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.