Unless there are low clouds in the valley, when I visit Kootenay National Park, I look for the locally named “Mammoth Peak”, officially called Hewitt Peak. I’m a big fan of things being named after what they look like, a lot easier for me to remember. Like Boulder Pass, back of the Lake Louise ski area, there are all types of boulders at the pass and it's called Boulder Pass. But after the passage you come to Ptarmigan Lake, I have yet to see one in the lake. I have sat beside the lake eating my chocolate flavoured energy bar and not one ptarmigan to be seen in the water. Maybe next time I’ll look for them around the lake. Just a reminder, no need to tell me what I should be called because of what I might look like.
But back to the “Mammoth Peak”, before you even get into B.C. from Alberta, it can be seen in the distance. When driving into Kootenay from Banff NP, about ten minutes in, the peak looks amazing in the morning light. Those of you who are not seeing the mammoth outline in the picture, grab some chocolate ice cream (those of you who are not into chocolate, strange, I have heard there are other flavours) and you’ll see the mammoth is looking to the right, with its trunk reaching out.
