Editing Mount Rundle

{{Short description|Mountain in Banff National Park, Canada}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name            = Mount Rundle
| native_name     ={{native name|cr|Waskahigan Watchi}}
| photo           = Mount Rundle at Dusk.jpg
| photo_caption   = Mount Rundle as seen from [[Vermilion Lakes]]
| elevation_m     = 2948
| elevation_ref   = <ref name="peakfinder">{{Cite peakfinder|id=1193 |name=Mount Rundle| access-date=11 September 2019}}</ref>
| prominence_m    = 1304
| prominence_ref  = <ref name="bivouac">{{cite bivouac|name=Mount Rundle|id=1554|access-date=29 January 2014}}</ref>
| location        = [[Alberta]], Canada
| map             = Canada Alberta
| label_position  = right
| mapframe        = yes
| mapframe-zoom   = 8
| mapframe-caption = Interactive map of Mount Rundle
| range           = [[Canadian Rockies]] (South Banff Ranges/Rundle Peaks)
| coordinates     = {{coord|51|07|27|N|115|28|13|W|type:mountain_region:CA-AB_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref = <ref name="bivouac" />
| topo            = [[National Topographic System|NTS]] {{Canada NTS Map Sheet|82|O|3}}
| first_ascent    = 1888 by J.J. McArthur
| easiest_route   = [[Scrambling|Scramble]]
}}

'''Mount Rundle''' is a [[mountain]] in [[Canada]]'s [[Banff National Park]] overlooking the towns of [[Banff, Alberta|Banff]] and [[Canmore, Alberta]]. The [[Cree]] name was ''Waskahigan Watchi'' or house mountain.<ref group="Notes">{{cite web|url=http://www.gcc.ca/newsarticle.php?id=163|author=Grand Chief Matthew Mukash
  | quote=When Europeans first came to our homeland we remarked that these people did not appear to be enthusiasts of the outdoors. They closed themselves in box-shaped structures and did whatever work (and play) they did inside. We called the Europeans wemstigooshewich or the "shaped wood people", recalling the curiously shaped wooden ships that they arrived in. We called their square-shaped homes "waskahigan", which literally means "the structure you enclose yourself in". When they were not satisfied with one enclosure they made another one around the first, which they called a "stockade". Over time, we learned to appreciate the lifestyle they introduced to us. Today, most, if not all Crees, live in these "waskahigan" style dwellings...It was only some forty or so years ago that our people began moving into these waskahigan.
  | title=At the Conference on Construction Val d'Or|publisher=The Grand Council of the Crees|website=gcc.ca|url-status=dead|date=12 March 2009
  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228003018/http://www.gcc.ca/newsarticle.php?id=163|archive-date=28 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="peakfinder" />{{failed verification|reason=Neither the URL in the note or the peakfinder ref give the Cree name of Mount Rundle.|date=July 2021}}
In 1858 [[John Palliser]] renamed<ref name="peakfinder" /> the mountain after [[Robert Terrill Rundle|Reverend Robert Rundle]], a [[Methodism|Methodist]] invited by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] to do [[missionary]] work in western Canada in the 1840s. He introduced [[Cree syllabics|syllabics]] there<ref group="Notes">[[James Evans (linguist)|James Evans]] the supervisor of the Wesleyan missionaries in Rupert's Land who is credited with devising the Cree syllabics</ref>—a written language developed for the Cree, as part of his missionary work.<ref>{{citation|last=Rundle|first=Robert|title=The Rundle Journals|institution=Glenbow Institute|year=1977}}</ref> He only visited the [[Nakoda (Stoney)|Stoney-Nakoda]] of the area around what is now called Mount Rundle in 1844 and 1847.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/rundle_robert_terrill_12E.html|title=Biography – RUNDLE, ROBERT TERRILL|series=Volume XII (1891–1900)|publisher=Dictionary of Canadian Biography|website=biographi.ca|access-date=11 September 2019|df=mdy}}</ref>

Mt. Rundle could actually be considered a small mountain range as the mountain extends for over {{convert|12|km}}, on the south side of the [[Trans-Canada Highway]] eastward from Banff to Canmore with seven distinct peaks along the way.<ref name="bivouac" /> The third peak southeast of Banff is the highest at {{convert|9675|ft}}.<ref name="bivouac" /><ref name="peakbagger" /> West of the [[Spray Lakes]] road is the [[East End of Rundle]]— locally known as EEOR<ref group="Notes">pronounced Eeyore, like the character in [[A. A. Milne|Milne's]] [[Winnie-the-Pooh]] series</ref>—which rises above Whiteman's Gap just south of Canmore. The Rundle Peaks are part of the South Banff Ranges, along with its siblings—the [[Sundance Range]], [[Sulphur Mountain (Alberta)|Sulphur Mountain]] and the [[Goat Range (Alberta)|Goat Range]].<ref name="peakbagger">{{cite peakbagger|rid=141333|access-date=29 January 2014|title=Rundle Peaks}}</ref>

== Geology ==
[[File:Mount Rundle, summit.jpg|thumb|left| East aspect of Mount Rundle showing summit]]
Mount Rundle consists of [[limestone]]s, [[Dolomite (mineral)|dolomitic]] limestones, [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]]s and [[shale]]s of [[Paleozoic]] ([[Late Devonian]] to [[Mississippian (geology)|Mississippian]]) age. In ascending order, they belong to the [[Palliser Formation|Palliser]], [[Exshaw Formation|Exshaw]] and [[Banff Formation]]s, topped by the [[Rundle Group]], which was named after the mountain.<ref name="lexicon">{{Cite web|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:013065|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130222015657/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:013065|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 February 2013|title=Rundle Group|author=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]]|access-date=29 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:008601|series=[[Lexicon of Canadian Geologic Units]]|title=Livingstone Formation|year=1953|access-date=29 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707092317/http://cgkn1.cgkn.net/weblex/weblex_litho_detail_e.pl?00053:008601|archive-date=7 July 2012}}</ref>

Mount Rundle illustrates the classic limestone-shale-limestone "sandwich" of the front ranges.<ref name="BenGadd2008">{{citation|title=Canadian Rockies Geology Road Trips|last=Gadd|first=Ben|publisher=Corax Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-9692631-2-8|pages=118–119}}</ref> The basal "slice of bread" is the lower massive cliffs of tough grey Pallister Formation limestones and dolomites.<ref name="BenGadd2008" /> The "sandwich filling" is the Banff Formation, a layer of softer, more easily eroded, dark brownish-gray to black [[calcareous]] shale with thin beds of [[Argillaceous minerals|argillaceous]] limestone.<ref name=calfrac>{{cite web|url=http://www.calfrac.com/_pdf/Canadian-Formations.pdf|title=Formations|url-status=dead|website=calfrac.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319063308/https://www.calfrac.com/_pdf/Canadian-Formations.pdf|archive-date=19 March 2017}}</ref> The top layer of the geologic sandwich is the grey limestones and dolomites of the Rundle Group that form the massive upper cliffs at the top of Mount Rundle. Between the Palliser and the Banff lie the thin, recessive shales of the Exshaw Formation (the "lettuce leaf" of the sandwich), covered with debris from above.<ref name="BenGadd2008" />

The Paleozoic "sandwich" is part of the Rundle [[thrust sheet]] that was moved up from the west along the Rundle [[thrust fault]] and emplaced on top of the younger rocks (the [[Early Cretaceous]] [[Mist Mountain Formation]]) that underlie Canmore and the forested slopes along the [[Bow River]]. The thrust faulting occurred during the Columbian [[Orogeny]] between late Jurassic and early Cretaceous time. At that time a collision of [[tectonic plates]] caused huge sheets of sedimentary rock in what is now [[British Columbia]] to become detached and slide eastward to northeastward over their neighbors, piling up to form the southern [[Canadian Rockies]]. This left the Paleozoic strata on Mount Rundle [[dip (geology)|dipping]] steeply to the southwest, so that the southwest-facing side of the mountain forms an extensive [[dip slope]]. Geologists consider Mount Rundle to be a classic example of a mountain cut in dipping layered rocks, with the tilted strata giving the mountain its shape.<ref name="bivouac" /><ref name="BenGadd2008" /><ref name="platetectonics">{{citation|url=http://www.mountainnature.com/geology/platetectonics.htm|title=The Formation of the Rocky Mountains|work=Mountains in Nature|date=nd|access-date=29 January 2014|archive-date=23 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723230042/http://www.mountainnature.com/Geology/platetectonics.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CSPG_2007poster">{{citation|publisher=Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists|year=2007|magazine=Alberta Oil Magazine: the oil and gas publication of Canada|access-date=30 January 2014|title=Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Poster|url=http://www.ayrtonexploration.com/CSPG_poster.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref>

The most recent stage in the history of Mount Rundle began in the [[Pleistocene]] [[epoch (geology)|epoch]] about 2 million years ago with the sculpting and gouging of the Canadian Rockies by glaciers, and then by streams and rivers.<ref name="CSPG_2007poster" /> Finally, after the glaciers retreated for the last time, a series of steep, tree-covered [[alluvial fan]]s began to grow at the mouths of the deep gulches on the northeast-facing side of the mountain.

=== Commerce ===
'''Rundle rock''' or '''Rundle stone''', a natural stone, first quarried on Mount Rundle, is a common [[dimension stone]] used in southern [[Alberta]] for landscaping and building purposes. It has been used in the construction of the [[Banff Springs Hotel]] and several of the [[Parks Canada]] buildings. It is fine-grained sandstone dating back to the Triassic Period.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Foubert|first1=Tanya|title=At Kamenka Quarry, every stone has a story|url=http://www.rmoutlook.com/article/At-Kamenka-Quarry-every-stone-has-a-story-20160113|access-date=February 18, 2018|work=Rocky Mountain Outlook|date=Jan 13, 2006}}</ref>

== Scrambles ==
[[File:East End of Rundle and Whitemans Pond.jpg|thumb|The [[East End of Rundle]] and Whitemans Pond from the [[Ha Ling Peak]] trail]]
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2025}}
At the [[East End of Rundle]] near Canmore there is a well-known scramble, the Goat Creek hiking trail, with its starting point at parking trailhead, which starts at the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail just south of the Canmore Reservoir above [[Grassi Lakes]]. This is also the beginning of the Mount Rundle Traverse, a demanding trek to mount all of Rundle's peaks from Goat Creek parking lot to the Banff Springs Hotel. Mount Rundle is one of the most popular [[scrambling|scrambles]] in the area, and is relatively straightforward for experienced hikers.

In Banff, the [[Spray River]] trailhead for the first peak taking the Mount Rundle Trail, is near the Spray River bridge on the road to the Banff Springs Golf Course. The all-day hike (from 8–10 hours) from the trailhead to the peak is about {{convert|5|km}} one-way and has an elevation gain of about {{convert|993|m}} to the cliff bank on the first peak and {{convert|1579|m}} to the summit.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Mt-Rundle-near-Banff-AB-1026|title=Mount Rundle|work=Trail Peak|access-date=29 January 2014}}</ref> Although it is called non-technical, it is considered gruelling by some. About halfway up there is a Central Gully, a huge watercourse with a well-worn path which is a dead end. Cliffs become higher and more vertical and there is no scrambling route. The real route crosses the watercourse and then immediately turns left (watch for markings). As one passes the treeline, the hiker ventures onto a feature called the "Dragon's back", where the route narrows between two steep gullies. The only real obstacle at this point is perseverance at the tread-mill like scree which slows progress to a two steps forward, one step back pattern.

The complete traverse from Banff to Canmore (staying always on the ridge) of the integral ridge was done "solo" in 1976 by the late Jean-Pierre Cadot. It required one bivouac, much scrambling, easy fifth-class rock climbing and one section was very involved and required lay-backing the ridge with a high degree of exposure. A long rappel was necessary to overcome a very steep section and it is most likely that the rappel station is still in place.

== Scenic viewpoints ==
[[File:Mt Rundle Feb 2008 (2).JPG|thumb|The northeast-facing side of the mountain, seen from [[Canmore, Alberta|Canmore]]. All the peaks seen here are part of Mount Rundle.]]
In 2000 Dave Birrell described Mount Rundle as one of the most recognized Canadian mountains.<ref name="Birrell_2000">{{citation|title=50 Roadside Panoramas in the Canadian Rockies|last=Birrell|first=Dave|year=2000|publisher=Rocky Mountain Books Ltd}}</ref>  Painter, print-maker and art teacher, [[Walter Joseph Phillips|Walter Phillips]] [[Royal Canadian Academy of Arts|RCA]]<ref group="Notes">Walter Phillips played an important role in the development of their visual arts program  at the [[Banff Centre]], then known as the Banff School of Fine Arts. Its [[Walter Phillips Gallery]], which focuses on [[contemporary art]], is named after him. The [[Glenbow Museum]] in Calgary, Alberta holds an extensive collection of Phillips works and a research archive.</ref> (1884–1963) described Mount Rundle as his, "bread and butter mountain. I never tire of painting it, for it is never the same. In deep shadow in the morning, it borrows a warm glow from the setting sun at the end of the day. Its colour runs the gamut from orange to cold blue-grey, with overtones of violet and intervals of green."

=== From Vermilion Lakes ===
The viewpoint from which most photographs are taken, {{convert|5|km}} from Mount Rundle, at the end of Vermilion Lakes road, with Vermillion Lakes in the foreground.<ref name="Birrell_2000" />

<gallery widths="154px" heights="200px" perrow="4" caption="Scenic viewpoints">
MountRundle.jpg|Mount Rundle seen from [[Vermilion Lakes]]
VermillionLakes2001-09-28.jpg|Mount Rundle reflected in the [[Vermilion Lakes]]
Mount Rundle.jpg|Mount Rundle seen from the [[Bow Valley]]
MtRundle.jpg|Mount Rundle, south face
</gallery>

Mount Rundle and Sulphur Mountain can be seen from [[Mount Norquay]] on the north side of the Trans-Canada. The Banff Fairmont hotel patio and restaurants look out over Mount Rundle and [[Tunnel Mountain]].

== In popular culture ==
Mount Rundle is depicted on the cover of [[The Ghost Inside (band)|The Ghost Inside]]'s album ''[[Get What You Give]]''.

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Notes}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* Peakbagger. [http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=4681 Mount Rundle]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071104015734/http://hikealberta.com/hike/trail-eastside-rundle-mountain East End Rundle Trail from HikeAlberta.com]

{{Canadian Rockies|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rundle, Mount}}
[[Category:Mountains of Banff National Park]]
[[Category:Two-thousanders of Alberta]]