Guinn winter ascent/Lillian Lake

18km 5084ft trailhead 8000ft col vert gain:3000ft



















For Thanksgiving weekend, my friend Jim came out for a backpacking trip. Its been a long time since I carried around a big pack. When I'm working in the bush, I usually have helicopters and quads to carry my life around so I was paranoid about weight. Above, Jim proudly sips a take-out coffee that lasted from Calgary.



After gaining around two thousand feet, the crux of the trip faced us. A very steep gully for a thousand feet taking us over a pass and then down the next valley to our proposed camp.

Here we are taking a break, fuelling up with chocolate for the big push. The snow though had drifted and in places was knee deep. Climbing a 45 degree slope through deep snow is very hard. Couple this with altitude and we would take 10-20 steps and rest for 10 seconds. We didn't talk much and I kept thinking that I'd try and go a bit further but was doubting whether we'd make it up.















The pictures above are above the treeline. At this point, the temperature has dropped to around minus five and the wind is blowing very hard. There was nothing enjoyable about this part of the trip. It was really a test of will in a binary world of up/down, quit/go on. And so, at 4pm we crested the summit and stared down into the valley we were going to camp in and had a quick assessment of conditions. We thought that the snow was very deep on the other side and perhaps we might not be able to climb out if we went in. This was complicated by the fact that our backcountry permit technically only allows us to camp in that valley. Of course when its -15 with windchill and you're standing at 8000 feet surrounding by nothing but the overwhelming, the park bureaucracy seems pretty meaningless.
Prudence prevailed though and we ended up hiking back down the way we came and over to Lillian Lake where we pitched our tent as dusk enveloped us. We were proud of the ascent but we sort of felt as though this campsite was our second place. Amazingly, there was two other groups camping in the snow and they had a passable fire going already. When they asked us where we had come from, we filled with pride when their mouths dropped as we pointed up at the mountain we had just retreated from. With hot coffee brewing we looked up at the route and answered their questions. Success is relative. The next day we packed up the tent and hiked back to the road

Wasootch

11km 4700ft trailhead 6986ft summit ridge vert gain 2200ft

The day began with a first hand look at a chinook formation. I've seen a few "chinook arches" from the east looking west but this was the first time I've been right underneath it. This picture is a 6 picture composite I made to get a 180 degree view and it really deserves to be clicked to get a close-up look. The wind pummeled us with gusts I can only guess were close to 90km/hr.

The route (I've drawn it in red) starts off the highway on the east side of Barrier Lake (Lac d'obstruction as we like to call it) and quickly launches you above the Kananaskis valley. The photo here shows the first half of the route tracing its way along the top of the Wasootch ridge giving you constant 360 views.





The snow wasn't much of an impediment and really only served to make the vistas more dramatic. At the left Suz pauses with the Wasootch creek winding its way far below.

Its a testament to the area that in spite of the wind punishment, Suz still has a smile!

Here's a typical example of the ridgeline. For the most part its wide enough to navigate while still gawking around. In places however, it narrows down. One six foot long section is only two boots wide and a couple thousand feet down on either side. Suz pranced across this like a mountain goat but I found myself with both hands down crabbing across not liking things at all.

Here's one of the reasons I wanted to do this route, the rare Limber pines, Pinus Flexis (sometimes latin sounds made up) They only grow at high altitudes and especially on ridge crests. I've only seen a few and these certainly were astounding. Twisted into bonsai shapes over hundreds of years, the ridgeline is littered with them. This species is very draught tolerant and nearly impervious to winterburn allowing it to grow in perfectly inhospitable environments.


click on this pic to get a closeup of this ancient survivor.







I couldn't resist trying to dangle my legs over the abyss on this rock ledge that was cambered slightly back from the ledge. I could only force myself to get my feet over the edge which I counted as a small victory over my acrophobia.

Even though we were wind whipped we loved this trip. The terrain was the perfect challenge to our ability level and the view was superb. Added to that was the thrilling overtones provided by the chinook though I occasionally worried about being blown right off the ridge. It wasn't likely to happen but I worried about it anyway.

Suz wants to return here on a nicer day and perhaps we'll scramble up the peak connected to the ridge.

Ptarmigan Cirque

4.5km 7239ft trailhead 7938ft cirque vert gain: 700ft

Our trip to Ptarmigan Cirque began with a snowstorm which isn't too surprising at Highwood pass as its the highest public road in Canada. The trailhead begins where the pocaterra cirque trip begins (trip # 3 in the blog) and we were anxious to get a view of that previous route on this trip. In this snowy picture of Suz, you can just make out the unnamed peak we climbed to get the view of the valley (see pic #4 of Grizzly Peak/Col entry)

I was a little nervous as well owing to Suz's parents being with us and I didn't want to drag them up a mountain in a snowstorm!

After a half hour the snow let up and the sun came out long enough to enjoy the larch trees turning their famous hue of orange.




Up in the cirque we found this purple flower making a go of things at around 7500 feet. From this photo you can see that spring and summer have winter breathing down its neck. Summer really only lasts a couple weeks at this altitude.









Sun is finally out giving us the view we came for. Grizzly col (the second part of trip 3) is the saddle between the two middle peaks. The water in the creek behind me was some of the best I've had. I bottled some and took it home.

















Suz pauses in front of Mt Arethusa beside a larch in full bloom. For a short trip this was pretty satisfying. Suz's parents enjoyed it which pleased me. The weather was perfect right down to the snowstorm which put the finishing touch so to speak on the surroundings. For a two hour hike this trip has got to one of the most underrated as it launches you right into a high alpine ecosystem without having to climb several thousand feet of vertical. For us it was pretty cool to stare across the valley at our route from the previous trip.

Guinn Pass

16km 5084ft trailhead 7940ft Guinn pass vert gain: 2900ft

Guinn Pass was a fantastic trip starting at the foot of Mt Kidd, a K-country landmark. The trail crosses Kananaskis river and hops back and forth across galatea creek. Before reaching Galatea lake the trail veers straight up to Guinn pass which is actually a southern extension of the Mt Kidd outlier. We were pleased to time ourselves at 1 hour/ thousand vertical feet.



Suz negotiates a short rock band







view of Mt Galatea as trail climbs up to the sub alpine zone



at around 6500 feet we attracted some curious mountain sheep who to a sheep wore an expression of "what are They doing here?"

Here we are at the saddle between Mt Kidd and the unnamed summit in the foreground. From this picture you can easily see the steep pitch we climbed to get up here and why we were so tired at the top!














drinking in the view from around 8000 feet






had to splice three pics to get this 180 degree view. Overall this was our favorite hike of the year. The approach trail was very interesting with many fine vistas, waterfalls, outcroppings and varied forest. The ascent wall was a bit harder than required due to my zeal for fresh drinking water, I traversed across to a waterfall to drink and then sort of missed a traverse. We ended up scaling a pretty hairy section only to intersect the traverse higher up and continue on a more calming pitch. On the way down we had a pretty good chuckles seeing how much easier the traverse was.
At the top one is treated to 360 panorama with the Opal range( my favorite) spread out like a turkey dinner. Our highest score for this trail:9 Hoagies out of 10

Rawson Lakes

11.3km 5658ft trailhead 7806ft Sarrail ridge vert gain: 2200ft



Next trip was to Rawson Lake, a small tarn above Upper Kananaskis Lake. Really impressed with Kananaskis Lake pictures behind Suz at left. Stunning crystal clear lake with Mt Indefatigable (Mt Fatty as the locals shorten it) proudly guarding the far shore. Strangely, there was no-one around even though you can drive right to this magnificent lake.
In an effort to lessen the load of my pack and give my shoulder a break I chose to leave the trail guide in the car. Thus setting in motion the following short drama:

Dave: I absolutely will not carry that book around today! (expression denotes total confidence) I stared at the map and totally know where were going.
Suz: ( expression of stiffled scepticism ) Hmm.
3 hours later
Dave: Okay maybe this isnt the Surail Ridge but lets just climb up here 'cause I'm positive it flattens out and plus ....




















Anyway, we eventually ended up where we intended. And though they say that the winners write history here I am recording the events. Therefore I will boldly suggest that trudging around, backtracking and climbing blind dead ends added to the adventure of the trip. At least until Suz figures out how to hack this article. The view on top of Surail Ridge was dizzyingly great. All told this trip was 12km round trip with elevation gain of 1200 feet.

Headwall Lakes

14km 6265ft trailhead 7675ft upper lake vert gain: 1400ft



This weekend we went to Headwall lakes, a series of tarns in the southern end of the Kananaskis range. The walk up the valley was more than pleasant with much of the understory turning colors. The fireweed was at its zenith for color.









about 5km from the trailhead is a fairly steep and gnarly section that demanded total care and attention but after about 100 feet of vertical, the trail evened out into a fantastic Karst landscape of weather eaten limestone cut into fantastic shapes. At about 7000 feet, just above the treeline, the landscape becomes quite lunar.
One of the many oddities above the treeline was a chirping sound that seemed to change direction. It was as though there were pan-dimensional chimpmunks trapped in eddys in the space-time continuum. Suddenly at a moment of interphase, the probability wave collapsed into what looked like a cute rodent with big ears and no tail.
Our friend google explained that this critter was a Pika and that they are renown for their ability to throw their voice in every direction. This same rodent, also found in Japan is the inspiration for the Pokemon character Pikachu. Luckily we weren't aware of this at the time for an encounter with living anime would have had deleterious consequences to our mental health.

At left Suzanne pauses at the top of the upper headwall. The range in the background is the continental divide. All told, the trip was 15km roundtrip with 1500 feet in elevation gain. The cirque guarding the tarns has a very wild quality about it. Suzanne gave this trip 7 chewy bars out of 10 but I was more fascinated by the karst as I would give it an additional scoop of gatorade powder.

Grizzly Peak/Col

5.8km 7239ft trailhead 8550ft col vert gain: 1300ft

Trip # 3 took us to Grizzly Peak. The northernmost peak in the Opal Range. The Opal range dominates the K-country landscape with its vertical bedding planes giving rise to some very striking mountains. The car is parked in the ditch at an unmarked creek which tells you that you're definitely off the beaten track. The approach follows the wonderfully named Ripple Rock Creek with Mt Evan Thomas looming behind Suzanne in the photo.(right)
Foolishly I pronounced this "the best trail ever!" though the first kilometer was unbelievable gorgeous. But it quickly got pretty steep. Which is fine, you just have to throw yourself at the task ahead. But after about 500 vertical feet, our protestant work ethic was morphing into some sort of zoroastrian trial by fire. Finally after determining that I could climb up but my lack of shoulder extension prohibited me from getting down safely, we carefully retreated. Was rather surprised since a guidebook I had made no mention of the exposure (drop) pictured at left. Certainly when fully healed I will return with great fury and vengeance.

left: Beaten by the Rock Band


Fortuna, ever a good friend provides again as we determined to salvage the day by wandering over to the Highwood Pass. This is the highest public road in Canada and after parking at the pass we journeyed up a nameless peak overlooking the highwood valley.

This view was a 10 out of 10 and took only a half hour from highway 40! Pretty good effort/reward ratio. Climbing southeast into Pocaterra cirque brought us through stunning country finally having a well deserved break at the tarn that fills the cirque. Suzanne got the best of me in an impromptu tarn pun off.

At left Suzanne poses in the Pocaterra Cirque somewhere above the treeline in the peri-glacial deathscape. We loved this hike and it allowed us to recon the Pocaterra ridge (peak on the left)


I found a very small ammolite up here but of an unsaleable grade. Something that really impressed me was along the way we passed a wall of scree that was perhaps 500m tall and bowling around us in two directions. Its quite staggering to have 400 million apple-sized rocks filling your entire field of view. All in all this trip got 8 Quaker chewy bars out of 10 despite turning our legs to jelly.