There is a classic circular route which is a spectacular introduction for any visitor to Alberta. It’s 300 km in length, starting in Calgary, and covering the foothills, the Highwood Pass, and the Kananaskis Valley. Today I invented a new and equally rewarding tourist loop, also – by coincidence – 300 km in length. I would be very surprised if many other people have done this particular trip.
My visitor today was cousin PT from Leeds in Yorkshire. Our journey took us south on Highway #2 to Nanton, west over the Porcupine Hills to the Chain Lakes, further west - now on gravel roads - over “The Hump” onto the Forestry Trunk Road, then north to Highwood Junction, and so back onto the southern portion of the more well-known circuit, east along the Highwood Valley to Longview and finally north along the Cowboy Highway to Calgary. It was an awesome day.
Centrepiece of the Bomber Command museum in Nanton was a restored Lancaster bomber. The four-engined giant plane filled the hanger. Beside it were replicas of the torpedo which sunk the Tirpitz battleship, and the bouncing bomb which destroyed the Ruhr Valley dams. The Dambusters story was well-known to me as they had practiced for the raid on our local dams in Derbyshire. P and I sat for a full hour watching a superb film on the role of the Canadians in the air wars of World War 2, based on stories of graduates from a High School in Winnipeg, many of whom were killed in the War.
The road west from Nanton over the Porcupine Hills was paved all the way, curving gracefully up to a broad summit, then down the other side, with grand views of the Front Ranges ahead. I had never stopped at the Chain Lakes Provincial Park before. It is not unlike parts of the Lake District in England. A few people were enjoying the warm sunshine, sitting beside the lake, or fishing, and there were a couple of boats on the water. But it was a quiet scene for a summer weekend. The high ridges to the west still had a few patches of snow on the summits. A small concession was open so we treated ourselves to ice creams.
Turning first north on Highway 22, then west, we were now on a dusty gravel road. This road, which I discovered last year, is the access route to the very southern end of Kananaskis Country. It climbs to an exciting steep pass, called simply “The Hump”. There was a smell of burning rubber by the time we reached the summit, just under 7000 feet above sea level.
We stepped out of the car, and started to climb gently up the hillside to get a better view to the east. Far out across the low foothills lay Nanton. Perhaps to my surprise, P, who is now well over 70, was keen to keep going up the steeper hillsides, and so eventually we reached the top of the first of the ridges which make up the Windy Peak Hills.
It was a warm, sunny day, with good visibility. “That’s Calgary way over there to the northeast”, P said. “Oh no – it can’t be Calgary, that’s too far away to see”, I replied confidently. Out came the binoculars and I was wrong!!! We both thought this was an impressive place to stand, particularly since we were able to see the tall skyscrapers of my home town on the horizon after over 120 kilometers of driving.
To the north we could see Hailstone Butte Lookout perched on the top of its cliff. Directly behind it lay the tall, rocky peak of Mt. Burke, where the abandoned Cameron Lookout still stands. On our ridgetop, P enjoyed following the tiny butterflies across the hillsides, while I was greeted by a friendly chipmunk.
The wildflowers up on the mountainside were wonderful. The Spring snows had arrived late this year, and so the flowers were now playing catch-up. At the risk of repeating a bad joke, all we seemed to lack was Julie Andrews dancing up over the horizon.
We kept half an eye on some clouds building up over the ridge above us, but there was no real danger of rain today. We strolled back down to the car after filling our lungs with plenty of fresh air. There were some nice reflections in the little mirror lake on the top of the Pass.
Continuing west, we joined the Forestry Trunk Road and turned north. There were only a few vehicles on the road, but each one created its plume of dust. At Cataract Creek, we stopped for a picnic lunch before continuing north past Raspberry Ridge Lookout sitting up in the sky to our left. Over lunch we reminisced about past politicians of Great Britain, most of whom have been dead for many years! Our picnic spot was a very Scottish scene, we thought, with the small river running through the pine trees.
At Highwood Junction we turned east onto the nicely paved road and enjoyed a pleasant return to Calgary on the familiar route through Longview and Turner Valley.
And whether I am strictly correct or not, I’m claiming today’s stroll as a statistic on my 2010 hiking list!
Statistics
Windy Peak Hills
Sat. 17 July
Total Dist. 2 km (hike)
Height Gain 500 ft.
Max. Elev. 7150 ft.
Time on trail 1 hr. 46 mins.
And whether I am strictly correct or not, I’m claiming today’s stroll as a statistic on my 2010 hiking list!
Statistics
Windy Peak Hills
Sat. 17 July
Total Dist. 2 km (hike)
Height Gain 500 ft.
Max. Elev. 7150 ft.
Time on trail 1 hr. 46 mins.
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