Pharaoh Peaks, Greater & Middle

Summit Elevations (m): 2713, 2655
Trip Date: October 03 2025
Elevation Gain (m): 1900
Round Trip Time (hr): 10.5
Total Trip Distance (km): 33
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 2/3 – you fall, you sprain something
Difficulty Notes: There are no technical difficulties to the summit of the Greater Pharaoh Peak other than loose rubble and blocks. Some easy scrambling and minor route finding to the summit of Middle Pharaoh Peak.
Technical Rating: SC5
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps

I’ve made many trips over the years into the Egypt Lakes area of Banff National Park. My first was in 2016 when I first experienced the magic of larch season in the backcountry bordered by Haiduk, Pharaoh, Scarab and Egypt lakes. Since then I’ve ascended many more summits in the area, including Lesser Pharaoh, The Sphinx, Scarab, Haiduk and Natalko Peak. It’s been 4 years since I tagged Haiduk and 5 since I’ve hiked into the Egypt Lakes. I’d been saving one last objective in the area for a day just like October 3rd, 2025. Middle Pharaoh Peak sounds like a giant nothing burger, but I knew that it would almost certainly be worth the long trek required to day trip it as my hiking season rapidly wound down for the year.

First documented as a standalone objective by Doug Lutz in 2018 on an overnight trip he did with Brad Orr, it seemed to me that Middle Pharaoh was more of a scramble than its nearby neighbor – the higher Greater Pharaoh. I left a cold ‘n quiet Sunshine Ski Resort parking lot at 07:30 before any warmth could fill the Healy Creek valley. I’ve both skied and walked the Healy Creek Trail many times now but unfortunately it hasn’t gotten any shorter (or more enjoyable) over the years. Sure! It’s always nice to go for a bathe in the forests of Banff National Park, but if I’m honest the first 7.5 kilometers up Healy Creek are more like an ice bath than a warm one. In this case, both literally and in principal! Not only was it bloody cold but there isn’t a lot of scenery for the first few hours of travel through a moody, cold pine forest.

To beat a silly analogy to death, the water warms up quickly at the start of the Healy Meadows. A significant larch forest coats the alpine meadows lying between upper Healy Creek and the Monarch Ramparts. Just as the nearby Sunshine Meadows (where I was only a week previous), this stunning area of the Banff backcountry ensures you earn your views. I don’t mind this, as it is a very human-free area even at the height of larch season, primarily thanks to its remoteness. Unlike the Sunshine Meadows, the Egypt Lake area attracts enough campers to keep this area of the Rockies a little busier during larch season. (This makes it an ideal solo hike since you will almost certainly not be entirely alone the whole time.) As usual, my camera started warming up as I hiked up to Healy Pass, situated only 1.5 kms from the end of the boring approach trail.

At Healy Pass things get a lot more interesting. In order to visit the Egypt Lakes area from this approach, one must lose 360 meters of height down to Pharaoh Creek. (Of course, at the end of the day, one must gain this 360 meters all back again. Arg.) The negatives of these gains and losses are obvious but there is a positive one too. Because larches typically grow at elevations of around 2200 meters, there is another vast forest of them on the west side of the ridge running from The Monarch to the south all the way to Pilot and Copper Mountain at the north end. This is one of my favorite sections of the hike. I even have a favorite old larch tree that lives along here. I descended a frozen track on a mix of snow and ice before finally reaching valley bottom and crossing Pharaoh Creek on a frost covered footbridge.

I was surprised to see some campers at the still frozen campground but also not. This is a very popular area. I chatted briefly with a gentleman near his tent and he commented how busy the area would be the following day (Saturday). I retorted that was unlikely given the weather forecast (cold and snow) and he was surprised to hear it. I love being the bearer of good news. 😉 At this point I was passed by a very fit gentleman from Canmore who I later learned was Martin Čupka. He later learned that I was from this website and he uses explor8ion regularly so that was kinda cool. My ego was taking a beating today! I wasn’t traveling that slow but was passed not only once, but twice on approach. Dang it. I’m getting old folks… Oh well. I still had enough vision and mental capacity left to thoroughly enjoy the scenic trail as it ascended from near Egypt Lake up a steep headwall towards Scarab Lake.

Larch scenery once again started in earnest as I ascended a steep, narrow track up the headwall. By the time I was traversing under Greater Pharaoh’s impenetrable SE face I was marveling in the clear views of the ramparts to the east with their thick coat of larches and dusting of white snow. Soon I was turning towards the upper larch valley nestled between Scarab Lake, Pharaoh Peaks and Whistling Pass on a dusting of snow and frost. 

Instead of continuing all the way to the “official” route leading up Greater Pharaoh (there is in fact a trail forming here), I started up early. Easy rubble and scree led up the south face of Greater Pharaoh and my views back over Scarab and Mummy lakes were absolutely stunning – the main reason I was here today!

As I ascended higher and higher on the south face the snow grew deeper underfoot. No matter – it was still only a few inches. Despite one incident that saw me slip off a snow covered slab and mess up my left knee a bit, I managed to continue shuffling my way up. After traversing more snow covered rock to the summit, I descended slightly for an awe-inspiring view of Egypt, Scarab and Mummy Lake far below.

The wind was cool so rather than linger in the amazing views, I decided to traverse to a spot just north of the summit for views of the other two Pharaoh Peaks and Black Rock Lake. I briefly chatted with Martin (who’d already done Middle Pharaoh and caught up with me at Greater) and he got my email address to send me a nice photo he’d taken of me and the lakes below. 

From the north viewpoint I traversed rubble easily towards the Middle Pharaoh col where I found Martin’s footprints in snow and followed them for the most part. Easy scrambling led to the col. From just above the col towards the summit, the views back to Greater Pharaoh were stunning and as I ascended the peak, views back over Pharaoh Lake with Greater plunging hundreds of vertical meters down to it were some of the most dramatic views of the year for me. Absolutely stunning!

The terrain towards Middle Pharaoh was more scrambling than anything you’ll experience on Greater. Still easy, there were a few times that I had to think about the route to avoid unnecessary or annoying height loss. Just under the summit there was a cool sidewalk / bridge feature that took me over a steep crack that would have required a lot of height loss with this feature. Pretty cool.

Views from the summit were excellent – obviously. That’s why I was here after all! 😉 Haiduk Lake was in full view and for once even Mount Ball wasn’t covered in clouds. Doug and Brad’s register was still there too, this peak is much less travelled than Greater for obvious reasons. 

My knees were starting to ache from the earlier “slip off” incident while ascending Greater, so I didn’t linger, starting the long trek back. Descent wasn’t an issue other than the knee pain. I soon found myself at the regular route for Greater Pharaoh, complete with a trail beaten in scree near the bottom. This route has sure gotten popular since I first did it almost a decade ago!

The sun was now at an ideal angle for the larches near Whistling Pass and they were lit up good and proper as I hiked slowly through them. Almost luminescent, I enjoyed the next 30 minutes back to the top of the headwall before starting down it.

As I exited the bottom of the headwall my knees continued to worsen (apparently I hurt both of them somehow) but thankfully I could still hobble along pretty quick. I had a LONG bloody way to go yet at this point! I think the reason I didn’t injure them much worse is probably the cycling that I got into this year. I don’t know for sure, but whatever the case, I managed to struggle up the 360 meters vertical back to Healy Pass without dying.

From Healy Pass it was simply a matter of one foot in front of the other until getting to the parking lot. I took a young couple’s engagement photo just under the pass (they literally got engaged 2 minutes before I got there) which was kind of neat. I’ve been married to my junior high sweetheart for over 28 years now so it’s been a while since I experienced that special moment.

I limped back into the parking lot 10.5 hours after leaving – not bad considering the state of my knees at this point! I am relieved a few weeks later as I type up this report that they are reasonably OK. I even managed one more trip on them only a week later but that’s a tale for another day. You already know that a trip to the Egypt Lakes area during larch season is the most guaranteed scenic day you’re going to get in the Rockies. You didn’t need another trip report from me to enforce it, but here we are.

The only time I’ve been slightly disappointed, was when Phil and I got excited by a false alarm on social media that had us go into the area before the larches had fully turned. Oops. But that was on me, not on this stunning little corner of paradise that despite getting a little busy nowadays, is still well worth the long trek in, to experience it in full golden glory.