National Treasure #132: Mount Robson

Mount Robson was (likely) named after someone whose name wasn’t Robson: Colin Robertson. That weirdness alone entitles it to a spot on this list.

It also features in several mountain lists of which I knew nothing before I started looking at Mount Robson online:

• World’s most prominent peaks (119th)
• North America isolated peaks (39th)
• North American prominent peaks (21st)
• Canada highest major peaks (21st)
• Canada most isolated peaks (14th)
• Canada most prominent peaks (7th)

There are two ways to think about a mountain’s height: how high it is from sea level, and how high it is above you when you’re standing where you can see it. Mount Robson does pretty well on both counts.

Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America’s Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. . . . Mount Robson boasts great vertical relief over the local terrain. From Kinney Lake, the south-west side of the mountain rises 2,975 m (9,760 ft) to the summit. – Wikipedia

As for isolation, its south face is visible from right along the Yellowhead Highway, but its famous north face is visible after hiking a ways. How far? Well, that depends who you ask. One spot says it’s a 12-mile hike, but another says that Berg Lake is 12 miles from the parking lot, and it seems to me I might want to come back, too.

I suspect that people like Mount Robson more for its beauty than for its height and isolation. I don’t have photos of my own to share with you, but these Google Images are a fair substitute.

Thanks to Jim Taylor for suggesting Mount Robson for this list.