The first time I saw this peak was over a short video of it on social media. It was sunset, like in the image I captured, and I had never seen anyting like it. I knew I had to find it!! After some digging I discovered it was a hike called “Smutwood Peak”, just south of Canmore, Alberta.

Fast forward over a year later. I was on my big Canadian Rockies autumn trip. And Smutwood was on the very top of my list! It snowed up high after the first day or two and the peak was covered in it. So I had to wait. I also wanted the tamaracks to be turned a little more and there were not quite there. But two days later the snow melted. The day arrived! I headed out on a beautiful, warm fall day. All of the clouds were supposed to burn off by the evening, something I hoped would not happen as I like some atmosphere in my sunsets. My plan was to hike up for sunset, and then hike the six miles out in the dark!

You see it’s illegal to camp in the area around the peak. So if you want a sunset image you have to pay for it in the hike down. Luckily a car pulled up at the trailhead before I set out. A man and woman had decided to do the same thing as me that day! The first four miles go by extremely fast. And then its two miles of grueling switchbacks and windy ridge hiking. But I was up about an hour before sunset. And then the clouds started building back up over the peaks!! The moisture in the air caused the conditions I had hoped for all along. And Mount Birdwood (The distinguished one in the photograph) became something out of a movie! This peak is something else! A massive diagonally shaped sharp pyramid of rock!

I took many images of the sunset and then shot blue hour for a bit. In the meantime my new friends had already headed down. I’d have to face the hike back alone, in the pitch black. Now i’ve done a lot of night hiking. But this particular one was on the very top of my list for scariest hikes ever. The region is very well known for heavy grizzly activity. And early fall the bears are the most aggressive, trying to fatten up the last bit before hybernation. On top of that, hiking down I heard a large animal splashing by one of the small marshy areas along the trail. Every time I yelled it ran further, that was nice. Eventually I made it back to the car. And with it a bucket list prize of images. I only know of one other photographer who has ever captured sunset from this spot in similar conditions.