Powderface Pass

Tues. 28 December: Powderface Pass

Powderface Pass - my final adventure of a record year. It was fitting that I made use of my MICROspikes and my snow shoes on this trip. Both were added to my outdoor arsenal only this year.

Despite the plentiful snow all along this trail, this popular route, leading to the Pass over the Powderface Ridge, was actually named after a Stoney Indian, Tom Powderface, whose family lived down in the Elbow Valley back in the early 1900’s.

Just as an aside, I searched the internet for references to Tom Powderface, and came upon the story of Tom’s death. The author wove a tall tale which makes amusing reading. She then relates some fascinating stories of the Stoney Chief Hector, who as a young man would go hunting in the Highwood – one of my favorite hiking areas. It was a little different in those days. There were more important things to worry about than meeting bears, such as looking out for one's "deadly enemies" who were waiting to ambush and kill you.

Anyway, back to today’s story. There was hardly any snow on the road beyond the winter gate at Elbow Falls. I strode up the road for a few hundred yards to the start of Powderface Trail. This is one of the more popular trails year-round, and I was counting on it being well compacted by many feet since the last snowfall. I was right. I was able to travel the entire six and a half kilometres to the top of the Pass wearing my hiking boots with my trusty MICROspikes for traction.

The snow conditions would have been good for skiers, but this trail is so popular with hikers and horse riders that any ski tracks are quickly obliterated. Nevertheless, higher up the Pass I did see that an intrepid skier had made it to the top.

It was familiar going up the narrow-sided valley, through the drift fence, and up to the junction with Prairie Link trail. Most people turn right here to make a loop with Prairie Creek trail, ending up back at their cars on a perfect hiking circuit of about eleven and a half kilometres. I continued up the Powderface Creek. The trail was initially gentle and fairly straight, but then it started to climb more steeply as the valley meets the hillside ahead.

There is a tight bend curving to the right, followed by another to the left. At this point, one is treated to a surprise view eastwards to the slopes of Prairie Mountain, and the downtown skyscrapers of Calgary on the prairie beyond the foothills, under clear skies. The trail continued to climb up the forested hillsides, finally reaching the Pass. Here was a different world. The long, snow-covered Nihahi Ridge dominated the views to the west. Above it the clouds were thick. A cold wintry breeze was blowing snowflakes around. This is a popular place in summer, with hikers reaching the Pass from the much shorter trail from the west, and then heading up onto Powderface Ridge.

There was a tempting high point above the Pass but I had already climbed over 1600 feet today and the route was not obvious. And it felt very much like real winter up here with the blustery wind blowing the snow around. So instead I clambered the few feet up onto the open ridge above the Pass, where I had even more impressive views east to Calgary as well as west to the mountains.

Switching to my snow shoes, I made good time back down the snowy path. It seemed much steeper going down than when I was climbing up to the Pass. Back in the meadows at Prairie Link junction, I was perhaps a little surprised that I had not yet seen any other travelers. In fact, I was almost back at the start before I passed a group of five hikers plodding up the trail. There were signs of a horse and rider having come up the path this morning.

Although the skies had been mostly clear, except on the Pass, the sun was so low at this time of year that I only had a few glimpses of it in the valley. But the days are now getting longer. Today, for instance, there were now forty seconds more daylight than on the shortest day!

Back on the road, I passed a couple of groups out for an afternoon’s stroll. I had been first car at the gate this morning. Now I counted twenty three vehicles plus three horse trailers. Somehow I had missed all these people, but they were out there somewhere on the trails, and more people were preparing to join them. In fact the Elbow Valley was busy with families enjoying the last day of the Christmas Holiday. There is a popular slope by the road which some kids were tobogganing down, and there were cars parked by the trailheads of the popular hikes.

This had been a great way to end this year’s record-breaking campaign. During the trip, temperatures had risen from about minus 5 degrees C to minus 1 degree. But the forecast was for snow and falling temperatures. It was wintry enough today on top of Powderface Pass, and I was glad I had chosen today for my last adventure of the year.

The photo in this blog is a close-up of the eastern “face” of Nihahi Ridge. I have not touched it up at all, but is that a wry grin under a large hairy moustache, or a large scary open mouth?? One is never alone in the mountains - but then perhaps this is what happens when one goes on too many trips alone.

END OF MY 2010 BLOG
The Passionate Hiker

Statistics
Powderface Pass
Tues. 28 December

Total Dist. 6.5 km (hike) + 6.5 km (’shoe) = 13.0 km
Height Gain 1,670 ft.
Max. Elev. 6,650 ft.
Time on trail 4 hrs. 16 mins.
Temperature: Rising from minus 5 degrees C to minus 1 degree C

Calgary's Wilderness

Fri. 24 December: Glenmore Reservoir Circuit

New camera! And, as this trip today showed, better results.

L gave me a new Canon PowerShot SX130 IS for our anniversary, to replace the previous Canon which I wore out on my outdoor trips of the past two years.

It’s nice just occasionally to be able to start a hike right from one’s own front door. Living in the southwest corner of Calgary means that the wilderness is only a few city blocks away.

Heading north through the local neighborhood, I soon came to the edge of Glenmore Reservoir. A pathway runs all the way around the reservoir, passing through some remote woodland alongside the Tsuu T’ina Indian Reserve.

In wintertime, as now, when the lake is frozen over and snow covered, it is fun to drop down to the lake and follow the ski trails around the reservoir. You can’t do this in summertime, as it gets wet and boggy here, where the Elbow River runs into the top end of the reservoir. I discovered a new route closer to the southern edge of the river. A very straight, overgrown trail might once have been a pathway before the reservoir was built in the 1930’s, or the route of an early telegraph or power line. Crossing over the frozen Elbow River on the nice new footbridge, I continued to stay at reservoir level below the bluffs of North Glenmore Park. This route gave me a good chance to try out the new camera, pointing into the low sun with the trees as foreground.

Suddenly, not far ahead of me, a coyote ran slowly out onto the ice. Stopping a hundred yards or so out on the frozen surface, it started to howl in that eerily high pitched way. Perhaps he was calling to his coyote friends who were possibly hidden somewhere in the trees across the reservoir. He then started to amble up the middle of the reservoir in a westerly direction.

Passing below the Calgary Canoe Club, I was now making new tracks. It was easier to drop down onto the surface of the reservoir and walk beside the tracks of a lone skier. The cliffs closed in, and I stayed as close to the edge of the slippery surface as possible. But there was nothing to worry about as the ice was quite thick enough after a long period of cold sub-zero temperature. Nevertheless I stayed alert.

Crawling through a hole in the fence, I walked across the Glenmore Causeway, full of rushing traffic. The views west to the mountains were fine, and I could see a Chinook was forming. Already the temperatures had risen from about minus 11 degrees C at 8 a.m. to closer to minus 3 by the end of the hike.

Once across the causeway, I took a route I have never tried before. Staying low down by the reservoir, I skirted the edge of Heritage Park, walking across the ice past the “No Trespassing” sign, and past the paddle steamer which had been safely stored on dry land over the winter. Here I followed a good roadway leading to the boat dock for the steamer in summer.

Coming around a corner I passed a man who looked as if he might have spent a cold night out by the edge of the reservoir. He wore a cowboy hat and seemed to be preparing to head out for the day. He was perhaps in his 30’s and we exchanged a cheery “Merry Christmas”. He was right in pointing out to me that I could have made faster time on skis.

There were a few people out enjoying the pleasant, cold winter day, as I passed below the big “H” sign at Heritage Park. Turning off the reservoir trail, I walked through the Bayview neighborhood with its large family homes all decorated for Christmas. Soon I was back home, keen to check out the results from my new camera – and I was not disappointed.


Statistics
Glenmore Reservoir Circuit
Fri. 24 December

Total Dist. 15 km (hike)
Height Gain 0 ft.
Max. Elev. 3642 ft.
Time on trail 3 hrs. 20 mins.
Temperature: Rising from minus 11 to minus 3 degrees C

Snow Shoe Trail

Fri. 17 December: Taylor Lake

Talk about a good work-out. Try snow-shoeing up 2000 vertical feet of wintry, snow-covered, forested Canadian mountainside in minus twenty degrees C!

Taylor Lake had been on my list for a hiking trip this summer, but due to the massive road-twinning construction works between Castle Junction and Lake Louise, the trailhead was closed. Now a new trailhead has been built, a couple of hundred metres to the east, and once more the trail is open for business. Not that I was expecting to see anyone today, as the Taylor Lake trail is not on the Banff Park list of winter trails.

It was overcast and snowing lightly as I left the city, in the early rush-hour. By the time I reached the Kananaskis turn-off on the Trans-Canada Highway, there was enough light to show me that I had left the clouds behind, and was heading into a sunny day in the mountains. Canmore was mostly hidden in a low mist, and the mountain scenery was spectacular and wintry. Several elk stags were grazing by the side of the highway, as I passed the Banff airstrip. There was a good flow of traffic, probably a mix of the Banff rush-hour and ski-hill employees heading to work.

There’s now a brand new sign about 8 km west of Castle Junction, marking the new trailhead, and a large area beside the highway has been ploughed. To reach the trail, you make your way through the fence into the forest. It was a cold morning, with mist hiding the lower slopes of the towering Castle Mountain. Checking the temperatures later, it showed that at 9 a.m. it was minus 26 degrees C in Banff, and minus 17 in Lake Louise, so I reckon that here below Taylor Lake it was in the low minus 20’s.

I was well dressed for this trip, and had soon strapped on my snow shoes and was heading through the fence into the wintry wilderness. I could tell that nobody had been along here since the recent light snowfall this week. But I was glad that there had been an earlier traveler along this trail since the first heavy snowfall, as they had packed the snow down on the trail, making the journey much easier. Whenever I strayed off this narrow path, I would find my snowshoes sinking into deeper snow. It was a demanding trail, after the first kilometer or so of gentle slopes meandering through the trees. The trees were all snow-covered, and it was a very pretty scene, although wintry and remote.

After crossing Taylor Creek on a small bridge, the long uphill test began. The lower section of the trail twisted uphill, with some blind corners. At this time of year, I wasn’t worried about meeting a bear head-on, and I knew by the undisturbed snow that I was alone on the trail. But nevertheless, I speculated, there just might be something unexpected around the corner. I did meet a snow-covered bush which as you see I turned into a happy snowface – now at least I had one friend on this lonely trail.

The trail, although steep, did not try to head directly up the mountainside. There were several switchbacks, making it a reasonably straightforward, but long, journey. I kept thinking that I must be near the top, but I wasn’t even close, as I kept finding yet another section of uphill trail ahead of me.

This was not a trail for good - or any - views. Nor did it catch very much of the low sun, until I was much higher up the slopes. The trail and lake lie on the northern side of the mountain range, and so, with only 3 days to go until the shortest day of the year, there was very little sun to be had, even when the skies were, as today, clear.

Finally I reached another small bridge, across Taylor Creek. The lake lay ahead of me, hidden behind the trees. First, however, I turned right, climbing some way up a gulley, in deeper snow. A mountain skier had been this way before the last snowfall. I think this is the summer route up to Panorama Ridge – a possible future trip. Turning around, I came back to the trail, and plodded the last few hundred metres through foot-deep snow to the edge of the frozen lake.

Taylor Lake is a magnificent, and large, mountain lake, in some ways as impressive as Lake Louise. It is ringed by towering mountains. In summer I would be standing in gorgeous wildflower meadows, not deep snow. To my right was a small back-country campsite, romantically known as Ta-6, which was buried under the snow. In fact, I couldn’t get off the trail to sit down, so I just had a brief snack where I stood, then started back down the trail.

There was a sign pointing towards another lake, about 2 km away, above Taylor Lake. It is called Lake O’Brien. I knew at once that this would have to wait until another time, as the snow was deep and I had taken enough exercise slogging up through the snow as far as this.

My return journey, as is usually the case, was a lot easier. Snow shoes work really well down the slopes, as long as you remember to keep a slightly wider gap between your feet! Otherwise you can get into a terrible tangle. I noticed with surprise that a skier had come up the trail behind me and was now, I suppose, somewhere higher up the mountainside. The ski tracks were wide, being made by a pair of rugged mountaineering skis. I never saw the person.

It was a long way down the mountain trail. If I had known it was this far, I may not have been so keen to attempt it today. On my way up, I had thought I was near the top when in fact I wasn’t even halfway up. I made great time down the hill, and so back to the car. Here the temperatures had risen to perhaps around minus 13 degrees C and the sun was shining on the high ridges of Castle Mountain across the valley. My balaclava and jacket were coated with ice.

I was glad to get back in the car and warm up. It was an easy journey out of the sunny mountains The Bow Valley around Canmore was full of smoke from some controlled burns on the hillsides below the Nordic Centre. Not far east of the Kananaskis turnoff I was back in the cloud. In the city, people had been suffering all day from low cloud and snow flurries. As for me, I was ready for a good night’s sleep.


Statistics
Taylor Lake
Fri. 17 December

Total Dist. 13.8 km (snow-shoe)
Height Gain 2020 ft.
Max. Elev. 6880 ft.
Time on Trail 4 hrs. 39 mins.
Temperature around minus 20 degrees C

Skiing in the Foothills

Sat. 11 December: Sandy McNabb Ski Trails

“’Tis the Season” - for driving out into the foothills and cutting yourself a nice Christmas tree for free. But at least in the Sheep River valley, there were plenty of signs warning you not to do that, and the Provincial Parks “police”, known as Conservation Officers, were keeping a close eye on things.

Not that I was out to steal a tree. We had already bought ours in town at a large and unromantic parking lot. But I did want to get out into the foothills to try out the Sandy McNabb ski trails, and today the snow conditions might just be good enough to do so.

Very often, the Sheep River and West Bragg Creek cross-country ski trails are not great. The Chinook winds blow the snow off the hillsides and the wild temperature swings leave crusty and icy snow. But when it’s right, these trails are as much fun as any in the mountains, and ideal for a half-day adventure.

The Sheep River valley is a perfect place to take anyone on their first trip to the Alberta Foothills. You come around a corner, and there ahead of you the mountain panorama unfolds, the entire western horizon lined with the peaks of the Front Ranges. Today it was made even more spectacular by a morning sun shining on the snow-covered mountains.

The one slightly mystifying thing is that the Sandy McNabb trails are not well signposted, until you are ON them. The best start is actually right beside the visitor information centre, just a few kilometers before you get to the winter gate. Both the visitor centre and the winter gate are closed at this time of year.

Once on the trail system, the signposting is good, and you can make any number of route choices on trails which measure over 37 km in total. They wind up onto tree-lined ridges, open to the winds, and further into the rolling, forested countryside, generally keeping at a manageable angle. On the west side of the Long Prairie Loop are stunning views west across to the Front Ranges, snow-covered and remote.

Most of the rest of the trails are through the trees, across meadows with enticing junctions with signposts pointing into the forest. It’s not flat, and so you are either climbing usually gentle slopes or gliding effortlessly along winding trails. Occasionally there are steeper sections where I would point my skis downhill and hope for the best.

Today, I had to bail out just before a narrow bridge, as the trail took a sharp dip just before the bridge and I was worried the skis would go down a hole and snap in two. On the next hill, I found myself heading for a tree and stopped myself just in time, with my skis each side of a sturdy tree trunk. Apart from these adventures, it was a pleasant trip.

The snow conditions were reasonable except on the eastern slopes, where there were obstacles sticking up out of the snow, and I needed my metal edges to steer me across crusty and slippery surfaces. This had been a test of my new boots and bindings, which were a great success. I had good control of the skis, although the sharp rise in temperature during the morning, from minus 16 to close to zero, made the waxing a bit tricky.

It was only as I came down through the final meadow that I met my first people, a couple heading up the trail. Returning to the Winter Gate, I could see that the construction fence was still up, and there seemed to be activity in the Sandy McNabb campsite. They have been working on it all year, apparently a major renovation of the popular camping spot.

I drove slowly east on the snow-packed road, enjoying the scenery, with a very light fresh snowfall from the previous day resting on the trees. It had been yet another perfect outing into Alberta’s magical foothills.


Statistics
Sandy McNabb Ski Trails
Sat. 11 December

Total Dist. 10 km (XC Ski)
Height Gain 450 ft.
Max. Elev. 5150 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 52 mins.
Temperature Minus 16 degrees C at start

Telephone Connection

Sat. 4 December: West Bragg Creek Trails

Off the beaten track – on a beaten track. Today I explored a trail which no longer shows in any guidebook. So I had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, someone had been there ahead of me, creating a helpful pathway across the snowy, forested hillsides.

Not far west of the city, in the foothills west of Bragg Creek village, lie some very popular cross-country ski trails. On a sunny weekend in winter, these trails will fill up with skiers (and hikers with dogs running free) and bedlam will reign.

Looking through my various guidebooks, I noticed an intriguing trail which runs across some remote ridges, connecting the eastern and western legs of the Telephone Trail. Telephone is the longest and toughest of the Bragg Creek trails. A full circuit is over 15 km, into remote forested valleys. This short-cut would take me up to some viewpoints, and would cut off the long northern section of this trail.

Another cloudless morning, with an orange glow along the eastern horizon. As I set out from the car park, the sunlight was just starting to catch the tops of the trees. It was a cold morning, at around minus 16 degrees C, and so I was not surprised to be first on the trail today. I had my snow shoes on for this first leg, and carried my skis, strapped to my backpack.

Telephone Trail’s east leg starts at the car park. Climbing the hillside I soon turned left up the Hostel trail, on a long climb. Somewhere in the trees there used to be a Youth Hostel, but it burned down in 1984 and was never rebuilt. At the top of the hill the ski trail turned right, while I continued straight on, up the hill. This is where my unmarked route started. For some reason it has disappeared from all the trail signs. But somebody must know about it, as the path was beaten down by at least one pair of snow shoes and one set of skis.

The lower part of the trail, which used to be called “Ridge Trail”, was identified by some snow shoe signs nailed to the trees, but that trail soon veered down to the right. My trail, an old logging road, continued at a gradual angle up the forested hillsides, curving round to the right to a nice viewpoint. From here I could see part of the city of Calgary and the lower foothills to the east of Bragg Creek. This pleasant trail continued to climb, until I came to a high point, with good views west, to the bare, snowy ridges of Moose Mountain, 7995 ft.

The older guide books describe this trail as running through open cut-blocks. But over the years, the trees have started to grow back, and it is now mostly enclosed. Nevertheless, there are still some fine views to the west. I was glad to be able to follow the snow-shoer and the skier, as the route from here was not obvious. The trail started to angle downwards, swinging to the right. The scale of my map was a little misleading. Once again it reminded me how easy it is to get disoriented in the foothills, especially when the snow hides any sign of a trail.

In the end, I was on the right path, but I turned off it earlier than planned, and quickly joined the western leg of Telephone Trail just south of its high point, instead of about a kilometre or so further north. Here I swapped my snowshoes for my skis. Telephone Trail runs through a narrow valley. Several skiers had passed through here, but the trail had not been track-set. My light skis were not ideal for semi-off-trail conditions, but I stayed upright and soon came to the junction with Moose Loop.

Turning west, I immediately came out of the forest into a wide, sunny valley, below the high ridges of Moose Mountain. I ski’d along this open valley for a short while, until I reached a junction with a more tricky ski trail heading up into the trees. Here I turned around and returned to the junction. The wind had blown the snow around, leaving bare sections, and exposed rocks and stones. I negotiated that section, then ski’d and walked down a slippery steep road to the creek (Bragg creek). Crossing over, I was now on the final section of road back to the car. Here were plenty of skiers out already, as well as some snow-shoers and hikers with their dogs. It was a pleasant glide back down the road to the car.

In the short time I had been on the trail, the car park had filled up, and weekend bedlam was well under way. It was still cold, perhaps around minus 14 degrees C, and people were well wrapped up. But the sun shone out of a cloudless sky.

I had found this Telephone connector trail quite fascinating, and look forward to returning in the summer to explore its northern section. In the meantime, it was time to leave Bragg Creek to the weekend crowd.


Statistics
West Bragg Creek Trails
Sat. 4 December

Total Dist. 4.0 km (’shoe) + 4.5 km (ski) = 8.5 km
Height Gain 660 ft.
Max. Elev. 5350 ft.
Time on trail 2 hrs. 37 mins.
Temperature Minus 16 degrees C