Mystic Peak | The Canmore Mountain List

Mystic Peak
September 16 2023

After seeing a new peak on the distant horizon from Canmore for the first time the week prior and confirming it was Mystic Peak, I made plans to go for it ASAP as I was planning to finish the list on Little Sister with Troy Martel in the coming days and wanted it done before that!

Mystic Peak lies SW of Mystic Pass, which is typically accessed via Johnston Canyon but at this point Highway 1A was closed to traffic and since I didn't feel like dealing with a bike and hike I decided to make a full day of it and day trip from the Norquay lot, tagging a few prominent unnamed peaks visible from Canmore on the way out.

The run in from Norquay went surprisingly quickly and as I closed in on Mystic Lake I noticed what seemed like a feasible route up the SE face just east of Mystic Peak that I'd go for. Mystic Peak is a seldom done mountain and the only route I could find information on was the north ridge that's a quite involved climb so I had planned to try for a route up the opposite side and was happy to see a good line. The ascent, while a bit slabby and exposed at times, was nothing insane and I was shocked to see a party ascending this rarely done peak shortly after I reached the summit.

After descending the same way, I headed for the unnamed high point to the SE and followed ridge from it all the way to the peak just NE of Cockscomb Mountain before heading down towards the 40 Mile Creek Trail. Pretty crazy how smoothly this trip ended up working out, I was full of stoke following a successful ascent of what seems like a new line up this seldom done peak and I was full of stoke heading into the big day with Troy the next day!

links: STRAVA | GAIA
elapsed time: 14hrs
DIFFICULTY: climber's scramble-climb