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.