An Alberta Paradise

Wed. 30 June: Flat Creek & High Rock Ridge

With a perfect weather forecast, how could I not head out again to the mountains – although it was only three days since our fairly strenuous trip to Ram Lookout.

I wanted to do a bike trip, as so far this month I had only used my mountain bike once. It had been just over a year since I had traveled up Flat Creek for an adventurous wilderness camping trip. Flat Creek is possibly my favourite place in Alberta.

So, after a couple of failed attempts, I managed to speak to the De P family and obtained permission to bike up the valley through their land. My impression was that, while this permission might have been a little reluctantly given, it was appreciated that I bothered to ask, and was sensitive to keeping gates closed.

It only took me an hour to get from home to the trailhead bridge on the Highwood road. I was biking up the Flat Creek road before 7 a.m. on a perfect sunny morning. Flat Creek may be called Flat, but the beauty of it is that, while it feels flat going west up into the mountains, it is actually gradually climbing. So on the return journey, it is one long race at top speed and virtually no expended energy! Especially with the wind at one’s back – see later.

I kept up a steady pace westwards along the gravel road, through the meadows, for the first 8 km to the Kananaskis Country boundary (or “Kananaskis Boundry” as the old sign reads!). I passed a few cattle along this stretch, but as it turned out, most of the cattle had been driven further west to the remoter meadows beyond Wileman Creek. As always, it is an awesome experience heading up into the mountains along Flat Creek. The only difference from my last visit was that the trail from beyond the old gas well junction was in much worse shape due to hundreds of hoof prints from a muddy cattle drive, making the biking a little trickier.

As I was passing the old Kananaskis Country gate, a truck came along, driven by a cowboy complete with white Stetson. I politely waved and got a friendly wave back. My first thought was that it was the De P's checking up on me, but then I soon came up to the truck and found the cowboy across the field with a group of campers. It looked like they were packing up and so perhaps he was going to pick up their gear for them. Perhaps this might have been family or friends on a camping trip. I biked past, on the other side of the field so did not get to chat with them – and they were the last people I saw all day until returning to my car.

Continuing up the narrowing valley, I soon reached Head Creek. I had not stopped to explore this spot on my trip further up the valley last year. It is a very pretty scene. Here the Trap and Head creeks join together – two lively brooks making one larger and wider stream which eventually joins the Highwood River to the east. Just upstream along Flat Creek, the trail crosses over the creek at a ford. But here, just below the confluence, sits a perfect little campsite. It looks well used, probably by horse riders. This would have been a busy spot in the days when you could drive up here. Now it is peaceful and remote.

I followed the creek a few yards back in an easterly direction, wondering if there were other good camping spots – it was here where I had seen the two people last year, and they had been camping with their kids. Hidden in dense tree cover, was a secret camp. A large tent, capable of sleeping 20 people, was positioned in a clearing, and had everything needed for a permanent camp – cooking gear, corrals for horses, and so on. The camp was deserted. But this is where the family would have stayed, and I am sure it is the De P’s private wilderness campsite.

Biking back down the trail, I stopped at the trailhead for High Rock Ridge, and decided to change into my hiking gear and head up the trail. This was one of the earliest hikes I ever did in Alberta, back in 1982. I had been up this trail a couple of times since. Today the lower sections of the trail were in poor shape due to the cattle creating bog and mud on what used to be a good track. But higher up I left the cattle behind, and the trail was just fine. It curves up into a valley and then contours around the head of the valley, before switchbacking up onto a long, forested ridge. This is the ridge which dominates the middle ground as one bikes west up Flat Creek. The trail is getting quite overgrown with alders.

Once up on the ridge, there were bird’s eye views east across the foothills to the distant prairie and the tall skyscrapers of Calgary visible far to the northeast. This is as far as I got on my late season trip in October 2008. This time I continued along the ridge, which swings west. The trail emerges onto open ground, then crosses to the eastern slopes of High Rick Ridge, reaching its high point directly below the rocky summits of the ridge.

I left the trail here, and climbed the short grassy slope to the ridge, then across to a saddle below the south summit. To reach the summit one climbs a short scree slope and it’s a simple scramble to reach the top. Here a cairn sits among scattered bushes. The view all round is spectacular. The wind was now blowing hard, but there was no real sign of clouds appearing over the horizon.

In particular, one has a perfect view right into the depths of Head Creek valley from here. I have that remote valley on my list for this Fall, when it will be easier to handle the multiple creek crossings.

I carefully made my way north down the dropping ridgeline, to see if there was an obvious way off the ridge down into Trap Creek. There did not seem to be one, and there are no trails marked on the maps. As I reached the saddle below the north summit, I detected a possible way down off the ridge to the west. Not feeling inclined to climb another hill, I gave the north summit a miss and took a chance by dropping steeply off the ridge on grassy slopes towards the trees.

The journey back down to the Head Creek junction was uncomfortably similar to my Cabin Ridge nightmare of last year. However, this time it did not turn out the same. There are many more people wandering around these hills than there are down in the Oldman. Consequently I soon picked up a recognizable trail, having negotiated some very steep forested hillsides. From here on, there was really no question about the route, given some common sense.

A long, steep descent alongside a small stream, often crossing the stream to pick the flattest ground, eventually after several kilometers deposited me back at the campsite at the Head Creek-Flat Creek junction. Here I sat by the creek and bathed my hot feet in the frigid water. From here it was a pleasant stroll for a couple of kilometers back to my bike. The wind was now howling at my back, making the grass and the trees seem alive with movement.

Once back on my bike the rest of the trip was literally “plain sailing”. Especially when back on the good road, it was a matter of how fast my wheels could go round. I didn’t really need to pedal, but when I did, I just flew back down the road, and in less than an hour was back at the start. I stopped to relax by the dismantled old road bridge, before returning to the car.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon, the day before Canada Day, and a few people were heading west up the Highwood River to their campsites. A couple of friendly guys in a truck wanted to know if I had been out fishing, which is what they were planning to do.

I had ended up traveling over 40 km today, which had not been my original plan, but what better way to spend another perfect day than wandering around in this Alberta Paradise?

Statistics
Flat Ck & High Rock Ridge
Wed. 30 June

Total Dist. 12 km (hike) + 29.6 km (bike) = 41.6 km
Height Gain 1991 ft. (hike) + 950 ft. (bike) = 2941 ft.
Max. Elev. 7119 ft.
Time on trail 8 hrs. 40 mins.