of Mount Lawrence Grassi. The peak was named for the first man to ascend it. Ha Ling was a cook of Chinese descent whose 1896 first ascent came about as the result of a bet that he could not climb the peak and plant a flag on the summit in less than 10 hours. Needless to say, Ha Ling won the bet and the mountain was named "Chinaman's Peak" in his "honor." In 1997, the peak was officially re-christened as Ha Ling Peak to properly recognize the individual who first climbed it.
My Ascents:
May 25 2025, April 20 2014, May 21 2012, May 1 2011, May 23 2010, May 16 2009, February 8 2009, October 5 2008, August 13 2006
Trailhead: Goat Creek Trailhead
GPS Track: Ha Ling Peak (Upgraded Trail Opened August 2019)

After another long winter and a somewhat cold and wet spring, summer-like conditions finally descended on Calgary in late May 2025. ☀️ Emerging from our familial “hibernation”, we therefore took advantage of sunny Sunday weather to stretch our legs and reacquaint ourselves with the splendor of the nearby Rocky Mountains. 🏔️ Having demonstrated that they were capable of big things 💪 last season, we decided to build upon 9-year-old Mera and 7-year-old Penny’s mountain accomplishments with an early season attempt on Canmore’s Ha Ling Peak. For her part, 2-year-old Lilly (who is no longer as light as she once was) also seemed quite pleased at the prospect of adding Ha Ling to the list of summits she’s been carried her up…

Once upon a time, Ha Ling was a favorite season-starter of mine. Indeed, I recall hiking to its popular summit at least 8 times previously. Given the frequency with which I’ve re-visited Ha Ling, it was therefore surprising to realize that my last ascent of it was 11-years-ago (before any of my 3 children were born)! 🤯 In the intervening time, Alberta Parks closed the trail up Ha Ling for a full year to make significant improvements to it, including widening, grade reductions, chiseled steps, railings and cable ladders/floating stairs. Brianne and I often mused about checking out this “new” and improved trail, so it was surprising to realize that the above-mentioned upgrades were now almost 6-years-old! 🤯🤯 Eager to finally check them out for ourselves, we therefore loaded the family into our car, appeased our children with Timbits® (and ourselves with caffeinated beverages), and ventured west to the peak’s now-immense trailhead parking lot. The trail up Ha Ling may no longer be “new” but if we hadn’t seen it, it would be new to us at least! 😂

LEFT: My (mostly) happy hikers pose in the massive parking lot at the base of their next mountain challenge: Ha Ling Peak!
RIGHT: The cliffs immediately east of the parking area are often a good place to spot bighorn sheep 🐏 and this morning was no different. With a wildlife sighting only moments into the day, Mera, Penny, and Lillian were all excited to see what other surprises the day would have in store. Little did I know that we’d be saving the day’s biggest surprise for last (more on that later)…

LEFT: After crossing the highway, hiking up a short access road and crossing a bridge, we reached the start of the “new” trail (complete with improved signage outlining areas where avalanches can occur). With the slopes above dry and mid-20-degree weather forecast, we assured our kids that they’d be safe from avalanches today and continued up! 😂
RIGHT: The early part of the ascent passes through the cool shade of a mossy subalpine forest. With little to see and no challenging terrain to keep the kids occupied, Brianne and I played countless rounds of the “A,B,C…” game to keep Mera and Penny’ amused. It’s only when they’re bored that they become demotivated. Here, Penny informs Brianne that “T is for Tilly Hat.”

LEFT: Our other secret weapon for motivating the kids – CANDY! 🍬 Some years ago, I grabbed a pack of fun-size Halloween candies for a hike, and it’s now a family tradition to give the girls a small candy for every kilometer that they complete on BIG hikes. Funnily enough, they usually ask “has it been a kilometer yet?” a hundred times in the hike’s first hour, before forgetting about the candy all together.
RIGHT: My 30-lb training weight looks very pleased with her candy compensation (even though I was the one doing all the work)! If my eyes don’t deceive me, she somehow scored 2 treats here to boot! 🤔⁉️🤔

LEFT: As the surrounding forest thinned, the terrain grew rockier and we ran into the first very noticeable trail improvement: a handrail alongside uneven, rocky ground. In places where the rock was slabby and smooth, there were even steps chiseled in!
RIGHT: The trail continued to cleverly break through rocky terrain as we ascended. I remembered similar ledges from previous ascents, but was certain that this one had been widened significantly for the many hikers the route sees (and the occasional hiker pretending to be a goat like Mera here). 🐐

LEFT: About 3-km from the car (and 400 meters above it), we reached a lookout and could finally see the summit (still about 400 meters above us). Since it was nearly noon by this time, we decided to stop here for a lunch break. 🥪
RIGHT: Little Lillian refuels (ie: steals Mom’s sandwich) 😂 after an arduous morning commanding our ascent from her backpack throne. 👑

LEFT: After stealing a decent amount of our lunch (and mostly throwing it on the ground), 🤦‍♂️ Lilly took her Mom to the edge of the lookout for an improved view. 😍
RIGHT: Despite not walking (at all!), Lilly was (for some reason) entitled to a walking stick (which more accurately became a “whacking” stick). #ThirdChild

This lookout was one of the trail’s most impressive improvements! 🤩 Even if you make it nowhere near Ha Ling’s summit, the panorama towards EEOR and over Whiteman’s Pond from here was well worth the effort required to get here. Click to see larger.

LEFT: After a hearty repast of grocery store sandwiches, we continued up the widened trail. In many spots, stone stairs provided assistance but I was always impressed that the trail-makers placed these stairs in such a manner that you could avoid them if you preferred to simply hike uphill on the dirt trail. Note also that Brianne is finally taking a shift with the heavy toddler-filled backpack. Wonder how long that'll last… 🤔
RIGHT: Improved signage warns of areas where avalanche danger exists during the colder, snowier months of the year.

Only seconds beyond the “No Stopping” sign, we all stopped to watch a group of bighorn sheep that were snacking just off-trail. Note also, that Lillian is no longer on Brianne’s back… Wonder where she went… 🙃

LEFT: One of the sheep that provided a convenient excuse for us to stop for a few minutes. Ewe 🐑 better believe the kids were excited to see more wildlife!
RIGHT: At tree line, we finally encountered the first of three sets of “cable ladders/floating stairs” To be honest, I didn’t love these and would have preferred switchbacks to ease the grade in spots like these. For me, they felt like tripping hazards and/or areas that were likely to hurt my knees. Nevertheless, the kids LOVED them and rocketed up them, 🚀 and I appreciated that Alberta Parks built separate “staircases” for uphill and downhill traffic.

Stony stairs (complete with a bypass on normal trail) led ever upwards towards the next set of “cable ladders” while the Three Miners came into view above.

LEFT: Penny and Brianne tackle the last of the “cable ladders”. Whether you love these or find them mildly annoying like I did, they never really lasted for long anyways. 🤷‍♂️
RIGHT: Mera approaches the col below Ha Ling’s summit on a well-crafted stony staircase.

A sign marks the col and the end of the official trail. From here, a myriad of unofficial trails crisscrossed their way up towards the summit, which was less than 100 meters higher. While we were expecting the trail to be well-travelled, this Hilary Step-like ant line of hikers was, nevertheless, impressive to behold. The last time that I hiked up Ha Ling 11-years earlier, I saw only 2 others on top! 🤯

LEFT: Mera led Penny and Brianne up a steep trail in the scree while nearby Mount Lawrence Grassi finally graced us with its scenic and snowy north aspect.
RIGHT: Bored of the well-traveled trail in the scree, Mera elected to scramble easily up rockier terrain near the ridge crest. For my part, I found this scrambling easier than the trail since the solid rocks afforded greater purchase than the trail’s dusty dirt.

Another summit for Miss Mera! 🎉 Having reached Ha Ling’s apex, Mera was thrilled to lean carefully over the edge to see 1100 vertical meters down to Canmore on the other side.

A minute or two after Mera, Lilly and I topped out, we were joined by Brianne and Penny (and this apt view of the snowy Goat Range behind the family Goat). 🐐

Penny takes her turn carefully taking in the view towards Canmore from (near) the edge of the precipice.

While we’d kept our kids at least a meter back from the sharp drop-off, many others must have imagined that the Rockies are made of solid rock (and not crumbling rock as the case actually is). As such, several of them enjoyed airy seats of questionable integrity while waiting to see if they’d just won a Darwin Award.

Ha Ling’s pointed peak provided spectacular, panoramic views over nearby Canmore and the Bow Valley. 🤩 Click to see larger.

The Rundle Forebay’s azure waters and the valley’s verdant slopes made for a colorful scene at the foot of Ha Ling Peak.

To the north, Mounts Inglismaldie (center), Girouard (center right), and Peechee (Right) made an aesthetic trio.

Just down valley from the aforementioned trio, Mount Charles Stewart (center left) and Mount Charles Stewart South/Buffalo Point (center right) stood tall above some new development that significantly scarred the lower slopes of Bald Eagle Peak.

Gazing straight down between a pair of rocky outcrops towards the town of Canmore.

A closer look at Grotto Mountain’s broad and industrially scarred south slopes.

Looking east down the Bow Valley towards Lac des Arcs and a host of Front Range peaks, including (from left to right): Yates Mountain (the Barrier Lookout), Lusk Ridge, Heart Mountain and Grant MacEwan Peak, Mount McGillivray, Pigeon Mountain and snowy Skogan Peak.

The much wilder southward panorama, including Ha Ling’s gentler ascent slopes. Click to see larger.

Mount Lawrence Grassi rose up beyond more proximate Miner’s Peak to the southeast. Along with Ha Ling Peak and Ship’s Prow, these summits are all part of the Ehagay Nakoda massif. Ehagay Nakoda means “the Last Human Being” in honor of the Stoney Nakoda story that recounts how this mountain was created following the transformation of a Nakoda who would now remain on Earth long after all other human life ceased.

Old Goat Mountain (far left) rises up above Goat Pond while Goatview Peak’s many snowy high points tower above the valley below.

The westward panorama towards Banff was filled by the Rundle Massif (including more proximate EEOR and more distant Mount Rundle), with the Goat and Fairholme Ranges serving as visual bookends to the left and right, respectively. Click to see larger.

A plethora of Banff NP peaks rose up above Goat Creek to the west, including (from left to right): pointy Sundance Peak, Mount Bourgeau, Mount Brett, Pilot Mountain, Mount Temple, Sulfur Mountain, and Mount Cory.

A closer look at nearby and equally popular EEOR. Beyond its twin summits, more distant Mount Rundle and Cascade Mountain were also visible.

LEFT: Releasing the toddler within the relative safety of a windbreak/bivy corral on Ha Ling’s summit. Fortunately, Lilly quickly busied herself piling rocks atop this makeshift shelter and paid little attention to the 1100-meter drop-off that was only 2 to 3 meters away! Even so, we (mostly Brianne) kept a very close watch 👀 on this little one while we were up top!
RIGHT: Lilly proudly shows off her summit candy 🍬 (that she earned by being such a good girl the whole way up). Meanwhile, the guy who actually carried her 98% of the way gets a cute selfie (but no candy) as his reward. ❤️

After 30-minutes where we like it most (On Top!), I managed to corral all three of our children and my wife for a quick family photo 🥰 before embarking on our descent.

LEFT: Penny and Brianne cautiously plot their course down the dusty terrain above the col.
RIGHT: Soon after reaching the col, we found ourselves back at the “cable ladders”, which expedited our descent over the brief sections that they covered.

LEFT: An incredibly hydrated Mera trekking downward below the “cable ladders” (in search of a tree to “water”). Thanks to a sudden enthusiasm for her Camelback hydration system, Mera drank at least 2-L of water on this day and, therefore, had to stop to pee no fewer than 6 times!
RIGHT: Having visited the “Little Hiker’s Room” about 20 minutes earlier, Mera begins to look for another spot to relieve herself. 🚾 Maybe next time, we’ll only fill her Camelback halfway? 😂

LEFT: Brianne and Penny continue to carefully descend while Mera marks her territory somewhere in the woods. 🙄 For scramblers, Ha Ling isn’t a huge undertaking but it’s a big day out for little kids (or for anyone who straps a heavy little kid to their back). As the afternoon temperatures soared, we all grew weary and were looking forward to cold treats at the bottom! 🥵
RIGHT: About 2 hours after we started down, we reached the canal at Ha Ling’s base and the girls participated in one of their favorite mountain rituals: filling your hat with cold water and dumping it on your head! 🥶 Short of enjoying a cold beer, there’s no better way to finish a scramble on a hot afternoon! As the icy water streamed down my sweaty face and achy back, the hardships of the day felt like they were washing away and I was refreshed. ☺️

While Mera and Penny got carried away soaking themselves at the canal, we spied another bighorn sheep 🐏 clambering up the cliffy terrain above us. As the hot sun beat down on these rocks, it turned them into a natural oven and I felt sorry for this poor sap who was still on his way up somewhere. For my part, I was very glad to be down and done!

Or at least I thought I was done…

After we wrestled the girls away from the cool canal water, we easily found our way back to the nearby trailhead parking lot, where we started the ritual of loading kids and gear into our gloriously air-conditioned ❄️ car. As we did, I noticed that my InReach satellite messenger and Garmin GPS were not in their usual spot in my pack. This wasn’t a shock because it’s very difficult to stay organized with 3 young kids, and I was pretty sure they’d just been thrown into a different pouch or pack. As my systematic search proceeded and failed to turn up the pricy devices, however, my level of concern increased. Eventually, Brianne and I dumped everything out of everyone’s bags and still failed to locate them. It was at this point that Brianne remembered seeing Mera somewhat carelessly rummaging through my pack looking for toilet paper on one of her frequent trips to the “ladies room” in the woods… 😱

This raised a difficult question: in terms of lost investment, what dollar value would prompt you to go back up Ha Ling Peak after having already carried a heavy toddler up and down it on a hot afternoon? Knowing full well that I’d be looking for a pair of expensive “needles” in a very tall “haystack”, Brianne and I both decided that I should at least try to recover our ~$700-worth of lost equipment. So, we prepped an ultralight pack for me (containing only water, a bit of leftover lunch and a light jacket), and I bid adieu to the family for 1.5 – 3 hours. Brianne took all 3 kids down into Canmore to get supper for them, and I started back up Ha Ling Peak. 😭 It’s a good thing the “new” trail was nice, because I was going to get to enjoy it twice today… 😖

LEFT: Setting as torrid a pace as I felt I could maintain, 🏃 I huffed and puffed my way back up the mountain under the day’s hottest sun, 🥵 stopping only to poke about the woods in places where I thought I remembered Mera venturing off to “relieve” herself. 🧻 After about 50 minutes, the summit had come back into view… 😬
RIGHT: About an hour into my blistering reascent (and nearly 2/3 of the way back up the mountain), I spotted a familiar looking game trail that I was certain Mera had followed towards one of her “pitstops.” Following the trail for 20 meters, I discovered my missing InReach and GPS devices (under a shady tree where they’d been summarily dumped earlier in the afternoon). There was no cell reception here, but I now had a satellite messenger again so I texted Brianne to let her know that I’d miraculously found both devices and would be back down in about 40 minutes. After furiously consuming a granola bar in the shade so I wouldn’t faint, I started back down, tired and a little less enamored with the updated trail. It was no longer “new” to me. 😑

LEFT: Upon my triumphant return 🎺 to the parking lot, Brianne greeted me with a warm smile, a pair of waiting sandals, and…
RIGHT: A cold craft beer 🍺 that she’d picked up while she was getting supper for the girls in nearby Canmore. She really is a keeper! ❤️ After a much-needed bit of "rehydration", we were finally ready to call it a day.

As we started back down the gravel road to Canmore, we pulled over quickly on the shore of Whiteman’s Pond so that the girls could all marvel at the impressive façade of the peak they’d climbed. 😮 Mera and Lilly were already watching their tablets and couldn’t have cared less... 🙄

7-year-old Penny, however, was very proud of her accomplishment (and rightfully so)! ❤️ In fact, Brianne and I were both very proud of all of our girls. Hiking with kids is a lot of work, but, lost devices aside, they’d made it relatively easy on us today. And for that, we decided that they deserved ice cream on the drive home. 🍦

LEFT and RIGHT: 2-year-old Lilly demonstrates why you shouldn’t give a 2-year-old an entire ice cream cone to “eat” on the drive home. 🤣 We’re not really sure how much she actually got in her mouth. In the end, Lilly’s ice cream-covered face proved to be an apt metaphor for our day on Ha Ling Peak with the kids – sweet but messy.

And with that, I decided that I've probably had enough of Ha Ling peak for another 11 years or so... 😂