Mt. Kidd Lookout

Mon. 6 September: Mt. Kidd Lookout

Not a long hike, but a strenuous one - made trickier by a new fall of snow.

This steep trail runs straight up the lower slopes of Mt. Kidd, that impressive 9,705 ft. mountain which towers above Kananaskis Village. This isn’t an “official” trail, but there is a well-marked path which takes you there.

The summer of 2010 has been unlike a typical Alberta summer – unsettled and wet. And so it continued into this Labor Day long weekend. When it finally cleared this morning, there was a good layer of new snow down to 2000 metres. Driving into the mountains this morning we were treated to low lying mists, with a snow-covered panorama of mountain peaks. Since J had to drive, I was kept busy snapping away with my camera. It could hardly have been a more impressive sight as we raced west towards the Kananaskis Country turnoff on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Parking at the Kananaskis Village, we set out on the paved Terrace trail, then turned uphill onto the wide Kovach trail, into the trees. It was only a degree above freezing, and so we were warmly dressed. Higher up, it was below freezing, and in the wind it felt plain wintry.

This was a grizzly bear and black bear hot spot, especially during this berry-eating season. Signs were posted on our trail warning of “bear in the area”. So we made enough noise to scare them away, or to let them know there was bear food on the trail!

After a couple of kilometers on pleasant forest trails, we turned into the trees at a tiny pile of stones. From here a narrow trail rose up the mountainside on an unremittingly steep and direct assault on the grassy summit just short of 2000 vertical feet above the village. The trail was wet, and a little slippery. Making plenty of stops, we slowly but surely conquered this hill. Coming out of the trees we slogged up a long and steep grassy slope, up into the snowline. Finally the trail curved slightly to the right, leading to the northeast ridgeline. Already the views were stunning. The green Kananaskis Valley was spread out below us, with the village and golf course prominent. To the south there was a display of jagged snowy mountain peaks.

The final section remained steep and snow-covered, as it contoured up onto the ridge-top. Right on the front edge of the ridge was the concrete base of the old fire lookout building.

Perhaps surprisingly, given Alberta’s long history of fire lookouts, the Mt. Kidd lookout was only built in the Fall of 1981 – at the time of my first visit to Alberta. By 1997 it had been removed, and they never did build a proper road or path up to the lookout. But what a location! The 360 degree views were stunning. The hilltop, snow covered today but usually a green grassy ridge in summer, leads south to the northern ramparts of Mt. Kidd. To the east lies the Kananaskis Valley far below, and to the west, the deep forested valleys of Ribbon Creek, and North Ribbon Creek – our route to Memorial Lakes two weeks previously. Today the mountains were all covered in new snow, and looking very wild and wintry.

This was an ideal place for a photo session. Even the worst photographer could not have taken a bad picture up here. J of course, being an accomplished photographer, took some stunningly beautiful shots.

Then it was time for the slippery descent back to the village. My MicroSpikes had their first outing since last Spring, and once again they proved their value. This was a very steep and muddy trail, and I felt as safe as if I was walking down the high street. J plans to walk down the high street this week to buy his own set of MicroSpikes. It will be money well spent.

So it did not take us very long to get back to the car, meeting only one middle-aged couple on the lower forest trails – glad to know we had scared any bears away with our hullaballoo-ing. The clouds had started to build fairly quickly during our descent, and as we drove out of the valley, a few showers were breaking out – yet another indication of the unsettled summer of 2010.

Nevertheless, we had notched up yet another fire lookout location, and in the process quite possibly have declared the winter hiking season open with still two weeks to go before the end of summer!

Statistics
Mt. Kidd Lookout
Mon. 6 September

Total Dist. 7.2 km (hike)
Height Gain 1900 ft.
Max. Elev. 6905 ft.
Time on trail 4 hrs. 0 mins.