Blueberry Hill

Mon. 29 November: Blueberry Hill

“I found my thrill
On Blueberry Hill”

sang Fats Domino. Reading my diary from my two previous visits to Blueberry Hill, in 1984 and 1988, I seemed to have made light work of the hazardous ski trip down from this magical viewpoint. Today, over twenty years after my last visit, I decided to make life a little easier by snow-shoeing it. It was still a good workout.

This would be a rare Monday trip, designed to avoid the crowds on one of the most popular cross-country skiing trails in Kananaskis Country.

It was still almost two hours before dawn as I left the city. Venus was brightly shining in the southern sky. The first signs of dawn came soon, in a cloudless eastern sky. By 8.15 a.m., the sunshine was lighting up the high ridges as I drove down to the far end of the Kananaskis Valley. Not surprisingly the Elk Pass car park was empty. I had the trails to myself.

Today I returned to the same trail which I had biked just a few weeks ago in early October. What a change now! The snow was already quite deep, and hanging on the trees, and the skiing conditions were already excellent – as always.

Some of the snow-clad bushes by the side of the trail looked uncannily alive, such as the three snow people riding a motorbike – but perhaps my imagination was running away with itself.

Temperatures were around minus 13 degrees C, which is a good skiing temperature. I needed two layers of gloves to avoid frozen fingers, but had no difficulty climbing the first steep hill to the powerline. Heading down the other side of the hill was a little trickier because these skis are a little light-weight. Upper Fox Creek is always a delight. The tracks were set and the snow hung on the trees. Ahead were glimpses of wintry mountainsides, with a slight mist rising from the lake.

Minus 13 degrees might sound a little chilly, but it was almost tropical compared to the temperatures earlier in the week. In Calgary it had dipped down to minus 30 C with a wind chill close to minus 40. Someone told me that at Lake Louise the wind chill had been minus 52 C, and the ski hill had shut down. So today was ideal for an outdoor trip.

At Blueberry junction, I left my skis behind a tree and proceeded up the Blueberry Trail wearing my snow shoes. The ’shoes certainly made this an easier trip. The first part of the trail is quite steep, and I might have had some difficulty with my skis. I had forgotten that the middle part of the trail was reasonably flat, as it passed below the towering cliffs of Mt. Fox. I had also forgotten that Blueberry Trail is over 3 km long, and gives you a good workout whatever you’re wearing on your feet.

The last section climbs up to the narrow forested ridge and its picnic table. Here is a spectacular viewpoint for the Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes. The western skyline is dominated by Mt. Putnik, 9646 ft., below which I could clearly see the rounded summit known as Upper Kananaskis River viewpoint, where I had stood only last month.

It was so cold today that the water in my water bottles had frozen almost solid, but I had also brought along some hot chocolate in a thermos, which warmed me up. Returning down the trail, it seemed to be a long steep downhill journey. I wondered how, a quarter century or so ago, I had ski’d down this route with apparently such little difficulty. Today I was glad of my snow shoes.

Back at the junction, I put my skis back on, and enjoyed the long glide back down Upper Fox Creek. Somewhere near the lower end of the creek I saw my first people, a couple of skiers, coming up the trail. We greeted each other politely.

In a slightly adventurous mood, and not wishing to tackle the steep powerline hill again, I turned right into lower Fox Creek, on a trail which was very narrow, but luckily not too steep. The Kananaskis Country website currently shows this trail as “not recommended”, but it was manageable with caution, as it twisted through the trees, gradually dropping down the snow-filled valley. This trail finally links to the bottom end of my original Elk Pass trail, where I whizzed down the final slopes back to the car, meeting just one other couple along the way.

Instead of the crowded weekend scene, the car park was deserted except for my car and three others.

It was such a perfect day that I decided to take a chance and return to town over the Highwood Pass. The winter gate was due to close at midnight tomorrow, and so I wouldn’t have been surprised if the road had been unploughed. But, although snow packed, it was in good winter driving condition. There was only the occasional vehicle to be seen, and I think these might have been hunters.

On my way down to the Highwood Junction, I stopped at some of my favorite places, such as Cat Creek, where a large horse trailer was parked. They were probably out hunting somewhere over the Highwood River, which was now totally snow covered and silent.

With the winter gates due to be swung closed in just over 24 hours time, this would be my last trip into this magic Highwood country until next June.

Driving east along the Highwood valley, the wind was blowing the snow across the road – it was almost as if I was driving along a flowing river of mist. It was a relaxed journey back through Longview and Turner Valley, and into the city just before the Monday rush hour. And yes, I did stop at the Turner Valley store for essential supplies!


Statistics
Blueberry Hill
Mon. 29 November

Total Dist. 11.0 km (ski) + 6.4 km (’shoe) = 17.4 km
Height Gain 1230 ft.
Max. Elev. 6730 ft.
Time on trail 4 hrs. 17 mins.
Temperature minus 13 degrees C at start

Season Opener

Sat. 20 November: Season Opener

This was a city trip but I'm making an exception.

Winter arrived in a hurry this week. Seven short days ago I was biking across the city. Today there was a foot of new snow and temperatures in the minus 20’s.

South Glenmore Park, just a few minutes from home, was the ideal place to declare the cross-country season open, on a day when travel outside of the city was tricky. It was a short trip from the boat dock westwards into the avenue of snow-covered trees and back again. It showed me that I have work to do on my skis. One boot sits unevenly on the ski, so I’ll need to sort it out before heading into the mountains.

A bright sun made this a true winter wonderland, with the snow heavy on the trees. Even with temperatures warming up to a balmy minus 17 degrees C, a slight breeze made it feel colder, and I was glad to return to a warm home.


Statistics
S. Glenmore Park
Sat. 20 November

Total Dist. 4.0 km (X-C ski)
Height Gain 0 ft.
Max. Elev. 3590 ft.
Time on trail 1 hr. 6 mins.
Temp. Minus 17 C

Disappearing Rivers

Fri. 12 November: Cobble Flats to Little Elbow via Wildhorse

No – I’m not crazy (as far as I know). I was NOT hiking the Canadian Rockies in sandals in November. But I WAS wading icy cold rivers in my sandals. Perhaps that qualifies me as at least slightly eccentric.

Keen to take advantage of a "bonus” hiking day, I headed up to the end of the Elbow Valley to have some fun by making two crossings of the Elbow River. The plan was to hike the northern portion of the Wildhorse Trail, below the northern slopes of Forgetmenot Ridge, returning by bike along the road. It was not a long trip, but it involved various river crossings and a route that was new to me.

A couple of inches of snow had fallen in the Foothills, but the road was bare and dry. While it was mostly cloudy, it promised to clear during the afternoon. I hid my bike at the end of the Elbow Valley road, just beyond Forgetmenot Lake, then drove back to Cobble Flats, where my hike would start. The last time I was at Cobble Flats, in late August, I was returning wet and muddy from my three day adventure along Quirk Creek and up Forgetmenot Mountain. The trip had ended with my splashing through the cold waters of the Elbow River with my bike, and not bothering to remove my boots. Today I needed to have dry boots, and so I sat on the wide stony edge of the river to remove my boots and socks for a wade across the icy river. The water came up to my knees. I sat in the snow on the opposite side of the river to put my boots back on, thinking that river crossings are always a lot of fun, even in the snow.

Now I turned right and joined the old snow-covered trail as it headed westwards. Soon coming to a small bridge over a tiny stream, I crossed over, and in a few hundred yards came to the junction with the Wildhorse Trail. Wildhorse runs southwards along the eastern flanks of Forgetmenot Ridge, to the remote campsite where I spent two nights in August. At this trail junction where I was now standing, Wildhorse Trail then turns west, passing below the northern end of the ridge, and leading to the far end of the Elbow Valley. The trail soon comes out into a wider meadow with mountain peaks ahead. Footprints in the snow showed me that one person had come the other way recently. Further along the trail, the number of footprints increased, indicating that several people had come part way along the trail from the western end. This surprised me since this involved a crossing of the Little Elbow river. The reason would be apparent soon.

Small ponds along the trail were rapidly icing up, and the scene was a wintry one. At a high point in the trail, a stone cairn marked the start of the route to the summit of Forgetmenot Ridge, a steep slog up the hillside for about 2000 vertical feet.

Now for the surprise. I came out onto wide open gravel flats. Here the Little Elbow River flowed out from the mountains – or not. For the entire river had disappeared underground, allowing people to walk right across the wide riverbed. It was a spectacular place to stand, surrounded by sharp-peaked snowy mountains – but no river. A little further along, I came to the Elbow River itself, which happily still had plenty of water in it. I crossed over the lovely pedestrian suspension bridge, and so back to the end of the road and my bike. I had met one group of three with a dog just before the bridge. They were the only people on this popular trail.

It only took me a few minutes to speed down the road back to the car. By now the skies were clearing, and it was another wonderful day in the Rockies. I drove slowly back down the valley, in no hurry to return to a busy city.

Statistics
Cobble Flats circuit
Fri. 12 November

Total Dist. 5.9 km (hike) +4.6 km (bike) =10.5 km
Height Gain 160 ft.
Max. Elev. 5330 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 14 mins.

Racing against Winter

Sat. 6 November: Jumpingpound Mountain

Up on that high ridge, it felt a lot like a race against winter. And for a short time I wondered if I would win or not. In the end, the fierce winds did not push the wintry clouds eastwards from their perch above the high mountains, and the blue skies won the battle.

The line of ridges on the east side of the Powderface Trail have always been a favorite for hikers, and now mountain bikers. Cox Hill, Jumpingpound Ridge, and Powderface Ridge, could be combined into a long day outing, or even connected to the Moose Mountain ridges for a VERY long day. My plan today was not so ambitious. I would make a circuit of Jumpingpound Ridge, in a clockwise direction, starting at the northern access, and returning down the Summit Trail, with a final bike ride to connect the two trailheads.

These November days are short for hiking. As I left the city at around 7.15 a.m., there was only the faintest hint of dawn in the eastern sky. The stars were shining brightly above. It was still dark as I traveled west up the Elbow Valley. At the junction with Powderface Trail, a sign warned of road closure for a road rally – very luckily scheduled for tomorrow, not today. As the sun started to rise, the clouds glowed pink over the mountains.


Powderface Trail is a narrow, twisting road, luckily this morning with no traffic on it. The surface was newly graveled and in good shape, perhaps in readiness for the rally. Dropping my bike off at the Jumpingpound summit trailhead, I continued for another few kilometers to the start of my hike. This was the path I had hiked in October last year in sub-zero temperatures and snow cover. I was looking forward to continuing up onto the high ridge today.

Except for a very few short sections of the ridge, the trail was bare and dry for its entire length and so I had no need today of my MicroSpikes – very unexpected for November. So I made good progress up the zig-zag trail and then up through the trees to the ridge. Once on the ridge, I turned southwards and steadily made my way towards Jumpingpound Summit. To the west, a line of wintry clouds sat above the mountains, and under a fierce westerly wind, threatened to sweep eastwards across to my ridge within a few seconds. However, above me and to the east, the skies were clear. The battle seemed to rage all morning, and a few smaller clouds were torn free and flung eastwards, but despite the gale, the clouds stayed over the Front Ranges, where new snow must have been falling. Luckily this was a warm Chinook wind, so it was a pleasant hike along the wide ridge top. Nevertheless, despite the blue skies overhead, a few icy pellets were finding their way across on the wind, stinging my face.

The old line of large cairns have for some reason been flattened since my last visit here in the early 1990’s. And the path has been worn into a wide groove by the mountain bikers. But it is still a grand hike with views east of Moose Mountain and even Calgary far to the east, and west to the stormy Front Ranges. In places the trail cleverly hugs the eastern side of the ridge out of the wind, through the trees. In other places, you hike across a wide exposed landscape with nothing protecting you from the buffeting winds. It is an easy detour to the little rocky summit. There is a large bush strategically placed to give an ideal shelter for lunch.

So far I had seen nobody, and so I expected to find hikers coming up the Summit Trail. There were none. This quick descent to the road is very nicely graded in a series of switchbacks and little bridges across the dry creek, down and down through the forest. Finally I came out onto the Powderface Trail road. While I was up on the ridge, the rally people had passed by, and put yellow “do not enter” tape across the trailhead, with a sign warning of the road closure. This was the reason for no hikers on the trail.

I changed into my biking gear, and set off down the road back to the car. Today must have been a trail-check day for the rally drivers, as the road was busy with rally cars passing slowly by. I whizzed down the road on my bike, being a little wary of the new gravel. In no time at all I had returned to my car. There was just one other vehicle there, suggesting one party was now up on the ridge. I decided to keep driving northwards along the road, towards Sibbald Creek. Carefully navigating the bends in the road, I passed several rally cars now coming southwards. In the Cox Hill parking area there must have been a dozen cars – obviously this must be the more popular hill for hikers today.

At the far northern end of Powderface Trail, a guy was sitting in a camp chair by his car to warn non-rally drivers to stay off the road. I tried not to kick up too much dust as I passed by. From here it was a fast return to a sunny Calgary, basking in unseasonably warm sunshine.

Statistics
Jumpingpound Mountain
Sat. 6 November

Total Dist. 9.8 km (hike) + 6.2 km (bike) =16.0 km
Height Gain 2001 ft.
Max. Elev. 7349 ft.
Time on trail 3 hrs. 24 mins.